Vaultwarden vs Bitwarden
This is not an either/or. Vaultwarden is a community server written in Rust that speaks the Bitwarden API, so you run the server yourself and keep using the official Bitwarden apps and browser extensions. Bitwarden Teams is $4 per user per month; a Vaultwarden pod is $3/mo flat no matter how many people share it.
Vaultwarden vs Bitwarden: The Verdict
For one person, be honest: Bitwarden Free covers unlimited passwords on unlimited devices, and Premium is $1.65/mo (billed annually at $19.80), so a $3/mo pod costs you more, not less. Vaultwarden wins the moment you have a family, a team, or a rule about where your vault lives. Six people cost $47.88/yr on Bitwarden Families and 10 people cost $480/yr on Teams; on Vaultwarden all of them share one $3/mo pod at $36/yr, with the premium and organization features unlocked. The real tradeoff is trust: Bitwarden Inc. publishes annual third-party audits of its official server and clients, and Vaultwarden is a volunteer reimplementation that has had no equivalent formal audit. Vaultwarden if you want ownership and flat pricing and you accept running your own server. Bitwarden if you want a vendor, a support contract, and an audited server you never touch.
Last updated: 2026-07-21Quick Comparison
| Feature | Bitwarden | Vaultwarden |
|---|---|---|
| What it actually is | Official server + apps from Bitwarden Inc. | Community Rust server that speaks the Bitwarden API |
| Client apps | Official Bitwarden apps and extensions | The same official Bitwarden apps - just pointed at your server |
| Price, 1 user | Free, or $1.65/mo Premium (billed annually, $19.80/yr) | $3/mo flat ($36/yr) on InstaPods |
| Price, 6 users | $3.99/mo Families, billed annually at $47.88/yr | $3/mo flat ($36/yr) - same pod |
| Price, 10 users | $4/user/mo Teams = $480/yr | $3/mo flat ($36/yr) - same pod |
| Price, 25 users | $6/user/mo Enterprise = $1,800/yr | $3/mo flat ($36/yr) - same pod |
| Premium features (TOTP, attachments, emergency access) | Premium plan and above | Unlocked for every user on your server |
| Where the vault lives | Bitwarden's cloud (or your own self-hosted stack) | SQLite on a pod you own, in a region you pick |
| Server resource cost | Official self-host wants ~2 GB RAM and a multi-service Docker stack | Single Rust binary, comfortable in well under 512 MB |
| Third-party security audit | Annual independent audits published by Bitwarden Inc. | No equivalent formal audit - community reviewed only |
| Encryption model | End-to-end, zero-knowledge - server never sees your key | Identical - the vault is encrypted client-side before it is sent |
| Support | Paid support and SLAs on business plans | GitHub issues and the community |
| License | Mostly open source (GPL/AGPL/BSL mix), company-run | AGPL-3.0, ~62,000 GitHub stars |
Where Bitwarden Costs You
Trade-offs to weigh before committing.
Per-User Pricing Scales With Your Team
Teams is $4 per user per month and Enterprise is $6 per user per month, both billed annually. A 10-person team is $480/yr and a 25-person team is $1,800/yr. Every new hire adds to the bill.
Premium Features Are a Paid Tier
The integrated authenticator, file attachments, emergency access, and security reports sit behind Premium ($1.65/mo, billed annually at $19.80). On your own Vaultwarden server every account gets them.
Official Self-Hosting Is Heavy
Running the official Bitwarden server yourself means a multi-service Docker stack with MSSQL behind it, and the docs recommend around 2 GB of RAM. That is a real server to babysit, not a weekend project.
Your Vault Sits on Their Infrastructure
On the hosted plans your encrypted vault lives in Bitwarden Inc.'s cloud. The encryption is zero-knowledge so they cannot read it, but the availability, the jurisdiction, and the pricing roadmap are all theirs, not yours.
Why People Run Vaultwarden Instead
What you get when you pick this stack.
You Keep the Official Bitwarden Apps
Vaultwarden implements the Bitwarden API, so the official iOS, Android, desktop, CLI and browser extensions all work against it. You change one server URL at login and everything else is the client you already know.
Flat Price, Everyone Included
One $3/mo Launch pod serves your whole household or team. No per-seat maths, no upgrade prompt when the sixth person joins.
Tiny Footprint
Vaultwarden is a single Rust binary with a SQLite database. It runs happily on the smallest plan we sell, which is why the official heavyweight stack is not the only way to self-host a Bitwarden-compatible vault.
Your Data, Your Server, Your Backups
The vault is a SQLite file on a pod you own, with SSH access and daily backups included. You can copy it, move it, or leave any time. Nothing is held hostage by a subscription.
Real Cost Comparison
A 10-person team that wants shared collections, TOTP and file attachments.
- Bitwarden Teams: $4 per user per month, billed annually
- 10 users: $40/mo
- Every new hire adds $4/mo
- Vault hosted on Bitwarden infrastructure
- InstaPods Launch plan: $3/mo
- Vaultwarden: free (open source, AGPL-3.0)
- Unlimited users on the same pod
- Premium features unlocked for everyone
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Vaultwarden and Bitwarden?
Bitwarden is the official product from Bitwarden Inc.: their server, their hosted service, and their client apps. Vaultwarden is an independent, community-built server written in Rust that implements the same API. Vaultwarden replaces only the server half. The clients you use every day are still the official Bitwarden apps, pointed at your own server URL instead of bitwarden.com.
Is Bitwarden vs Vaultwarden really the same comparison?
Yes, people search it both ways and it is one decision: do you use Bitwarden Inc.'s hosted server, or do you run the community Vaultwarden server yourself. The apps, the vault format, and the end-to-end encryption model are the same either way. What changes is who operates the server, who audits it, and how you are billed.
Is Vaultwarden safe to use for real passwords?
It uses the same client-side, zero-knowledge encryption as Bitwarden, so your vault is encrypted before it ever reaches the server and the server never sees your master password. The honest caveat is auditing: Bitwarden Inc. commissions and publishes independent third-party security audits of its official server and clients, and Vaultwarden has had no equivalent formal audit. It is widely used and openly reviewed, but if a published audit is a hard requirement for you, use official Bitwarden.
Can I use the official Bitwarden apps with Vaultwarden?
Yes, and that is the main reason people pick it. On the login screen of any official Bitwarden client, set the self-hosted server URL to your pod, then sign in as normal. The iOS and Android apps, the desktop app, the browser extensions and the CLI all work. Browser-extension biometrics and other client features behave the same.
How much does Vaultwarden cost compared to Bitwarden?
Vaultwarden itself is free and open source; you only pay for the server it runs on, which is $3/mo on the InstaPods Launch plan regardless of how many people use it. Bitwarden is free for one user, $1.65/mo for Premium (billed annually at $19.80), $3.99/mo for Families up to 6 users (billed annually at $47.88), $4/user/mo for Teams and $6/user/mo for Enterprise. So a single user is cheaper on Bitwarden and any group is dramatically cheaper on Vaultwarden.
Should I just use Bitwarden Free instead?
If you are one person who wants unlimited passwords synced across devices and nothing more, yes, Bitwarden Free is genuinely good and costs nothing. Move to Vaultwarden when you want the premium features without paying per account, when you want to share vaults with a family or a team without per-seat pricing, or when you want the vault to live on hardware you control.
How hard is it to self-host Vaultwarden?
The manual route means Docker, a reverse proxy, a TLS certificate and a backup plan, because a password vault without HTTPS is not usable. On InstaPods it is one click: you get Vaultwarden running with HTTPS, a domain, SSH access and daily backups on the $3/mo Launch plan, and you can walk through the whole thing in our self-hosting guide.
Run your own Bitwarden-compatible vault for $3/mo
One click gets you Vaultwarden with HTTPS, a domain and daily backups. Keep the official Bitwarden apps, drop the per-user bill.
Deploy Vaultwarden