2w ago

Fully self-hosted password manager options

What do you prefer to use for a password manager?

How well does it work on mobile? (specifically, using autofill on android 14)

I'm currently using Vaultwarden; but the android app, which is where I'm using it 95% of the time, has always been a bit flakey getting autofill to popup. Now it's decided to stop working entirely; so I'm going to look around at some alternatives for now.

/edit:

Well, idk what happened.

I spent about 30min trying different things: switched androids autofill settings to another app, changed them back, cleared app data, force stopped everything relevant, re-installed bitwarden, restarted the device, messed with accessibility; nothing seemed to work. Bitwarden adamantly refused to popup for autofill in anything I'd tried. (4-5 different sites in chrome, firefox, and duckduckgo. The openvpn app, Jerboa, my bank. Nothing worked. Absolutely 0 sign of autofill anywhere.)

I made this post and went for a walk.

Now suddenly autofill is working again.

I hate technology sometimes.

/edit again:

The best option I've seen so far: There is an 'autofill' QuickSettings button you can add to the notification tray that opens the vault and asks which item to fill with. (just like the 'open vault' inline autofill option). If inline isn't popping up, use that.

51 comments

Vaultwarden is pretty much the standard if you're talking about self-hosted.
I've honestly never had a single issue with the Android app, or mobile extensions for Firefox. What's your setup, and have you tried completely evacuating local storage and redoing your login and sync from scratch? There are a lot more mobile updates that can cause locally stored versions of things to cause problems.
- The native rewrite of the Android app is butter smooth. I think it's still technically in beta, but I've been using it for more than a year.
  Also, I don't think I ever use the pop-up on mobile. Instead, I use the button on my keyboard. Gboard and FUTO Keyboard both show bit warden buttons at the top when I'm on a logon page

I use keepass+syncthing.
One of those things that has been there for years, works flawless, to the point that I've stopped thinking about it.
- Same here, and I don't really suffer from the sync conflicts all that much (as I have seen someone else mention in this this thread) as I mainly make changes from a single device, with the exception of TOTPs that only let you scan a QR code.
- I do similar, except nextcloud and backups beyond just syncing. I fear something corrupting my database and that syncing immediately through all my devices.

I use KeePassXC. I have to sync it myself between devices (I use pCloud, syncthing and rclone). They have an android app that works great and there is an iOS app as wellapp, Strongbox. I’ve looked at replacing it a few times but nothing gave me the customisation Keypass offers.

That's androids fault. Their login input detection is spotty, and has been for a while now. https://9to5google.com/2024/10/06/android-autofill-password-manager-problems/
- That makes sense. I've seen the same behavior as OP. Usually when it happens, I open the Bitwarden app manually, and naturally when I switch back the detection is working normally again.
  
  Usually that does the trick for me too; but this morning it just would not cooperate no matter what I tried.
  Seems to be playing ball again, for now.
  I have a feeling this is more to do with Android/Google not wanting to give up control more than anything. If googles stuff always works, but third party stuff is mysteriously always glitchy; users are going to gravitate to google and their ever growing monopoly...

Depends.
Do you want to share passwords with other users? Vaultwarden.
Anything else? Keepass and Syncthing.
I personally host it for my family to share the netflix password or the password for our energy provider. So I use Vaultwarden.

This is not normal, that is not working at all. Repair instead of switching to other manager
- I tried. I couldn't get it to work again, so wanted to look at other options alongside looking for help/solutions.
  But just as it decided to stop working, despite my efforts; it's suddenly started working again.
  Sigh...

keepass
it's technically no password manager but an encrypted file format.
there are dozens of apps that will work on any platform, including soft keyboard with "password" button for smartphone that will just work everywhere and browser extensions, static website, apps that allow you to use your yubikey to unlock and anything else. you can host your vault anywhere including a google drive or your own webdav or ftp server and keep local copies on your devices synchronized...
- Wait so I use keepass too. Why is it not technically as password manager
  
  Its an encrypted keyring idk what they're talking about
  
  I believe they're argueing, as it can store more than passwords, it's not purely a password manager.
  
  i mean each of the individual programs that can load your keepass keyring is a password manager.
  the keyring itself isn't a password manager and the main reason why i use it is because each of the individual programs that i actually use to open it (keepassxc on windows, keepassdroid on my phone, keeweb hosted on my vps on other devices...) can use the same file with the same specification that is shared everywhere.
  i'm not bound to any particular program with a particular set of features. just use anything that can open that file format from a place where i choose to host it.

Agree with others, Vaultwarden is probably your best bet. I've found the default app to be a little flaky, but ended up using Keyguard, which I've found really good.
I used to use Keypass+Syncthing, but found sync conflicts too often (due to Syncthing support for Android), hence the switch.
- That's an interesting option. It's the Bitwarden app I've been having issues with; though I'm not sure how much of that is Bitwardens fault vs Android itself.
  I'll give that a look, thanks :)
- I've been using keyguard for a while now its much smoother then the native bitwarden app and allows multiple vaults which is nice when syncing personal/work vault for example.

I also use keepass and syncthing
- Keepass with the android app that syncs over OneDrive. That way I have my passwords anywhere, also when I sit by my old Windows laptop from time to time.

I use Unix Pass connected over Tailscale to a git server I host myself. The interface options for various devices are a bit clunky, but it basically “just works” outside of that.
Edit: I used to use KeePass and syncthing, which I think is probably the best (balance of simple and effective) combo for most users.

Vaultwarden over tailscale has been good to me.
I do have a qualm with how easy it is to accidentally close bitwarden before saving a password and losing the password you just generated. But that's just taught me to not zip through the process
- I believe you can view the generated password history
  
  Too bad it auto-generates a new one in the same menu :)

The autofill popup has always been unreliable for me on Android (with Bitwarden)
I use the quick settings tile most of the time instead
- Thank you! You gave me the hint I needed.
  I didn't know there was a quick setting button (the buttons in the notification tray) and have been struggling to find the accessibility options people have mentioned.
  That button in the tray seems so much more reliable. Thanks again!
- Same for me, and I use the button in my quick settings as well.

Switched from 1password to vaultwarden, no looking back.
- I did the same, as soon as 1Password started migrating to centralized subscription model.
  
  I was grandfathered to a lifetime sub so I sort of let it slide for a few years. But they really have 0 advantages over OSS. Another company turned to garbage.

I use Bitwarden, which I'm fairly sure is the same product. Perhaps the issue lies with the app you're using to login rather than the manager? For example, Bitwarden works well on at least Chrome and Brave, but rarely on Ecosia.
- Bitwarden and Vaultwarden are different products. Vaultwarden is API-compatible with the Bitwarden client apps, but it's a completely separate project.
  Both are self hostable. Bitwarden is designed for large deployments (like companies with tens of thousands of employees) so the design is very different to Vaultwarden which is designed for small deployments.
- Vaultwarden is just a self-hosted server for Bitwardens clients. It's Bitwardens android client I've been having issues with.

psono password manager from germany, you can self host it and it's open source
they also give you really good, free support, even when you don't pay them anything
- Interesting, I had not heard of Psono before, cool to see a European alternative that is fully open source. I'm currently self-hosting Vaultwarden but I might give this a try to see how it holds up.

I used to self-host Bitwarden but switched to Vaultwarden a while back.
In the Bitwarden Android app, make sure all the autofill settings are enabled, including accessibility (which helps with autofill in apps that don't officially support it). Sometimes, system updates seem to disable them.
Also note that Android apps need to explicitly support autofill. Not all apps do. The "use accessibility" option is supposed to help with apps that don't officially support autofill.

Keyguard, which works on Bitwarden-compatible servers like Vaultwarden

Been selfhosting the official Bitwarden stack for the last 7 years now and it's been running great.

You can open the browser extension menu and press the fill button. The autofill never seems to have worked here on my mobile Firefox 🤷
In theory you can also self-host Firefox sync, but well... there seem to be issues with that.

I use Bitwarden (as far as I know these are basically the same) and have had issues with the app too, from long delays before it autofills, to the popup jumping around the screen or vanishing after 1ms, to just never showing up on some screens. I would recommend trying some of the other autofill options they provide in settings to see if they work better for you. I have had much more luck with "inline autofill" than the accessibility-based autofill, but currently keep them all enabled and the experience is much smoother than it was a year ago.

I wish I had the confidence in my security provisions to self host my secrets on the internet. I do use bitwarden, but that is local to my machine. It works good for me, as my memory is shit. About the only thing I could say against Bitwarden is that the recent theme change was a huge mistake and caused a lot of people a lot of stress. Insomuch as the public outcry against the new theme was so great, they switched back to the old theme. Whoever created the new theme had to have been a sadist.
- I keep vaultwarden behind a vpn so it's not exposed directly to the net. You don't need a constant connection to the server; that's only needed to add/change vault items.
  This does require some planning though; it's easy to lock yourself out of your accounts when you're away, if you don't incorporate a backdoor of some kind to let yourself in in an emergency. (lost your device while away from home for example)
  My normal vpn connection requires a private key and a password that's stored in my vault to decrypt it. I've setup a method for retrieving a backup set of keys using a series of usernames, emails, passwords, and undocumented paths (these are the only passwords I actually memorize); allowing me to reach vaultwarden where I can retrieve my vault with the data needed to login to everything else properly.
  
  if you don’t incorporate a backdoor
  I've often thought about this, and since it has come up in convo, I'll ask: If you were to implement a backdoor to your server, how would you go about that? Currently I have 3 vps and one rack in the closet. It is the vps I'm interested in the most. Only one vps offers a rescue ssh, and yes I can confirm, if you are not exceedingly careful on my setup, you can lock yourself right out. I run tailscale on everything and I often wondered if I could incorporate tailscale as a emergency backdoor.

Enpass works well for me.

I've been using "passwords" on nextcloud for a few years now. Minimal issues with the app, moving apps, and browser extensions. Not perfect, but hey it's self hosted and reliable.

51 comments