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AWS Secrets Manager vs HashiCorp Vault comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 20, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

AWS Secrets Manager
Ranking in Enterprise Password Managers
3rd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
HashiCorp Vault
Ranking in Enterprise Password Managers
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Enterprise Password Managers category, the mindshare of AWS Secrets Manager is 18.7%, down from 20.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HashiCorp Vault is 12.3%, down from 14.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Password Managers
 

Q&A Highlights

NC
 

Featured Reviews

Atul-Yadav - PeerSpot reviewer
Ensures dynamic secret retrieval and automates security measures
AWS Secrets Manager is a fully managed service that allows our applications to retrieve secrets dynamically at runtime. This protects sensitive information, such as keys or credentials, from being compromised. It also automates the secrets, eliminating the need for manual rotation, thereby providing significant security and efficiency benefits. Furthermore, secrets are encrypted at rest using the AES 256-bit standard encryption algorithm.
AKASHGUPTA3 - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to manage and maintain the password API but stability could be improved
I would advise doing a Proof of Concept first and then deciding accordingly because your use case might be simple. You can try out AWS Key Management or Azure Key Vault. They are different products. Do the POC and then decide what you need. Overall, I would rate the solution a six out of ten. No solution is a ten in my opinion.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The product is easy to use and is inexpensive."
"All our workloads are running on AWS, so integration with our workload is much easier on AWS Secrets Manager than going with another solution such as Thycotic."
"AWS Secrets Manager is used for storing secret information that has to be a secret from your customer and your employees."
"The most valuable feature is the management of credentials."
"The most valuable feature of AWS Secrets Manager is its seamless integration with various AWS services."
"Secrets Manager helps in retrieving the enrollment variables used by the code."
"Integrating with other services was straightforward, especially within the AWS environment."
"I would highly recommend AWS Secrets Manager for secret management in AWS."
"For me, the most valuable features include that it's easy to manage and maintain the password API for retrieving passwords and other things."
"It is user-friendly and easy to implement from any application point."
"The feature I find most beneficial in HashiCorp Vault is the secret engine. It integrates smoothly with many applications, making it easy to set up and implement quickly. This allows you to test it easily and see good results rapidly. When you integrate an internal API or application, it quickly manages that application's secrets."
"The most valuable feature of HashiCorp Vault is version control."
"The product is free and easy to use. It is well documented with an easy implementation process."
"This solution is easy to use and to integrate."
"It is a good product to consider for companies who are looking to build on-premise or hybrid infrastructure."
"We use the solution for secret management."
 

Cons

"AWS Secrets Manager could support hybrid infrastructure."
"The sidecar feature has room for improvement."
"We occasionally have problems with rate limits, although that is a problem more generally with AWS."
"There is a need for better environmental implementation, such as having a security fund as a solution."
"An area for improvement in AWS Secrets Manager could be expanding integration options beyond AWS services."
"There is a potential improvement in connecting AWS Secrets Manager to Jenkins CI/CD pipeline to automatically reflect changes in production."
"If you don't have enterprise support, then you will not be able to get through to them to get the help. It is not only applicable to AWS Secrets Manager. It is also applicable to any service on AWS."
"There is room for improvement in the pricing model."
"The product is complicated to install."
"The solution's initial setup process is complicated."
"In my opinion, HashiCorp Vault could improve its user interface. Right now, they don't offer much in terms of a graphical interface, which means you usually have to manage things manually through API calls. I think CyberArk has a better approach because it provides a UI that integrates features across all its components, making it easier, especially for new users or those from organizations with strict licensing policies."
"I don't think there are any major improvements required—so far, so good. However, I think that having more training materials, such as videos, and documentation available would be helpful. I would prefer to have more videos available either on the official site or on YouTube."
"There could be a plugin for the database to change the secret automatically. It would be an efficient feature for password security."
"It would be helpful to have more advanced features."
"The solution could be much easier to implement."
"An improvement needed is the ability for auto-initialization."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive."
"We purchase a monthly license for the product."
"We've observed that AWS Secrets Manager pricing is based on a per-secret-per-month model. As a result, we prefer to divide our secrets into individual pieces to increase security and grant specific access permissions to certain secrets, systems, or individuals. However, this approach results in higher costs. Therefore, we have been exploring ways to combine our secrets into groups to reduce expenses and simplify management. Nonetheless, we acknowledge that this issue may not be related to the secret manager's functionality."
"The cost is somewhat high."
"I don't believe there is a license cost for the solution."
"I am using the open-source version of Vault and I would have to buy a license if I want to get support."
"It could do everything we wanted it to do and it is brilliant, but it is super pricey. To be fair to HashiCorp, we drove the price up with our requirements around resiliency. Because of the nature of our company, we don't really operate in the cloud."
"In my case, the open-source version works well. It's advisable for small to medium-scale organizations, but for large-scale organizations, you should go with the enterprise version."
"The product is expensive."
"The solution's cost is reasonable."
"The AWS version is much cheaper than HashiCorp Vault."
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Answers from the Community

NC
Dec 12, 2021
Dec 12, 2021
HashiCorp Vault was designed with your needs in mind. One of the features that makes this evident is its ability to work as both a cloud-agnostic and a multi-cloud solution. As a cloud-agnostic solution, HashiCorp Vault allows you to be flexible in the cloud infrastructure that you choose to use. It is completely compatible and integratable with a myriad of different platforms. You can determin...
See 2 answers
KK
Nov 23, 2021
yet to learn both
DG
Dec 12, 2021
HashiCorp Vault was designed with your needs in mind. One of the features that makes this evident is its ability to work as both a cloud-agnostic and a multi-cloud solution. As a cloud-agnostic solution, HashiCorp Vault allows you to be flexible in the cloud infrastructure that you choose to use. It is completely compatible and integratable with a myriad of different platforms. You can determine what you want to use and HashiCorp Vault will function without issue, regardless of what you choose. If you are using HashiCorp Vault as a multi-cloud solution, then you have an even greater number of platform options. You will be able to mix and match which cloud platforms you like to use to customize your data protection. The only limits on your customization will end up being your imagination. HashiCorp Vault’s user interface is simple for you to both use and navigate. The UI was designed to be basic enough for users to manage without forcing an organization to spend a great deal of time and resources having to train employees in its use. It might be a little confusing for employees when they start using it. However, once they have used it for a little while they will be proficient in its use. Should an organization choose to invest in training employees in the use of this UI, the required investment will be minimal. AWS Secrets Manager is an extremely user-friendly solution. It is intuitive in its design, which makes it a valuable product. However, AWS Secrets Manager lacks the level of cloud flexibility that HashiCorp Vault offers. Conclusion: While AWS Secrets Manager is a fairly competent product, we found HashiCorp Vault to be superior. HashiCorp Vault‘s greater flexibility and integration capabilities make it the more robust solution.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which is better - Azure Key Vault or AWS Secrets Manager?
Azure Key Vault is a SaaS solution. You can easily store passwords and secrets securely and encrypt them. Azure Key Vault is a great solution to ensure you are compliant with security and governanc...
Which is better - HashiCorp Vault or AWS Secrets Manager?
HashiCorp Vault was designed with your needs in mind. One of the features that makes this evident is its ability to work as both a cloud-agnostic and a multi-cloud solution. As a cloud-agnostic sol...
What do you like most about AWS Secrets Manager?
The most valuable feature of AWS Secrets Manager is its seamless integration with various AWS services.
What do you like most about HashiCorp Vault?
The feature I find most beneficial in HashiCorp Vault is the secret engine. It integrates smoothly with many applications, making it easy to set up and implement quickly. This allows you to test it...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for HashiCorp Vault?
If I were to set it up in AWS Secret Management, I would have to manage it, pay, and create secrets without being cloud agnostic. The advantage with Vault is that it is cloud agnostic. I can deploy...
What needs improvement with HashiCorp Vault?
An improvement needed is the ability for auto-initialization. There should be an inbuilt option for automatic initialization rather than running it manually.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Autodesk, Clevy, Stackery
Adobe, SAP Ariba, Citadel, Spaceflight, Cruise
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Secrets Manager vs. HashiCorp Vault and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
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