# AWS Secrets Manager vs OpenBao

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

| Attribute | AWS Secrets Manager | OpenBao |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 77.6 (72% (medium)) | 55.1 (42% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | - | 0 |
| adoption.github_stars | - | 8,417 |
| 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":"A centralized system for storing and managing sensitive data like API keys and database credentials, with automatic credential generation for external systems, automatic expiration after a set lease period, and identity-based access controls. It is indexed under Secrets Management Tools.","source":"https://openbao.org/","question":"What is OpenBao?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"OpenBao is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the MPL-2.0 licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://openbao.org/","question":"Is OpenBao free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"OpenBao supports Windows, Linux and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://openbao.org/","question":"What platforms does OpenBao support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. OpenBao can be deployed on-premise and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://openbao.org/","question":"Can OpenBao be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 7 integrations for OpenBao, including Kubernetes, PostgreSQL, AWS, S3, Flux, SOPS and Cosign. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://openbao.org/","question":"What does OpenBao integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. OpenBao is published under the MPL-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/openbao/openbao","question":"Is OpenBao open source?","confidence":0.95}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"on_prem":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. | A centralized system for storing and managing sensitive data like API keys and database credentials, with automatic credential generation for external systems, automatic expiration after a set lease period, and identity-based access controls. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"cloud","tool_type":"store","audit_logging":true,"fips_validated":true,"secret_rotation":true,"fine_grained_policy":true}` | `{"pki_ca":true,"hosting":"both","tool_type":"store","cncf_project":"none","audit_logging":true,"dynamic_secrets":true,"secret_rotation":true,"open_source_core":true,"kubernetes_native":true,"fine_grained_policy":true,"encryption_as_a_service":true}` |
| integrations.count | 30 | 5 |
| 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":"Kubernetes"},{"name":"PostgreSQL"},{"name":"AWS"},{"name":"S3"},{"name":"Flux"},{"name":"SOPS"},{"name":"Cosign"},{"name":"Azure KeyVault","native":true},{"name":"LDAP","native":true},{"name":"Kerberos","native":true}]` |
| language.primary | - | Go |
| license.spdx | - | MPL-2.0 |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | `{"cli":true,"linux":true,"windows":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","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://openbao.org/","retrievedAt":"2026-10-13T15:09:17.746Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | low | free |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | - | 21 |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/openbao/openbao/releases/tag/v2.7.1","date":"2026-10-01T14:03:19Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.7.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/openbao/openbao/releases/tag/v2.6.4","date":"2026-10-01T13:59:14Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.6.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/openbao/openbao/releases/tag/v2.7.0","date":"2026-09-23T17:39:54Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/openbao/openbao/releases/tag/v2.6.3","date":"2026-09-23T17:06:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.6.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/openbao/openbao/releases/tag/v2.7.0-beta20260909","date":"2026-09-09T12:58:28Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.7.0-beta20260909"},{"url":"https://github.com/openbao/openbao/releases/tag/v2.6.2","date":"2026-08-18T16:21:00Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.6.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/openbao/openbao/releases/tag/v2.6.1","date":"2026-07-22T14:37:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.6.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/openbao/openbao/releases/tag/v2.6.0","date":"2026-07-14T17:06:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.6.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/openbao/openbao/releases/tag/v2.6.0-beta20260622","date":"2026-06-22T19:58:29Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.6.0-beta20260622"},{"url":"https://github.com/openbao/openbao/releases/tag/v2.5.5","date":"2026-06-17T11:27:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.5.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/openbao/openbao/releases/tag/v2.5.4","date":"2026-05-20T16:15:07Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.5.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/openbao/openbao/releases/tag/v2.5.3","date":"2026-04-20T19:35:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.5.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/openbao/openbao/releases/tag/v2.5.2","date":"2026-03-25T16:23:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.5.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/openbao/openbao/releases/tag/v2.5.1","date":"2026-02-23T17:34:23Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.5.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/openbao/openbao/releases/tag/v2.5.0","date":"2026-02-04T16:26:04Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.5.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/openbao/openbao/releases/tag/v2.5.0-beta20251125","date":"2025-11-25T19:36:21Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.5.0-beta20251125"},{"url":"https://github.com/openbao/openbao/releases/tag/v2.4.4","date":"2025-11-24T20:01:19Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.4.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/openbao/openbao/releases/tag/v2.4.3","date":"2025-10-22T20:27:25Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.4.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/openbao/openbao/releases/tag/v2.4.1","date":"2025-09-11T20:32:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.4.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/openbao/openbao/releases/tag/v2.4.0","date":"2025-08-28T20:39:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.4.0"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.fedramp | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.hipaa | yes | - |
| security.iso27001 | yes | - |
| security.pci | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | - | 8.6 |
| security.soc2 | yes | - |
| security.trust_center | https://aws.amazon.com/compliance/ | - |
| security.vulnerabilities | - | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fopenbao%2Fopenbao%2Fapi%2Fauth%2Fgcp&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Secrets Management Tools)

| Capability | AWS Secrets Manager | OpenBao |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Tool type | Secret store / engine | Secret store / engine |
| 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 | - | None |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T18:32:08.598Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*