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Vaultwarden

Vaultwarden is a lightweight, unofficial implementation of the Bitwarden server API, written in Rust. It lets you use the official Bitwarden apps and browser extensions with a password vault on your own server, and it needs few resources, which makes it popular for home setups. It is not affiliated with Bitwarden, Inc.

Code Fireworks render of the Vaultwarden repository, as of Nov 2026
As of Nov 2026Code Fireworks ↗

Why it fits

It is licensed under GNU AGPL version 3; the official project presence is primarily the GitHub repository. You can run your own vault backend without paying for hosted Bitwarden for private use.

Getting started

3 steps · clarity 4/5

Prerequisites (from the official docs):

  • A server with Docker and Docker Compose
  • A data volume for the vault
  • A domain and HTTPS via a reverse proxy if clients connect over the internet
  • Official Bitwarden apps or browser extensions as clients

Steps:

  1. Create a data directory and start vaultwarden/server with DOMAIN set (docker run or Compose), as in the README Usage section.
  2. Open the web vault in a browser (HTTPS is required except on localhost).
  3. Create your account, then point the Bitwarden clients at your server URL.

Official wiki: Using Docker Compose: https://github.com/dani-garcia/vaultwarden/wiki/Using-Docker-Compose

Starting a container (docker run): https://github.com/dani-garcia/vaultwarden/wiki/Starting-a-Container

Notes

Uses Bitwarden clients; those clients have their own licenses/distribution channels.

Sources

  1. github.com/dani-garcia/vaultwarden
  2. github.com/dani-garcia/vaultwarden/blob/main/LICENSE.txt
  3. github.com/dani-garcia/vaultwarden/wiki/Using-Docker-Compose

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