Passbolt review
A strong fit for self-hosted teams that need shared credentials and administration.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Passbolt is an open-source password and credential manager for teams, with a particular fit for security-conscious IT, engineering, and DevOps organizations. It centralizes passwords, passphrases, TOTP codes, secure notes, and other credentials, then supports secure sharing with users and groups. The product is available as self-hosted software and Passbolt Cloud, with web, mobile, browser extension, Windows desktop, API, CLI, and SDK access. End-to-end encryption uses public-private key cryptography, while user and group management, role-based access control, password policies, and activity tracking support team administration.
The plan structure gives smaller or self-hosting teams a meaningful free entry point. Community Edition costs $0 and includes unlimited users, open-source AGPLv3 licensing, password management and sharing, private and shared folders, administration, browser extensions, and CLI access. Pro Edition costs $4.90 per user per month when billed annually, requires at least 10 users, and adds LDAP provisioning, Microsoft, Google, and OpenID single sign-on, account recovery, activity logs, and a VM appliance. Cloud Business costs $5.40 per user per month monthly, while Cloud Sovereign costs $8 per user per month annually; both require 10 users. Enterprise options use custom pricing and add consulting, support, monitoring, or custom cloud controls.
Passbolt stands out when credential sharing, organizational control, and deployment choice matter more than consumer passwordless features. LDAP/Active Directory, SCIM, SSO, APIs, CLI tooling, SDKs, and SIEM integration support broader IT workflows, while cloud hosting locations and sovereign options provide additional deployment choices. The main limitation is that passkey authentication and passkey storage are not available, and the vendor documents a required passphrase and private key for login. Teams seeking open-source control, detailed administration, and shared credentials should consider Passbolt; teams prioritizing passkeys or family sharing should choose an alternative.
Passbolt pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Open source with a free Community Edition and unlimited users
- Secure sharing, folders, groups, roles, audit logs, and credential management
- Self-hosted and cloud options with LDAP, SCIM, SSO, API, and CLI access
- Where it doesn't
- Passkey authentication and storage are not available
- Pro Edition requires a minimum of 10 users
- Advanced cloud and enterprise capabilities use paid or custom pricing
Passbolt fact sheet, pricing and score →
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