Despite our best efforts to develop other forms of authentication, passwords aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. We have so many different accounts that remembering our passwords for everything is difficult enough, let alone keeping them secure. Using the same password for everything is also not a great idea either, and leaves your online presence much more susceptible to nefarious actors.
A good, robust password manager is essential for anyone who spends time online, but that might not be enough for those who want to further strengthen their privacy. Instead of relying on a third party to keep your accounts secure, self-hosting a password manager is a great way to take matters into your own hands. Taking control of your privacy is important, and here are the 4 best password managers that can help you do just that.
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4 Vaultwarden
An all-around excellent option
Vaultwarden is an open-source, community made server implementation of the Bitwarden client API. It’s not associated with the Bitwarden company in any official capacity and it isn’t just limited to hosting your passwords on their cloud servers; you can use their open-source code to host your own password manager locally. Bitwarden was already open-source to begin with, but Vaultwarden is much more lightweight and not as resource-heavy. Their GitHub is public and their source code is on full display, just like Bitwarden. It enables you to use Bitwarden clients to interface with it, so you’re not missing out on all the creature comforts like the dedicated mobile app and browser extensions.
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3 KeePass
A great barebones option
KeePass is a lightweight, open-source password manager primarily used on Windows. It’s compatible for use on Linux and Mac, but you’ll have to use an unofficial port. KeePass is great for when you need only the basics, and I mean the absolute essentials. You can generate and store passwords securely and decrypt them using a master password, and that’s pretty much it. KeePass doesn’t support cloud storage by default, so getting access to your vault while on the go will take some extra configuration. You can configure it for use on a USB stick though, if you’re more of a physical storage type of person.
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2 PassBolt
A refined password manager for your whole team
PassBolt is a business-focused password manager that has all the bells and whistles to make password hosting for multiple people seamless. If KeePass was strictly the essentials, PassBolt is for those who need a plethora of features. While there’s no offline access, it does support multifactor authentication methods as well as more granular encryption. While you can pay for a cloud solution that PassBolt hosts, the code is completely open-source, meaning you can download and self-host PassBolt on your own server. PassBolt’s self-hosting option, known as PassBolt CE, still provides a ton of functionality and can be deployed in a variety of fashions.
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1 Buttercup
Sweet and simple
Buttercup is another option for an open-source, self-hosted password manager. While it doesn’t have a big name behind it like Bitwarden or PassBolt, it’s still just as capable of keeping your logins secure. It is offline only, but provides a simple interface and is easy to set up. You can think of it as an alternative to KeePass, with a few more of the creature comforts that might be missing.
4 best alternative password managers to Bitwarden
You should consider these services if Bitwarden is out of the question.
Self-hosting is a great way to take control of your privacy
The risk of storing your passwords with a third-party cloud solution doesn’t lie in the company you’re entrusting being nefarious, it lies in their ability to keep your data secure. Large companies that store a ton of customer password data are always going to be targets for hackers, and one way to mitigate that risk completely is by self-hosting. You, the individual, are less likely to be attacked over a Bitwarden or PassBolt for example. Self-hosting does put the burden of security onto you, so be cautious of where you store your credentials, no matter which self-hosting solution you use!