# KeePass 100 Hacker News commenters recommended KeePass and 32 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 10 years (10 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Recommended as a free, long-lived password manager that stores everything in one encrypted local file you control and sync however you like, though syncing and browser autofill can be rough. ## Why people recommend it - Just an encrypted local file (7 comments): "KeePass in particular can be synced using server-free methods, keeping everything on-device, strongly encrypted" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48734646)) "I've managed to avoid several security breaches in last 5 years alone by using KeePass locally on my own infra." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47876963)) "I use it and have copies of the encrypted db on every device of mine, plus the client to access the passwords." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46255030)) - Sync via your own storage (5 comments): "I keep my KeePass database on NextCloud, and the only difference between home and phone is that on a bad network I may need a few seconds" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48225676)) "I use Keepass and the free tier of Dropbox, to keep my passwords strong and available across multiple devices." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49757253)) "Immich and Syncthing+Keepass have worked as well as or better than their proprietary equivalents" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46184151)) - Reliable for a decade or more (6 comments): "It's worked great for me so far, and I expect to stay with this setup for the foreseeable future." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49969950)) "The original version of Keepass 1.0 for Windows was released long before Lastpass or 1Password" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49012379)) "Anyone not already using KeePass (or KeePassXC) has been doing it wrong for at least a decade." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48225275)) - Avoids cloud password manager breaches (3 comments): "I've managed to avoid several security breaches in last 5 years alone by using KeePass locally on my own infra." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47876963)) "we are prioritizing “can’t” over “won’t” in terms of provider access to our credentials" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48679302)) "I haven't heard of massive security breaches like many online password manager had." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50034959)) ## What people warn about - Sync and sharing cause corruption (6 comments): "The whole reason I moved to 1Password was to get away from how easy it was to accidentally lose data with the KeePass clients." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48183266)) "Solving sync and sharing cannot be done on whole database file level, as it implemented now in KeePass" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47148611)) "people who have experienced corruption issues on network storage due to the default saving method" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47143551)) - Whole-file encryption and rewrites (4 comments): "rewriting the whole file annoys me especially when the storage is not local and the database contains sizable blobs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47141592)) "Solving sync and sharing cannot be done on whole database file level, as it implemented now in KeePass" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47148611)) "having it all in memory is an issue because of the amount of memory used" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47154926)) - Weak browser autofill and integration (3 comments): "The Keepass options for browser autofill are pretty rough, and don't work with flatpak installed apps either." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48806023)) "I use keepass (FOSS under GPL, fully offline). It does not detect domains." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48586045)) "Keepass is a vendor, and one who doesn't even have a Safari extension." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46303849)) - Closed development, no public review (2 comments): "its development model is much like SQLite: a pretty closed model, with source published regularly, but no clear way of code contribution" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47148704)) "the original KeePass project has no public development or public review process for their code" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45869186)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Bitwarden](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bitwarden.md): 278 recommend - [1Password](https://hackerapproved.com/p/1password.md): 238 recommend - [KeePassXC](https://hackerapproved.com/p/keepassxc.md): 131 recommend - [Vaultwarden](https://hackerapproved.com/p/vaultwarden.md): 112 recommend - [Apple Passwords](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-passwords.md): 79 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "KeePass", https://hackerapproved.com/p/keepass/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).