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age vs GnuPG: catalog facts
age	GnuPG
Free Free and open source under the BSD 3-Clause licence.	Free Free and open source under the GPL.
Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line	Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line
No options to choose, so there is no insecure configuration to fall into Keys are short strings that fit in a password manager	The reference free OpenPGP implementation, present everywhere Smartcard and hardware token support through its agent
Command line only; there is no official graphical front end No key server or web of trust, so you exchange keys yourself	Key management and the command line are famously unforgiving Defaults and trust models confuse newcomers into unsafe practice
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: BSD-3-Clause	License: GPL-3.0
No account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 22, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.