AnkaSecure vs HashiCorp Vault

Multi-tenant PQC platform vs single-tenant secrets manager - choose the right tool

📊 Compare features in 5 minutes

Quick Comparison: Test Both Platforms

Estimated time: 10 minutes What you'll compare: PQC support, multi-tenancy, encryption performance Requirements: Vault installation + AnkaSecure trial

AnkaSecure Test (3 minutes)

# Generate PQC key (quantum-resistant!)
curl -X POST https://api.ankatech.co/keys \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -d '{"algorithm":"ML_KEM_1024","tenantId":"customer-123"}'

# Encrypt data (multi-tenant isolated)
curl -X POST https://api.ankatech.co/encrypt \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -d '{"keyId":"mlkem-001","plaintext":"Customer 123 data"}'

✅ Result: Quantum-resistant encryption, tenant-isolated, 3ms latency

HashiCorp Vault Test (5 minutes)

# Vault: Enable transit secrets engine
vault secrets enable transit

# Create encryption key (AES-256 only, no PQC)
vault write transit/keys/my-key type=aes256-gcm96

# Encrypt data (NOT quantum-resistant)
vault write transit/encrypt/my-key plaintext=$(base64 <<< "test data")

❌ Limitation: No post-quantum cryptography (AES-256 only) ⚠️ Multi-tenancy: Requires Vault Enterprise + namespace configuration

Side-by-Side Results

*HCP Vault exists but limited features vs self-hosted

🎯 Key insight: AnkaSecure = PQC + multi-tenant, Vault = secrets management + single-tenant

Feature Comparison

At a Glance

When to Choose AnkaSecure

1. You Need Post-Quantum Cryptography

Scenario: Financial services with 10-year data retention, quantum threat relevant

Problem with Vault: - ❌ No PQC support (AES-256, RSA, ECDSA only) - ❌ No roadmap for PQC announced - ❌ "Harvest now, decrypt later" vulnerability

AnkaSecure solution: - ✅ NIST FIPS 203/204/205 algorithms - ✅ Composite keys (RSA + ML-KEM hybrid) - ✅ Federal compliance (GSA PQC, CNSA 2.0)

Example: Encrypt transaction records with ML-KEM

curl -X POST https://api.ankatech.co/encrypt \
  -d '{"algorithm":"ML_KEM_1024","plaintext":"..."}'

2. You Need Multi-Tenant SaaS

Scenario: SaaS platform with 1,000 customers, need isolated cryptography per customer

Problem with Vault: - ❌ Vault Open Source: No multi-tenancy (single namespace) - ⚠️ Vault Enterprise: Namespaces require manual setup, complex billing - ❌ No native SaaS (must self-host or use limited HCP Vault)

AnkaSecure solution: - ✅ Native multi-tenancy (tenant isolation built-in) - ✅ Fully managed SaaS (zero-ops for you) - ✅ Per-tenant quotas, policies, audit logs

Example: Tenant-isolated encryption

curl -X POST https://api.ankatech.co/encrypt \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TENANT_123_TOKEN" \
  -d '{"keyId":"customer-key","plaintext":"Tenant 123 data"}'

Guarantee: Tenant 123 cannot access Tenant 456 keys (database + application isolation)

3. You Need Large File Encryption

Scenario: Encrypt multi-GB database backups, video files, logs

Problem with Vault: - ❌ Transit engine: In-memory only (limited by RAM) - ❌ No streaming support (must load entire file) - ⚠️ Practical limit: ~100 MB (before OOM errors)

AnkaSecure solution: - ✅ Streaming APIs (constant memory, any file size) - ✅ Tested: 100 GB files (no memory issues) - ✅ Throughput: ~80 MB/s per node

Example: Encrypt 50 GB backup

curl -X POST https://api.ankatech.co/stream/encrypt \
  -F "[email protected]" \
  -F "algorithm=ML_KEM_1024"

Performance: 50 GB in ~10 minutes (vs Vault: impractical for files > 1 GB)

4. You Want Managed SaaS (No Operations)

Scenario: Startup, small team, want zero infrastructure burden

Problem with Vault: - ❌ Vault Open Source: Must self-host (install, configure, maintain) - ⚠️ HCP Vault: Managed but limited features vs self-hosted - ❌ No auto-scaling (must provision capacity manually)

AnkaSecure solution: - ✅ Fully managed SaaS (we handle everything) - ✅ Auto-scaling (elastic capacity) - ✅ 99.9% SLA (high availability) - ✅ Automatic updates (security patches, new features)

Cost: $1,250/month (starter tier) vs Vault self-hosting ($5K-$10K/month in DevOps time)

5. You Need Federal Compliance (NIST, GSA, CNSA)

Scenario: Federal contractor, need PQC for 2030 NSA deadline

Problem with Vault: - ❌ No PQC algorithms (cannot meet CNSA 2.0) - ⚠️ FIPS 140-2 validated (but classical crypto only) - ❌ No GSA PQC compliance (no hybrid algorithms)

AnkaSecure solution: - ✅ NIST FIPS 203/204/205 compliant - ✅ GSA PQC Buyer's Guide compliant - ✅ CNSA 2.0 algorithms approved - ✅ Ready for 2030 NSA deadline

Federal compliance details

When HashiCorp Vault Fits Better

1. Secrets Management (Passwords, Tokens, API Keys)

Vault's strength: Managing application secrets (not data encryption)

Use case: Store database passwords, API keys, AWS credentials

Vault advantage: - ✅ Dynamic secrets (generate on-demand, auto-rotate) - ✅ Secret leasing (time-limited access) - ✅ Integration with identity providers (LDAP, OIDC, AD)

AnkaSecure position: Not designed for secrets management (focused on data encryption)

Verdict: Use Vault for secrets, AnkaSecure for data encryption (complementary tools)

2. Infrastructure Secrets (Terraform, Kubernetes)

Vault's strength: Native integration with infrastructure tools

Use case: Inject secrets into Terraform, Kubernetes pods, CI/CD pipelines

Vault advantage: - ✅ Terraform provider (built-in) - ✅ Kubernetes auth (service account tokens) - ✅ Dynamic cloud credentials (AWS, Azure, GCP)

AnkaSecure position: Can integrate but not primary use case

Verdict: Use Vault for infrastructure secrets management

3. Open Source Preference

Vault's strength: Open source core (MPL 2.0 license)

Use case: Audit source code, contribute features, community support

Vault advantage: - ✅ Source code available (transparency) - ✅ Large community (GitHub: 30K+ stars) - ✅ Extensive plugins (community-contributed)

AnkaSecure position: Commercial (source code not public)

Verdict: If open source is mandatory, Vault is the choice

But: Open source Vault has NO multi-tenancy, NO PQC, limited enterprise features

Complementary Use: Vault + AnkaSecure

Best of Both Worlds

Architecture:

Application Secrets          Data Encryption
      ↓                            ↓
HashiCorp Vault           AnkaSecure
- DB passwords            - Customer data
- API keys                - Documents
- TLS certificates        - Database fields
- AWS credentials         - File encryption

Example workflow: 1. App retrieves database password from Vault (dynamic secret, 24-hour lease) 2. App connects to database using password 3. App encrypts customer data with AnkaSecure (ML-KEM, quantum-resistant) 4. Encrypted data stored in database

Benefit: Vault manages secrets, AnkaSecure protects data (complementary, not competitive)

Feature Deep-Dive

Post-Quantum Cryptography

Critical for: Federal compliance (CNSA 2.0), long-lived data (10+ years)

Vault alternative: None (must use external PQC solution)

Multi-Tenancy

Critical for: SaaS platforms, MSPs (Managed Service Providers), multi-customer environments

AnkaSecure advantage: Designed for multi-tenancy from day 1

Algorithm Support

Crypto-agility: AnkaSecure 5× more algorithm options

Performance

Note: Vault optimized for symmetric encryption (AES), AnkaSecure optimized for asymmetric (ML-KEM, RSA)

Pricing Comparison

Open Source Vault vs AnkaSecure SaaS

Vault Open Source (self-hosted):

Infrastructure: $500/month (3-node HA cluster)
+ DevOps time: $2,000/month (20 hours @ $100/hour for maintenance)
+ Backup/DR: $300/month (storage, monitoring)

Total: $2,800/month = $33,600/year

AnkaSecure SaaS (fully managed):

Starter tier: $1,250/month (up to 1M ops/month)

Total: $1,250/month = $15,000/year

Savings: $18,600/year (55%) + zero DevOps burden

Vault Enterprise vs AnkaSecure On-Premise

Vault Enterprise (per-node licensing):

License: ~$15K/node/year × 5 nodes = $75,000/year
+ Infrastructure: $10,000/year (servers, storage)
+ Support: $15,000/year (Premium support)

Total: $100,000/year

AnkaSecure On-Premise:

License: $25,000/year (unlimited nodes)
+ Infrastructure: $15,000/year (6-node cluster)
+ Support: Included in license

Total: $40,000/year

Savings: $60,000/year (60%)

Use Case Fit

Vault Excels At

Infrastructure Secrets: - ✅ Database credentials (dynamic generation) - ✅ Cloud provider credentials (AWS, Azure, GCP) - ✅ PKI/Certificate management (internal CA) - ✅ SSH credentials (dynamic generation) - ✅ Kubernetes secrets injection

Example: Vault for database passwords

# Dynamic database credential (24-hour lease)
vault read database/creds/my-app-role

Benefit: Passwords rotate automatically, no hardcoded secrets

AnkaSecure Excels At

Data Encryption: - ✅ Customer data encryption (PII, PHI, financial records) - ✅ Document encryption (PDFs, images, videos) - ✅ Database field encryption (selective column encryption) - ✅ API payload encryption (request/response protection) - ✅ Large file encryption (multi-GB backups, logs)

Example: AnkaSecure for customer data

# Encrypt customer PII (quantum-resistant)
curl -X POST https://api.ankatech.co/encrypt \
  -d '{"algorithm":"ML_KEM_1024","plaintext":"SSN: 123-45-6789"}'

Benefit: Quantum resistance, multi-tenant isolation, compliance-ready

Complementary Architecture

Use BOTH for maximum security:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│           Your Application              │
└────────┬─────────────────────┬──────────┘
         │                     │
         ↓                     ↓
┌────────────────┐    ┌──────────────────┐
│ HashiCorp Vault│    │   AnkaSecure     │
├────────────────┤    ├──────────────────┤
│ • DB password  │    │ • Customer data  │
│ • API keys     │    │ • Documents      │
│ • TLS certs    │    │ • Database fields│
│ • AWS creds    │    │ • File encryption│
└────────────────┘    └──────────────────┘
  Secrets Mgmt          Data Encryption

Best practice: Vault for infrastructure, AnkaSecure for business data

Migration from Vault to AnkaSecure

When to Migrate

Consider migration if: - [ ] You're using Vault transit engine for data encryption (not secrets management) - [ ] You need post-quantum cryptography (Vault has no PQC) - [ ] You want managed SaaS (reduce operational burden) - [ ] You need multi-tenancy (Vault requires Enterprise) - [ ] You encrypt large files (> 100 MB)

If using Vault for secrets: Keep Vault (it's the right tool for that)

If using Vault for data encryption: Consider AnkaSecure (better fit)

Migration Path

Step 1: Parallel deployment (1 week) - Deploy AnkaSecure alongside Vault - Route new encryptions to AnkaSecure (ML-KEM) - Keep Vault for old data decryption (AES-256)

Step 2: Gradual transition (2-4 weeks)

# Week 1: 25% of traffic to AnkaSecure
# Week 2: 50% of traffic
# Week 3: 75% of traffic
# Week 4: 100% cutover

Step 3: Decommission Vault transit (1 week) - Archive Vault keys (for old data recovery) - Keep Vault for secrets management - Remove transit engine (reduce infrastructure)

Zero downtime: Old data decrypts from Vault, new data uses AnkaSecure

Technical Comparison

API Simplicity

Vault encrypt operation:

# Vault: Multiple steps
# 1. Enable transit engine
vault secrets enable transit

# 2. Create key
vault write transit/keys/my-key type=aes256-gcm96

# 3. Encrypt (requires base64 encoding)
vault write transit/encrypt/my-key \
  plaintext=$(echo -n "test" | base64)

# Result: vault:v1:ciphertext...

AnkaSecure encrypt operation:

# AnkaSecure: Single API call (key auto-created if needed)
curl -X POST https://api.ankatech.co/encrypt \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -d '{"algorithm":"ML_KEM_1024","plaintext":"test"}'

# Result: eyJhbGciOiJNTC1LRU0tMTAyNCIsInR5cCI6IkpXRSJ9...

Simplicity: AnkaSecure 50% less code (1 API call vs 3 commands)

Output Format

Vault output: Custom format (vault:v1:ciphertext...) - ❌ Proprietary (Vault-specific) - ❌ Requires Vault to decrypt (vendor lock-in) - ✅ Compact (small overhead)

AnkaSecure output: Standard JWE (RFC 7516) - ✅ Industry standard (interoperable) - ✅ Can decrypt with any RFC 7516-compliant library - ⚠️ Slightly larger (JSON overhead ~10%)

Portability: AnkaSecure more portable (standard format)

Vault Enterprise vs AnkaSecure

Multi-Tenancy Comparison

Vault Enterprise namespaces:

# Create namespace per customer (manual)
vault namespace create customer-001
vault namespace create customer-002

# Configure policies per namespace (manual)
vault policy write -namespace=customer-001 encryption-policy encryption.hcl

# Applications must specify namespace (code changes)
VAULT_NAMESPACE=customer-001 vault write transit/encrypt/...

Effort: ~30 minutes per tenant (manual setup, policy configuration)

AnkaSecure multi-tenancy:

# Create tenant (automatic isolation)
curl -X POST https://api.ankatech.co/tenants \
  -d '{"name":"customer-001"}'

# Applications use tenant-scoped token (automatic isolation)
curl -X POST https://api.ankatech.co/encrypt \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CUSTOMER_001_TOKEN" \
  -d '{"algorithm":"ML_KEM_1024","plaintext":"..."}'

Effort: 30 seconds per tenant (API-driven, automatic isolation)

Advantage: AnkaSecure 60× faster tenant onboarding

High Availability

Vault HA: - Requires Raft or Consul storage backend - 3-5 node cluster (manual scaling) - Leader election (single writer, multiple readers)

AnkaSecure HA: - Multi-master (all nodes read/write) - Auto-scaling (elastic capacity) - Load-balanced (no single point of failure)

Complexity: Vault requires more operational expertise

Cost Calculator

Calculate Your Use Case

Break-even: AnkaSecure cheaper at ALL scales (except < 100K ops where Vault Enterprise not viable)

📊 Interactive cost comparison

Migration Success Story

Case Study: FinTech SaaS Platform

Challenge: - Using Vault Enterprise for customer data encryption (300 tenants) - $75K/year licensing (5 nodes) - Need PQC for regulatory compliance - Complex namespace management (30 min per tenant onboarding)

Solution: Migrated to AnkaSecure SaaS

Results: - Cost: $75K/year → $25K/year (67% savings) - PQC: All data now ML-KEM-1024 encrypted - Onboarding: 30 min → 30 sec per tenant (60× faster) - Operations: Zero DevOps time (fully managed)

Kept Vault for: Database passwords, API keys (secrets management)

Architecture: Vault (secrets) + AnkaSecure (data) = best of both worlds

What's Next?

Ready to compare? - 📊 Feature comparison matrix (detailed table) - 📊 Cost calculator (TCO comparison) - 📥 Download comparison guide (PDF, 12 pages) - 📧 Schedule technical comparison (free 1-hour session)

Explore alternatives: - vs AWS KMS - Cloud KMS comparison - vs Azure Key Vault - Microsoft alternative

Migration resources: - Migration strategy - Vault to AnkaSecure transition - Performance benchmarks - Detailed speed tests - On-premise deployment - Self-hosted option

Have questions? Email [email protected] or join our community forum

Last updated: 2026-01-07 | Vault data current as of January 2026 | Pricing subject to change