--- title: "Infisical vs. GCP Secret Manager" description: "How Infisical and GCP Secret Manager differ on rotation, environments, cross-project and cross-cloud access, audit logging, approvals, and dynamic secrets, what Secret Manager costs to run, and how to sync Infisical into Secret Manager." canonical: "https://infisical.com/compare/infisical-vs-gcp-secret-manager" last-reviewed: "2026-11-09" source-index: https://infisical.com/llms.txt ---

# Infisical vs. GCP Secret Manager

GCP Secret Manager only manages secrets on Google Cloud. Infisical manages secrets for any infrastructure, rotates them automatically, and syncs into Secret Manager.

## What's the difference between Infisical and GCP Secret Manager?

Secret Manager stores secrets for Google Cloud. Infisical automates secrets management across Google Cloud projects, other clouds, and on-prem.

| Stage | Infisical | GCP Secret Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy/integrate | Use managed cloud, or self-host on Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, AWS ECS, or Google GKE; Sync into Secret Manager in any project, globally or per region | Create a project for each environment, as Google recommends |
| Migrate/onboard | Import secrets from Secret Manager; Add secrets from .env files or other stores | Grant IAM roles to each new app in every project it reads from |
| Control access | Scope roles to projects, environments, and folders; Define secret change approval policies | Grant IAM roles per project or per secret; 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 projects in the console to find a secret; Pin version numbers or move aliases to roll back |
| Automate | Rotate database passwords, GCP service account keys, and SaaS API keys out of the box; Sync secrets to 52+ destinations, Secret Manager included | Write and maintain a function for every rotation; Script copies to other clouds and CI yourself |
| Audit | See every secret read and change in the audit log; Stream audit logs to Splunk, Datadog, and other SIEMs | Enable Data Access logs before secret reads are recorded |
| Scale | Give workloads on AWS, Azure, Kubernetes, or on-prem their own identities; Manage certificates, privileged access, KMS, and AI agent access in the same platform | Set up Workload Identity Federation for every workload outside Google Cloud |

## Infisical vs. GCP Secret Manager at a glance

Secret Manager holds secrets for Google Cloud services. Infisical manages secrets on Google Cloud 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 | GCP Secret Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Open source | MIT-licensed, 30,000+ GitHub stars | No |
| Self-hosting | Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, AWS ECS, or Google GKE | Google Cloud 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 | GCP Secret Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Secret structure | Projects with environments, folders, and references | A flat list per project, a project per environment |
| Secret rotation | Built in for dozens of credentials | Write and maintain your own code |
| Dynamic secrets | GCP IAM, databases, Kubernetes, and more | No |
| Syncs and integrations | 52+ destinations, including GCP Secret Manager | Kubernetes Secrets on GKE, nothing outside Google Cloud |
| Kubernetes | Operator, CSI provider, or agent injector | GKE only |

### Access and governance

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

| Feature | Infisical | GCP Secret Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Access control | Roles scoped to environments and folders, plus ABAC | IAM roles per project or secret |
| Workload authentication | Native AWS, GCP, Azure, Kubernetes, OIDC, and SPIFFE identities | IAM, federated outside Google Cloud |
| Approval workflows | Yes | Access grants only, through Privileged Access Manager |
| SAML SSO | Yes | Through Cloud Identity or workforce federation |
| SCIM | Yes | Through Cloud Identity |
| Audit log retention | Searchable, and streams to SIEMs like Splunk, Datadog, and others | Secret reads logged only once enabled, 30 days by default |

### AI agents

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

| Feature | Infisical | GCP Secret Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Agent security product | Agent Vault, plus agent access in PAM | Agent Identity and its auth manager |
| 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 GCP Secret Manager and Infisical together

Keep GCP Secret Manager for Google Cloud workloads, but use Infisical to manage secrets.

**Secrets sync in.** Manage secrets in Infisical, but sync into Secret Manager so Google Cloud services keep reading as they used to.

## Frequently asked questions

### How much does GCP Secret Manager cost?

GCP Secret Manager has a small free tier. Organizations exceeding it get charged per active secret version per location per month, per 10,000 access operations, and per rotation notification. Each location in a user-managed replication policy is billed separately. The larger cost is usually the work around it: the rotation functions, Pub/Sub subscribers, and IAM grants a team writes and maintains across projects. Infisical rotates and syncs secrets out of the box and has a free tier.

### Should I use Infisical or GCP Secret Manager?

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

### Can GCP Secret Manager rotate secrets automatically?

Not without manual workarounds you need to write and maintain. A rotation schedule sends a Pub/Sub message, and you need to write code to create the new credential, add it as a version, and roll it out. Infisical rotates database passwords, GCP service account keys, and SaaS API keys out of the box and syncs the new values into Secret Manager.

### Does GCP Secret Manager have environments?

No. Secrets sit in a flat list per project, and Google recommends a separate project for each environment, so dev, staging, and prod each need their own secrets and IAM grants. Infisical keeps each app in one project with environments and folders.

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

Yes, but every workload outside Google Cloud needs Workload Identity Federation: a workload identity pool, a provider, attribute mappings, and IAM grants. Secret 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, Secret Manager included.

### Does GCP Secret Manager log who reads a secret?

Only once you turn it on. Reading a secret is recorded in Data Access audit logs, which Google Cloud disables by default, and enabling them can add logging charges. Infisical records every secret read and change in its audit log and streams it to SIEMs like Splunk and Datadog.

### Can GCP Secret Manager secure AI agents?

Google Cloud offers Agent Identity, whose auth manager stores API keys and OAuth tokens and hands them to the agent at runtime. 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 GCP Secret Manager to Infisical

Most teams keep Secret Manager in place for Google Cloud and move secret management to Infisical one app at a time.

1. **Connect Google Cloud.** Add a GCP connection in Infisical through a service account Infisical impersonates.
2. **Import one app.** Create a Secret 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. Infisical syncs with Secret Manager.
4. **Repeat for every app.** Bring other apps over the same way and retire their rotation functions. Workloads outside Google Cloud 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