CipherStash Protect vs PHP Encryption: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)
Features, pricing, ratings, and pros & cons — compared head-to-head.
CipherStash Protect is a commercial database security tool by CipherStash. PHP Encryption is a free database security tool. 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:
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.
Development teams building PHP applications that handle sensitive data will find PHP Encryption invaluable for reducing cryptographic implementation mistakes; the library abstracts away key management complexity that consistently trips up junior developers. With 3,873 GitHub stars and active maintenance, it's proven in production environments where encryption is table stakes but cryptographic expertise is scarce. Skip this if your team already has dedicated security engineers comfortable writing their own encryption primitives or if you need hardware security module integration; PHP Encryption prioritizes simplicity over HSM workflows.
