# KeePassXC 131 Hacker News commenters recommended KeePassXC and 38 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 5 years (5 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** A free, open-source, local-file password manager that stores passwords, TOTP seeds and exportable passkeys without tying you to a cloud provider; critics cite rough UI, flaky browser autofill and AI-assisted development. ## Why people recommend it - Passkeys without platform lock-in (8 comments): "The point about Google or apple or your passkey manager banning your account is a reason I'm still using random passwords in Keepassxc." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49755244)) "KeePassXC lets me do that, but the spec authors think it's appropriate to ban me for using it because it lets me manage my own data." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46361063)) "I store my passkeys in KeePassXC and I have absolutely no feeling of being walled into any garden" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49758406)) - Local file you sync yourself (6 comments): "I use KeepassXC and Syncthing. It's not a single password manager doing both the managing and syncing, but it works very well" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49340836)) "Just having the database isn't enough because you need the keyfile and my password to open it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47644226)) "It is genuinely great that since it’s just a file you can host it anywhere you want." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47105939)) - Open source and independent (5 comments): "Part of the appeal of keepass is that it isn't attached or involved with any other player in the space" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50072008)) "nice trustworthy, FOSS KeePass ecosystem chrome on top of it (keepassxc , keepassium, etc)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47142580)) "there are many options now for full FOSS implementations like bitwarden and KeepassXC" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49058156)) - Built-in TOTP support (2 comments): "I've had good experiences with KeePassXC. In addition to being able to store your passwords, it can ingest TOTP seeds." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47143217)) "I'm very happy with KeepassXC on Debian and Keepass2Android on mobile. It handles TOTP accoss devices." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47519594)) ## What people warn about - Distrust of AI-assisted development (4 comments): "if this was true why the need to point out "we're not vibe coding", and create this process around it?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45866458)) "KeePassXC seems completely untrustworthy at this point not only have they jumped on the AI bandwagon" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45868745)) "A password manager doesn't need 300 regular contributors armed with 14 LLMs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47791403)) - Passkey spec noncompliance risks blocking (3 comments): "This implementation is not spec compliant and has the potential to be blocked by relying parties." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50089805)) "This is a violation of the spec you cited above and criticized by FIDO devs here" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50080538)) "KeePassXC has no remote attestation support, nor hardware-backing support" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50048663)) - Unreliable browser integration (3 comments): "mostly i was missing power user features and especially ux for the browser plugin" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50036107)) "browser integration almost never works for me. It never picks up the usernames, passwords for me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48155747)) "I've found a fair amount of scenarios where they don't correctly let you drop it into them." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49013251)) - Less polished, fiddly for normal users (4 comments): "Bitwarden is definitely more polished, and Syncthing is definitely (much) more fiddly than using Bitwarden's and Obsidian's ($5/mo) native syncing tools." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45841569)) "KeePassXC is not for a "normal" user. It really needs to get default entry tempates out the door." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48675814)) "KeepassXC (a must-have application and dealbreaker) is still broken on Wayland." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46061104)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Bitwarden](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bitwarden.md): 278 recommend - [1Password](https://hackerapproved.com/p/1password.md): 238 recommend - [Vaultwarden](https://hackerapproved.com/p/vaultwarden.md): 112 recommend - [KeePass](https://hackerapproved.com/p/keepass.md): 100 recommend - [Apple Passwords](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-passwords.md): 79 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "KeePassXC", https://hackerapproved.com/p/keepassxc/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).