# HashiCorp Vault vs SOPS

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** HashiCorp Vault

| Attribute | HashiCorp Vault | SOPS |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 69.9 (73% (medium)) | 45.4 (35% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 100 | 21 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 8,444 | 0 |
| adoption.github_stars | 36,339 | 23,376 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"Provides secure secret storage, dynamic credential generation, encryption services, and fine-grained access control with detailed audit logging for applications and infrastructure. It is indexed under Secrets Management Tools.","source":"https://www.vaultproject.io/","question":"What is HashiCorp Vault?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"HashiCorp Vault is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://www.vaultproject.io/","question":"Is HashiCorp Vault free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"HashiCorp Vault supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://www.vaultproject.io/","question":"What platforms does HashiCorp Vault support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. HashiCorp Vault can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://www.vaultproject.io/","question":"Can HashiCorp Vault be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 5 integrations for HashiCorp Vault, including AWS, SQL databases, Consul, OCI and Okta. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.vaultproject.io/","question":"What does HashiCorp Vault integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2, ISO 27001 and GDPR for HashiCorp Vault. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as HashiCorp Vault not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://www.vaultproject.io/security","question":"What security certifications does HashiCorp Vault have?","confidence":0.6}]` | `[{"answer":"A configuration encryption tool that encrypts sensitive values and comments while keeping keys and file structure readable, supporting multiple formats and key management methods. It is indexed under Secrets Management Tools.","source":"https://getsops.io/","question":"What is SOPS?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"SOPS 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://getsops.io/","question":"Is SOPS free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"SOPS supports Linux and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://getsops.io/","question":"What platforms does SOPS support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. SOPS can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://getsops.io/","question":"Can SOPS be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 9 integrations for SOPS, including AWS KMS, Google Cloud KMS, Azure KMS, HuaweiCloud KMS, HashiCorp Vault, OpenBAO, Age and PGP, plus 1 more. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://getsops.io/","question":"What does SOPS integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. SOPS 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/getsops/sops","question":"Is SOPS open source?","confidence":0.95}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A system for securely storing and controlling access to secrets like credentials, API keys, and certificates. It generates temporary credentials on-demand, automatically revokes expired secrets, and provides encryption without persistent storage, enabling applications to access secrets through a unified interface with comprehensive audit logging. | A tool for encrypting and managing secrets stored in YAML, JSON, ENV, INI, and binary files, with support for multiple encryption backends including AWS KMS, Google Cloud KMS, Azure Key Vault, and PGP. |
| features.capabilities | `{"pki_ca":true,"hosting":"both","tool_type":"store","hsm_support":true,"audit_logging":true,"dynamic_secrets":true,"secret_rotation":true,"open_source_core":true,"fine_grained_policy":true,"encryption_as_a_service":true}` | `{"hosting":"self","tool_type":"store","cncf_project":"sandbox","open_source_core":true,"fine_grained_policy":true,"encryption_as_a_service":true}` |
| integrations.count | 9 | 6 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"AWS"},{"name":"SQL databases"},{"name":"Consul"},{"name":"OCI"},{"name":"Okta"},{"name":"Azure","native":true,"category":"cloud"},{"name":"GCP","native":true,"category":"cloud"},{"name":"Oracle Cloud","native":true,"category":"cloud"},{"name":"Nomad","native":true,"category":"orchestration"},{"name":"LDAP","native":true,"category":"directory"},{"name":"OpenLDAP","native":true,"category":"directory"},{"name":"Duo","native":true,"category":"mfa"},{"name":"GCP Secret Manager","native":true,"category":"cloud"}]` | `[{"name":"AWS KMS"},{"name":"Google Cloud KMS"},{"name":"Azure KMS"},{"name":"HuaweiCloud KMS"},{"name":"HashiCorp Vault"},{"name":"OpenBAO"},{"name":"Age"},{"name":"PGP"},{"name":"GnuPG"},{"name":"GCP KMS"},{"name":"Azure Key Vault"}]` |
| language.primary | Go | Go |
| license.spdx | - | MPL-2.0 |
| platform.support | `{"web":true}` | `{"cli":true,"linux":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.vaultproject.io/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T15:24:58.948Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","summary":"Open source and free","sourceUrl":"https://getsops.io/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-05T13:27:57.622Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 22 | 44 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/vault/releases/tag/v2.1.1","date":"2026-09-16T21:04:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.1.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/vault/releases/tag/v2.1.0","date":"2026-09-01T14:37:47Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/vault/releases/tag/v2.0.4","date":"2026-08-04T18:34:44Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.0.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/vault/releases/tag/v2.0.3","date":"2026-06-17T20:23:38Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.0.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/vault/releases/tag/v2.0.2","date":"2026-06-05T16:26:07Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.0.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/vault/releases/tag/v2.0.1","date":"2026-05-19T20:57:55Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/vault/releases/tag/v2.0.0","date":"2026-04-14T20:07:04Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/vault/releases/tag/v2.0.0-rc1","date":"2026-04-03T03:01:53Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.0.0-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/vault/releases/tag/v1.21.4","date":"2026-03-05T06:37:01Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.21.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/vault/releases/tag/v1.21.3","date":"2026-03-04T22:47:38Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.21.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/vault/releases/tag/v1.21.2","date":"2026-01-07T18:09:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.21.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/vault/releases/tag/v1.21.1","date":"2025-11-19T17:36:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.21.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/vault/releases/tag/v1.21.0","date":"2025-10-22T20:29:23Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.21.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/vault/releases/tag/v1.21.0-rc1","date":"2025-10-10T00:53:48Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.21.0-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/vault/releases/tag/v1.20.4","date":"2025-09-24T20:43:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.20.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/vault/releases/tag/v1.20.3","date":"2025-08-28T18:21:23Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.20.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/vault/releases/tag/v1.20.2","date":"2025-08-06T04:09:48Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.20.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/vault/releases/tag/v1.20.1","date":"2025-07-24T20:10:34Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.20.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/vault/releases/tag/v1.20.0","date":"2025-06-25T13:57:41Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.20.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/vault/releases/tag/v1.20.0-rc2","date":"2025-06-17T20:20:54Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.20.0-rc2"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/getsops/sops/releases/tag/v3.13.3","date":"2026-07-23T05:27:57Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.13.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/getsops/sops/releases/tag/v3.13.2","date":"2026-06-30T05:17:22Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.13.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/getsops/sops/releases/tag/v3.13.1","date":"2026-05-16T14:32:59Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.13.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/getsops/sops/releases/tag/v3.13.0","date":"2026-05-08T18:10:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.13.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/getsops/sops/releases/tag/v3.12.2","date":"2026-03-18T06:11:11Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.12.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/getsops/sops/releases/tag/v3.12.1","date":"2026-02-22T07:45:09Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.12.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/getsops/sops/releases/tag/v3.11.0","date":"2025-09-28T18:28:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.11.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/getsops/sops/releases/tag/v3.10.2","date":"2025-04-14T19:17:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.10.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/getsops/sops/releases/tag/v3.10.1","date":"2025-03-31T18:13:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.10.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/getsops/sops/releases/tag/v3.10.0","date":"2025-03-30T17:31:26Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.10.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/getsops/sops/releases/tag/v3.9.4","date":"2025-01-25T19:46:43Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.9.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/getsops/sops/releases/tag/v3.9.3","date":"2024-12-31T12:54:35Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.9.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/getsops/sops/releases/tag/v3.9.2","date":"2024-12-02T20:21:48Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.9.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/getsops/sops/releases/tag/v3.9.1","date":"2024-10-04T05:14:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.9.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/getsops/sops/releases/tag/v3.9.0","date":"2024-06-28T06:14:47Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.9.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/getsops/sops/releases/tag/v3.8.1","date":"2023-10-11T15:25:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.8.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/getsops/sops/releases/tag/v3.8.0","date":"2023-09-15T13:52:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/getsops/sops/releases/tag/v3.8.0-rc.1","date":"2023-08-25T11:33:42Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v3.8.0-rc.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/getsops/sops/releases/tag/v3.7.3","date":"2022-05-09T17:37:50Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.7.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/getsops/sops/releases/tag/v3.7.2","date":"2022-03-09T19:26:40Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.7.2"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | - |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.iso27001 | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | 6.5 | - |
| security.soc2 | yes | - |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fhashicorp%2Fvault%2Fapi&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fgetsops%2Fsops%2Fv3%2Fstores&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Secrets Management Tools)

| Capability | HashiCorp Vault | SOPS |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Tool type | Secret store / engine | Secret store / engine |
| Dynamic (short-lived) secrets | ✓ | - |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Cloud + self-hosted | Self-hosted only |
| **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 | - | Sandbox |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T20:59:21.616Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*