Verdict
Bitwarden provides both the best free and better devote - for online password direction religious service . There are a few specific niches where user might need something else , but this is the ideal password manager for almost everyone .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Bitwarden is one of thebest password manageroptions currently usable .
Not only does it have an excellent paid - for subscription , with features that more than justify the cost , but also one of the best free tier around for those who are n’t willing to spend a dime bag .
It ’s powerful , customisable but , most importantly , remains easy to habituate . After using Bitwarden for multiple calendar week , here are my thoughts .
Pricing
A Bitwarden Premium chronicle cost $ 10 ( £ 8.50 ) per twelvemonth , while a Bitwarden Families subscription get down you six explanation for $ 40 ( £ 34.00 ) per class , as well as a share group account ( an Organisation ) to go with your family account .
A free Bitwarden account is fully operative . UnlikeLastPass , you could get at your passwords on all variety of devices , and unlikeDashlane ’s free grade , there ’s no boundary on the number of watchword you could save .
Bitwarden does allow more in advance feature for pay users . destitute accounts do n’t get an emergency accession inter-group communication , secure file storage , in - node TOTP ( Time - base One Time Password ) two - factor certification code genesis for lay in Robert William Service , and have few 2FA options .
You need a bear account if you want to utilise Duo formultifactor authentication , and only paid organisation ( include families ) can use FIDO security measure keys such as YubiKey devices for 2FA .
Features
At its elementary , Bitwarden provides a web vault , web browser extensions , autofill and autosave functionality . Just set up an account , stop up it into your web browser app and go . By nonremittal , you ’ll have to enter your master password every sentence you restart the web browser app , while the background apps and web vault re - put away themselves on restart or after 15 transactions . Its browser app plugins are cleanly design and very easy to apply , and the standalone apps and web vault have recently been streamline to look a short less cluttered , while keeping everything distinctly labelled and well document .
Logout and lock stage setting are highly configurable , and biometric unlocking is usable for all platforms . you may also use a second installation of the Bitwarden client as a passwordless login instead of your passkey password . If you ca n’t link up to the internet , an offline cache of your password database is available for read - only access . There ’s even a fully offline Bitwarden Portable version for static parole collections .
Bitwarden allows you to store logins , payment cards , indistinguishability data point including your destination , national insurance and recommendation routine , and secure note . Paying drug user can impound file to entries , allowing you to hive away passport scan or PGP keys .
The Organisations poser is deserving devote attention to , because Bitwarden does things a piffling other than to some of its challenger . If you want to divvy up big numbers of passwords with someone , you ’ll need an Organisation , an extra shared password library in increase to your own private one .
Free Organisations can be shared between up to two the great unwashed , crime syndicate organisation by up to six , and there are larger options if you need them , primarily aim at business . you may also share specific passwords ( or other secret information ) with any other Bitwarden drug user for a maximum of 31 days via the passing Bitwarden Send tool .
Like most countersign managers , Bitwarden is a zero - cognition divine service , which mean that it does not know and can not come across your master password . If you lose it , you ’ll have to readjust your account , cancel all stored passwords . However , Organisation administrators can reset the passwords of members of their organization , and that admit family subscription .
Paying users can also designate an parking brake striking , who , once go down up , can request and be manually or automatically granted access to your account . If you ’ve cede them account coup d’etat accession , this hand brake impinging can also create a new maestro word for your report if you ’ve forgotten it .
Bitwarden is open source and extremely transparent in its development and issue coverage process . This helps to ensure that security exposure are promptly patch and allows the residential district to quest new features . The company has bear witness to be responsive to user and industry criticism , recently taking amount to increase the routine of hash looping and prompting former substance abuser to rehash their parole with more looping via a very visible pop - up .
It ’s good to see measure to improve the service being regularly rolled out as the menace landscape changes , rather than only being denote in response to a notable breach , such asLastpass‘s 2022 incident . The only downside is that Bitwarden ’s user communications sometimes lean into rather technical language , such as telling users with older accounts to increase the number of KDF iterations ( the number of time a parole is hash before being stored ) to improve the security of their passwords and taking them to a varlet where they were prompted to make the change manually .
A friendlier choice might have been to auto - evoke a routine , rather than just telling user that 600,000 or more was best and depart them to change the issue of iterations in a text debut box . It ’s a minor spot of rubbing , but one that could result in nervous user not making the modification . young accounts are mechanically gear up to use this higher number of iteration .
exploiter - face features are also regularly updated , with recent additions include wider gadget support for the passwordless “ enter with gadget ” feature , support for new encoding algorithmic program such as Argon2 , and an email alias desegregation via your own demesne , by using + address , or a range of third - party service a that take into account drug user to bring forth unequalled email forwarding address for every accounting they make , make it easy to see who ’s sell your data and minimise your risk in font a service you utilize lose your data in a break .
Bitwarden also is one of a number of password direction firm that ’ll presently be rolling out support for Passkeys , a recent passwordless login criterion that uses a pair of secret cryptographic Key alternatively of a username and password to log you into web site that digest it , but this had n’t been tramp out at the time of writing .
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
Bitwarden can be as bare as you need it to be , running as an unobtrusive extension to autofill what ’s needed in your web browser app .
wye : Bitwarden extend a high-pitched level of substance abuser configurability and mastery under the cowling , but ca n’t quite twin that of theKeePassfamily of applications .
Final Thoughts
Bitwarden is the ideal watchword manager for most people . It ’s secure , transparent and has more features than any other yield - for word manager we ’ve reviewed , while still being very easy to practice .
Trusted Score
How we test
We screen each password director ourselves on a variety of computer and peregrine operating systems .
We carry out comparative feature psychoanalysis against industriousness standards and rival product , and test security department and comfort station preferences such as default logout behavior and offline admittance .
FAQs
Bitwarden is perfectly safe to use , with AES - CBC 256 - bit encoding preventing hackers from stealing your data and veritable updates to help users quell strong .
Yes , a free password manager from a reputable vendor typically has the same horizontal surface of security as the paid - for versions . By subscribing , you just get access to a greater number of advanced features .
