Compare open source agent identity management with HashiCorp Vault's secrets management. Understand when each tool is the right fit.
by OpenA2A
Purpose-built for AI agents. Cryptographic identity, capability-based access, and continuous trust scoring. Open source and self-hosted.
by HashiCorp (IBM)
Enterprise secrets management platform. Dynamic secrets, encryption as a service, and secure credential storage for infrastructure and applications.
HashiCorp Vault manages secrets (API keys, database credentials, certificates) for any application. AIM manages identity specifically for AI agents (who they are, what they can do, how much to trust them). Vault answers "what credentials does this service need?" while AIM answers "is this agent who it claims to be?"
| Feature | AIM | HashiCorp Vault |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Focus | AI agent identity | Secrets management |
| Licensing | Apache-2.0 (Free) | BSL (Enterprise features paid) |
| Deployment | Self-hosted or Cloud | Self-hosted or HCP |
| Cryptographic Agent Identity | Ed25519 per agent | AppRole/tokens (not agent-specific) |
| Continuous Trust Scoring | 8-factor real-time | Not available |
| Capability-Based Access | Code-level enforcement | Policies (path-based) |
| MCP Server Attestation | Native support | Not supported |
| AI Framework Integration | LangChain, CrewAI, etc. | Not applicable |
| Secrets Storage | Not the focus | Core feature |
| Dynamic Secrets | Not applicable | DB, AWS, PKI, etc. |
| Encryption as a Service | Not applicable | Transit engine |
| Operational Complexity | Simple (docker compose) | High (HA, unsealing, etc.) |
| Source Code Access | Full access | BSL (some restrictions) |
| Cost Model | Free forever | Free OSS / Enterprise paid |
AIM asks: "Who is this agent, and should we trust it?"
Vault asks: "What credentials does this service need?"
with AIM
with Vault (production HA)
AIM manages who the agent is. Vault manages what secrets it can access.
from aim_sdk import secure
# Agent gets cryptographic identity
# Capabilities are enforced
# Trust is continuously scored
agent = secure(
"data-processor",
capabilities=[
"database:read",
"api:call"
]
)
# Agent identity is verified
# before any actionimport hvac
# Connect to Vault
client = hvac.Client(
url='https://vault:8200',
token='s.xyz...'
)
# Fetch database credentials
secret = client.secrets.kv.v2
.read_secret_version(
path='db/postgres'
)
db_pass = secret['data']['password']AIM and Vault solve different problems and complement each other:
Identity management + Secrets management = Defense in depth for AI agent infrastructure.
AIM provides what Vault doesn't: purpose-built identity management for AI agents. Open source, self-hosted, free forever.
Apache-2.0 license • Self-hosted • Works alongside Vault