Vaulted vs HashiCorp Vault
Different tools for different problems. HashiCorp Vault is an enterprise secrets management platform for machine-to-machine credentials. Vaulted is a zero-knowledge tool for instant human-to-human secret sharing — no accounts, no infrastructure, no setup.
| Feature | Vaulted | HashiCorp Vault |
|---|---|---|
| Client-side encryption | ||
| Zero-knowledge architecture | ||
| Encryption algorithm | AES-256-GCM | AES-256-GCM (server-side) |
| Key never sent to server | ||
| Self-destructing links | ||
| Configurable view limit | Unlimited or 1–10 views | |
| Passphrase protection | ||
| No account required | ||
| No infrastructure setup | ||
| Dynamic secrets & rotation | ||
| Policy-based access control | ||
| Free to use | Open source (self-hosted) | |
| Open source |
Key Differences
HashiCorp Vault is a full secrets management platform. It handles dynamic secrets, automatic rotation, leasing, revocation, and policy-based access control across multi-cloud environments. It's built for DevOps teams managing infrastructure credentials at scale — and it requires significant setup, maintenance, and expertise.
Vaulted is purpose-built for a single task: securely sharing a secret with another person. You paste your secret, set an expiration and view limit, and get a self-destructing link. Everything is encrypted client-side with AES-256-GCM — the server never sees your plaintext. No accounts, no infrastructure, no learning curve.
The encryption models are fundamentally different. Vaulted is zero-knowledge — encryption keys exist only in the URL fragment and never reach the server. HashiCorp Vault encrypts data server-side, meaning the Vault server processes secrets in memory. Both approaches are valid, but they serve different trust models.
Choose Vaulted if
- You need to share a password or API key with someone right now
- You want zero-knowledge, client-side encryption with no server trust
- You don't want to set up accounts, infrastructure, or access policies
- You need self-destructing links with configurable view limits
Choose HashiCorp Vault if
- You need machine-to-machine secrets management for your infrastructure
- You require dynamic secrets, automatic rotation, and leasing
- You need policy-based access control and audit logging
- You're managing secrets across multiple cloud providers at scale