Which clients work with it?

The official Bitwarden apps for desktop, mobile and browser work by setting a custom server URL.

Is my vault readable by the server?

Vaults are encrypted with your master key; the server stores ciphertext it cannot read.

Very little — Vaultwarden idles in tens of megabytes, far less than the official server.

Networking

A lightweight, self-hosted Bitwarden-compatible password manager.

Keep every password and passkey in encrypted storage on your own server, using the official Bitwarden clients. Tiny footprint, big peace of mind.

A hosted password manager concentrates enormous risk. Self-hosting puts your encrypted vault — and its master key — under your control alone.

1
Provision a small VPS
Vaultwarden is famously lightweight — a 512 MB–1 GB plan is fine.
2
Run it with Docker
The community image is the standard, well-tested deployment.
3
Enable TLS
Web vaults require HTTPS; put it behind Nginx with a certificate.
4
Create your account
Register the admin account and enable the admin panel if you want it.
5
Connect your devices
Point the official Bitwarden apps at your own server URL.

Back up the SQLite database file regularly — that is your whole vault.
Enable signups only briefly, then disable registration so nobody else can create accounts.
Use a strong master password; server-side encryption does not protect a weak one.

Which clients work with it?: The official Bitwarden apps for desktop, mobile and browser work by setting a custom server URL.
Is my vault readable by the server?: Vaults are encrypted with your master key; the server stores ciphertext it cannot read.
How much RAM does it need?: Very little — Vaultwarden idles in tens of megabytes, far less than the official server.

Looking for something else? Popular alternatives include Bitwarden (official), KeePass + sync, Passbolt — browse all app guides.