AWS Secrets Manager vs Keyway
AWS Secrets Manager
aws.amazon.com
Keyway
keyway.shSide by side
| Figure | AWS Secrets Manager | Keyway |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $0.40/mo | €9/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 4 |
| Spec score · Secrets Management Tools | 8.5 (#3) | 7.9 (#16) |
| Encryption | Secrets Manager encrypts secrets at rest with AWS Key Management Service keys and transmits retrieved secrets over TLS. | Secrets are encrypted with AES-256-GCM, using a unique random IV for each secret. |
| Integrations | Listed AWS integrations include Amazon RDS, Amazon Redshift, Amazon DocumentDB, Amazon MSK, Amazon SageMaker, AWS CodeBuild, and AWS Transfer Family. | The documented available provider integrations are Vercel, Netlify, and Railway, with workflows to sync secrets. |
| Purpose | AWS Secrets Manager manages access to applications, services, IT resources, database credentials, API keys, and other secrets throughout their lifecycle. | Keyway is an open-source secrets manager that injects environment variables into process memory so they are not stored in a project .env file. |
Plans
In their own words
AWS Secrets Manager
AWS Secrets Manager has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
Keyway
Keyway is an open-source secrets manager that injects environment variables into a running process instead of storing them in a project.env file. Its `keyway run` command makes secrets available while that process runs; they disappear when it stops. Keyway says AI agents reading files from disk cannot see secrets injected this way. Access follows GitHub repository permissions, so removing a person’s repository access also revokes their Keyway access.
Secrets use AES-256-GCM encryption with a unique random IV for each secret. An isolated crypto service holds the encryption key, which Keyway says does not touch its API server or database; connections among the CLI, API, crypto service, and database use TLS 1.3. An audit trail records who accessed which secrets, when, and from where. Documented provider workflows cover Vercel, Netlify, and Railway. CLI binaries are listed for macOS, Linux, and Windows, and the full stack can be self-hosted with Docker Compose. The Free plan includes unlimited public repositories, one private repository, three environments per repository, two provider integrations, and unlimited collaborators. Paid plans are Pro at €9 a month, Team at €19 a month, and Business at €39 a month.