vioscaleAI
Comparison

Akeyless vs External Secrets Operator

On the evidence we track, Akeyless leads this comparison with a composite score of 67/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Akeyless full profile →External Secrets Operator full profile →
Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
★Akeyless67
External Secrets Operator55
Score
vioscaleAI score
Akeyless67 / 100medium · 69%
External Secrets Operator55 / 100low · 42%
Pricing
Free tier
Akeyless✓
External Secrets Operator✓
Model
Akeylessfreemium
External Secrets Operatoropen_source
Price level
Akeylesslow
External Secrets Operatorfree
Transparent
Akeyless✗
External Secrets Operator✓
Integrations
Count
Akeyless6
External Secrets Operator18
Security
Gdpr
Akeyless✓
External Secrets Operator–
Iso27001
Akeyless✓
External Secrets Operator–
Pci
Akeyless✓
External Secrets Operator–
Scorecard
Akeyless–
External Secrets Operator8.2
Soc2
Akeyless✓
External Secrets Operator–
Trust center
Vulnerabilities
Reliability
Status page
Akeyless✓
External Secrets Operator–
Adoption
Dependent repos
Akeyless–
External Secrets Operator5
Github stars
Akeyless–
External Secrets Operator6,903
Activity
Commits last 30d
Akeyless–
External Secrets Operator58
Release
Cadence days
Akeyless–
External Secrets Operator2
History
Akeyless–
External Secrets Operator20 items
License
Spdx
Akeyless–
External Secrets OperatorApache-2.0
Language
Primary
Akeyless–
External Secrets OperatorGo
Content
Faq
Akeyless6 items
External Secrets Operator6 items

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for secrets management tools. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Core
Tool type
AkeylessSecret store / engine
External Secrets OperatorSync / injection
Dynamic (short-lived) secrets
Akeyless✓
External Secrets Operator-
Deployment
Hosting
AkeylessCloud + self-hosted
External Secrets OperatorCloud + self-hosted
Lifecycle
Automatic secret rotation
Akeyless✓
External Secrets Operator✓
Crypto
Encryption as a service (transit)
Akeyless✓
External Secrets Operator-
Compliance
FIPS 140-2/3 validated crypto
Akeyless✓
External Secrets Operator-
HSM support
Akeyless✓
External Secrets Operator-
Access
Fine-grained / identity-based policy
Akeyless✓
External Secrets Operator✓
Governance
Audit logging
Akeyless✓
External Secrets Operator-
Integration
Kubernetes native (CRD / CSI / K8s auth)
Akeyless✓
External Secrets Operator✓
Scope
PKI / certificate authority
Akeyless✓
External Secrets Operator-
Licensing
Open-source core
Akeyless-
External Secrets Operator✓
Ecosystem
CNCF maturity
Akeyless-
External Secrets Operator-

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Akeyless

Leader

A secrets management solution that provides access control capabilities for securing credentials and sensitive data within organizational systems.

Independently observed

External Secrets Operator

External Secrets Operator integrates Kubernetes with third-party secret management services like AWS Secrets Manager, HashiCorp Vault, and others, automatically fetching and injecting secret values into native Kubernetes Secrets.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Akeyless

Leader
SubscriptionFree tier
as of verify ↗

External Secrets Operator

Open sourceFree tier

Free, open source

as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
Akeyless✓
External Secrets Operator✗
CLI
Akeyless✗
External Secrets Operator✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Akeyless✓
External Secrets Operator✗
Self-hosted
Akeyless✓
External Secrets Operator✓
Hybrid
Akeyless✓
External Secrets Operator✗

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

In common (2)
  • Azure Key Vault
  • HashiCorp Vault

Akeyless

Leader
6 total - 4 not shared
  • AWS Secret Manager
  • GCP Secret Manager
  • Kubernetes Secrets
  • Kubernetes Secrets Store CSI Driver
Independently observed

External Secrets Operator

25 total - 23 not shared
  • AWS Secrets Manager
  • Google Secrets Manager
  • IBM Cloud Secrets Manager
  • Akeyless
  • CyberArk Secrets Manager
  • Pulumi ESC
  • 1Password
  • GitHub
  • Google Secret Manager
  • Yandex Lockbox
  • Conjur
  • SecretServer
  • BeyondTrust
  • OpenBao
  • ngrok
  • Infisical
  • VolcEngine
  • AWS Certificate Manager
  • OpenStack Barbican
  • Azure AD
  • Pulumi
  • Webhook
  • DVLS
Independently observed
Still deciding?

Akeyless or External Secrets Operator: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.