Background

VAULTWARDEN VS KEEPER

You could save up to
$4,800/year on password
management.

VAULTWARDEN · SELF-HOSTED

$0

Unlimited users, all premium features
~30MB RAM, runs on a Raspberry Pi

KEEPER · BUSINESS

$4

Billed annually · add-ons extra
Starter $2 · Enterprise $6

But, should you?

Vaultwarden is a lightweight, Rust-based server compatible with the official Bitwarden client apps. It runs
as a single Docker container on about 30MB of RAM and unlocks every premium Bitwarden feature for free:
TOTP, vault health reports, organization sharing, and secure file attachments. Your encrypted vault stays on
your hardware.

THE ADD-ON COST TRAP

Keeper has 3 tiers and paid add-ons. Vaultwarden
includes everything.

Keeper's free setup is generous for basic tracking. But TOTP, secure sharing, vault health reports, advanced reporting, and secrets management are
locked behind paid tiers and recurring add-ons that quietly stack up. Vaultwarden self-hosted unlocks every premium feature on day one.

Feature Vaultwarden Starter Business Enterprise
Password vault ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Secure sharing ✓ × ✓ ✓
TOTP authenticator ✓ × ✓ ✓
Vault health reports ✓ × × ✓
SSO / SAML / SCIM ✓ × × ✓
Advanced reporting ✓ × × ✓
Dark web monitoring ✓ × × ✓
Secrets management ✓ × × ×
Secure file storage ✓ × × ✓

Source: Keeper pricing & Vaultwarden documentation. Keeper Business limits free setup; Vaultwarden includes all at $0.

Your team's growth should not increase your password manager bill. Vaultwarden stays at $0 whether you have 100 users or 100,000.

Your passwords belong on
servers you control.

Cost & value

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Vaultwarden is an unofficial, open-source Bitwarden-compatible server with no per-seat software charge; hosting and administration are not free. Keeper publishes consumer and business subscriptions, with features and add-ons varying by plan.

Source: Vaultwarden README · Vaultwarden license · Keeper business pricing

100 35

Data ownership

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Vaultwarden stores its server-side data in infrastructure chosen by the operator. Keeper is a managed zero-knowledge cloud service and documents its encryption model and hosting environment; plaintext vault data is designed to remain inaccessible to Keeper.

Source: Vaultwarden data folder · Keeper security architecture

100 20

Self-hosting

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Vaultwarden supports containerized self-hosting. Keeper documents a SaaS architecture rather than a customer-hosted Keeper server; customers can use components such as gateways and connectors within their environment.

Source: Vaultwarden container installation · Keeper architecture

100 0

Resource efficiency

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Vaultwarden is written in Rust and targets resource-constrained self-hosting, including Raspberry Pi-class systems. Exact RAM use varies by users, database, attachments, and traffic, so the unsupported "about 30 MB" figure has been removed.

Source: Vaultwarden README · Vaultwarden deployment examples

100 30

Premium features (free)

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Vaultwarden implements many Bitwarden-compatible premium and organization functions without per-feature licensing, but it is not an official Bitwarden server and compatibility can vary. Keeper bundles or sells capabilities according to its current plan matrix.

Source: Vaultwarden feature notes · Keeper business pricing and features

95 50

Enterprise compliance

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Keeper publishes independent certifications and authorization information for its managed service. Vaultwarden is a community project and does not itself confer SOC, HIPAA, or FedRAMP status; a self-hoster must establish controls for the full deployment.

Source: Keeper certifications · Keeper FedRAMP · Vaultwarden security policy

30 95

Official support & SLA

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Keeper offers vendor support with plan-dependent channels. Vaultwarden support is community-based through its documentation, discussions, and issue tracker; there is no project-backed commercial SLA.

Source: Keeper support · Vaultwarden discussions · Vaultwarden issues

15 95

Managed reliability

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Keeper operates the hosted service and publishes status information. Vaultwarden availability is the deployer's responsibility. The original 99.99% contractual SLA claim was removed because the cited trust page did not establish a universal SLA for every plan.

Source: Keeper service status · Vaultwarden backup guidance

20 95

Vaultwarden

Keeper

Why you might stay with Keeper

Keeper offers polished enterprise features out of the box. Managed deployment, certifications, and centralized policy control come standard on paid tiers.

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Enterprise compliance certifications

Keeper maintains SOC 2 attestations and ISO 27001, 27017
and 27018 certifications. It supports HIPAA compliance, while its authorized government offering meets FedRAMP High and FIPS 140-3 requirements.

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Commercial support and customer success

Keeper provides formal support channels and customer-success
assistance for business customers. Availability, response times and dedicated coverage depend on the purchased plan and agreement.

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Fast cloud deployment

Deploy without operating password-vault servers or databases.
Administrators can provision users through invitations, SSO, SCIM, Active Directory and other supported integrations.

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Centralized administration and oversight

Manage users, teams, roles and security policies from one console, with reporting and auditing tools that help administrators monitor adoption and organizational risk.

Why switch to Vaultwarden

Some things are priceless.

Piggy Bank icon

Run it for almost nothing

Host Vaultwarden on affordable hardware you already own or a low-cost server. There's no expensive infrastructure or mandatory hosted service.

Vault icon

Passwords, under your control

Keep encrypted vault data on infrastructure you choose, with no required third-party cloud.

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No billing surprises

Add more users without increasing license costs. Advanced capabilities aren't split across confusing tiers or recurring add-ons, so your costs remain simple and predictable.

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Essential tools included

Get authenticator codes, secure sharing, file attachments, reports, and emergency access without buying multiple upgrades.

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Use familiar Bitwarden apps

Keep using polished browser extensions and mobile and desktop apps, so switching requires little or no retraining.

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No vendor lock-in

Control where the service runs, when it is updated, and how it is backed up, without depending on one provider's platform or pricing decisions.

Your 100th employee
should cost $0 more
in password
management.

Keeper Business charges $4/user/month. At 100 users, that is
$400/month for a password vault. Add Enterprise
features and paid add-ons, and the real cost climbs to
$8 to $10 per user. Vaultwarden self-hosted stays at $0
regardless of team size.

Keeper $400/mo at 100 users
$500 $375 $250 $125 $0
5 seats Keeper Business — $20/mo Vaultwarden — $0/mo
10 seats Keeper Business — $40/mo Vaultwarden — $0/mo
25 seats Keeper Business — $100/mo Vaultwarden — $0/mo
50 seats Keeper Business — $200/mo Vaultwarden — $0/mo
100 seats Keeper Business — $400/mo Vaultwarden — $0/mo
5 10 25 50 100

users

Vaultwarden Keeper Business

Ready to own your password vault?

Open source. Every feature from day one.

Vaultwarden icon

Option 1

Host Vaultwarden

Run Vaultwarden on hardware or a server you already have. Get
unlimited users and core password-management features
with no per-user license fee.

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Option 2

Self-host with Docker

Deploy Vaultwarden on your server in under 30 minutes. Single
Docker container, ~30MB RAM. Works with all official
Bitwarden clients out of the box.

RECOMMENDED FxP icon

Option 3

Lower your SaaS spend

Tell us what your business needs.
Our team will recommend the right solution and help you get started.