# AWS Secrets Manager vs External Secrets Operator

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** AWS Secrets Manager

| Attribute | AWS Secrets Manager | External Secrets Operator |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 77.6 (72% (medium)) | 54.8 (42% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 58 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | - | 5 |
| adoption.github_stars | - | 6,903 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"A cloud-based service that stores and manages sensitive credentials, API keys, and other secrets for applications and services. It provides encryption at rest and in transit, fine-grained access control through IAM policies, automatic secret rotation, multi-region replication, and comprehensive audit logging. It is indexed under Secrets Management Tools.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/sagemaker/pricing/?nc2=h_pr_sgm","question":"What is AWS Secrets Manager?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"AWS Secrets Manager offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/secrets-manager/","question":"Is AWS Secrets Manager free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"AWS Secrets Manager supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/sagemaker/pricing/?nc2=h_pr_sgm","question":"What platforms does AWS Secrets Manager support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for AWS Secrets Manager, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/sagemaker/pricing/?nc2=h_pr_sgm","question":"Can AWS Secrets Manager be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 30 integrations for AWS Secrets Manager, including Alexa for Business, AWS App2Container, Amazon AppFlow, AWS AppSync, Amazon Athena, AWS CodeBuild, AWS Direct Connect and AWS Directory Service, plus 22 more. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/sagemaker/pricing/?nc2=h_pr_sgm","question":"What does AWS Secrets Manager integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA and GDPR for AWS Secrets Manager. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as AWS Secrets Manager not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/trust-center/?nc1=f_cc","question":"What security certifications does AWS Secrets Manager have?","confidence":0.7},{"answer":"AWS Secrets Manager is available worldwide. The vendor is headquartered in the United States.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/sagemaker/pricing/?nc2=h_pr_sgm","question":"Where is AWS Secrets Manager available?","confidence":0.75}]` | `[{"answer":"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. It is indexed under Secrets Management Tools.","source":"https://external-secrets.io/","question":"What is External Secrets Operator?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"External Secrets Operator is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the Apache-2.0 licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://external-secrets.io/","question":"Is External Secrets Operator free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"External Secrets Operator supports a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://external-secrets.io/","question":"What platforms does External Secrets Operator support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. External Secrets Operator can be deployed cloud / SaaS, on-premise and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://external-secrets.io/","question":"Can External Secrets Operator be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 8 integrations for External Secrets Operator, including AWS Secrets Manager, HashiCorp Vault, Google Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault, IBM Cloud Secrets Manager, Akeyless, CyberArk Secrets Manager and Pulumi ESC. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://external-secrets.io/","question":"What does External Secrets Operator integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. External Secrets Operator is published under the Apache-2.0 licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets","question":"Is External Secrets Operator open source?","confidence":0.95}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A cloud-based service that stores and manages sensitive credentials, API keys, and other secrets for applications and services. It provides encryption at rest and in transit, fine-grained access control through IAM policies, automatic secret rotation, multi-region replication, and comprehensive audit logging. | 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. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"cloud","tool_type":"store","audit_logging":true,"fips_validated":true,"secret_rotation":true,"fine_grained_policy":true}` | `{"hosting":"both","tool_type":"sync_inject","secret_rotation":true,"open_source_core":true,"kubernetes_native":true,"fine_grained_policy":true}` |
| integrations.count | 30 | 18 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Alexa for Business"},{"name":"AWS App2Container"},{"name":"Amazon AppFlow"},{"name":"AWS AppSync"},{"name":"Amazon Athena"},{"name":"AWS CodeBuild"},{"name":"AWS Direct Connect"},{"name":"AWS Directory Service"},{"name":"Amazon DocumentDB"},{"name":"Amazon RDS"},{"name":"Amazon Redshift"},{"name":"Salesforce"},{"name":"Snowflake"},{"name":"AWS Elemental MediaLive"},{"name":"AWS Elemental MediaConnect"},{"name":"AWS Elemental MediaConvert"},{"name":"Amazon CodeGuru Reviewer"},{"name":"AWS Elemental MediaPackage"},{"name":"AWS Elemental MediaTailor"},{"name":"Amazon EMR"},{"name":"Amazon EventBridge"},{"name":"Amazon FSx"},{"name":"AWS Glue DataBrew"},{"name":"AWS Glue Studio"},{"name":"AWS IoT SiteWise"},{"name":"Amazon Kendra"},{"name":"AWS Launch Wizard"},{"name":"Amazon Lookout for Metrics"},{"name":"Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka"},{"name":"Amazon Managed Workflows for Apache Airflow"},{"name":"AWS KMS","native":true},{"name":"AWS IAM","native":true},{"name":"AWS CloudTrail","native":true},{"name":"Amazon CloudWatch","native":true},{"name":"Amazon SNS","native":true},{"name":"AWS Lambda","native":true}]` | `[{"name":"AWS Secrets Manager"},{"name":"HashiCorp Vault"},{"name":"Google Secrets Manager"},{"name":"Azure Key Vault"},{"name":"IBM Cloud Secrets Manager"},{"name":"Akeyless"},{"name":"CyberArk Secrets Manager"},{"name":"Pulumi ESC"},{"name":"1Password"},{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"Google Secret Manager"},{"name":"Yandex Lockbox"},{"name":"Conjur"},{"name":"SecretServer"},{"name":"BeyondTrust"},{"name":"OpenBao"},{"name":"ngrok"},{"name":"Infisical"},{"name":"VolcEngine"},{"name":"AWS Certificate Manager"},{"name":"OpenStack Barbican"},{"name":"Azure AD"},{"name":"Pulumi"},{"name":"Webhook"},{"name":"DVLS"}]` |
| language.primary | - | Go |
| license.spdx | - | Apache-2.0 |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | `{"cli":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"usage","plans":[{"free":false,"name":"Pay-as-you-go","summary":"Pay per secret stored per month and per 10,000 API calls","features":["Rotate secrets automatically","Replicate secrets for disaster recovery","Fine-grained IAM access control","Audit and monitor secret usage","Integration with AWS logging and monitoring services"],"contactSales":false}],"summary":"Usage-based pricing. Free tier available for 6 months with $200 credits for new customers. No upfront costs or contracts.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://aws.amazon.com/secrets-manager/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-01T09:07:13.027Z","billingPeriods":["month"]}` | `{"type":"open_source","summary":"Free, open source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://external-secrets.io/","retrievedAt":"2026-10-15T20:25:43.513Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | low | free |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | - | 2 |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/v2.12.0","date":"2026-10-06T08:44:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.12.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/helm-chart-2.12.0","date":"2026-10-06T11:40:43Z","type":"stable","version":"helm-chart-2.12.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/helm-chart-2.11.0","date":"2026-09-21T12:12:54Z","type":"stable","version":"helm-chart-2.11.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/v2.11.0","date":"2026-09-18T14:38:00Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.11.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/v2.10.0","date":"2026-08-28T11:49:18Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.10.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/helm-chart-2.10.0","date":"2026-08-28T13:09:40Z","type":"stable","version":"helm-chart-2.10.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/helm-chart-2.9.0","date":"2026-08-08T12:43:21Z","type":"stable","version":"helm-chart-2.9.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/v2.9.0","date":"2026-08-07T16:37:22Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.9.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/helm-chart-2.8.0","date":"2026-07-18T16:52:08Z","type":"stable","version":"helm-chart-2.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/v2.8.0","date":"2026-07-18T05:36:33Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/v2.7.0","date":"2026-06-26T12:05:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/helm-chart-2.7.0","date":"2026-06-26T13:35:17Z","type":"stable","version":"helm-chart-2.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/helm-chart-2.6.0","date":"2026-06-07T06:20:46Z","type":"stable","version":"helm-chart-2.6.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/v2.6.0","date":"2026-06-05T17:56:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.6.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/v2.5.0","date":"2026-05-15T12:27:05Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.5.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/helm-chart-2.5.0","date":"2026-05-15T13:06:51Z","type":"stable","version":"helm-chart-2.5.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/v2.4.1","date":"2026-04-28T10:26:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.4.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/helm-chart-2.4.1","date":"2026-04-28T11:07:11Z","type":"stable","version":"helm-chart-2.4.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/v2.4.0","date":"2026-04-24T15:15:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.4.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/helm-chart-2.4.0","date":"2026-04-24T18:43:56Z","type":"stable","version":"helm-chart-2.4.0"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | - |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.fedramp | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.hipaa | yes | - |
| security.iso27001 | yes | - |
| security.pci | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | - | 8.2 |
| security.soc2 | yes | - |
| security.trust_center | https://aws.amazon.com/compliance/ | - |
| security.vulnerabilities | - | `{"count":6,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fexternal-secrets%2Fexternal-secrets&per_page=100","last_12m":4,"max_severity":"CRITICAL"}` |

## Capabilities (Secrets Management Tools)

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

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T19:18:05.729Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*