# External Secrets Operator vs HashiCorp Vault

**Leader by Vioscale score:** HashiCorp Vault

| Attribute | External Secrets Operator | HashiCorp Vault |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 55 (42% (low)) | 67.9 (75% (high)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 70 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 5 | 8,444 |
| adoption.github_stars | 6,808 | 36,179 |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | 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. | Provides secure secret storage, dynamic credential generation, encryption services, and fine-grained access control with detailed audit logging for applications and infrastructure. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"both","tool_type":"sync_inject","open_source_core":true,"kubernetes_native":true,"fine_grained_policy":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}` |
| integrations.count | 8 | 5 |
| integrations.list | `[{"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":"AWS"},{"name":"SQL databases"},{"name":"Consul"},{"name":"OCI"},{"name":"Okta"}]` |
| language.primary | Go | Go |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | - |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","sourceUrl":"https://external-secrets.io/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T12:14:24.415Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.vaultproject.io/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T15:24:58.948Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 1 | 16 |
| 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"}]` | `[{"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/hashicorp/vault/releases/tag/v1.20.0-rc1","date":"2025-06-12T00:00:34Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.20.0-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/hashicorp/vault/releases/tag/v1.19.5","date":"2025-05-29T22:59:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.19.5"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.iso27001 | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 8.2 | 6.5 |
| 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"}` | `{"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}` |

## Capabilities (Secrets Management Tools)

| Capability | External Secrets Operator | HashiCorp Vault |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Tool type | Sync / injection | Secret store / engine |
| 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 2026-09-01T14:59:59.823Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*