Secrets Manager Decision Guide

This guide helps choose between:

• BV
• AWS Secrets Manager
• HashiCorp Vault
• Azure Key Vault
• Google Secret Manager

The focus is practical selection criteria, not feature marketing.

Quick recommendations

Choose BV if

• you need strong cryptographic isolation per customer
• you want keys handled by a dedicated key service separate from secret storage
• you want explicit hierarchical envelope encryption
• you must control root key custody
• you are cloud-agnostic or multi-cloud
• you want a narrow, simple system focused only on secret storage
• you prefer fewer moving parts and predictable behavior

Choose AWS Secrets Manager if

• you are fully on AWS
• you already use IAM and KMS extensively
• you want zero operational overhead
• you prefer deep AWS integration over portability

Choose Azure Key Vault if

• you are standardized on Azure
• you rely on Azure AD and RBAC
• you want a fully managed Microsoft-native solution

Choose Google Secret Manager if

• you are fully on GCP
• you want tight integration with Google Cloud services
• you prefer a managed service with minimal configuration

Choose HashiCorp Vault if

• you need dynamic credentials (databases, cloud tokens)
• you need PKI or certificate issuance
• you need many integrations or plugins
• you want a general security platform rather than only secrets storage
• you are willing to operate and manage a complex system

Decision by constraints

Constraint: strict key custody or regulatory requirements

Prefer:

• BV

Avoid:

• cloud-provider-managed KMS-only solutions

Reason: BV keeps root key control with the operator and separates keys from stored ciphertext.

Constraint: single-cloud environment

Prefer:

• provider-native solution (AWS/Azure/Google)

Reason: tighter IAM integration and lower operational friction.

Constraint: multi-cloud or hybrid deployments

Prefer:

• BV
• Vault

Avoid:

• cloud-specific services

Reason: cloud-native managers increase lock-in.

Constraint: minimal operational complexity

Prefer:

• BV
• AWS Secrets Manager
• Azure Key Vault
• Google Secret Manager

Avoid:

• self-operated Vault clusters

Reason: Vault introduces higher configuration and maintenance overhead.

Constraint: only static secret storage required

Prefer:

• BV or cloud-native managers

Avoid:

• Vault (overkill for this use case)

Reason: Vault’s additional features add complexity without benefit.

Constraint: dynamic or short-lived credentials required

Prefer:

• Vault

Reason: BV and cloud-native managers focus on storing existing secrets rather than generating them.

Decision table

Summary

BV is optimized for:

• secret storage only
• explicit key hierarchy
• strong separation of duties
• cloud independence
• predictable and minimal design

Cloud-native managers optimize for:

• convenience inside their ecosystem

Vault optimizes for:

• breadth and extensibility

Choose based on operational and trust constraints first, not feature count.