BitLocker vs CipherStash Protect: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)
Features, pricing, ratings, and pros & cons — compared head-to-head.
BitLocker is a free database security tool. CipherStash Protect is a commercial database security tool by CipherStash. Compare features, ratings, integrations, and community reviews side by side to find the best database security fit for your security stack.
CST VerdictBased on our analysis of NIST CSF 2.0 coverage, core features, integrations, company size fit, here is our conclusion:
Windows-first IT and security teams with limited budgets should start with BitLocker because it's built into the OS and requires zero additional licensing, making full-disk encryption a genuine free control rather than a vendor upsell. It's included in Windows Pro and Enterprise editions, ships with Group Policy management for domain-joined environments, and meets NIST Govern requirements for encryption at rest without adding tooling complexity. Skip this if your fleet is multi-OS, your devices aren't domain-joined, or you need endpoint detection and response layered on top; BitLocker is encryption only, not a monitoring tool.
Startups and SMBs handling sensitive customer data in PostgreSQL will find real value in CipherStash Protect's field-level searchable encryption, which lets you query encrypted columns without decrypting them server-side. The zero-knowledge key management model with one unique data key per value and immutable audit trails maps directly to NIST PR.DS and PR.AA requirements without requiring you to build that infrastructure yourself. Skip this if your schema is heavily relational with complex joins across encrypted columns, or if you need encryption at rest without application-layer involvement; CipherStash is a developer tool that demands TypeScript integration, not a drop-in database wrapper.
