Vaultwarden
A lightweight Bitwarden compatible password server written in Rust
Vaultwarden is an unofficial server that speaks the Bitwarden API, so the official Bitwarden apps and browser extensions work against your own instance. It is AGPL-3.0, written in Rust, and runs comfortably on very small hardware.
Best for when
- you want the Bitwarden apps with a server you control
- you have small hardware and want a password manager that fits on it
- you want to share some passwords with family without a paid plan
Watch out for
- it is unofficial, so Bitwarden's own audits and support do not cover it
- a lost data folder means lost passwords, so backups must be automatic and tested
- exposing it publicly makes it a target, so keep sign ups closed and access limited
Install
Run with Docker
docker run --detach --name vaultwarden --env DOMAIN="https://vw.domain.tld" --volume /vw-data/:/data/ --restart unless-stopped --publish 127.0.0.1:8000:80 vaultwarden/server:latestThe official clients, your server
The appeal is that you keep the polished Bitwarden apps on every device and only replace the server. Organisations, sharing, attachments and two factor login work, and the whole thing uses a fraction of the resources the official self hosted server needs.
It is a separate project, not made by Bitwarden, which is worth knowing. It has a long track record and an active team behind it, but security reviews of the official server do not automatically apply to it.
The stakes are higher here
Running it is cheap: one container and a small SQLite database. Running it responsibly is the work. Your vaults are encrypted on the device, but losing the data folder means losing every password, so automated backups to another place are not optional.
Keep it on a private network if you can, or put it behind a tunnel with care, and turn off open sign ups after creating your accounts. The apps keep an offline copy, so a short outage is survivable, a lost database is not.
