this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2023
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I've always hated the idea of using a subscription/cloud hosting for password management. I feel like I should have a LOT more control over that stuff and I don't really want to hand all my keys over to a company.

All my secrets have been going in a highly encrypted archive with a long passphrase, but obviously that isn't convenient on all devices. It's been fine, I can open it on any computer but it's not super quick. It does have the advantage of being able to put in multiple files, notes, private keys but it's not ideal.

Anyway, finally found something that isn't subscription, and has a similar philosophy - a highly encrypted archive file, and it's open source and has heaps of clients including web browser plugins so it's usable anywhere, and you can sync the vault with any file sync you like.

Thought you guys might appreciate the find, password managers have always been a bit of a catch 22 for me.

Note for android i found keepassxc the best app, and i'm using KeePassHelper browser plugin, and the KeePassXc desktop app as well as the free official one. Apps all seem to be cross platform.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (15 children)

Are there users that have tried both Keepass and Vaultwarden? I enjoy using Vaultwarden on my Synology but I wonder if it's worth switching to Keepass.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (13 children)

I have both set up right now.

Things I like better about KeePass:

KeePass doesn't use the cloud, you don't have to worry about the server getting compromised or going down because there's nothing public-facing to hack. You always know where your password database is.

KeePass lets you encrypt the database with not only the master password but also using the challenge-response from a YubiKey. That means every time you save your DB the encryption key is rotated and the DB is actually encrypted by two authentication factors.

While both can add custom fields to an entry, I like that KeePass has the option to set fields as protected so their contents are hidden like the passwords.

Things I like better about VaultWarden:

Convenience.

You can log in to your VaultWarden account on any device from the browser. KeePass requires some software to access the DB.

The VaultWarden companion software is just better. It just does autofill better. KeePassXC/DX work well but just not as well as the BitWarden software.

Other thoughts:

Syncing passwords between devices with KeePass requires 3rd party software like SyncThing. If you break/lose/etc your VaultWarden server you could lose all your passwords with it.

Always make/test backups.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

I like that KeePass has the option to set fields as protected

Vaultwarden can do that, though its quite stiff in some aspects like folders.. subfolders? nonexistant..

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ah, I couldn't find that option.

I can add custom fields to an entry but I can't designate them as "protected"

Of course I also thought at first that you couldn't attach files but I guess you can, they just didn't seem to transfer over from my KeePass DB

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The interface is weird and unintuitive at times..
I have a dropdown menu at the button "New custom field" and can select "Hidden".

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Oooh thank you!

Can't believe I missed that

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