Password Manager Apps – Review
In this technological age, where we spend a lot of time online – be it via desktop or mobile – almost every page requires and insists you create a user account with an associated password. Honestly speaking, that’s either a lot of usernames and a lot of passwords or (if you were like me) a few usernames and passwords which were purposely rotated and modified by adding or deleting one character. Regardless of which category you fall into, trying to remember all that information or remember where you saved it or wrote it down can be very frustrating. Cue password managers.
Password managers are apps which secure, store, manage and remember all the usernames and passwords for your various online accounts. All you need to do is create and remember ONE master password which will provide secure access to all your encrypted password information. This article will introduce and give an overview of the pros and cons of three password managers – Bitwarden, LastPass and Dashlane – starting with a brief table of features shown below.
| Bitwarden | LastPass | Dashlane | |
| Import information from browsers |
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| Two-factor authentication |
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| Fill in web forms | – |
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| Multiple form filling identities |
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| Password strength report | – |
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| Secure sharing |
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Table sourced from: https://www.pcmag.com/roundup/300318/the-best-password-managers
Bitwarden
Image sourced from: https://www.ubuntufree.com/download-bitwarden-for-ubuntu/
This is freemium password manager app, which has great features on both the free and premium options – where the premium is great value for money, especially when compared to other password managers of the same standard.
Pros:
- Inexpensive
- Supports all popular browsers
- Analyses passwords and security
- Two-factor authentication (2FA) using Yubikey or FIDO
- Generates time based one-time password (TOTP) codes for two-factor authenticating supporting websites.
- No password limit
Cons:
- Full scale sharing is an extra cost
- Microsoft Edge extension works incorrectly
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Last Pass
Image sourced from: https://lastpass.com/press-room/
You cannot come across a LastPass review which is not pitted against Bitwarden and vice versa, which leads to the deduction that they are direct rivals. Lastpass is a freemium app which has great features on both the free and premium options – where the free option is powerful enough for you to forgo the paid premium option.
Pros:
- The free option is extremely close to being as good as the premium option
- Multifactor authentication
- 50MB (free) to 1GB (premium) encrypted cloud storage
- No password limits
Cons:
- Shared folders are only available in the family option
Dashlane
Image sourced from: https://brandfolder.com/dashlane
This is a freemium password manager app, with great features on both the free and premium options. The free option is decent but rather limited, which can force you to upgrade to the premium option to attain more features of the product. The premium option is rather pricy when compared to its current competitors.
Pros:
- VPN protection (premium option)
- 1GB storage (premium)
- 2FA
- Scans dark web for compromised accounts
Cons:
- Expensive premium option
- Syncing across devices is limited (free option)
- 50 password limits (free option)
Conclusion
From this three-app review, I can understand why LastPass was recommended to me. It gives more than expected value for free. It is powerful, secure and easy to use and easily ‘holds its own’ against competitors within the industry.
References
https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/best-password-managers/
https://www.lastpass.com/how-lastpass-works
https://www.pcmag.com/roundup/300318/the-best-password-managers
https://www.techopedia.com/definition/31435/password-manager
https://www.ubuntufree.com/download-bitwarden-for-ubuntu/