Passbolt vs CyberArk
Passbolt is a European alternative to CyberArk — same password managers use case, built under EU data-protection law.
By the EU Alternatives team Last updated
Manage passwords and secrets securely with an open-source platform for teams. Offers end-to-end encryption, granular sharing, and flexible hosting options.
- Jurisdiction
- EU / EEA
- GDPR by default
- Yes
- US CLOUD Act exposure
- No
- Open source
- Yes
- Free tier
- Yes
CyberArk by CyberArk.
- Jurisdiction
- US
- GDPR by default
- Requires DPA + TIA
- US CLOUD Act exposure
- Yes
About Passbolt
Passbolt is a Luxembourg-based open-source password and secrets manager built for teams. Using end-to-end public-key encryption, private keys stay on user devices and never pass through the server — giving organisations provable security even if the host infrastructure is compromised.
Deploy via Docker, Kubernetes, or native packages for Ubuntu, Debian, and RHEL, or use Passbolt Cloud hosted in Europe. A full REST API and CLI enable integrations with CI/CD pipelines, LDAP directories, and SAML identity providers, making credential rotation and automated provisioning part of the deployment pipeline.
Key benefits:
- End-to-end encryption with private keys that never leave the user's device
- Granular sharing — individual credentials or entire folders with role-based permissions
- Self-hosting on Docker, Kubernetes, Ubuntu, Debian, or RHEL with full audit logs
- Browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge with auto-fill and save
- CLI and API for automated secret retrieval and CI/CD pipeline integration
- Instant cryptographic revocation when team members leave or lose access
- SOC 2 Type II audited with publicly available third-party security reports
Passbolt Cloud is hosted exclusively in Europe, and the open-source Community Edition can be self-hosted on any infrastructure — giving teams complete GDPR-compliant control over where credentials reside. Headquartered in Luxembourg, Passbolt publishes all security audit reports publicly.
Trusted by 50,000+ organisations including Bosch, the French Ministry of Interior, GLS, and multiple European universities and public institutions.
Why choose Passbolt over CyberArk?
The decisive argument is data jurisdiction. CyberArk is headquartered in US, which means personal data processed through it can be subject to non-EU legal regimes — the US CLOUD Act, FISA 702, or similar laws depending on the provider. After the 2020 Schrems II ruling, EU organisations must carry out a transfer impact assessment for every such data flow.
Passbolt removes that overhead. As a Luxembourg-based provider, it operates natively under GDPR, and data stays inside the EU/EEA by default. For regulated sectors — health, public administration, finance — that's not a nice-to-have but a requirement. For everyone else, it's concentration-risk insurance: you avoid depending on a single non-EU jurisdiction that can change the rules without warning.