is it really FOSS?

Passwordless (by Bitwarden)

A passkey software toolkit for developers

Nope!
Not FOSS but there are FOSS related licensing, marketing, or transparency issues.

Details

The server part of Passwordless is provided under a custom BITWARDEN LICENSE AGREEMENT which sets many restrictions relative to what’s expected from FOSS.

The project does however market itself as open source in many areas:

“All Passwordless.dev code is open source.” - In the project docs.

“The open source offering saves engineering resources and […]” - Marketing Blogpost

“Thorough, third party assessments of the Bitwarden Passwordless.dev open source code […]” - Product Homepage (although could be indicating their only the open source work is assessed, a little unclear)

Many of the Passwordless client libraries are open source, but these appear to require use of the server component.

Bitwarden has taken at least $100m in funding from PSG and Battery Ventures.

Details last reviewed 2025-06-08. Our reviews are performed manually, without legal expertise, and therefore may be inaccurate or missing detail relevant for your use. Please don't treat this as legal guidance or assurance of any kind.

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