Secret managers for teams
Slinky vs Infisical
Infisical is an open-source secrets platform for teams: projects and environments, machine identities, secret rotation, and infisical run, in its cloud or on your own server. Slinky is a Mac app for your own keys, with no server to run.
Choose Infisical if
- Your team needs shared secrets, roles and audit logs.
- You want to self-host and control the server.
- You need machine identities for CI, servers and Kubernetes.
Choose Slinky if
- It’s your own keys, and you don’t want to run or sign up for a server.
- You want Touch ID before any command gets your keys.
- You also keep backup codes and recovery keys.
- You want AI agents to see names only, today, without an experimental proxy.
- Your small team can share keys through encrypted files, with no server to run.
Side by side
| Slinky | Infisical | |
|---|---|---|
| Made for API keys and tokens | Yes | Yes |
| A project’s .env, per environment | Yes | Yes |
| Starts your app with its variables | Yes: slinky run | Yes: infisical run |
| AI agents see names, not values | Yes | Partly: Agent Vault, experimental |
| Backup codes that cross themselves off | Yes | No |
| Where your secrets are kept | An encrypted file on your Mac | Their cloud, or your own server |
| Works without an account | Yes | No |
| Share with your team | Yes: Encrypted files, no server | Yes |
| Opens with Touch ID | Yes | No |
| Open source | Yes: MIT | Yes: MIT core |
| Price | Free | Free for 5 identities, then $20 each a month |
| Runs on | Mac, Apple silicon | Any computer, through its CLI and website |
Yes Partly No As of October 2026, from infisical.com. Features and prices change.
Questions
What is Infisical’s Agent Vault?
An open-source proxy, from April 2026, that adds credentials to an agent’s requests on the way out so the agent never holds them. Infisical labels it experimental and not yet for production.
Can I self-host Slinky?
There’s nothing to host. Slinky is an app on your Mac and your vault is a file. If you turn on sync, an encrypted copy goes in a folder you choose, and your own sync service moves it.
Is Slinky free?
Yes. Slinky is free and open source under the MIT License, made by Testament Made, LLC. It runs on Apple silicon Macs with macOS 15 Sequoia or later.
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Slinky vs Apple Passwords
Use Apple Passwords for sign-ins, and Slinky for keys and backup codes.
Slinky vs Bitwarden
An open-source password manager and a Secrets Manager for teams, or one Mac app.
Slinky vs .env files
Plain text in the project folder, or encrypted and out of it.
All comparisons
Every tool side by side, in one table.