SignPath vs Sigstore

SignPath provides code signing and software integrity controls for builds and releases. Its format-aware signing covers executables, packages, installers, containers, scripts, manifests, SBOMs, and configuration files. Before trusting a release, it can verify source repositories, branches, build systems, approvals, and CI/CD context. SignPath can produce signed, machine-readable attestations, including SLSA provenance, validation summaries, and signed SBOMs. Listed integrations include plugins and REST API connections for GitHub Actions, GitLab, Jenkins, Azure DevOps, and TeamCity. SignPath says private keys remain in FIPS-compliant hardware security modules and are never exposed or shared. Role-based controls determine who can sign which artifacts and with which certificate. Signing records include the user, file, certificate, policy, and result; reports can be exported, with optional WORM-style log archiving. Deployment options are SaaS, self-hosted, or hybrid. The free Open Source Code Signing plan has eligibility conditions: projects must be actively maintained and released, use an OSI-approved open source license, and have no proprietary components.

Sigstore is a free, open source project for signing and verifying software artifacts to improve supply chain security. It supports release files, container images, binaries, software bills of materials, and more. Signatures use temporary keys, so developers do not have to manage signing keys; events are recorded in a tamper-resistant public log for audit. Its components include Cosign, Fulcio, Rekor, OpenID Connect, and Policy Controller. Cosign signs and verifies artifacts and stores signatures in an OCI registry. Fulcio issues temporary certificates to authorized identities, while Rekor keeps signed metadata in a searchable ledger. OpenID Connect authenticates users through providers such as GitHub and Google. The trust root uses The Update Framework and is maintained by five keyholders from different companies and academic institutions. Sigstore provides GitHub Actions, documents GitLab CI installation, and offers official clients for Go, Java, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, and Rust. It supports API, Linux, macOS, Windows, and self-hosted environments. One integration caveat is that Cosign has no API stability guarantees, does not follow semantic versioning, and is not recommended for application integration because of its dependencies.