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Cybersecurity · head to head

HashiCorp Vault vs Very Good Security

HashiCorp Vault logo

HashiCorp Vault

Cybersecurity

Manage secrets and protect sensitive data

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Very Good Security logo

Very Good Security

Cybersecurity

Tokenisation proxy that keeps card and personal data out of your own systems and out of PCI scope

From
$1000/month
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; Very Good Security vGS sits in the live path of every request carrying sensitive data, so its latency and availability become yours, and an outage in the proxy is a payment outage no matter how healthy your own systems are.
  • They diverge on capability: HashiCorp Vault covers Secret storage, Very Good Security covers Aliasing proxy.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which HashiCorp Vault and Very Good Security actually diverge.

Attributes where HashiCorp Vault and Very Good Security differ
AttributeHashiCorp VaultVery Good Security
Starting priceFree$1000/month
Pricing modelopen-sourcePer month
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, Windows, Mac, ApiWeb, API
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 Very Good Security

  • Aliasing proxy
  • PCI scope reduction
  • Network tokenisation
  • Processor optionality
  • Card issuing data
  • Vault and access controls
  • Data residency options
  • Compliance artefacts

What people use each for

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

HashiCorp Vault

  • Secrets managementnot Very Good Security
  • Database credentialsnot Very Good Security
  • API keysnot Very Good Security
  • SSH accessnot Very Good Security
  • PKI and certificatesnot Very Good Security

Very Good Security

  • A marketplace facing its first PCI DSS Level 1 assessment that wants to keep card data off its own estate rather than harden a dozen servicesnot HashiCorp Vault
  • A merchant negotiating with a second acquirer that needs card credentials portable so the negotiation is real rather than theoreticalnot HashiCorp Vault
  • A fintech collecting bank account and identity documents that wants sensitive fields absent from logs, backups and analytics warehouses by constructionnot HashiCorp Vault
  • A card issuer that must display a full PAN in its own mobile app without the app or its backend touching cardholder datanot 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

Very Good Security

  • VGS sits in the live path of every request carrying sensitive data, so its latency and availability become yours, and an outage in the proxy is a payment outage no matter how healthy your own systems are.
  • Token portability is the whole selling point yet leaving VGS means migrating tokens back out, a project the vendor has no incentive to streamline, so the lock-in you removed from your acquirer partly moves to VGS.
  • Entry pricing at around one thousand US dollars a month is real money for a pre-revenue fintech, and it buys volume-limited throughput, so cost scales with exactly the growth that made you buy it.
  • Scope reduction is not scope elimination: your QSA still assesses how you integrate, and teams regularly discover that a support tool or an internal admin screen pulled plaintext back in and dragged systems into scope again.
  • Proxy-based interception constrains how you design request flows, and non-standard payloads, streaming uploads or binary formats often need custom routing rules that make debugging production issues noticeably harder.

Pricing, plan by plan

HashiCorp Vault

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

Very Good Security

$1000/month
  • Starter$1000/month
    • Aliasing proxy
    • Vault storage
    • PCI scope reduction
  • Growth$undefined/month
    • Network tokenisation
    • Multiple processors
    • Data residency options
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Custom vault architecture
    • Dedicated support and SLA
    • Contractual compliance coverage

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 Very Good Security if

  • You need aliasing proxy.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want pci scope reduction.
Very Good Security review

Questions people ask

Is HashiCorp Vault or Very Good Security better?
Neither clearly leads. HashiCorp Vault starts at Free and Very Good Security at $1000/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, HashiCorp Vault or Very Good Security?
HashiCorp Vault has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for HashiCorp Vault and $1000/month for Very Good Security.
Does HashiCorp Vault or Very Good Security run on more platforms?
HashiCorp Vault runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api. Very Good Security runs on Web, API.
Can I use HashiCorp Vault for free?
Yes. HashiCorp Vault has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Very Good Security starts at $1000/month.
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 Very Good Security is typically brought in for.
What can HashiCorp Vault do that Very Good Security cannot?
HashiCorp Vault covers Secret storage, Dynamic secrets, Encryption as a service, Identity-based access. Very Good Security covers Aliasing proxy, PCI scope reduction, Network tokenisation, Processor optionality.

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
Very Good Security: Does VGS make me PCI compliant?

No. It removes cardholder data from your systems so your assessment covers a far smaller boundary, but you still complete an assessment and your integration is part of it.

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
Very Good Security: Can I move to another processor without re-collecting cards?

Yes, that is a core reason people buy it. The vault reveals stored credentials to whichever processor you route to.

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
Very Good Security: What does it cost?

Published entry pricing is about one thousand US dollars per month; growth and enterprise tiers are quoted.

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
Very Good Security: Is it only for card data?

No. The proxy handles any sensitive field, including bank details, national identifiers and documents, though payments is where the product is now focused.

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