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. Mistakes or outdated information? Let us know by opening an issue on Codeberg.