Self-host Bitwarden

Password manager / secrets vault · Category: auth, SSO & secrets

Bitwarden Cloud is the most-recommended hosted password manager. The self-host story is unusual — Bitwarden themselves publish their full server as AGPL, so you can run the official stack, or use Vaultwarden's lightweight Rust reimplementation that speaks the same client protocol.

Bitwarden pricing anchor: $3/user/mo Teams; $6/user/mo Enterprise.

Vaultwarden dani-garcia/vaultwarden alive

GitHub: ★ 60.1k · last commit 7d ago · 47 open issues
License: AGPL-3.0
Setup time: 5min docker run
Monthly cost: $5 VPS for a family or small team — single Rust binary with SQLite.

Migration sketch. If already on Bitwarden Cloud: install official Bitwarden client → log into Cloud → Tools → Export vault (JSON, encrypted). Point the same client at your Vaultwarden URL → log in to the new account → Tools → Import → Bitwarden (JSON). Items, folders, organisations all carry over.

Good fit forTeams that want the official Bitwarden clients with a tiny self-host footprint.

Weak atUnofficial; some paid features (SSO, hardware key on free tier, Send file) require server config, and admin UI is sparse.

Bitwarden Server bitwarden/server alive

GitHub: ★ 18.6k · last commit 1d ago · 189 open issues
License: AGPL-3.0
Server source is AGPL; some advanced features (SSO, Directory Connector) need a paid Enterprise license key even on self-host.
Setup time: 30min (their bitwarden.sh installer)
Monthly cost: $10-15 VPS — .NET stack with separate identity/api/admin services.

Migration sketch. Same migration as Vaultwarden — export from Bitwarden Cloud, import into your self-hosted instance. The benefit over Vaultwarden is that it's the vendor-supported code path, so SSO + enterprise policies work out of the box with a license.

Good fit forCompanies that want vendor-supported self-host with SSO and enterprise policies.

Weak atResource-heavy compared to Vaultwarden; some features still gated by license tier.

Passbolt passbolt/passbolt_api alive

GitHub: ★ 5.89k · last commit 4w ago · 22 open issues
License: AGPL-3.0
Setup time: 20min docker-compose
Monthly cost: $5-10 VPS.

Migration sketch. Bitwarden Cloud → Tools → Export (CSV). Passbolt → Resources → Import → CSV. Folders and shared organisations need rebuilding; URLs / usernames / passwords carry over cleanly.

Good fit forEngineering teams that treat passwords as shared infrastructure secrets with per-resource permissions.

Weak atBrowser extension is less polished; mobile apps are newer than Bitwarden's.

In a terminal? npx os-alt bitwarden prints this table — how the CLI works →