Factual comparison · May 2026

Passbolt Alternative
for Technical Teams

Passbolt is a strong open-source password manager for teams. SealedKeys takes a different approach: fully managed EU cloud, dedicated secret types for SSH and API keys, and no server to maintain. An honest comparison.

Feature comparison

FeatureSealedKeysPassbolt
Zero-knowledge architecture
Both encrypt client-side
Open-source encryption code
Both publish encryption implementations
Managed cloud — no server required
Community edition requires self-hosting
EU data residency (managed cloud)
Passbolt Cloud is EU-hosted; SealedKeys is Hetzner EU
SSH key storage (dedicated type)
Passwords only — no typed SSH key field
API key storage (dedicated type)
No dedicated API key type
TOTP in-vault generation
Not a Passbolt feature
SAML 2.0 SSO
Passbolt Business; SealedKeys Pro
Audit log
Both include audit trail
Security health dashboard
Not a feature
Breach monitoring (HIBP)
Not a feature
Contractor offboarding checklists
Not a feature
Fully open-source application
Encryption code open-source; app is not
Self-hosted option
Cloud-only
Browser extension (primary client)
Web app; extension is roadmap
Price (managed, per user/month)
Passbolt Business Cloud; SealedKeys Pro
£3.49~£4/user

Features and prices correct as of May 2026. Verify directly with each vendor before making a decision.

Where SealedKeys differs

No server to maintain

Passbolt Community (free) requires self-hosting — Docker, a server, regular updates, backups and security patching are on you. Passbolt Cloud removes this, but adds cost. SealedKeys is fully managed from day one with zero ops overhead.

Dedicated SSH and API key types

Passbolt is a password manager — it stores passwords. SSH private keys, API tokens and recovery codes are stored as generic password entries with no purpose-built field layout. SealedKeys has dedicated typed fields for each secret category.

TOTP in-vault generation

SealedKeys includes TOTP two-factor authentication code generation on all plans. If a team member needs the TOTP code for a shared account, it lives in the vault alongside the password. Passbolt does not support in-vault TOTP.

Security health dashboard

SealedKeys includes a security health dashboard that scores your vault, flags weak or reused passwords, and checks every credential against the Have I Been Pwned breach database. Passbolt has no equivalent.

Simpler for non-technical team members

Passbolt's primary client is a browser extension — technically capable, but unfamiliar to non-developers. SealedKeys is a web app that any team member can access without installing anything.

Where Passbolt has the advantage

Fully open-source

Passbolt's entire application stack is open source — you can audit every line of code, not just the encryption layer. SealedKeys publishes the encryption implementation but not the application server code.

Self-hosted option

Passbolt Community can be self-hosted on your own infrastructure, keeping all data within your network perimeter. SealedKeys is cloud-only.

Stronger browser integration

Passbolt is designed around a browser extension with auto-fill capabilities. For teams that need password auto-fill in the browser, Passbolt has a more mature implementation.

Established open-source community

Passbolt has been around since 2016 with an active open-source community, community forums and a larger set of third-party integrations than SealedKeys.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to self-host Passbolt to use it?+

The free Community edition of Passbolt requires self-hosting — you run it on your own server (Docker or package install). Passbolt also offers a managed cloud product (Business and Enterprise tiers) which removes the ops burden, but at additional cost. SealedKeys is managed cloud only with no self-hosted option.

Can I import my Passbolt passwords into SealedKeys?+

Yes. Export your Passbolt vault as a CSV file and import it into SealedKeys using the generic CSV importer. Login entries map directly. You will then want to move SSH keys and API tokens stored as generic passwords into the appropriate SealedKeys secret types.

Is Passbolt more secure than SealedKeys?+

Both use zero-knowledge client-side encryption. Passbolt uses OpenPGP (GPG keys per user); SealedKeys uses AES-256-GCM with PBKDF2-SHA256 key derivation. Both publish their encryption code. SealedKeys completed an independent penetration test in May 2026 with zero exploitable findings. Passbolt has a longer track record and fully open-source codebase.

Does SealedKeys plan to open-source the full application?+

There are no current plans to open-source the application server. The encryption implementation — the security-critical code — is published on GitHub and independently audited.

What is the main reason teams switch from Passbolt to SealedKeys?+

The most common reasons: they don't want to maintain a self-hosted server (even with Passbolt Cloud, migrations and upgrades remain an ops concern), they need dedicated SSH and API key field types rather than generic password entries, or they need TOTP generation and security health monitoring that Passbolt doesn't offer.

Related comparisons

Try SealedKeys — no server, no setup

25 items free. Import your Passbolt CSV export. Running in 2 minutes.