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⚠︎ Accumulating charges: secrets, versions, and API calls
AWS Secrets Manager sounds cheap ($0.40/secret/mo) until a microservices architecture has 300 secrets = $120/mo + API calls ($0.05/10k — millions of calls show on the bill). Google bills by version — rotation without deleting old versions grows the bill quietly. Azure Key Vault is cheapest for light use (operation fees only, no per-secret/user). In per-user services (Doppler), watch add-on fees at $9/seat/mo. End-user passwords: password managers.
How to choose?
Small team, few secrets: Bitwarden Secrets Manager ($6/user, unlimited secrets, generous free tier) or Infisical free (5 identities). AWS/GCP/Azure native: Azure Key Vault is clearly cheapest due to operation-based pricing; AWS per-secret model punishes growth. Full control: Vault Community self-host €0 — but maintenance (unsealing, HA) is real work; HCP production tiers jump above $1,000/mo.