Are Klavox, Bitwarden, 1Password and Proton Pass all zero-knowledge?

Yes, all four claim a client-side zero-knowledge architecture. The differences lie in the publisher's and host's legal sovereignty, whether the crypto core is open, and whether a free local vault exists without an account.

What is the main difference between Klavox and Bitwarden?

Bitwarden is open source and offers managed hosting in the United States (EU self-hosting remains possible). Klavox is natively published and hosted in France/EU by SANTVIA, with a shared crypto core identical across every client.

Is Klavox open source?

The crypto core (packages/crypto-core) is developed publicly, tested with dedicated test vectors, and reused identically across web, Android and iOS.

Klavox vs Bitwarden vs 1Password vs Proton Pass

In one sentence: all four are zero-knowledge, but Klavox is the only one natively published and hosted in France/EU, with a shared crypto core identical across every client and a free local vault with no account.

Criteria	Klavox	Bitwarden	1Password	Proton Pass
Zero-knowledge architecture	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Key derivation	Argon2id + HKDF-SHA256	PBKDF2 / Argon2id (configurable)	PBKDF2 + Secret Key (256-bit)	Argon2id (bcrypt for auth)
Entry encryption	AEAD XChaCha20-Poly1305 / AES-256-GCM	AES-256-CBC + HMAC / AES-256-GCM	AES-256-GCM	AES-256-GCM
Publisher	SANTVIA (France)	Bitwarden Inc. (United States)	AgileBits / 1Password (Canada)	Proton AG (Switzerland)
Default hosting	France / EU	United States (EU self-hosting option)	Canada / United States	Switzerland
Open crypto core	Yes, portable TypeScript	Yes, full source code	No, proprietary	Yes, client apps
Free local vault, no account	Yes	No — account required	No — limited trial then paid	No — account required
Autofill / browser	Extension + native Navkrypt (roadmap)	Extensions on every platform	Extensions on every platform	Extensions on every platform
Apps	Web, Android, iOS (roadmap)	Web, desktop, mobile	Web, desktop, mobile	Web, desktop, mobile

Sources: each publisher's public security documentation (Bitwarden, 1Password, Proton Pass) and Klavox's architecture (security page). Comparison established at publication date; vendors evolve their implementations — check their official documentation for the latest detail. Klavox is in development (crypto core shipped, web/mobile vault upcoming).

Why it matters

What sovereignty changes in practice

Applicable jurisdiction

A publisher and host based in France/EU fall under EU law (GDPR), with no exposure to the US Cloud Act.

A single crypto core

Where others reimplement encryption per platform, Klavox shares one tested TypeScript module, identical on web, Android and iOS.

Local vault, no account

An encrypted vault usable immediately, without sign-up or server, for anyone who wants to try it before syncing.

See the full security architecture

Argon2id derivation, HKDF, protected vaultKey, per-entry AEAD: it's all documented.

Read the architecture Back to home