Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

AWS Secrets Manager vs HashiCorp Vault comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 27, 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
2nd
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
15
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
18
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Enterprise Password Managers category, the mindshare of AWS Secrets Manager is 16.5%, down from 21.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of HashiCorp Vault is 10.3%, down from 13.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Enterprise Password Managers Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
AWS Secrets Manager16.5%
HashiCorp Vault10.3%
Other73.2%
Enterprise Password Managers
 

Q&A Highlights

NC
 

Featured Reviews

Mahadev Metre - PeerSpot reviewer
Consistent security and efficiency improvements optimize IT infrastructure with effective management
When creating AWS Secrets Manager, it should be automated using tools such as Terraform, Puppet, or Ansible. With Terraform code, you specify the encryption key, secret name, rotation policy, and secret replication. Human error occurs when feeding secret values manually, especially with large amounts of secrets to input. Secrets should never be protected only by IAM. They should be protected by multiple layers, such as IAM and one or two KMS keys. Additional security measures could be beneficial if necessary. The rotation policy is crucial because some secrets may become obsolete, require updates, or get compromised. With a weekly rotation policy, if unauthorized access occurs, the exposure is limited to seven days. The rotation policy can be customized according to needs.
Anand-Awasthi - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers dynamic secrets and certificate management for proactive security measures
The best features in HashiCorp Vault are its dynamic certificate management and dynamic secret management, which are the key features that use data effectively. These are very targeted use cases that cut across multiple solutions. I have utilized Vault's encryption capabilities for securing data in transit and at rest, especially for dynamically consuming database encryption, which covers the requirements of various scenarios where databases do not have encryption capability. HashiCorp Vault provides security by rotating the keys and taking all the burden of securing the data from the database. These are key core features that many users employ in this solution. Vault's audit logs provide insights into access patterns and help ensure compliance. These facilities are configurable, and the logs are encrypted, ensuring that anything recorded in the logs is secure. We could use systems that comply with specific standards for audit logging and scanning, especially when working with them. The benefits from HashiCorp Vault include significant advantages in security lifecycle management itself. The value becomes apparent when security incidents occur. It has substantial value in proactively protecting from adverse situations, providing resilience and appreciation by customers in complete security lifecycle management solutions for core infrastructure applications.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of AWS Secrets Manager is its seamless integration with various AWS services."
"Integrating with other services was straightforward, especially within the AWS environment."
"It's highly scalable, so I'd rate it a ten out of ten."
"The solution is very scalable."
"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 API is fine and works well."
"The most valuable feature is usability, as it is quite user-friendly."
"It is an added value for our customers to have a Secrets Management workflow available that is PaaS/CaaS/KaaS Platform agnostic."
"It is a good product to consider for companies who are looking to build on-premise or hybrid infrastructure."
"We were using it because we have compliance requirements around secret management. Having a secure vault and encrypting data was an additional requirement. When we looked at it first, we were just looking for a vault, like a lockbox. The greatest benefit of HashiCorp is its ability to manage encryption on the fly. It provides encryption of data at rest, in use, in transit, on the fly, and linked with applications, which was really attractive."
"It's stable. I would rate the stability a nine out of ten."
"The interface is very simple to navigate."
"It can still be configured by a separate team other than developers. That's why I think it's more secure."
"The most valuable feature of HashiCorp Vault is the management of tickets in the pipeline."
"It is user-friendly and easy to implement from any application point."
 

Cons

"If you add one more layer of security to AWS Secrets Manager, even the programmer will not be able to see the secrets."
"The solution's initial setup process is complicated."
"The price of the solution could improve."
"There is a potential improvement in connecting AWS Secrets Manager to Jenkins CI/CD pipeline to automatically reflect changes in production."
"AWS Secrets Manager could support hybrid infrastructure."
"There is a need for better environmental implementation, such as having a security fund as a solution."
"The sidecar feature has room for improvement."
"We occasionally have problems with rate limits, although that is a problem more generally with AWS."
"I would rate the stability a six out of ten. There are some bugs and glitches. We are in touch with the vendor to resolve them."
"The onboarding is a challenge. It should be more self-service, but it involves reviews and approvals."
"An improvement needed is the ability for auto-initialization. There should be an inbuilt option for automatic initialization rather than running it manually."
"There could be a plugin for the database to change the secret automatically. It would be an efficient feature for password security."
"The solution's initial setup process is complicated."
"The product is complicated to install."
"We could use more documentation, primarily to do with integrations."
"I would like to see better integration of HashiCorp Vault with SAP products."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I don't believe there is a license cost for the solution."
"The solution is expensive."
"The cost is somewhat high."
"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 product is expensive."
"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."
"The solution's cost is reasonable."
"The AWS version is much cheaper than HashiCorp Vault."
"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."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Enterprise Password Managers solutions are best for your needs.
867,445 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

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
14%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
20%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Large Enterprise8
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise9
 

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?
The UI could be improved to better handle complex operations like policy management, dynamic secret creation, and audit log analysis
 

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: July 2025.
867,445 professionals have used our research since 2012.