Pulumi ESC vs HashiCorp Vault
Pulumi ESC
Pulumi ESC (Environments, Secrets, Configuration) is a secrets and configuration platform that lets you compose environments from multiple secret sources (AWS, Vault, Doppler, 1Password) and expose them as environment variables, files, or direct SDK calls. ESC is tightly integrated with Pulumi's infrastructure-as-code platform but works as a standalone tool too.
Pros
- Sits cleanly on top of existing secrets stores — no migration needed
- Composition model makes multi-cloud environments simple
- Strong fit if you already use Pulumi for IaC
- OIDC-based auth eliminates static Pulumi tokens
Cons
- Newer product; smaller community than Doppler/Infisical
- Best value only realized if you adopt Pulumi IaC too
- Per-user pricing at the Team tier is steep
- No self-hosted option
Pricing: Free tier; Team from $50/user/mo; Business from $90/user/mo
HashiCorp Vault
HashiCorp Vault is a widely adopted open-source secrets management tool. It provides a unified interface for managing secrets, encrypting data in transit, and controlling access to sensitive information across distributed infrastructure. Vault supports dynamic secrets, leasing, and revocation.
Pros
- Massive community and ecosystem
- Highly extensible with plugins
- Strong enterprise features
- Multi-cloud and hybrid support
- Free open-source tier
Cons
- Steep learning curve
- Complex to operate at scale
- Requires dedicated infrastructure
- Enterprise features require paid license
Pricing: Free (OSS) / Enterprise from $0.03/hr