Cloud & Infrastructure · head to head
Vault vs Alibaba Cloud
Vault
Cloud & Infrastructure
Manage Secrets and Protect Sensitive Data
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Alibaba Cloud
Cloud & Infrastructure
Asia's leading cloud computing provider
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Vault vault 1.15.0 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1, not an OSI open source licence, with IBM Corporation as licensor; Alibaba Cloud technical support is a separate subscription, from $19.99 a month for Developer up to $8,000 a month for Enterprise, with only Basic included
- They diverge on capability: Vault covers Secrets management, Alibaba Cloud covers Elastic Compute Service.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Vault and Alibaba Cloud actually diverge.
| Attribute | Vault | Alibaba Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | open-source | usage-based |
| Platforms | Linux, Windows, Mac, Cloud | Linux, Windows, Api, Cli |
| Founded | 2015 | 2009 |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cloud & Infrastructure).
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 Vault
- Secrets management
- Encryption
- Authentication
- Authorization
- Audit logging
- API access
- High availability
- Replication
Only in Alibaba Cloud
- Elastic Compute Service
- Object Storage Service
- RDS Database
- MaxCompute
- Function Compute
- CDN
- Load Balancer
- API Gateway
Both cover
- Kubernetes
- Terraform
- Ansible
- Docker
- Cloud deployment
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Vault
- Centrally storing and rotating secrets, API keys and database credentialsnot Alibaba Cloud
- Issuing short-lived dynamic credentials to applications instead of static passwordsnot Alibaba Cloud
- Encryption as a service and PKI certificate issuancenot Alibaba Cloud
Alibaba Cloud
- Cloud compute and storage with a strong footprint in China and Asia Pacificnot Vault
- Pay-as-you-go infrastructure without upfront commitmentnot Vault
- Committed-use discounts through savings plans for steady workloadsnot Vault
- CDN and data transfer packages for content deliverynot Vault
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Vault
- Vault 1.15.0 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1, not an OSI open source licence, with IBM Corporation as licensor
- The Additional Use Grant forbids offering Vault to third parties on a hosted or embedded basis in a paid product that competes with IBM's paid versions of Vault
- Each version only converts to MPL 2.0 four years after that version is published, and the Change Date is tracked per version
- Replication, HSM support, namespaces, performance standby nodes, FIPS builds, control group authorisation, multi-factor authentication, secrets sync and lease count quotas all require a Vault Enterprise licence
- A Vault Enterprise licence must be applied to the cluster before any Enterprise feature can be used
Alibaba Cloud
- Technical support is a separate subscription, from $19.99 a month for Developer up to $8,000 a month for Enterprise, with only Basic included
- Service prices are not shown as a rate card and route through a calculator or sales
- Committed discounts require savings plans, reserved instances or capacity packages rather than being automatic
Pricing, plan by plan
Vault
Free- Open SourceFree
- Secrets management
- Encryption as a service
- Identity management
- EnterpriseFree
- Advanced features
- Premium support
- Dedicated updates
Alibaba Cloud
Free- Free TrialFree
- Free tier credits
- ECS instances
- Cloud storage
- Pay-as-You-GoFree
- Flexible billing
- No commitments
- Global reach
Which should you pick?
Choose Vault if
- You need secrets management.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Cloud.
- You also want encryption.
Choose Alibaba Cloud if
- You need elastic compute service.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Windows, Api, Cli.
- You also want object storage service.
Questions people ask
- Is Vault or Alibaba Cloud better?
- Neither clearly leads. Vault starts at Free and Alibaba Cloud at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Vault or Alibaba Cloud?
- Vault starts at Free and Alibaba Cloud at Free.
- Does Vault or Alibaba Cloud run on more platforms?
- Vault runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Cloud. Alibaba Cloud runs on Linux, Windows, Api, Cli.
- Can I use Vault for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Vault best used for?
- Vault is most often used for centrally storing and rotating secrets, api keys and database credentials, issuing short-lived dynamic credentials to applications instead of static passwords, encryption as a service and pki certificate issuance. Of those, centrally storing and rotating secrets, api keys and database credentials and issuing short-lived dynamic credentials to applications instead of static passwords are not what Alibaba Cloud is typically brought in for.
- What can Vault do that Alibaba Cloud cannot?
- Vault covers Secrets management, Encryption, Authentication, Authorization. Alibaba Cloud covers Elastic Compute Service, Object Storage Service, RDS Database, MaxCompute. Both handle Kubernetes, Terraform, Ansible, Docker.