# HashiCorp Vault vs Infisical: which do AI models recommend for secrets, October 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition, Secrets management. Four of fourteen models named HashiCorp Vault first on the direct prompt; zero named Infisical. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/identity/secrets-management/hashicorp-vault-vs-infisical/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HashiCorp Vault | 31% | #1 of 13 | 34% | 77 | 14 of 14 |
| Infisical | 15% | #3 of 13 | 0% | 43 | 13 of 14 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- Claude Haiku 4.5: hashicorp vault first (first choices: Doppler, HashiCorp Vault) (alternatives: AWS Secrets Manager, Akeyless, Delinea Secret Server, Infisical)
- Mistral Small: hashicorp vault first (first choices: HashiCorp Vault) (alternatives: AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault)
- Kimi K2: hashicorp vault first (first choices: Delinea Secret Server, HashiCorp Vault) (alternatives: 1Password, AWS Secrets Manager)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: hashicorp vault first (first choices: HashiCorp Vault) (alternatives: AWS Secrets Manager, Doppler, Infisical)
- GPT-5.4 mini: neither first, one named (first choices: AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault) (alternatives: HashiCorp Vault)
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Doppler) (alternatives: Infisical)
- Perplexity Sonar: neither first, one named (first choices: Doppler) (alternatives: HashiCorp Vault)
- Grok 4.20: neither first, one named (first choices: Doppler) (alternatives: 1Password, Infisical)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Doppler) (alternatives: Akeyless, Infisical)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Doppler) (alternatives: 1Password Secrets Manager, Infisical)
- MiniMax M2.5: neither first, one named (first choices: Doppler) (alternatives: HashiCorp Vault, Infisical)
- GPT-6 Luna: neither first, one named (first choices: Doppler) (alternatives: AWS Secrets Manager, Infisical)
- Muse Glimmer 30B: neither first, one named (first choices: Doppler) (alternatives: AWS Secrets Manager, Akeyless, Azure Key Vault, Google Secret Manager, HashiCorp Vault, Infisical)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither named

## What the models said about HashiCorp Vault

- "for a mid-sized B2B company, it is generally no longer recommended unless you have a dedicated platform team" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, paraphrase prompt, hard negative)
- "Start with Delinea if you need a balanced, mid-market-focused PAM solution, or HashiCorp Vault if you have strong DevOps capabilities" (Kimi K2, direct prompt, first choice)
- "HashiCorp Vault remains the most capable and widely deployed, making it ideal if you have multi-cloud environments and complex requirements." (Claude Haiku 4.5, direct prompt, first choice)
- "For most mid-market B2B companies with a mix of cloud and on-premises needs, HashiCorp Vault is the most flexible and scalable choice" (Mistral Small, direct prompt, first choice)

## What the models said about Infisical

- "Infisical Pro at $18/identity/month is often the best value for startups seeking affordable, developer-friendly secrets management with minimal operational overhead." (Muse Glimmer 30B, budget prompt, first choice)
- "Infisical is often cited as the best open‑source choice for 2026 because it balances a generous free tier with strong features and a polished developer experience." (GLM 4.7 FlashX, budget prompt, first choice)
- "My recommendation for tight budgets: Infisical or HashiCorp Vault (self-hosted)" (MiniMax M2.5, budget prompt, first choice)

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.