AWS Secrets Manager: Complete Guide, Best Practices, and Tips

AWS Secrets Manager is Amazon's managed service designed for storing, retrieving, rotating, and auditing secrets like database credentials and API keys, offering significant security enhancements over manual methods such as .env files. It integrates seamlessly with AWS services like IAM, RDS, and Redshift, making it a natural choice for organizations deeply embedded in the AWS ecosystem. The service provides core functionalities including encryption with AWS KMS, access control via IAM, and automatic secret rotation, which is especially beneficial for managing credentials for AWS-managed databases. However, AWS Secrets Manager has limitations, particularly for multi-cloud environments, as it lacks native support for non-AWS workloads and advanced workflow management features like approval processes and dynamic secrets. As organizations scale, the cost of using Secrets Manager can become significant due to its per-secret and per-API call pricing model, prompting some teams to explore alternative solutions like Infisical, which offers a more unified approach to secrets management across varied infrastructures.