Keyline vs HashiCorp Vault
Vault is the enterprise standard for secrets infrastructure, and comparing it to Keyline is almost unfair in both directions. That is exactly why this page exists.
The short version
Choose Vault if you have a platform team, need dynamic database credentials, PKI, HSM integration, and policy-as-code across hundreds of services. Nothing else is as proven at that job.
Choose Keyline if you looked at Vault's architecture diagram and closed the tab. Small teams do not need secrets infrastructure; they need their .env shared safely today.
Side by side
| Keyline | Vault | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | 2 to 10 person product teams | Platform and security teams at scale |
| Time to first secret | About two minutes | Days honestly; unseal keys, policies, auth methods |
| Operations | None: hosted, nothing to run | A service YOU run and keep highly available |
| Superpowers | .env native, zero-knowledge, public audit anchors | Dynamic secrets, leases, PKI, HSMs, policy engine |
| Who can read your secrets | Only your devices. Servers hold ciphertext | Vault decrypts at read time; its operators and root tokens are in the trust circle |
| Pricing | $19 flat | Open source free + your ops time; enterprise licensing beyond |
The real question
Vault answers "how does a large organization manage the lifecycle of thousands of machine secrets". Keyline answers "how do five humans stop pasting production keys in chat". If your team has a dedicated person who says the word "unseal" comfortably, you are Vault-shaped. If your whole company fits in one standup, you are ours.
Two minutes to the first encrypted push
$ curl -fsSL keyline.sh/install | sh
Solo is free forever. Team is $19 flat for up to 10 people, 14-day trial.
See the whole journeyNo card for Solo. Your secrets are encrypted before they leave your laptop.