Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

AWS CloudHSM VS EnvKey

Compare AWS CloudHSM VS EnvKey and see what are their differences

AWS CloudHSM logo AWS CloudHSM

Data Security

EnvKey logo EnvKey

Protect API keys and credentials. Keep configuration in sync everywhere.
  • AWS CloudHSM Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-02-02
  • EnvKey Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-19

AWS CloudHSM features and specs

  • Compliance Requirements
    AWS CloudHSM is compliant with various industry standards and regulations, such as FIPS 140-2 Level 3, enabling organizations to meet specific compliance requirements with ease.
  • Dedicated Hardware
    CloudHSM provides dedicated hardware Security Modules (HSMs) for enhanced security, offering physical and logical isolation from other users.
  • Customer Control
    Customers retain full control over the cryptographic keys and operations within the HSM, ensuring that AWS staff cannot access or manage these keys.
  • High Availability
    AWS CloudHSM can be configured for high availability, with automatic clustering and redundancy to ensure continuous operation and minimal downtime.
  • Scalability
    Users can add and remove HSMs on-demand, allowing for scalable performance and capacity that aligns with their needs.
  • Easy Integration
    CloudHSM integrates with various AWS services and third-party applications, allowing for seamless deployment of cryptographic operations.

Possible disadvantages of AWS CloudHSM

  • Cost
    CloudHSM can be more expensive compared to other AWS managed key services, as it involves the cost of dedicated hardware and additional management overhead.
  • Management Complexity
    The requirement for customer management of the HSMs introduces complexity, particularly for organizations without specialized staff or knowledge in cryptographic operations.
  • Hardware Dependencies
    Being dependent on physical hardware may limit the ability to quickly adapt to certain changes compared to entirely software-based solutions.
  • Region Availability
    AWS CloudHSM may not be available in all AWS regions, potentially limiting its usage for global applications that require region-specific deployments.
  • Initial Setup
    The initial setup and configuration process can be intricate and time-consuming, potentially requiring specialized expertise.

EnvKey features and specs

  • Centralized Management
    EnvKey provides a single platform to manage all environment variables, reducing the risk of inconsistent configurations across different environments and projects.
  • Security
    It encrypts environment variables, ensuring sensitive data like API keys and passwords are kept safe from unauthorized access.
  • Real-Time Updates
    Changes to environment variables propagate instantly to all configured services, eliminating the need for manual updates across different systems.
  • Audit and Logging
    EnvKey provides comprehensive logging of changes for audit purposes, helping teams track modifications and access more effectively.
  • Ease of Use
    The platform is designed to be user-friendly, with straightforward integration into existing development workflows.

Possible disadvantages of EnvKey

  • Cost
    Depending on the size and needs of your organization, the cost of using EnvKey might be a consideration, especially for startups or small teams.
  • Learning Curve
    Teams may face a learning curve while integrating EnvKey into their workflows, particularly for members unfamiliar with managing environment variables.
  • Dependency
    Relying on an external tool for managing critical configuration data can be seen as a dependency that might affect operations if there are service outages.
  • Complexity in Setup
    Initial setup and integration with existing systems might be complex for projects with intricate requirements or extensive existing configurations.

AWS CloudHSM videos

AWS re:Inforce 2019: Achieving Security Goals with AWS CloudHSM (SDD333)

EnvKey videos

No EnvKey videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to AWS CloudHSM and EnvKey)
Security & Privacy
60 60%
40% 40
Password Management
57 57%
43% 43
Secrets Management
0 0%
100% 100
Network & Admin
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, EnvKey should be more popular than AWS CloudHSM. It has been mentiond 8 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

AWS CloudHSM mentions (5)

EnvKey mentions (8)

  • 1 in 10 developers leaked an API-key in 2022
    You can check out EnvKey[1] as another option (I’m the founder). We have similarly simple UX but are more robust on security. Browser-based end-to-end encryption is a bit of a fig leaf—it doesn’t protect against insider threats. 1 - https://envkey.com. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • Launch HN: Infisical (YC W23) – Open-source secrets manager for developers
    Hey, congratulations on the launch. How does this compare to EnvKey[1]? [1]: https://envkey.com. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • Launch HN: Idemeum (YC S21) – Passwordless access to apps and infrastructure
    In most cases, attempting to roll your own secrets management (or just ignoring secrets management entirely) will end up spraying access across all kinds of third party services (usually in plain text), as engineers resort to sharing secrets via email, chat, file sharing, and other tools to get their work done. The cost/benefit/risk calculation to doing this yourself isn't good. Using open... - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Toyota Accidently Exposed a Secret Key Publicly on GitHub for Five Years
    If anyone out there is using environment variables currently, is interested a quick path to plugging the leaks in their secrets management, check out EnvKey[1] (disclaimer: I'm the founder). Because EnvKey integrates tightly with environment variables, no app code changes are needed to switch, so it only takes a minute or two to import/integrate a typical app. EnvKey is designed to help avoid incidents exactly... - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • SHGA Shanghai Gov National Police Database Stolen
    If anyone’s looking for something more secure than vanilla env vars but simpler than Vault, you could check out EnvKey[1]. Disclaimer: I’m the founder. It’s end-to-end encrypted, cloud or self-hosted, and very quick to integrate. 1 - https://envkey.com. - Source: Hacker News / almost 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing AWS CloudHSM and EnvKey, you can also consider the following products

Azure Key Vault - Safeguard cryptographic keys and other secrets used by cloud apps and services with Microsoft Azure Key Vault. Try it now.

Doppler - Doppler is the multi-cloud SecretOps Platform developers and security teams trust to provide secrets management at enterprise scale.

Egnyte - Enterprise File Sharing

VAULT - A password manager for freelancers, developers, agencies, IT departments and teams. VAULT safely stores account information and makes it easy to share between co-workers, other team members and clients.

GnuPG - GnuPG is a complete and free implementation of the OpenPGP standard as defined by RFC4880 (also known as PGP).

Infisical - Infisical is an open source, end-to-end encrypted platform that lets you securely sync secrets and configs across your engineering team and infrastructure