The following is a paid product review for Passbolt, an open source secrets and password management solution for modern IT teams of any size.

If you're working on a team and have to manage a large number of passwords and other credentials that are shared among members, you probably understand how challenging that can be.

You want a solution that's scalable and isn't primitive and insecure like sharable text files, spreadsheets, or hardcopy documents. Even many app solutions like in-browser password management and environment variables aren't secure or sharable. This is where Passbolt can provide a structured and secure solution for managing your team passwords and other secrets.

I'll go into more details on getting started with Passbolt, but here's a basic overview of the features and benefits:

• Security and Privacy by design, Passbolt is used by government agencies and other regulated industries.
• There are three versions, depending on your needs:
  • A self-hostable Pro edition
  • The Cloud version
  • A self-hostable Community Edition, 100% free and open source
• Built for secure collaboration of passwords and secrets
• Anyone on your team will find it easy to use
• A CLI to perform CRUD operations on your Passbolt instance (cloud or self-hosted)
• Users can download a browser extension, mobile app, and desktop app (Windows) to use Passbolt on any device

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During the setup process, you'll also be asked to install one of the browser extensions. Once your account is set up (you'll get an email to confirm your account access), you'll be able to view your Passbolt dashboard, which has four themes to choose from (2 dark and 2 light).

Using the Browser Extension with Passbolt
The screenshots in this review are from the web UI, but you'll find similar options in the native app. While signed in, you'll have access to the Passbolt extension that you installed during setup, which you can pin for easy access in your browser.

Pinning and viewing the Passbolt extension on a Chromium browser

The browser extension allows you to browse your passwords and secrets using filters, groups, and tags. You can create new passwords or search for one. If you visit a website that uses saved Passbolt credentials, you'll see this indicated in the icon that opens the extension's modal.
 

Importing Passwords to Passbolt
When getting started, Passbolt allows you to import passwords from an existing password manager (1password, Bitwarden, Lastpass, etc.) or from your browser (which you can export in your browser's settings). The import dialog supports CSV format or KDBX (used in KeePass).

Importing passwords into Passbolt from a browser or password manager

When a password import is complete, you'll see all your imported passwords under "My workspace", inside an auto-named folder and tagged using the same name. You can rename the folder and tag or even delete the folder and move the items up to the workspace root (if you don't want the imports in a folder).

Creating a Resource in Passbolt
In addition to importing, passwords and secrets can be created individually in your dashboard. You'll see the big "Create" button in the top left area. If you click that, you'll have the option to create multiple types of resources: a new Password, a Time-based One-Time Password (TOTP), a Note, or a Custom Field.

For any resource you create, you can add basic info like Name, URI, and Username/Password credentials, as well as Metadata like Appearance, multiple URIs, and a Description.

As shown above, I've created a new "Example Password" resource with a custom appearance that includes a color and associated icon.

Features in the Dashboard
When viewing a list of your resources in the web UI, you'll notice lots of easy-to-use features that let you do just about anything with one or more of your items. From the list of items you can:

• Copy the credentials or info for any resource
• Use the "Share" feature to make a resource accessible to other team members
• Copy a Permalink to the resource
• Delete or Export one or more selected resources
• Use the sidebar to view full details and activity for that resource

You can also adjust the viewable Columns in the table that displays your resources so you can simplify which fields are shown, depending on how many are useful to you.

In the screenshot above, I've selected one of my resources, which brings up a toolbar for sharing, editing, etc. The Columns dropdown is also expanded, demonstrating the flexibility of the visible columns (Modified, Location, Expiry, etc).

Settings for Users and Organizations
As mentioned, Passbolt is a powerful tool for teams. This is evident in the Organization Settings, which is accessible from the cog icon in the top-right area of the web UI.

Here you'll find a whole slew of organization-level settings including encryption levels, password policies, account recovery, SSO, MFA, notifications, among others.

The cog icon also provides access to manage users and groups using a UI that's similar to how you manage your resources.

Try Passbolt Today
All in all, the Passbolt interface was extremely easy to get accustomed to and I can see how its features can be powerful when used in a team environment where security and collaboration are top priorities. It was also a breeze to use their simple but informative documentation.

So if your IT team is looking for an effective secrets and password management solution, Passbolt is worth a look.

You can check out the self-hosted pricing plans or go straight to the Cloud edition which you can try out right away with minimal setup.

Now on to this week's tools!