# systemd-credentials

7 Hacker News commenters recommended systemd-credentials and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Stores secrets at rest and in non-swappable memory, optionally TPM-backed, and is integrated with most Linux systems. Critics note it passes long-lived credentials into long-lived processes.

## Why people recommend it

- Better than common alternatives (2 comments): "This is a MUCH better solution" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47190399)) "Another solution integrated with most Linux systems" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47194745))
- Protects secrets at rest and in memory (2 comments): "Nothing is exposed and credentials are placed in non-swappable memory." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46895048)) "you can use systemd-creds to store secrets at rest" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46616402))

## What people warn about

- Passes long-lived credentials into long-lived processes (1 comments): "systemd-creds relays long-lived creds into long-lived processes" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49318396))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [OneCLI](https://hackerapproved.com/p/onecli.md): 39 recommend
- [SOPS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sops.md): 28 recommend
- [HashiCorp Vault](https://hackerapproved.com/p/hashicorp-vault.md): 26 recommend
- [Agent Vault](https://hackerapproved.com/p/agent-vault.md): 20 recommend
- [Kloak](https://hackerapproved.com/p/kloak.md): 13 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "systemd-credentials", https://hackerapproved.com/p/systemd-credentials/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).