Vaultwarden vs Psono

Vaultwarden and Psono are both self-hosted password managers, but they're built for different scales. Vaultwarden is a lightweight, from-scratch Rust reimplementation of the Bitwarden server that runs in a single Docker container and speaks the same API as the official Bitwarden clients. Psono pairs a Django/PostgreSQL server with browser extensions and a built-in admin portal, aimed at IT teams that want vaults, groups, sharing, and API keys managed from one place.

A single container vs. a multi-piece stack

Vaultwarden is built on Rust, licensed under AGPL-3.0, and rates the easiest difficulty tier in our catalog — 1 out of 5 — with a 256 MB RAM floor. It ships as one container: a single docker run with a data volume and an HTTPS-facing DOMAIN is enough to get it running, though WebAuthn and passkeys need TLS in front of it.

Psono is built on Python/Django with a PostgreSQL backend, licensed under Apache-2.0, and rates a 4 out of 5 to deploy with a 2.5 GB RAM floor — ten times Vaultwarden's minimum. The official community-edition install provisions its own Postgres server, generates a server keypair, and requires a hand-written settings.yaml and client config.json before the combo image (server, web client, and admin portal) comes up.

Database and backup

Vaultwarden's install is a single container with a mounted data volume — no separate database service to provision. Psono's install explicitly requires PostgreSQL running and accepting connections before the container's migrate step will succeed. That also changes what you back up: Psono's own documentation calls out two pieces that both have to be preserved, the PostgreSQL database and settings.yaml, because settings.yaml holds the secrets needed to decrypt what's stored in the database — a database-only backup restores to unreadable ciphertext.

Client compatibility vs. built-in team tooling

Vaultwarden's whole value proposition is API compatibility: every official Bitwarden client — browser extension, mobile, desktop — works against it unmodified, since it's a from-scratch reimplementation of the same server API. Psono ships its own browser extensions and web client, plus a built-in admin portal (off by default — the install needs MANAGEMENT_ENABLED: True in settings.yaml to turn it on) for managing groups and sharing. Psono's community edition has no user cap and covers vaults, groups, sharing, and API keys; SSO (LDAP/SAML/OIDC), audit logging, and centrally enforced policies are reserved for Psono's enterprise edition.

Which should you self-host?

Pick Vaultwarden if…

• You want the lightest possible deploy: a 256 MB RAM floor and the easiest difficulty rating in the catalog.
• You or your users already use the official Bitwarden apps and want a drop-in self-hosted backend for them.
• A single Docker container — no external database to provision — is all the install you want to deal with.

Pick Psono if…

• You're provisioning for an IT team, not just personal use, and want groups, sharing, and API keys managed from a built-in admin portal.
• You're fine running a dedicated PostgreSQL backend and working through a multi-step install (server keys, settings.yaml, config.json).
• You have the 2.5 GB of RAM to spare and can budget more than a few minutes for setup.

Running either on a VPS

Vaultwarden's 256 MB floor and single-container install make it the cheapest, simplest box to run — the app's own FAQ notes a small, cheap VPS is plenty. Psono's 2.5 GB floor and multi-piece install (Postgres, generated keys, settings.yaml, admin portal) call for a mid-tier VPS and more setup time, a reasonable trade if you need its team-oriented admin portal and unlimited-user community edition. Step-by-step install guides for Vaultwarden and Psono are linked below.