BV vs HashiCorp Vault

This document compares BV with HashiCorp Vault.

Similarities

Both systems are cloud agnostic managed services that provide secure secrets storage and retrieval:

• manage secrets for machines
• encrypt secrets at rest
• provide API-based retrieval
• support multi-tenant use

Key differences

BV

• focused only on secret storage and encryption
• fixed hierarchical envelope design
• strict separation of keys and encrypted data across services
• small, predictable feature set
• managed service model

Vault

• broad security platform
• many engines (PKI, dynamic DB creds, cloud auth, etc.)
• plugin architecture
• highly configurable
• typically operated and maintained by customers

Complexity

BV

• narrow scope
• fewer moving parts
• easier to audit cryptographic behavior

Vault

• large feature surface
• higher operational and configuration complexity

When BV may be preferred

• only need static secret storage
• prefer minimal surface area
• want strong key/data separation
• want a managed system rather than operating Vault clusters

When Vault may be preferred

• need dynamic secrets
• need PKI or certificate issuance
• need many integrations or extensibility