# Akeyless vs External Secrets Operator

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Akeyless

| Attribute | Akeyless | External Secrets Operator |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 66.7 (73% (medium)) | 55 (42% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 70 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | - | 5 |
| adoption.github_stars | - | 6,808 |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A cloud-native SaaS platform that manages secrets and machine identities across environments, enabling organizations to use short-lived ephemeral credentials instead of static secrets for secure access. | 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 | `{"pki_ca":true,"hosting":"both","tool_type":"store","hsm_support":true,"audit_logging":true,"fips_validated":true,"dynamic_secrets":true,"secret_rotation":true,"kubernetes_native":true,"fine_grained_policy":true,"encryption_as_a_service":true}` | `{"hosting":"both","tool_type":"sync_inject","open_source_core":true,"kubernetes_native":true,"fine_grained_policy":true}` |
| integrations.count | 6 | 8 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"AWS Secret Manager"},{"name":"Azure Key Vault"},{"name":"GCP Secret Manager"},{"name":"Kubernetes Secrets"},{"name":"HashiCorp Vault"},{"name":"Kubernetes Secrets Store CSI Driver"}]` | `[{"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"}]` |
| language.primary | - | Go |
| license.spdx | - | Apache-2.0 |
| platform.support | `{"web":true}` | `{"cli":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"subscription","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.akeyless.io/pricing/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-13T23:06:41.300Z","billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` | `{"type":"open_source","sourceUrl":"https://external-secrets.io/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T12:14:24.415Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | low | free |
| pricing.transparent | no | yes |
| release.cadence_days | - | 1 |
| release.history | - | `[{"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"},{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/v2.3.0","date":"2026-04-10T12:31:07Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/helm-chart-2.3.0","date":"2026-04-10T14:45:52Z","type":"stable","version":"helm-chart-2.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/v2.2.0","date":"2026-03-20T13:59:17Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/helm-chart-2.2.0","date":"2026-03-20T16:41:33Z","type":"stable","version":"helm-chart-2.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/helm-chart-2.1.0","date":"2026-03-07T17:36:39Z","type":"stable","version":"helm-chart-2.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/v2.1.0","date":"2026-03-06T17:43:29Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.1.0"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.iso27001 | yes | - |
| security.pci | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | - | 8.2 |
| security.soc2 | yes | - |
| security.vulnerabilities | - | `{"count":5,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fexternal-secrets%2Fexternal-secrets&per_page=100","last_12m":3,"max_severity":"CRITICAL"}` |

## Capabilities (Secrets Management Tools)

| Capability | Akeyless | External Secrets Operator |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Tool type | Secret store / engine | Sync / injection |
| Dynamic (short-lived) secrets | ✓ | - |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Cloud + self-hosted | 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: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T16:48:05.125Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*