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

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