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Cybersecurity · head to head

HashiCorp Boundary vs Teleport

HashiCorp Boundary logo

HashiCorp Boundary

Cybersecurity

Identity-aware session broker for infrastructure access without distributing credentials

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Teleport logo

Teleport

Cybersecurity

Certificate-based access to servers, Kubernetes, databases and apps, replacing shared credentials and VPNs

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only HashiCorp Boundary has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: HashiCorp Boundary hashiCorp was acquired by IBM in February 2025 and Enterprise licensing now runs through IBM Passport Advantage; IBM has already retired HCP Vault Secrets, so Boundary's roadmap depends on IBM portfolio decisions rather than HashiCorp's own product strategy.; Teleport pricing is not published and is described as active users plus protected resources, so an autoscaling estate cannot forecast the bill and finance teams discover the true cost only after the first true-up.
  • They diverge on capability: HashiCorp Boundary covers Identity-based access, Teleport covers Short-lived certificates.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which HashiCorp Boundary and Teleport actually diverge.

Attributes where HashiCorp Boundary and Teleport differ
AttributeHashiCorp BoundaryTeleport
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, macOS, Windows, WebLinux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in HashiCorp Boundary

  • Identity-based access
  • Just-in-time credentials
  • Dynamic host catalogues
  • Session recording
  • Transparent sessions
  • Multi-hop workers
  • Audit logging
  • Terraform provider

Only in Teleport

  • Short-lived certificates
  • Protocol coverage
  • Session recording and replay
  • Access Requests
  • Device Trust
  • Identity provider integration
  • Machine identity
  • FIPS and FedRAMP builds

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

HashiCorp Boundary

  • A platform team replacing shared SSH keys and a bastion host so that leavers lose access the moment they are removed from the identity providernot Teleport
  • Granting contractors time-boxed database access without ever issuing them a credential they could keepnot Teleport
  • An estate where autoscaling replaces hosts continuously and a static access list is always out of datenot Teleport
  • Producing session recordings as evidence for an audit that requires proof of who touched production and what they rannot Teleport

Teleport

  • Removing long-lived SSH keys and shared database passwords so that offboarding an engineer takes one action in the identity providernot HashiCorp Boundary
  • Producing session recordings and per-user database audit trails as direct evidence for SOC 2 or FedRAMPnot HashiCorp Boundary
  • Giving contractors or on-call engineers time-boxed, approved access to production instead of standing admin rightsnot HashiCorp Boundary
  • Replacing a flat VPN with per-resource authorisation across servers, Kubernetes and internal web appsnot HashiCorp Boundary

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

HashiCorp Boundary

  • HashiCorp was acquired by IBM in February 2025 and Enterprise licensing now runs through IBM Passport Advantage; IBM has already retired HCP Vault Secrets, so Boundary's roadmap depends on IBM portfolio decisions rather than HashiCorp's own product strategy.
  • Enterprise pricing is not published anywhere, and the features most organisations actually need for compliance, notably session recording, are Enterprise only, so the free community edition is rarely the version you end up buying.
  • It solves access to infrastructure, not to applications; browser-based internal tools, SaaS admin consoles and APIs need a separate control, so Boundary is one component of a zero-trust programme rather than the whole thing.
  • Running it yourself means operating controllers, worker nodes and a Postgres database in a highly available configuration, and if that control plane is down nobody can reach production, which makes it a new critical dependency.
  • It is materially easier to adopt if you already run Vault and Terraform; teams without that ecosystem face a steeper learning curve than a device-based mesh product like Tailscale, for a similar access outcome.

Teleport

  • Pricing is not published and is described as active users plus protected resources, so an autoscaling estate cannot forecast the bill and finance teams discover the true cost only after the first true-up.
  • The proxy is a hard dependency on reaching production, so it needs its own high availability deployment and a tested break-glass path or an outage in Teleport becomes an outage in your ability to respond to outages.
  • The open source Community Edition omits Access Requests, Device Trust and the FIPS builds, which are exactly the controls an auditor asks about, so the free tier rarely survives a compliance review.
  • Self-hosting means running and upgrading a certificate authority and its backing store, and Teleport releases frequently enough that upgrade work becomes a standing operational commitment.
  • Coverage across protocols is uneven in depth, so teams with legacy systems, unusual databases or bespoke network appliances find gaps that still require the old VPN to remain in place alongside it.

Pricing, plan by plan

HashiCorp Boundary

Free
  • Boundary Community EditionFree
    • MPL 2.0 open source
    • Self-hosted controllers and workers
    • Identity-based target access
  • Boundary Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Session recording and playback
    • Multi-hop and transparent sessions
    • Multi-tenancy via scopes

Teleport

On request
  • Teleport Community Edition$undefined/year
    • Open source, self-hosted
    • SSH, Kubernetes, database and app access
    • Session recording
  • Teleport Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Cloud-hosted or self-hosted
    • Access Requests and approval workflow
    • Device Trust and hardware key enforcement

Which should you pick?

Choose HashiCorp Boundary if

  • You need identity-based access.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Web.
  • You also want just-in-time credentials.
HashiCorp Boundary review

Choose Teleport if

  • You need short-lived certificates.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud.
  • You also want protocol coverage.
Teleport review

Questions people ask

Is HashiCorp Boundary or Teleport better?
Neither clearly leads. HashiCorp Boundary starts at Free and Teleport at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, HashiCorp Boundary or Teleport?
HashiCorp Boundary has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for HashiCorp Boundary and On request for Teleport.
Does HashiCorp Boundary or Teleport run on more platforms?
HashiCorp Boundary runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Web. Teleport runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud.
Can I use HashiCorp Boundary for free?
Yes. HashiCorp Boundary has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Teleport starts at On request.
What is HashiCorp Boundary best used for?
HashiCorp Boundary is most often used for a platform team replacing shared ssh keys and a bastion host so that leavers lose access the moment they are removed from the identity provider, granting contractors time-boxed database access without ever issuing them a credential they could keep, an estate where autoscaling replaces hosts continuously and a static access list is always out of date, producing session recordings as evidence for an audit that requires proof of who touched production and what they ran. Of those, a platform team replacing shared ssh keys and a bastion host so that leavers lose access the moment they are removed from the identity provider and granting contractors time-boxed database access without ever issuing them a credential they could keep are not what Teleport is typically brought in for.
What can HashiCorp Boundary do that Teleport cannot?
HashiCorp Boundary covers Identity-based access, Just-in-time credentials, Dynamic host catalogues, Session recording. Teleport covers Short-lived certificates, Protocol coverage, Session recording and replay, Access Requests.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

HashiCorp Boundary: Is Boundary open source?

The community edition is, under MPL 2.0. Boundary Enterprise is commercial and is now sold through IBM Passport Advantage.

Teleport: Is the open source edition usable in production?

Yes, but it lacks Access Requests, Device Trust and FIPS builds, which most compliance programmes end up requiring.

HashiCorp Boundary: Does it replace a VPN?

For infrastructure access, largely yes. It grants a session to a specific target rather than putting the user on a network, but it does not cover browser-based internal applications.

Teleport: How is it priced?

Not publicly. The vendor prices on active users and protected resources and provides a quote after a sales conversation.

HashiCorp Boundary: What does Boundary Enterprise cost?

HashiCorp does not publish Boundary pricing. It is quoted, and since the IBM acquisition it is transacted on IBM licensing paper.

Teleport: What happens if Teleport goes down?

Nobody reaches the resources behind it, so you need a highly available deployment and a documented break-glass procedure.

HashiCorp Boundary: Do I need Vault to use it?

No, but the just-in-time credential brokering that makes Boundary worthwhile depends on Vault or an equivalent secrets store.

Teleport: Does it replace our VPN?

For anything you put behind it, yes. Legacy systems and appliances it does not support will keep the VPN alive.

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