Finding a good password manager has become much more complicated in 2023.
Why? It could be related to the fact that almost all password managers are
running into some scandal or issue. LastPass is the biggest player,
which recently had to take ownership of You know, the one thing you paid them to protect.
Users of most major password managers seem to all have the same thought.
So, knowing that most password managers are... well... awful, who do you trust?
And how do you know you can trust them? Well, to help you answer that question,
we've got a list of the best password managers in 2023. These password managers
aren't known to have a history of leaks and participate in critical third-party
audits in the interest of transparency. We've got a list of five password managers we
found to meet and exceed those requirements. And, in this video, we plan on rating them based on...
Security Features
Pricing and Ease of Use
The password managers we plan on talking about include...
RoboForm 1Password
BitWarden NordPass
and Zoho Vault [x] Our findings show these security tools meet
or exceed our security requirements. Knowing this, if you prefer, you can skip to the part where you
click the discount link in our video description where you can get up to 50% off our favourites.
Then again, if you want to see why we think these security tools are so good, we don't blame you.
So, let's get started with the number one priority: security.
The ultimate test of security comes in the real world. So,
that "real world" brings us to a simple question: do they have any leaks?
Across the board, we found the same answer for all five products: no.
But that's obvious, because this is a “best of” list, so what about something a bit meatier?
Four of these managers use the gold standard of end-to-end encryption:
AES-256. Which, if you've paid attention to our VPN reviews, is the best encryption security.
NordPass, however, relies on XChaCha20, which is a newer encryption protocol. ChaCha is more
secure against some security aspects, but AES has been around for longer, making them similar.
The companies support zero-knowledge encryption, meaning they don't log your password data. Even
if someone internally were to take the servers, none of the companies could
take your password data. This is similar to the "no logging" policy that VPNs take.
All these password managers also support multi-factor authentication or MFA.
The companies uniformly support third-party tools for authentication.
For example, Yubikey is a robust authentication tool separate from your phone.
This tool is supported across these platforms. Man, these password managers are pretty hardcore.
Well, maybe not that hardcore.
Roboform also allows you to turn off online sync to use your local storage instead. This
means you can use roboform in offline mode. NordPass on the other hand doesn’t even
autofill if you’re not connected to the internet. Now, you do still have to authenticate and unlock
your vault with your Master Password even if you turn off Auto-Sync in RoboForm. But it still does
the job and that’s good enough for us. Bitwarden also offers you the ability
to host on your own server if you’re so inclined. But it’s a bit of a task and we
only recommend this to our more pro viewers. Anytime you store your passwords elsewhere,
especially when a company, they are at risk. As proven by LastPass, these big,
juicy password management companies are a tempting target for people who want your vaults.
By offering the ability to turn off sync, which RoboForm does, you put greater
security control in the hands of the user. Both 1Password and Zoho Vault offer similar
services, letting you store your passwords on local services. But these features are
often limited to business tiers, meaning you'll have to rely on cloud servers.
BitWarden has impressive security but only supports cloud-based password storage. This
brings us to our final tally of the most secure password manager:
RoboForm is number one NordPass is barely at number two
1Password is number three Zoho Vault is number four
and BitWarden is number five Next, let's take a closer
look at the features of each product. The good news is that these password managers
have the basics down. They include browser-based apps that autofill passwords for you. That way,
you don't have to memorize everything. It's just like Sonic The Hedgehog says...
Only... replace "memory card" with "brain," and you get the idea.
All of these password managers also help you generate strong passwords. That way,
the individual passwords on your accounts remain secure, as having a
strong password is still very important. When these passwords are compromised,
these password managers offer various notification systems to tell you when to change them.
When your password manager notifies you of the need, you can easily access your account, change
things, and have your manager change with them. If you want to find these passwords,
you can also use built-in search engines to find specific passwords. For example,
if you want to find your Google password, you could search "Google" in any of these managers.
You can also easily import existing passwords from a CSV file or other password managers
using any platform on this list. So, if you need to move from a recently dishonored
password manager, you can do that. Not that I'm... pointing any fingers.
Another vital feature across these password-sharing platforms is emergency
access. This lets you designate a trusted person to access your passwords in case you cannot.
So, if you end up indisposed for some reason, your designated “trusted person” can still
get access to your accounts on your behalf. Now, to dig into some individual features.
Roboform’s most powerful feature is their 1 click Login. This might seem simple at
the surface level but that sort of convenience isnt easy to execute. In fact, other password
managers such as 1Password, NordPass, and Bitwarden don't even offer it as a feature.
Isn’t saving time and being secure the entire point?
The company also supports storing online form data,
credit cards, notes, bookmarks, and contacts. NordPass also allows access to passwords online
and stores the same information, minus the bookmarks. The auto-filling feature applies
to personal information like your name, email, and phone number, similar to Google Chrome’s autofill.
Zoho Vault also offers unique tool-based integrations. You can connect your vault
with products like Microsoft Office 365, Google Drive, DropBox, and a wide range of other apps,
including its own library of business-based apps. Zoho however is more geared towards businesses so
their individual plans feel a little lacklustre. BitWarden's unique feature is BitWarden send,
which lets you securely send files and other information through its unique
messaging platform. This is an alternative to Telegram or WhatsApp, without automatic
deletion features built into these messages. 1Password has nothing unique but has put more
work into its dark web monitoring feature: Watchtower. Watchtower is a dedicated space
informing you if your data is compromised. So, based on the most feature-rich tool,
our number one pick has to be... 1. Roboform at number one
2. NordPass at number two 3. Zoho Vault at number three
4. BitWarden at number four 5. and 1Password at number five
Because all of these features are situationally good, your opinion
might differ. Our logic is that we can find more overall usefulness in offline access.
Now, let's take a look at our last section: pricing.
Pricing is a bit different because, ultimately, it's up to you how much
you want to spend. The only disappointment is that you can't haggle over the price.
You can pretend to haggle up to 50% off by checking out our discount links in the
description. We hope they help ease the burden. Based on our findings, the best pricing overall
goes to BitWarden. BitWarden wins because it starts for free on unlimited devices
and passwords. But that pricing level doesn't come with MFA, which is a huge security risk.
If you are willing to pay $10 a year, you can get this 2FA. But, the cost-effectiveness of this
program drops off for families, as it shoots to $40 a year if you want up to six users.
Zoho Vault offers the second most cost-effective plan for individuals at just under $1 monthly.
It also has a free version, but you can only store your passwords on one device.
Like other platforms, the family plan isn't as cheap. It is about $4.50 per month,
which limits you to five users. So, it isn't as cost-effective for families.
RoboForm offers the next pricing level at $23.88 for individuals for a year and $47.75 for up to
five family members for a year. You can pay for multiple years to get deeper discounts,
which other providers don't well... provide. NordPass is more expensive than RoboForm, costing
per $35.88 Individual and per $71.88 Family. They also offer more discounts if
you pay for multiple years upfront. 1Password is the least cost-effective option on
this list, costing $2.99 per month for individuals and $4.99 per month for up to five family members.
Of course, these prices don't apply to business plans. And you might find
some cheaper results in our video's description. So ultimately, our pricing comparison shows that
the cheapest potential products are... BitWarden at number one
Zoho Vault at number two RoboForm at number three
NordPass at number four and 1Password at number five
While BitWarden is number one on cost, remember that their free plan doesn't
include MFA. Multi-factor authentication has become a staple of modern security,
so we can't recommend their free plan. So, let’s look at our last area of focus:
ease of use. The number one
focus of ease of use is the auto-sync feature, available across all five password managers.
Whether that auto-sync feature is useful depends on whether they support your platform.
All platforms on this list support Google Chrome, Edge, Windows, iOS, and Android apps. Zoho Vault
has the most widespread browser support, covering everything from Chrome to Vivaldi.
Both Zoho and BitWarden also have deep Linux support. They even go as far as to support
those who use CLI, or command line interface, making them ideal for those who prefer this
over “Gooeys,” or GUIs, which is all two of you. But we see you, and we still love you.
But, there’s a drawback to having widespread support for everything: being stretched.
BitWarden and Zoho both have weaker interfaces. Mainly because they support more products,
which is the case with Zoho, or they support too many platforms, which is the case with BitWarden.
The remaining three, 1Password, NordPass, and Roboform, focus more on the browser
extensions and mobile apps, which makes them run a bit faster, in my experience.
Now what we don't enjoy is the fact that NordPass requires downloading their desktop app on Windows
in order for their extension to work. Now you do get extra features this way but an
extra app eating our bandwidth isn’t our cup of tea. Other password managers like 1Password and
RoboForm don't have this as a requirement which gives them an edge in our opinion.
All of these password managers also accept sorting through folders. This lets you
organize your password by category, which makes them easier to find.
And finally, they all support desktop applications, not just browser-based extensions.
So, if you want to store app passwords, you can do that. Which is a mistake that Dashlane made.
In addition to the above, Roboform offers the most support options including live chat and
phone call-backs. Sure, the Windows editor is a bit dated, but their 1-Click Login and
modern extension will save you a ton of time and clicks and that is what matters most.
So, when we tally up all the scores, the best password manager of 2023 is...
RoboForm! RoboForm might
not be the cheapest password manager on this list, but it is easily the most useful. It
has all the helpful features you expect from password managers and high-security standards.
But what put it over the top was the ability to access your passwords and
store them offline along with the ability to log in quickly with the fewest clicks.
This gives you more control over keeping the most secure passwords.
Your favorite password manager might change depending on your
priorities. If you are looking for more of a business-oriented solution, Zoho Vault
might serve you better. You might also have a tight budget, pointing you towards BitWarden.
Both NordPass and 1Password are also companies worth your trust with powerful features.
Still, focusing on customer-centric practices and flexibility gives RoboForm
the best chance to be beneficial to more people. Now, for a quick honorable mention: Dashlane.
Why wasn’t Dashlane on this list of the best password managers for 2023? Well,
it comes down to a couple of factors for us. First, Dashlane discontinued support for its
desktop application earlier this year. This makes it tricky to store app-based passwords
and impossible to online access. That isn’t surprising, as many password managers focus
more on their app and browser extensions. Dashlane offers poorer user experience
and is a little too expensive for what it offers. It also lacks the ability to sync
with your own storage and doesn’t have a true 1 click Login function either.
Despite this, they have the widespread trust of many companies. But, for the
purpose of this review, we can’t consider them one of the “best” options you can find.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. We'd also appreciate your support by liking
and sharing the video with your friends. Thanks for watching!