If you're searching for a dotenv-vault alternative, chances are you were a user — and then the ground moved. The creator of dotenv refocused the project into dotenvx, an encrypt-your-.env-and-commit-it CLI, and the hosted free tier that made dotenv-vault attractive was discontinued in 2025. What's left is an open-source CLI plus paid "Armor" tiers for the managed features.
The encrypt-and-commit model itself is clever: your encrypted .env travels with the repo, and a private key decrypts it locally. But it's CLI-only, per-repository, and the workflow lives in git — there's no place where you can see all your projects' secrets, and nothing built in for handing a secret to another person.
JustEnvs takes the same core conviction — .env files deserve real tooling — and builds it as a native Mac app instead of a CLI. Your projects sit in one encrypted vault, organized and searchable, with Touch ID instead of key files, and one-time self-destructing links for the moments you need to share. And the part that stings about dotenv-vault's pivot doesn't apply here: JustEnvs is free for solo developers, with Pro as a $20 one-time purchase — no subscription to discontinue.
CLI-based .env encryption (now dotenvx, paid Armor tiers)
dotenvx CLI is OSS; hosted features moved to paid Armor plans (free tier discontinued in 2025)
Native macOS vault for .env files — encrypted locally, shared via self-destructing links.
Free for solo devs (5 projects) · $20 one-time for Pro, lifetime
JustEnvs vs dotenv-vault
Where dotenv-vault wins
Secrets travel with the repo
Encrypt-and-commit means a cloned repo carries its own encrypted config — elegant for teams that live entirely in git.
Open-source CLI
dotenvx is OSS and cross-platform. If you need Linux/Windows support or want to read the code, that's a real advantage.
CI-friendly by design
A single private key env var decrypts in any pipeline. JustEnvs doesn't target CI workflows.
Where JustEnvs wins
Still free for solo devs
The reason many people adopted dotenv-vault — a free tier for individual developers — is the reason to try JustEnvs now.
A vault, not scattered files
See every project's variables in one encrypted, searchable place instead of per-repo encrypted blobs you manage by hand.
Sharing is built in
Hand a staging .env to a contractor with a link that burns after reading. With dotenvx you'd be sharing private keys over Slack.
No subscription risk
Pro is $20 once, lifetime. A one-time purchase can't pull a free-tier rug.