Dev tools · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to Liberty – Hardware-bound secret manager (no more .env files)
I got tired of: - .env files committed to Git (seen it happen 100+ times) - API keys shared in Slack - Wondering who has access to what secrets So I built Liberty - a CLI tool that replaces .env files with hardware-bound encryption. How it works: $ pip install liberty-secrets $ liberty add DATABASE_URL postgresql://... $ liberty add STRIPE_KEY sk-... $ liberty exec npm start Secrets are encrypted with a key derived from your machine's hardware (CPU ID + machine ID + disk serial). If someone steals your .liberty vault file, it's useless on their machine. Features: - Hardware-bound…
Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes.
- 1

Hi! I got tired of setting up tools I can't explain to a team in a few words like sops or git-crypt, just to store few files with environment variables or secrets, so I built lockenv as a simple alternative. It's basically a password-protected vault file you commit to git. No gpg keys, no cloud, just lockenv init, set a password, and lock/unlock the secrets. This tool integrates with OS keyring, so you're not typing passwords constantly. Should work on Mac/Linux/Windows, but I tested it only on linux so far. I am not trying to replace any mature / robust solution, just…
Dec 2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 2

Simple, secure, with an Env Vault for your .env files
Feb 2026 · lemonadepass.app · its alternatives →
- 3E2
Hey HN, I'm so happy to finally show you all this release after years of hard work. I posted the first version of EnvKey to HN back in 2017 (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15330757), then went through YC in W18 (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16569534). EnvKey is an end-to-end encrypted configuration and secrets manager. It protects your organization's API keys, encryption keys, credentials, and other secrets, and makes it easy to run servers, scripts, tests, and everything else with the latest config. It also helps you avoid duplication in your…
2022 · v2.envkey.com · its alternatives →
- 4

enject: Hide .env secrets from prAIng eyes: secrets live in local encrypted stores (per project) and are injected directly into apps at runtime, never touching disk as plaintext. - GreatScott/enject
Feb 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
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envsecrets▲72CLI first management of your environment secrets
2023 · envsecrets.com · its alternatives →
- 8

Hi HN, I built KeyEnv because I was tired of the "can you Slack me the Stripe key?" workflow. The problem: My team's secrets lived in a mix of Slack DMs, shared Google Docs, and .env files that definitely weren't in .gitignore at some point. Enterprise tools like Vault required more DevOps time than we had. Doppler was close but felt heavier than we needed. What KeyEnv does: keyenv init # link project keyenv pull # sync secrets to local .env keyenv run -- npm start # inject secrets, run command That's basically it. Secrets are encrypted client-side (AES-256-GCM) before leaving your machine.…
Jan 2026 · keyenv.dev · its alternatives →
- 9ES
2017 · envkey.com · its alternatives →
- 10

Finally open sourced an internal tool we've been using for managing secrets. It's similar to SOPS, but more opinionated, easier to configure/use correctly, and produces nicer git diffs. It also supports one-way encryption, so you don't have to know the private key to add secrets.
2023 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 11

Manage secrets in your terminal with biometric unlock.
2022 · 1password.dev · its alternatives →
- 12

Enc is a CLI tool for encryption, a modern and friendly alternative to GnuPG. It is easy to use, secure by default and can encrypt and decrypt files using password or encryption keys, manage and download keys, and sign data. Our goal was to make encryption available to all engineers without the need to learn a lot of new words, concepts, and commands. It is the most beginner-friendly CLI tool for encryption, and keeping it that way is our top priority.
2023 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 13

just wanted to share ward, a tool i hacked together to encrypt and manage sensitive files in a vault folder. it's written in bash and meant to be cloned and then stored using git or version control. you don't have to store it that way, it's just why i created it. what ward does: encrypts the files in ./vault/ into a single .gpg file, checks to see if your files have been tampered with, generates totp codes if you need them to recover critical accounts. how to use it: clone the repo, toss your files into the vault directory, and run yarn encrypt. now commit your new [private]…
2024 · github.com · its alternatives →
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- 15

Zero-knowledge secret manager for small dev teams
May 2026 · getvaultlite.com · its alternatives →
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- 17

This is a tool to manage encrypted local backups of secrets. The core idea is that it aims to be usable without depending on it, meaning that even if the software disappeared from the face of Earth tomorrow, your data would still be recoverable. It also integrates nicely with NixOS (which is what I use, though it does not require NixOS to be used). I have summed up a bit of explanation and some answers to reasonable questions in a blog post: https://baldino.dev/blog/secs-man/
Jun 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 18

Hi Guys, I built SecretEnv to help solve one common thing that I have seen at every org, that I have worked at. We always had more than one password/credential manager. Service tokens maybe in Vault, AWS SSM etc and some team specific service account or temp account credentials being store in another password store such as 1Password or Keeper, there was never one single credential store. This is where SecretEnv comes in play, it runs any command with secrets injected as env vars, sourced from whatever combination of backend your team already uses. I am sure there are other tools as well…
May 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 19

I built this tool for myself, and the URL in this post points to it. I needed a secure way to store my environment variables because I work on many projects across multiple devices. Keeping each variable up‑to‑date on every device was a constant hassle. Now everything lives in a local file that I can pull and push with a simple CLI command. I never have to think about it again. The tool is also useful when you’re hiring freelancers who need access to staging or local environment variables for testing. Instead of handing over an entire .env file, only to have it linger for months and expose…
Jun 2026 · envmanager.com · its alternatives →
- 20
JustEnv▲8Your environment variables, finally in one safe place
Jun 2026 · justenvs.app · its alternatives →
- 21KA
Hi HN, I made Keepr, a simple offline CLI password manager for developers who prefer keeping secrets local and working entirely in the terminal. Everything is stored in an encrypted SQLCipher database, protected by a master password. A time-limited session keeps the vault unlocked while you work, so you don’t need to re-enter the password constantly. Keepr never touches the network. It includes commands to add, view, search, update, and delete entries, plus a secure password generator and clipboard support. Technical details: - AES-256 via SQLCipher - PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256 (1.2M iterations) for…
Nov 2025 · its alternatives →
- 22

Hey everyone, English is not my native language. This post was polished with AI, but the content is mine. I run a small dev agency in Germany. Every week someone shares database credentials, API keys, or a .env file via Slack or email. Not because they don’t care: because there’s no frictionless alternative. Vault setups are heavy. Enterprise tools are expensive. I just needed: upload → share link → done. But encrypted before leaving the browser. So I built SecretDrop.dev. What it does Files encrypted client-side (AES-256-GCM, PBKDF2 600k iterations) Built entirely on WebCrypto No…
Feb 2026 · secretdrop.dev · its alternatives →
- 23

Hi everyone! We started working on this project last year because a password manager that we used was being sold to another company and stopped offering their service. We were not happy with the alternatives that were available so we decided to give it a shot and build our own. We are now at a point where we have a working Beta and are looking for some feedback from the community. The main idea is to have data synchronization without a central server (single point of failure). When you create a Vault (inside which you can store your credentials and other sensitive data), you can "Link" it to…
2023 · cryptex-vault.com · its alternatives →
- 24Vaultlet▲1
Keep your secrets secret — straight from the terminal
May 2026 · vaultlethq.com · its alternatives →
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