Akeyless vs AWS Secrets Manager

Akeyless9.4Visit AWS Secrets Manager8.3Visit

Higher score Akeyless #1 in Secrets Management Tools 9.4/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 5 of 5 features Visit Akeyless

vs

AWS Secrets Manager #12 in Secrets Management Tools 8.3/10 Paid ✓ 4 of 5 features Visit site

• Akeyless fits best

  Broad hybrid secret-management deployments

• AWS Secrets Manager fits best

  AWS-native applications

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Side by side

Feature	Akeyless 9.4/10 Visit ↗	AWS Secrets Manager 8.3/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.4	8.3
Ranking	#1 in Secrets Management Tools	#12 in Secrets Management Tools
Best for	Broad hybrid secret-management deployments	AWS-native applications
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Paid
Starting price	—	$0.40/unit/mo
Free plan	✓ (best)	—
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted	Cloud
Platforms	Web, Linux	Web
Support	Email · 24/7	Docs
Compliance	SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS	SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, PCI DSS
Integrations	13 integrations	12 integrations
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Akeyless 5/5 · AWS Secrets Manager 4/5
Secret rotation	✓	✓
Dynamic secrets	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
CI/CD injection	✓	✓
Kubernetes integration	✓	✓
Audit logs	✓	✓
Specs
Deployment model	Both	Cloud
Free secret limit	500 secrets	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Free plan includes up to 500 static secrets Supports dynamic secrets, rotation, audit logs, and access controls Works across CI/CD, Kubernetes, cloud, and private environments	Automatic scheduled or on-demand secret rotation IAM access control with KMS-encrypted storage CodeBuild injection and Amazon EKS secret mounting
Cons	Enterprise pricing requires contacting sales Free plan retains audit logs for 3 days Free plan allows up to 5 dynamic secrets	Cloud-only deployment model No permanent free plan No verified dynamic secrets capability
Our verdict	Akeyless is a cloud-native secrets management platform for DevOps teams and enterprises managing applications, workloads, and identities. It centralizes static secrets, credentials, certificates, and keys, while also supporting dynamic… Read the review →	AWS Secrets Manager is a managed cloud service for storing, retrieving, controlling access to, and rotating database credentials, application credentials, OAuth tokens, API keys, and other secrets. It is designed for teams running… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Akeyless — where it wins

  • Free plan includes up to 500 static secrets
  • Supports dynamic secrets, rotation, audit logs, and access controls
  • Works across CI/CD, Kubernetes, cloud, and private environments

  Where it doesn't

  • Enterprise pricing requires contacting sales
  • Free plan retains audit logs for 3 days
  • Free plan allows up to 5 dynamic secrets

• AWS Secrets Manager — where it wins

  • Automatic scheduled or on-demand secret rotation
  • IAM access control with KMS-encrypted storage
  • CodeBuild injection and Amazon EKS secret mounting

  Where it doesn't

  • Cloud-only deployment model
  • No permanent free plan
  • No verified dynamic secrets capability

• Akeyless9.4/10 · Free plan

  A broad hybrid secrets platform with a capable free tier and enterprise controls.

  Visit AkeylessFull verdict →
• AWS Secrets Manager8.3/10 · Paid

  A managed AWS service for storing, rotating, auditing, and delivering application secrets.

  Visit siteFull verdict →