Password Managers for Free
Introduction
Every day, millions of passwords are compromised, costing businesses thousands in security breaches. Whether you’re a small startup or a growing enterprise, password security isn’t optional—it’s critical. But commercial password management solutions can cost your company €5-10 per user per month, adding up to thousands of euros annually.
What if you could have enterprise-grade password management for free?
In this guide, we’ll show you how self-hosted password managers can save your business money while giving you complete control over your sensitive data.
What Are Password Managers?
Password managers are secure digital vaults that store all your passwords, login credentials, and sensitive information in one encrypted location. Instead of remembering dozens of complex passwords or—worse—reusing the same password everywhere, you only need to remember one master password.
Modern password managers do much more than just store passwords:
- Generate strong, unique passwords for every account
- Auto-fill login forms on websites and apps
- Store secure notes, credit card information, and documents
- Share credentials securely with team members
- Alert you to compromised or weak passwords
- Sync across all your devices
For businesses, password managers are essential security infrastructure, not a luxury.
Why Password Managers Are Critical for Companies
The numbers don’t lie: 81% of data breaches are caused by weak or stolen passwords. Here’s why every company needs a password manager:
Security Benefits:
Your employees probably reuse passwords across multiple sites. When one site gets breached, hackers try those credentials everywhere. A password manager eliminates this risk by generating unique passwords for every service.
Compliance Requirements:
Many industries require strict password policies for compliance (GDPR, HIPAA, ISO 27001). Password managers help you meet these requirements by enforcing strong passwords and providing audit trails.
Productivity Gains:
How much time do your employees waste resetting forgotten passwords? Studies show the average employee resets 7-10 passwords per year, costing 20-30 minutes each time. A password manager eliminates this productivity drain.
Business Continuity:
What happens when an employee leaves and you need access to accounts they managed? With a password manager, you maintain access to all business credentials without security risks.
Reduced IT Costs:
Password reset requests are among the most common IT support tickets. Password managers can reduce these requests by up to 90%.
Commercial Password Managers: The Cost Problem
Several excellent commercial password managers exist for businesses:
Bitwarden Business: Starting at $5 per user/month
With 10 employees, that’s $600 per year. With 50 employees, you’re looking at $3,000 annually.
1Password Business: Starting at $8 per user/month
For 10 employees: $960/year. For 50 employees: $4,800/year.
LastPass Business: Starting at $7 per user/month
For 10 employees: $840/year. For 50 employees: $4,200/year.
Dashlane Business: Starting at $8 per user/month
For 10 employees: $960/year. For 50 employees: $4,800/year.
These solutions work well, but the costs add up quickly—especially for growing businesses. And you’re storing your most sensitive data on someone else’s servers.
What if there was a better way?
The Self-Hosted Alternative: Free and Fully Controlled
Open-source, self-hosted password managers give you all the features of commercial solutions—without the recurring costs or data control concerns.
The two leading self-hosted solutions are:
Vaultwarden (Bitwarden-Compatible)
Vaultwarden is an unofficial, lightweight implementation of the Bitwarden server API. It’s fully compatible with all official Bitwarden clients (browser extensions, mobile apps, desktop apps), giving you the exact same user experience as Bitwarden Business—but completely free.
- 100% compatible with Bitwarden apps
- Significantly lower server resource requirements
- All premium Bitwarden features included for free
- Active community and regular updates
- Battle-tested security architecture
Passbolt
Passbolt is designed specifically for team collaboration, with a strong focus on security and compliance.
- Built for team password sharing
- GPG-based encryption
- Granular access controls
- Compliance-friendly audit logs
- User-friendly interface
Both solutions are completely free, open-source, and give you full control over your data.
What You Need to Host Your Own Password Manager
To self-host a password manager, you’ll need:
A Virtual Private Server (VPS)
A reliable cloud server to host your password manager. Hetzner Cloud is an excellent choice—a suitable VPS costs around €5-10/month, regardless of how many users you have.
That’s €60-120 per year for unlimited users versus €600-4,800+ for commercial solutions.
Docker (Optional but Recommended)
Most self-hosted password managers are easiest to deploy using Docker containers. This simplifies installation, updates, and maintenance.
A Domain Name
You’ll need a domain (e.g., passwords.yourcompany.com) to access your password manager securely. Domains cost around €10-15 per year.
SSL/TLS Certificate
This is absolutely critical. You must have HTTPS encryption with a valid SSL certificate when handling passwords. Without it, your credentials could be intercepted.
Backup System
Perhaps the most important requirement: reliable, automated backups. Your password vault contains every credential your business relies on. If you lose this data, you could lose access to everything.
The Reality Check: Manual Setup Is Complex
While self-hosted password managers are free, setting them up properly is far from simple.
Let’s look at what’s involved in setting up Vaultwarden manually. The Hetzner community has an excellent tutorial that shows the real complexity:
https://community.hetzner.com/tutorials/how-to-set-up-vaultwarden
The tutorial involves:
- Configuring Docker and Docker Compose
- Setting up Traefik as a reverse proxy
- Configuring Let’s Encrypt for SSL certificates
- Implementing ModSecurity as a web application firewall
- Setting up Fail2Ban for brute-force protection
- Creating complex Docker Compose configurations
- Managing firewall rules
- Monitoring logs and security alerts
The tutorial itself takes 30-60 minutes to follow carefully—and that’s if you already know Docker, networking, and Linux administration. For someone without this experience, it could take hours or days of troubleshooting.
And this is just the initial setup. You still need to:
- Set up automated backups
- Configure backup retention policies
- Test backup restoration procedures
- Set up monitoring and alerting
- Implement security hardening
- Plan for updates and maintenance
- Document the setup for your team
The SSL certificate challenge alone can be daunting. Let’s Encrypt certificates expire every 90 days and must be renewed automatically. If the renewal process breaks, your password manager becomes inaccessible until you fix it—potentially locking your team out of all their accounts.
And backups? This is where many self-hosted solutions fail catastrophically. You need:
- Automated daily backups
- Off-site backup storage
- Encrypted backup data
- Regular backup testing
- Retention policies
- Disaster recovery procedures
Setting up Borgmatic (the gold standard for Linux backups) adds another layer of complexity with its own configuration, encryption keys, repository management, and monitoring requirements.
For most businesses, this complexity means either:
- Paying expensive managed hosting services (losing the cost benefits)
- Spending IT time on setup and maintenance (hidden costs)
- Skipping important security steps (dangerous)
- Giving up and paying for commercial solutions (defeating the purpose)
The Simple Solution: Infinity Tools
This is where Infinity Tools changes everything.
Infinity Tools is a complete self-hosted application platform that includes professionally configured Vaultwarden and Passbolt—ready to use in minutes, not hours or days.
What You Get:
Complete Setup in Under 5 Minutes
Launch Infinity Tools, select Vaultwarden or Passbolt from the menu, answer a few simple questions, and you’re done. No Docker knowledge required. No Linux expertise needed. No configuration files to edit.
Automatic SSL Certificates
Infinity Tools automatically configures Traefik reverse proxy with Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates. Your password manager gets HTTPS encryption automatically, with automatic certificate renewal. You never have to think about it.
Enterprise-Grade Backups Included
Every Infinity Tools installation includes Borgmatic—the industry-standard backup solution for Linux. Your password vault is automatically backed up with:
- Encryption at rest
- Configurable retention policies
- Local and optional remote backup destinations
- Automatic backup verification
- Easy restoration procedures
Pro+ Exclusive: Borgmatic UI
Our Pro and Pro+ versions include Borgmatic UI—a custom development by Speedbits, exclusive to Infinity Tools. This intuitive web interface lets you:
- View all backup jobs at a glance
- Monitor backup status in real-time
- Configure backup schedules visually
- Restore backups with one click
- Manage multiple backup destinations
- Receive backup alerts via Apprise notifications
This feature alone is worth thousands in development costs, and it’s included in your Infinity Tools license.
Complete Application Suite
Beyond password managers, Infinity Tools includes:
- Nextcloud (file storage and collaboration)
- WordPress (website and content management)
- Uptime Kuma (monitoring)
- Portainer (Docker management)
- WireGuard (VPN)
- And many more applications
All with the same simple setup process, automatic SSL, and integrated backups.
The Real Cost Savings
Let’s do the math for a 20-person company over a 5-year period:
Commercial Password Manager (e. g. Keeper, NordPass, etc):
€5/user/month × 20 users × 12 months = €1,200 per year
Over 5 years: €6,000
Self-Hosted with Manual Setup:
– VPS hosting: €120/year = €600 over 5 years
– Domain: €15/year = €75 over 5 years
– IT time for setup: 8-16 hours at €100/hour = €800-1,600
Total: €1,475-1,875 over 5 years
Self-Hosted with Infinity Tools Pro+:
– VPS hosting: €120/year = €600 over 5 years
– Domain: €15/year = €75 over 5 years
– Infinity Tools Pro+ license: €99 one-time
– Setup time: 5 minutes (negligible cost)
– Maintenance: Minimal, mostly automated
Total: €774 over 5 years
Savings vs. Commercial: €5,026 (84% cost reduction)
Savings vs. Manual: €700 – 1,100 (50% cost reduction)
And this is just for the password manager. When you add the value of all other included applications, the savings multiply dramatically.
Security Without Compromise
Some might worry that “easy” means “less secure.” With Infinity Tools, the opposite is true.
Every component follows industry best practices:
- Docker containerization for isolation
- Traefik reverse proxy with automatic HTTPS
- Let’s Encrypt certificates with auto-renewal
- Network segmentation between services
- Encrypted backups with Borgmatic
- Optional Fail2Ban integration
- Firewall configuration helpers
- Regular security updates
The difference is that these complex security measures are preconfigured and automated—you get enterprise security without enterprise complexity.
Who Is Infinity Tools For?
Infinity Tools is perfect for:
- Small to Medium Businesses (5-100 employees): Get enterprise-grade tools without enterprise-grade costs. Install everything your business needs in an afternoon.
- Development Teams: Run your own project management, code repositories, CI/CD, and collaboration tools without monthly SaaS fees.
- Digital Agencies: Host client websites, manage credentials securely, collaborate on projects—all from one platform.
- IT Consultants: Deploy complete application stacks for clients quickly and professionally. The built-in backup system means you sleep well at night.
- Privacy-Conscious Organizations: Keep sensitive data under your control. Perfect for industries with strict compliance requirements.
Getting Started
Ready to save thousands while gaining complete control over your password management?
Visit speedbits.io to:
- Download Infinity Tools Community Edition (free, open-source)
- Upgrade to Pro or Pro+ for Borgmatic UI and priority support
- Access complete documentation and video tutorials
- Join our community forum for help and best practices
Start with our free Community Edition to test Vaultwarden and Passbolt. When you’re ready for the full experience with Borgmatic UI, Rclone Web UI and other advanced features, upgrade to one of our paid plans for a one-time payment of €99 per server —less than most commercial password managers cost for a single year.
Your business deserves enterprise security without enterprise costs. That’s the Infinity Tools promise.
Disclaimer
Infinity Tools is developed and supported by Smart In Venture / Speedbits. All included open-source applications remain under their original licenses. Borgmatic UI is proprietary software developed exclusively for Infinity Tools Pro and Pro+ customers.