Bitwarden Premium costs $10/year. Not expensive, but multiplied by a family of 5, it adds up. And you're still trusting a third party with your passwords.
Vaultwarden is an unofficial Bitwarden server written in Rust. It's compatible with all Bitwarden clients (browser, mobile, desktop) but self-hosted. All premium features included. Free.
What You Get Free
GPL licensed:
- All Bitwarden clients — browser extensions, mobile apps, desktop apps work unchanged
- Premium features — TOTP authenticator, file attachments, emergency access
- Organizations — share passwords with family/team
- Send — secure file and text sharing
- Vault health reports — weak, reused, breached password alerts
- 2FA — TOTP, FIDO2/WebAuthn, Duo, email
- Admin panel — manage users, orgs, settings
- SMTP — email notifications and invitations
- SSO — OIDC login support
- Lightweight — 10-30MB RAM (vs 2GB+ for official Bitwarden)
Quick Start
docker run -d --name vaultwarden \
-v /vw-data/:/data/ \
-p 80:80 \
vaultwarden/server:latest
That's it. Open http://localhost, create account, install Bitwarden browser extension, point it to your server.
What You Can Build
1. Family password vault — everyone uses Bitwarden apps. Data stays on your server.
2. Team credential management — shared logins for services, APIs, infrastructure.
3. Secure file sharing — Bitwarden Send for encrypted file transfer.
4. TOTP authenticator — replace Google Authenticator. 2FA codes synced across devices.
5. Emergency access — designate trusted contacts who can access your vault.
Why Self-Host Passwords
Privacy: Your passwords never leave your server.
Cost: Free vs $10-$40/year per user.
Control: You own the data, backups, and encryption keys.
Availability: Works on your LAN even if internet is down.
Need security infrastructure? Email spinov001@gmail.com
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