Vaultwarden
Lightweight, self-hostable Bitwarden-compatible password manager server written in Rust.
HN commenters recommend it as a lean, easy-to-self-host Bitwarden server1234 that works with the official Bitwarden apps567 and makes switching from 1Password quick.89 The most common caveat is the security risk of self-hosting something this critical,101112 followed by complaints about the dated Bitwarden browser clients.1314
Why people recommend it
Easy self-hosting · 3
Written in Rust, uses few resources, is easy to back up, and is easier to self-host than Bitwarden itself.
“Thats why I use vaultwarden. I also like the fact, that vaultwarden is written in rust and does not consume a lot of resources, which is great for selfhosting.”
“As as self-hoster, I recommend vault warden. Supports 2fa, written in rust, works pretty well, is easy to backup”
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“I moved to self hosted Vaultwarden (Bitwarden server reimplementation that's client-compatible).”
Bitwarden client compatibility · 3
Works with Bitwarden's phone, desktop and browser clients.
“As as self-hoster, I recommend vault warden. Supports 2fa, written in rust, works pretty well, is easy to backup”
“I moved to self hosted Vaultwarden (Bitwarden server reimplementation that's client-compatible).”
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“Vaultwarden looks neat:”
Painless migration · 3
Users moving from 1Password report a fast migration and say they don't miss anything.
“I migrated to self hosted bitwarden (vaultwarden) on my Nix VPS.”
“locally hosted Bitwarden(Vaultwarden) 6 months ago and I don't miss anything.”
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“I moved to self hosted Vaultwarden (Bitwarden server reimplementation that's client-compatible).”
Family sharing · 3
Used to share passwords with family members on a self-hosted instance.
“We use Vaultwarden and Bitwarden to share passwords with the family.”
“Run vaultwarder for myself and some family members.”
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“I could always self-host (VaultWarden) at home behind Tailscale”
Passkeys, cross-platform · 3
Supports passkeys across macOS and Linux, and passkeys appear in JSON exports.
“I use Vaultwarden because I need something cross-platform (macOS and Linux) and with support for passkeys.”
“I just tried it and it worked. I used the export functionality and exported my vault as json and the passkey is in there.”
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“I migrated to self hosted bitwarden (vaultwarden) on my Nix VPS.”
Vault control · 2
Self-hosting with a web-interface fallback means no third party can take the vault away.
“I use Vaultwarden right now. Part of the reason was that I wanted something where there was a minimum guarantee.”
“i'd host my own VaultWarden instance”
Caveats and dissent
Self-hosting risk · 3
Some users stopped self-hosting or felt uneasy about it, and the project had serious CVEs including an auth bypass.
“I quit self hosting vaultwarden because in the age of the LLM security is an arms race that I’m not going to win.”
“Before this I used Vaultwarden, but I was always a bit afraid of the self-hosting”
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“I could always self-host (VaultWarden) at home behind Tailscale”
Browser clients · 2
The Bitwarden browser clients it relies on don't auto-generate and save passwords at signup and are seen as stagnant.
“Vaultwarden's great, but the inferior browser clients just don't make up for it.”
“exactly why we've seen things like Vaultwarden pop up”
Credential sharing · 1
Sharing credentials through Bitwarden organizations felt less intuitive than alternatives.
“Before this I used Vaultwarden, but I was always a bit afraid of the self-hosting”
Version mismatches · 1
An outdated server version briefly caused issues with the iOS and desktop Bitwarden apps.
“I migrated to self hosted bitwarden (vaultwarden) on my Nix VPS.”
Often compared with
3 moved from 1Password to VaultwardenApple Passwords2 comments mention both
1 moved from Vaultwarden to Apple Passwords
1 moved from Vaultwarden to Proton Pass
1 moved from KeePassXC to Vaultwarden
Who recommends it in their own words
From the makers not counted in the ranking
“Merged minimal OIDC support in Vaultwarden last year”
Threads where it came up
- Bitwarden Dual License Model 4 mentions
- Ask HN: What do you run on a $5 VPS that's worth keeping online 24/7? 4 mentions
- Ask HN: Advice on Migrating from 1Password? 3 mentions
- Get your passwords out of Bitwarden while you still can 3 mentions
- Bitwarden scrubs 'Always free' and 'Inclusion' values from its site 3 mentions
- The Quiet Renovation at Bitwarden 2 mentions
Data: vaultwarden.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 28
“I just tried it and it worked. I used the export functionality and exported my vault as json and the passkey is in there.”
“I quit self hosting vaultwarden because in the age of the LLM security is an arms race that I’m not going to win.”
“exactly why we've seen things like Vaultwarden pop up”
“As as self-hoster, I recommend vault warden. Supports 2fa, written in rust, works pretty well, is easy to backup”
“moved away from KeePassXC to Bitwarden with self hosted vaultwarden”
“Vaultwarden: password storage”
- Navidrome - Jellyfin - Vaultwarden - Immich - pi agent. I use it through tmux and iSH on my iPhone - librechat. nice UI but honestly I probably jsut use pi more often - copyparty. to visually inspect whatever I create with pi, and to access my documents, to upload files I need on the server quickly and easily from any device
“languagetool, nextcloud, hister, syncthing, restic backups, vaultwarden, windmill”
“Run vaultwarder for myself and some family members.”
“Vaultwarden: Passwords”
“locally hosted Bitwarden(Vaultwarden) 6 months ago and I don't miss anything.”
“I migrated to self hosted bitwarden (vaultwarden) on my Nix VPS.”
“Before this I used Vaultwarden, but I was always a bit afraid of the self-hosting”
“I moved to self hosted Vaultwarden (Bitwarden server reimplementation that's client-compatible).”
“I self host using the open source vaultwarden[1] server implementation”
“Vaultwarden looks neat:”
“Thats why I use vaultwarden. I also like the fact, that vaultwarden is written in rust and does not consume a lot of resources, which is great for selfhosting.”
“Vaultwarden is a very lean implementation of Bitwarden”
“i'd host my own VaultWarden instance”
“Will check out Vaultwarden, Proton Pass, Keepass, I guess.”
“A lot of folks are talking about Vaultwarden which is great.”
“I use Vaultwarden right now. Part of the reason was that I wanted something where there was a minimum guarantee.”
“I could always self-host (VaultWarden) at home behind Tailscale”
“Vaultwarden's great, but the inferior browser clients just don't make up for it.”
“Vaultwarden is a very lean implementation of Bitwarden”
“I use Vaultwarden because I need something cross-platform (macOS and Linux) and with support for passkeys.”
“You can have hosted Nextcloud on Hetzner, with Headscale, email server, Vaultwarden, and Wordpress”
“We use Vaultwarden and Bitwarden to share passwords with the family.”