How HashiCorp Vault and Azure Key Vault differ on scope, key custody, deployment and cost.
| HashiCorp Vault | Azure Key Vault | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Secrets platform | Cloud KMS |
| Scope | Secrets, keys, PKI, dynamic credentials | Keys, secrets, certificates |
| Deployment | Self-hosted + HCP | SaaS (Azure) |
| Key custody | HSM auto-unseal and seal wrap in Enterprise | Premium tier: FIPS 140-2 Level 2/3 HSMs; Managed HSM available |
| How it works | A secrets engine rather than a key store: it issues short-lived database credentials, cloud tokens and certificates on demand, so secrets expire instead of sitting in a config file. Transit lets it act as an encryption service too. Powerful, and heavy to run properly. | One service holding three different things: cryptographic keys, arbitrary secrets and TLS certificates. Standard is software-protected, Premium is HSM-backed, and Managed HSM gives a single-tenant pool. Certificate lifecycle is included, which the other clouds keep separate. |
| Pricing* | Community free (BUSL); HCP by quote | Metered per operation; Premium adds HSM |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Licence | BUSL-1.1 — not OSI-approved | — |
| Best for | Dynamic, short-lived credentials at scale | Microsoft-centric estates |
Choose HashiCorp Vault for dynamic, short-lived credentials at scale. Choose Azure Key Vault for microsoft-centric estates.
* Published list pricing (vendor pricing pages, August 2026).