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Cybersecurity · head to head

HashiCorp Vault vs Teleport

HashiCorp Vault logo

HashiCorp Vault

Cybersecurity

Manage secrets and protect sensitive data

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 Vault has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: HashiCorp Vault policies are written in HCL with no graphical user interface for policy management or editing; 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 Vault covers Secret storage, 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 Vault and Teleport actually diverge.

Attributes where HashiCorp Vault and Teleport differ
AttributeHashiCorp VaultTeleport
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelopen-sourcequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, Windows, Mac, ApiLinux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud
Founded2014Unknown

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 Vault

  • Secret storage
  • Dynamic secrets
  • Encryption as a service
  • Identity-based access
  • Audit logging
  • Leasing and renewal
  • Secret engines
  • Auth methods

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 Vault

  • Secrets managementnot Teleport
  • Database credentialsnot Teleport
  • API keysnot Teleport
  • SSH accessnot Teleport
  • PKI and certificatesnot Teleport

Teleport

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

Where each one falls short

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

HashiCorp Vault

  • Policies are written in HCL with no graphical user interface for policy management or editing
  • Unsealing requires managing multiple key shares and coordinating a quorum of operators
  • Community Edition lacks enterprise features like namespaces and disaster recovery replication
  • Requires additional monitoring solutions for alerting and observability

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 Vault

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Secrets management
    • Encryption
    • Community support
  • Vault Enterprise$6000/year
    • Replication
    • HSM support
    • Advanced audit

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 Vault if

  • You need secret storage.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api.
  • You also want dynamic secrets.
HashiCorp Vault 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 Vault or Teleport better?
Neither clearly leads. HashiCorp Vault 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 Vault or Teleport?
HashiCorp Vault has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for HashiCorp Vault and On request for Teleport.
Does HashiCorp Vault or Teleport run on more platforms?
HashiCorp Vault runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api. Teleport runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud.
Can I use HashiCorp Vault for free?
Yes. HashiCorp Vault has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Teleport starts at On request.
What is HashiCorp Vault best used for?
HashiCorp Vault is most often used for secrets management, database credentials, api keys, ssh access. Of those, secrets management and database credentials are not what Teleport is typically brought in for.
What can HashiCorp Vault do that Teleport cannot?
HashiCorp Vault covers Secret storage, Dynamic secrets, Encryption as a service, Identity-based access. Teleport covers Short-lived certificates, Protocol coverage, Session recording and replay, Access Requests.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

HashiCorp Vault: Does HashiCorp Vault have a free version?

Yes. The open-source Community Edition is completely free and includes core secrets management, dynamic secrets, and encryption as a service. It is self-hosted with no licensing fees or secret count limits, but lacks enterprise features like namespaces, disaster recovery replication, and Sentinel policies.

Source
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 Vault: Can I use HashiCorp Vault in production?

The Community Edition is suitable for non-production environments and small teams. For production deployments, organizations typically use HCP Vault Dedicated (managed cloud service starting at approximately 22 USD per month) or Vault Enterprise with custom pricing that includes disaster recovery, performance replication, and 24/7 support.

Source
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 Vault: What are the main integrations available?

Vault integrates with AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, Active Directory, Okta, and 80+ other platforms. It supports dynamic credential generation for cloud providers, database systems, and identity services, enabling centralized secret management across multi-cloud infrastructure.

Source
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 Vault: Does Vault work offline?

Vault requires network connectivity to function as it is a centralized secrets management server. However, it can be deployed on-premises for air-gapped environments, and clients can cache short-lived tokens for temporary offline access once authenticated.

Source
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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