systemd-credentials
Shares rank 14 of 20 secrets managers by recommenders
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.
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.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 88%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, 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
Better than common alternatives
“This is a MUCH better solution”
Comment from 28 Feb 2026 in “Stop Putting Secrets in .env Files” “Another solution integrated with most Linux systems”
Comment from 28 Feb 2026 in “Stop Putting Secrets in .env Files” Protects secrets at rest and in memory
“Nothing is exposed and credentials are placed in non-swappable memory.”
Comment from 5 Feb 2026 in “I prefer to pass secrets between programs through standard input” “you can use systemd-creds to store secrets at rest”
Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “Handling secrets (somewhat) securely in shells”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Passes long-lived credentials into long-lived processes
“systemd-creds relays long-lived creds into long-lived processes”
Comment from 16 Aug 2026 in “Show HN: Laptop is the last place your secrets are still in plaintext”
Other secrets managers people recommend
The four most recommended other secrets 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OneCLI | 39 | 8 | 83% | 6 | — | Approved |
| SOPS | 28 | 5 | 85% | 10 | — | Approved |
| HashiCorp Vault | 26 | 10 | 72% | 10 | — | Approved |
| fnox | 20 | 4 | 83% | 9 | — | Approved |
| systemd-credentialsThis page | 7 | 1 | 88% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
7 of the 9 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“systemd-creds too, for anyone who has not found it yet”
“systemd-creds relays long-lived creds into long-lived processes”
“Yes, you can even have it tpm-backed.”
“Another solution integrated with most Linux systems”
“This is a MUCH better solution”
“Nothing is exposed and credentials are placed in non-swappable memory.”
“you can use systemd-creds to store secrets at rest”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.