Akeyless (SecretlessAI and MCP server) vs AWS Secrets Manager

Akeyless (SecretlessAI and MCP server)

Gateway-brokered SecretlessAI and a runtime-authority MCP server with 4 tools that return results, not credentials. No published prices above the free plan; clients and transactions are metered with overage billed at the end of a 12-month contract.

AWS Secrets Manager

IAM roles support access without long-lived credentials on AWS compute services. Each API call is billed, making caching relevant to frequent reads.

Akeyless (SecretlessAI and MCP server)

1. Run akeyless mcp-runtime-authority, not akeyless mcp, for an agent that acts on systems; the first returns results, the second has get_secret and get_password
2. Authenticate with a cloud identity, Kubernetes or Universal Identity rather than an access key, which the docs reserve for proofs of concept
3. Use CLI 1.130.0 or later for either MCP server, and point the client at your Gateway URL
4. Count identities and calls before scaling. The free plan allows 5 clients, and calls over a tier's cap (200 a minute on Silver) are billed as extra clients, not refused
5. Pass the token in the JSON body of each POST, and page /list-items with pagination-token

AWS Secrets Manager

1. Give the agent's task or instance role secretsmanager:GetSecretValue on the specific secret ARN, not a wildcard
2. Cache the value for the run, or read through the Workload Credentials Provider on localhost; each GetSecretValue is billed and logged
3. Use BatchGetSecretValue with a filter when you need several secrets at start-up; it's limited to 100 calls a second
4. Pass a ClientRequestToken on PutSecretValue so a retry can't create a second version, and don't write more than once every 10 minutes
5. Read VersionStage AWSPREVIOUS if a rotation lands mid-run and the new credential isn't live yet