AWS Secrets Manager is a commercial secrets management solution by Amazon Web Services, Inc. AWS Vault is a free secrets management solution. Features, integrations, deployment and the company behind each one, side by side.
A fully managed service that securely stores, rotates, and manages sensitive data such as database credentials and API keys.
AWS Vault securely stores AWS IAM credentials in the operating system's keystore and generates temporary credentials for development environments.
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Based on what each listing shows: deployment, company size, price and open source.
AWS Secrets Manager fits if you want a cloud product.
AWS Vault fits if you need to run it on your own servers, you need a free product and you want an open-source product.
Common questions when comparing AWS Secrets Manager vs AWS Vault for secrets management.
AWS Secrets Manager: A fully managed service that securely stores, rotates, and manages sensitive data such as database credentials and API keys, built by Amazon Web Services, Inc.
AWS Vault: AWS Vault securely stores AWS IAM credentials in the operating system's keystore and generates temporary credentials for development environments.
The table above shows where their features, integrations, deployment and company size fit differ.
AWS Secrets Manager is made by Amazon Web Services, Inc. AWS Vault is open-source with 8,960 GitHub stars. The vendor behind a product decides its roadmap, support, and longevity, so check each company's profile before you commit.
Often, yes. AWS Secrets Manager and AWS Vault are both Secrets Management products, and both cover AWS. Key differences: AWS Secrets Manager is Commercial while AWS Vault is Free, AWS Vault is open-source. Use the table above to see where features, deployment and company size fit differ.
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Updated 2026-11-02
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