Bitwarden vs Vaultwarden
Is it time to switch? We break down the differences so you can stop bleeding money.
Choose Vaultwarden.
If you want to own your data, save money, and avoid vendor lock-in, Vaultwarden is more popular among developers.
What Actually Matters
No fluff — just the differences that affect your decision
Both open source, different licenses: Bitwarden uses Other, Vaultwarden uses AGPL-3.0. Check the fine print if you're building commercial.
Both can run on your own metal with Docker. Full data ownership, no cloud dependency. We have deploy guides for each.
Vaultwarden has the bigger crowd: 69.0k stars vs 20.3k. More contributors, more integrations, more momentum.
Bitwarden is built in C#, Vaultwarden in Rust. Matters if you want to contribute, extend, or debug internals.
Try both — most offer free tiers. The right pick depends on your stack size, team, and tolerance for DevOps.
Bitwarden
Bitwarden infrastructure/backend (API, database, Docker, etc).
Why Choose Bitwarden
- ✓Independently audited security with full transparency reports
- ✓Cross-platform apps for every OS, browser, and device
- ✓Organization vaults with fine-grained sharing controls
Drawbacks
- ×UI is functional but basic
Vaultwarden
Unofficial Bitwarden compatible server written in Rust, formerly known as bitwarden_rs.
Why Choose Vaultwarden
- ✓Full Bitwarden API compatibility in a lightweight Rust binary
- ✓Runs on 50MB of RAM — perfect for Raspberry Pi or small VPS
- ✓Supports organizations, attachments, and Bitwarden Send
Drawbacks
- ×Third-party implementation (not security audited officially)
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