Keyguard
Shares rank 20 of 21 password managers by recommenders
People recommend Keyguard as a faster, lighter alternative client for Bitwarden and Vaultwarden servers, including on Android. The most common caveat is that it is source available under full copyright rather than open source.
People recommend Keyguard as a faster, lighter alternative client for Bitwarden and Vaultwarden servers, including on Android. The most common caveat is that it is source available under full copyright rather than open source.
9 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 56%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1.2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Faster and lighter than alternatives
“Keyguard is still much faster/lighter.”
Comment from 10 Oct 2026 in “Bitwarden Dual License Model” Works with Vaultwarden on Android
“I now use Keyguard on Android/Vaultwarden server instead”
Comment from 10 Oct 2026 in “Bitwarden Dual License Model” Creates and edits credentials offline
“There is an alternative client called keyguard that allows you to create or modify credentials, then sync to the server later.”
Comment from 30 Apr 2026 in “Bitwarden CLI Compromised in Ongoing Checkmarx Supply Chain”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Source available, fully copyrighted
“that author can make closed source at any point with no forks being possible, is an improvement.”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “Bitwarden Dual License Model” “Keyguard is source available but fully copyrighted”
Comment from 10 Oct 2026 in “Bitwarden Dual License Model” No browser addon
“instant nope here (That and not having a browser addon, passwords in the browser is 99% of my password-use)”
Comment from 10 Oct 2026 in “Bitwarden Dual License Model”
Other password managers people recommend
The four most recommended other password managers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bitwarden | 278 | 213 | 57% | 12 | 6.5 yrs23 owners | — |
| 1Password | 238 | 179 | 57% | 12 | 15 yrs28 owners | — |
| KeePassXC | 131 | 38 | 78% | 12 | 5 yrs5 owners | Approved |
| Vaultwarden | 112 | 13 | 90% | 11 | 3 yrs9 owners | Approved |
| KeyguardThis page | 5 | 4 | 56% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
6 of the 10 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“that author can make closed source at any point with no forks being possible, is an improvement.”
“instant nope here (That and not having a browser addon, passwords in the browser is 99% of my password-use)”
“Keyguard is still much faster/lighter.”
“Keyguard is source available but fully copyrighted”
“I now use Keyguard on Android/Vaultwarden server instead”
“There is an alternative client called keyguard that allows you to create or modify credentials, then sync to the server later.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.