tech from europe
vsBitwarden

Passbolt vs Bitwarden

Last updated September 2026

Looking for a European alternative to Bitwarden? Here's how Passbolt compares, on EU hosting, GDPR and what it does.

Our pick for a European buyer: Passbolt. We weight data residency, GDPR and EU jurisdiction above everything else — that is the constraint this directory exists to solve.

Passbolt
Bitwarden
What it is
Open-source team password manager with end-to-end encryption
not established
Headquarters
🇱🇺 LU
No
EU data residency
Yes, for all customers
not established
DSGVO / GDPR
Yes
not established
Certifications
ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II
not established
Price from
€4.50/user/mo
not established
Free plan
Yes
not established
Open Source
Yes
not established
Ratings
No
No
Integrations
Microsoft Entra ID, Google Workspace, OpenID Connect (OIDC) IdPs (Keycloak, Okta), Microsoft AD FS, PingOne +6
not established

We have not yet completed our own research on Bitwarden; rows above show only what we can evidence. Check the vendor for specifics.

Where each one wins

Passbolt

Strengths

  • +Open-source architecture with full transparency and auditability
  • +Self-hosting capability for complete data control behind own firewalls
  • +Zero-knowledge, OpenPGP end-to-end encryption for client-side credential security
  • +Granular team password sharing with intuitive role-based access control (RBAC)
  • +Free Community Edition with full functionality for startups and budget-conscious teams
  • +Lightweight and fast core web application performance
  • +Responsive community forum and open developer support for feedback and bug fixes

Limitations

  • −Complex setup and deployment requiring DevOps and command-line skills
  • −Clunky browser extension with frequent session timeouts and re-login prompts
  • −Limited vault item types (focused on logins/passwords, lacking support for credit cards, secure notes, etc.)

Bitwarden

Review sentiment not yet compiled.

Data residency & compliance

Passbolt
Bitwarden
EU data residency
Yes, for all customers
not established
Transfer mechanism
Not required — data stays in the EU
not established
DPA
Published →
not established
Sub-processors
Listed →
not established
Certifications
ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II
No

Pricing

Passbolt

  • Community Edition (Self-Hosted) Free Unlimited usersOpen-source (AGPLv3) · Self-hosted deployment
  • Pro Edition (Self-Hosted) €4.50 per user / month, billed annually (min. 10 users)Volume discounts above 100 users · Free trial on request
  • Enterprise Edition (Self-Hosted) On request Custom annual subscriptionHigh availability/disaster recovery consulting · Custom SLA and phone support
  • Cloud Business €5 per user / month, billed monthly (min. 10 users)Hosted in Google Cloud (Belgium, Germany) · 7-day free trial
  • Cloud Sovereign €7 per user / month, billed annually (min. 10 users)Hosted in Luxembourg (sovereign private data center) · Compliant with ISO 27001, GDPR, NIS2, DORA
  • Cloud Enterprise On request Custom annual subscriptionIsolated container deployments · 24/7 SOC monitoring and 4-hour SLA

Volume discounts apply for Pro Edition above 100 users. Custom pricing for Enterprise and Cloud Enterprise plans.

Bitwarden

No published pricing we could verify.

Features

Passbolt

Credential & Secret Management
Secure storage of passwords, TOTP, and encrypted notes, Custom fields and secret history tracking, Password expiry policies
Collaboration & Access Control
Private and shared folder structures, Granular sharing permissions and tagging, Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and user/group management
Security & Authentication
Per-user/per-secret end-to-end encryption (OpenPGP), Zero-knowledge metadata mode, Multi-factor authentication (MFA/2FA) with Duo, YubiKey NFC, and TOTP, Anti-phishing token mechanism
Client Applications & Usability
Browser extensions (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave), Native desktop (Windows) and mobile apps (iOS, Android), Command Line Interface (CLI) and offline vault mode, KDBX/CSV import and export
Administration & Compliance
Activity audit logs with SIEM/Syslog export, Self-registration with domain allowlists, Centralized account recovery (Escrow), Server health checks

Bitwarden

Feature breakdown not yet compiled.

See Passbolt →More Bitwarden alternatives