--- title: "Infisical vs. AWS Secrets Manager" description: "How Infisical and AWS Secrets Manager differ on rotation, environments, cross-account and cross-cloud access, approvals, and dynamic secrets, what Secrets Manager costs to run, and how to sync Infisical into Secrets Manager." canonical: "https://infisical.com/compare/infisical-vs-aws-secrets-manager" last-reviewed: "2026-11-02" source-index: https://infisical.com/llms.txt ---

# Infisical vs. AWS Secrets Manager

AWS Secrets Manager only manages secrets on AWS and rotations require Lambda functions. Infisical manages secrets in one place for any cloud, automatically rotates them, and can sync into Secrets Manager.

## What's the difference between Infisical and AWS Secrets Manager?

Secrets Manager stores secrets for AWS. Infisical automates secrets management across AWS accounts, other clouds, and on-prem.

| Stage | Infisical | AWS Secrets Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy/integrate | Use managed cloud, or self-host on Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, AWS ECS, or Google GKE; Sync into Secrets Manager in every account and Region you use | Design a naming scheme and account layout for each environment |
| Migrate/onboard | Import secrets from Secrets Manager; Add secrets from .env files or other stores | Write IAM policies for each new app's role in every account it reads from |
| Control access | Scope roles to projects, environments, and folders; Define secret change approval policies | Pair a resource policy with a KMS key policy; No approval before a secret changes |
| Operate | See all secrets, projects, and environments in one dashboard; Run apps locally with secrets injected by the CLI | Switch accounts and regions in the console to find a secret; Manually move version labels with the CLI to roll back |
| Automate | Rotate database passwords, AWS IAM access keys, and SaaS API keys out of the box; Sync secrets to 52+ destinations, Secrets Manager included | Maintain rotation functions for every secret beyond AWS databases and partner keys; Script copies to other clouds and CI yourself |
| Scale | Give workloads on GCP, Azure, Kubernetes, or on-prem their own identities; Manage certificates, privileged access, KMS, and AI agent access in the same platform | Set up IAM Roles Anywhere or OIDC federation for every workload outside AWS |

## Infisical vs. AWS Secrets Manager at a glance

Secrets Manager holds secrets for AWS services. Infisical manages secrets on AWS and beyond it for any team or environment.

### Platform and deployment

Where each product runs, what it's built on, and what it covers.

| Feature | Infisical | AWS Secrets Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Open source | MIT-licensed, 30,000+ GitHub stars | No |
| Self-hosting | Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, AWS ECS, or Google GKE | AWS only |
| Managed cloud | US and EU regions | Yes |
| Product scope | Secrets, certificates, privileged access, AI agents, and KMS | Secrets only |

### Secrets management

Storing credentials like API keys and database passwords, and delivering them to workloads and developer machines.

| Feature | Infisical | AWS Secrets Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Secret structure | Projects with environments, folders, and references | Named secrets per account and Region, no environments |
| Secret rotation | Built in for dozens of credentials | Only for AWS databases and select partners |
| Dynamic secrets | AWS IAM, databases, Kubernetes, and more | No |
| Syncs and integrations | 52+ destinations, Secrets Manager included | Replicas to other Regions, nothing outside AWS |
| Kubernetes | Operator, CSI provider, or agent injector | CSI provider |

### Access and governance

Defining who has what permissions: access requests, approvals, audit logs, etc.

| Feature | Infisical | AWS Secrets Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Access control | Roles scoped to environments and folders, plus ABAC | IAM policies |
| Workload authentication | Native AWS, GCP, Azure, Kubernetes, OIDC, and SPIFFE identities | IAM only, federated or certificate-based outside AWS |
| Approval workflows | Yes | No |
| SAML SSO | Yes | Through IAM Identity Center |
| SCIM | Yes | Through IAM Identity Center |
| Audit log retention | Searchable, and streams to SIEMs like Splunk, Datadog, and others | CloudTrail, 90 days unless you create a trail |

### AI agents

Keeping credentials out of AI agents and controlling what they can reach.

| Feature | Infisical | AWS Secrets Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Agent security product | Agent Vault, plus agent access in PAM | AgentCore Identity in Bedrock |
| Credentials kept from the agent | Agent never sees any secret | No |
| Agent access to infrastructure | Databases, servers, and clusters, with approvals and session recording | IAM roles on the agent's identity |

## Use AWS Secrets Manager and Infisical together

Keep AWS Secrets Manager for AWS workloads, but use Infisical to manage secrets.

**Secrets sync in.** Manage secrets in Infisical, but sync into Secrets Manager so Lambda, ECS, and EKS keep reading as they used to.

## Frequently asked questions

### How much does AWS Secrets Manager cost?

AWS Secrets Manager charges per secret per month and per 10,000 API calls. Each replica in another Region is billed as its own secret. Rotation functions add Lambda charges, and secrets shared across accounts need another billable item: customer-managed KMS keys. The larger cost is usually the work around it: the rotation functions, cross-account policies, and copy scripts a team writes and maintains. Infisical rotates and syncs secrets out of the box and has a free tier.

### Should I use Infisical or AWS Secrets Manager?

On AWS, you can use both. AWS services read secrets from Secrets Manager, and Infisical syncs into it. This combines the native connection between Secrets Manager and AWS services with the upsides of Infisical: automated rotation, self-hosting, and multi-cloud functionality.

### Can AWS Secrets Manager rotate secrets automatically?

Secrets Manager rotates RDS, Aurora, DocumentDB, and Redshift admin credentials and some partner keys. Everything else requires writing, deploying, and maintaining a Lambda function. Infisical automatically syncs updated values from rotations into Secrets Manager.

### Does AWS Secrets Manager have environments?

Secrets Manager stores named secrets per account and region, so environment separation requires naming conventions, tags, IAM policies, or separate accounts. Infisical keeps each app in one project.

### Can I share AWS Secrets Manager secrets across accounts?

Yes, but it requires a resource policy on the secret, an identity policy in the other account, and a customer managed KMS key. Infisical keeps each secret in one place and syncs it into Secrets Manager in any account and Region.

### Does AWS Secrets Manager work with GCP, Azure, or on-prem?

Yes, but it's complex: Workloads outside AWS require IAM Roles Anywhere, with certificates from your own CA, or OIDC federation. Secrets Manager doesn't sync to other clouds or CI/CD platforms. Infisical authenticates AWS, GCP, Azure, Kubernetes, and OIDC workloads natively and syncs secrets to 52+ destinations, Secrets Manager included.

### Can AWS Secrets Manager secure AI agents?

Amazon Bedrock offers AgentCore Identity, which lets agents see plaintext secrets. Infisical Agent Vault uses a credential brokering approach to give agents access to services without holding credentials. For databases, servers, and clusters, Infisical PAM gives agents the same roles, approvals, and session recording as people.

## Start managing secrets, then add certificates, privileged access, KMS, or agent access.

- **[Secrets Management](https://infisical.com/platform/secrets-management)**: Store, rotate, and deliver secrets.
- **[Certificate Management](https://infisical.com/platform/certificate-management)**: Issue, renew, and track every certificate.
- **[Privileged Access Management](https://infisical.com/platform/pam)**: Time-bound access without shared credentials.
- **[KMS](https://infisical.com/docs/documentation/platform/kms/overview)**: Encrypt and sign data through an API.
- **[Agent Vault](https://infisical.com/platform/agent-vault)**: Give AI agents access without handing them credentials.

## How to migrate from AWS Secrets Manager to Infisical

Most teams keep Secrets Manager in place for AWS and move secret management to Infisical one app at a time.

1. **Connect AWS.** Add an AWS connection in Infisical for each account, through an IAM role Infisical assumes.
2. **Import one app.** Create a Secrets Manager sync for a first, non-critical app and import the secrets it already holds.
3. **Manage it in Infisical.** Edit and rotate the app's secrets in Infisical. The sync keeps Secrets Manager current, so the app doesn't change.
4. **Repeat for every app.** Bring the other apps over the same way and retire their rotation functions. Workloads outside AWS read from Infisical directly.

Our team can help you plan and run the migration: [talk to an expert](https://infisical.com/talk-to-us).

## Get started

- Start free: https://app.infisical.com/signup
- Talk to an expert: https://infisical.com/talk-to-us
- All comparisons: https://infisical.com/compare.md