Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks
EDITORS’ NOTE
November 6, 2025: With this update, our lineup of recommended password managers remains unchanged. The existing picks have been vetted for currency and availability. Since our last update, we reviewed and evaluated two password managers for potential inclusion in this roundup. We currently have two password managers in PC Labs for evaluation.
(Credit: NordPass)
(Credit: NordPass)
Pros & Cons
Customer-friendly sharing options
Credit card and email address breach scans
Password health tools
Emergency access
Email masking
Why We Picked It
NordPass, from the team behind NordVPN, is a sleek, well-organized, and easy-to-use service for securely accessing your passwords across desktop, mobile apps, and the web.
Pricing and plans: We recommend the Premium version of the app because it offers affordable pricing and includes high-quality features and settings. There’s also a generous 30-day free trial available if you prefer not to pay up-front. NordPass offers a free plan, but it limits you to one account and doesn’t sync passwords across all your devices.
Key features: NordPass offers comprehensive and detailed data breach reports, email masking, encrypted cloud storage, a password health report, and emergency access. You can also create and store passkeys using NordPass.
Platforms: NordPass offers browser extensions for Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, and Safari, as well as mobile apps for Android and iOS, and desktop applications for Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Ease of use and interface: NordPass’s apps are well-organized, making them easy to navigate. We appreciate that the apps look and perform the same across different platforms, which makes it easy to find the same features and settings when switching between the browser extension and the mobile apps.
Customer support: Subscribers can get help via the chat box on the NordPass website or by sending an email. Business customers have an extra option: they can submit questions via the app’s control panel.
Who It’s For
Beginners and non-tech-savvy customers: NordPass is easy to use, making it an ideal choice for those who have never used a password manager before. Signing up is as easy as creating a strong and unique master password, downloading the necessary apps or extensions, and storing credentials as you browse.
Individuals and families: NordPass Premium is an excellent choice for people with large families or those who need to share numerous passwords. The app’s improved sharing options allow you to designate an expiration date for shared items, ranging from one hour to one month.
Small businesses: A NordPass Teams account ($23.88 per employee, per year) includes a credential vault for each employee and single sign-on support for Google Workspace. Managers will appreciate the dashboard that gives organization administrators the ability to view, modify, or revoke employee permissions. Even better, each NordPass business account comes with a free personal account for every employee.
Specs & Configurations
Product Category
Password Managers
Two-Factor Authentication
Actionable Password Strength Report
Multiple Form-Filling Identities
Product Price Type
Direct
Learn More
NordPass Review
(Credit: Roboform)
(Credit: Roboform)
Pros & Cons
Affordable service plans
30-day free business or premium trial
Includes data breach monitoring
Emergency access available
Informative tutorials and in-app tips
Restrictive free plan
Limited sharing options
Why We Picked It
It’s no surprise that RoboForm is excellent at filling web forms; that’s how the company got its start. During the app’s most recent evaluation, we were impressed with the level of detail in RoboForm’s dark web monitoring reports, as well as the helpful phishing alerts.
Pricing and plans: RoboForm’s free password manager is limited to one device, but you can try RoboForm’s premium subscription for free for 30 days. The Premium tier is $29.88 annually, and a Family subscription is $47.76 per year for five premium accounts.
Key features: In addition to the expected core password management functions, RoboForm’s subscriptions include data breach monitoring for up to 5 emails, emergency access, passkey support, password hygiene tools, phishing alerts, sharing rights, and customer support via email, live chat, and phone.
Platforms: RoboForm offers desktop clients for both Mac and Windows, as well as apps for Android and iOS. There are also browser extensions for Chrome, Edge, and Firefox.
Ease of use and interface: RoboForm offers the following notable security features: The Security Center can help you improve your password hygiene by identifying duplicate or weak passwords in your vault. RoboForm also notifies you whenever you enter sensitive personal data or financial information on a website with a domain that doesn’t match the one in your vault. While the password manager’s sharing system isn’t as flexible or modern as some competitors, RoboForm is a highly functional and easy-to-navigate app with features that most people will appreciate overall.
Customer support: Paid personal and business accounts can contact the company via live chat, while free subscribers can email the RoboForm support team for assistance. There’s also a support section on the website containing articles and videos to help you troubleshoot your problems.
Who It’s For
Newbies: We recommend RoboForm for anyone new to password management. The company does a great job of onboarding new customers with tutorial videos and in-app suggestions for password hygiene.
Business customers: RoboForm’s Business edition includes activity logs, dark web monitoring and alerts, password hygiene reports, password sharing, role-based access control, single sign-on (SSO) integration, customizable security policies, and other business-focused features.
Specs & Configurations
Product Category
Password Managers
Two-Factor Authentication
Actionable Password Strength Report
Multiple Form-Filling Identities
Product Price Type
Direct
Learn More
RoboForm Review
(Credit: PCMag Composite; Proton)
(Credit: PCMag Composite; Proton)
Pros & Cons
Free
Email alias options
Dark web monitoring
Password hygiene alerts
Smooth form filling
Paywalled secure link sharing and credit card storage
Why We Picked It
Proton Pass, developed by the team behind Proton VPN, offers tremendous value, with affordable plans and a comprehensive free option.
Pricing and plans: Proton Pass Plus costs $4.99 per month ($59.88 annually) before discounts. The non-discounted monthly price is more expensive than many other password managers we recommend, but the $35.88 yearly plan is in line with competitors’ annual rates. A Proton Pass Family plan is $6.99 per month, or $59.88 if you buy a year of service up-front. A Family account provides support for up to six accounts, along with an admin panel for the Family account owner.
Key features: Proton’s affordable premium plans include helpful features such as comprehensive dark web monitoring reports, emergency access, encrypted cloud storage, file uploads, passkey support, password health alerts, secure sharing, and email aliases with dedicated mailboxes. You can also access the entire Proton ecosystem, which includes free versions of Proton’s Calendar, Docs, Drive, Mail, and Proton VPN apps, from the Proton Pass app, making it a true “everything manager.”
Platforms: Proton Pass offers browser extensions for Brave, Chrome, Edge, and Firefox users, a web-based vault, and apps compatible with Android, ChromeOS, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Ease of use and interface: We appreciate Proton Pass’s minimalist yet eye-catching apps. The user interfaces are uniform across platforms, which is ideal, and the apps functioned as expected in testing.
Customer support: Proton Pass includes on-demand phone support for all levels of business password management, but it does not offer chat or phone support for non-business plan subscribers. Personal and Family plan subscribers can request help via email or the customer service section within the Proton Pass apps.
Who It’s For
Freebie hunters: Proton Pass is the best free password manager because it allows you to sync unlimited passwords across an unlimited number of devices and even create email aliases for free.
Entrepreneurs and small businesses: Proton Pass is an entrepreneur’s dream. It allows you to access Proton’s suite of office tools for free. Small business owners can scale up services across three service tiers, too, so protection grows along with your operations.
Spam fighters: Proton generates temporary email addresses and inboxes that you can use to sign up for products and services. It’s vital for avoiding phishing attempts, unsolicited newsletters, and other inbox spam.
Specs & Configurations
Product Category
Password Managers
Two-Factor Authentication
Actionable Password Strength Report
Multiple Form-Filling Identities
Product Price Type
List
Learn More
Proton Pass Review
(Credit: 1Password)
(Credit: 1Password)
Pros & Cons
Intuitive password organization
Password hygiene alerts
Smooth credential capture and replay
Helpful Travel Mode
Lacks digital legacy options
No username or email breach scanning
Masked emails are paid add-ons
Why We Picked It
Regardless of the platform, 1Password’s user interface is organized intuitively, making it easy to locate the credentials you need.
Pricing and plans: 1Password’s personal plan costs $35.88 annually (effectively $2.99 per month). 1Password’s Families plan costs $59.88 per year and includes five licenses. 1Password doesn’t offer a permanently free version of its service, but you can try it out with a 14-day free trial.
Key features: You can store an unlimited number of passwords and sync them across an unlimited number of devices using 1Password. 1Password’s personal plans include 1GB of encrypted storage, as well as the ability to create and store notes, identities, passkeys, and payment cards. You can also access 1Password’s Watchtower feature, which flags old, weak, and reused passwords. 1Password also offers temporary email addresses, but access to these requires an additional monthly fee of $6. Though the feature is a collaboration with Fastmail, you can switch masked emails on and off within 1Password’s apps.
Platforms: 1Password offers apps for Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows, as well as browser extensions for Brave, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari.
Ease of use and interface: The interface is pretty easy to navigate on all platforms, but we were particularly impressed with the mobile apps’ credential organization options. We like that it’s easy to hide or reorder credentials on the home screen and pin items from your vault for quick access.
Customer support: 1Password provides email support to all subscribers and phone support to business customers. You can ask questions via an AI-powered chatbot on the support website or send messages to the 1Password support on the community forums.
Who It’s For
Frequent travelers: 1Password is excellent for globetrotters, thanks to its Travel Mode. The mode hides your vaults when enabled, so if someone takes your phone, they can’t access your passwords.
Password sharers: Your family members and fantasy football friends will appreciate easy access to shared passwords if you use 1Password. That’s because you can share links to items in your 1Password vault with anyone, even if they aren’t subscribers. The generated link expires after one view, one hour, one day, seven days, 14 days, or 30 days.
Specs & Configurations
Product Category
Password Managers
Two-Factor Authentication
Actionable Password Strength Report
Multiple Form-Filling Identities
Product Price Type
Direct
Learn More
1Password Review
(Credit: Dashlane)
(Credit: Dashlane)
Pros & Cons
30-day free trial
VPN access
Phishing alerts
Dark web monitoring
Expensive
Awkward emergency access procedure
Why We Picked It
Dashlane performs all the basic and advanced tasks we expect from a password manager. It also comes with a VPN and a dark web monitor, deploys anti-phishing measures, retains a history of your logins, and scans your accounts for weak and compromised passwords.
Pricing and plans: If there’s an argument to be made against Dashlane, it’s that the service is expensive. After discontinuing its free plan earlier this year, Dashlane’s plans start at an eye-watering $59.88 annually. The Friends and Family account is $89.88 annually for up to 10 people and includes all Premium features except VPN access. You can try out the service for free for 30 days.
Key features: Dashlane’s features are impressive, somewhat justifying the high price. In addition to the core functions of a password manager, each account includes dark web monitoring, file storage (up to 1GB), emergency access, passkey storage, password hygiene tools, phishing alerts, secure sharing options, and VPN access.
Platforms: Dashlane has apps for Android and iOS. Its browser extension supports Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, and Chromium-based browsers.
Ease of use and interface: Dashlane offers attractive, easy-to-use apps and extensions for browsers and mobile devices. We were impressed with the ultra-smooth password capture and replay system, as well as its password hygiene features. Security features, like phishing alerts, were effective, and it wasn’t difficult to access test accounts using the app’s passwordless login system.
Customer support: Both free and paid accounts can receive help using the Dashlane chatbot on the corporate website. Business admin account holders can bypass the chatbot by typing “Send message” into the chat window and then selecting an option to request a call from an agent.
Who It’s For
Families: Dashlane’s Friends and Family plan supports up to 10 people, which is sufficient for most families. Don’t want to spring for a family plan? Sharing credentials is easy to do with Dashlane, so you may not need a shared account. You can share passwords or anything else stored in your vault with anyone’s email address.
Big spenders: Dashlane’s top-tier plan is expensive, and the company recently eliminated its free plan. Still, you can try the premium version for a month for free, which is pretty generous.
Business customers: Dashlane’s three business tiers include valuable features like sharing controls, expanded monitoring, SSO and SCIM integrations, and access to the phishing alert system. Business Plus accounts get access to the company’s new Credential Risk Detection system, which monitors employees’ password habits without their knowledge.
Specs & Configurations
Product Category
Password Managers
Two-Factor Authentication
Actionable Password Strength Report
Multiple Form-Filling Identities
Product Price Type
Direct
Learn More
Dashlane Review
Keeper New Logo
(Credit: Keeper)
(Credit: Keeper)
Pros & Cons
Excellent credential-sharing system
Password health tools
Emergency access options
Wearable device support
Paywalled data breach monitoring
Clunky credential importing process
Accounts aren’t easy to delete on all platforms
Why We Picked It
Keeper allows you to sync passwords across the following platforms: Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows, or download an extension for Brave, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, and Safari. The app is easy to use, but helpful features like data breach monitoring and additional file storage incur extra costs.
Pricing and plans: A personal Keeper subscription is $34.99 per year. The Family subscription is $74.99 and gives you an additional 5 vaults and 10GB of file storage. BreachWatch, Keeper’s dark web monitoring service, is available for an additional $19.99 per year.
Key features: In addition to the standard password management functions, Keeper also provides password hygiene tools and data breach monitoring (for an additional fee). We were impressed with Keeper’s sharing system, which gives you a lot of control when sending passwords to family and friends. The One-Time Share feature enables you to generate links to credentials and distribute them via Airdrop, email, QR codes, or SMS. Access to the link is restricted to the recipient’s device, and you can choose when the link expires.
Platforms: Keeper has apps for Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows. You can also access Keeper on your smartwatch. In addition to the above platforms, Keeper offers browser extensions for Brave, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, and Safari.
Ease of use and interface: Keeper’s apps and browser extensions are modern-looking and well-organized. The apps also feature cool accessibility options. For example, you can also make notifications linger for longer on the screen and zoom in on sections of the app windows.
Customer support: Personal plan subscribers can request assistance by completing a contact form on Keeper’s website and waiting for a response via email. Business account holders can log into Keeper’s support portal to get help.
Who It’s For
Frequent password sharers: You can create folders to share with your family and friends or send individual logins to people using the One-Time Share feature. Keeper also offers emergency access options, ensuring that your digital legacy will be passed on to someone you trust after your passing.
Interface customizers: Keeper’s apps enable you to tailor the layouts to suit your style. Nice interface perks include a customizable color scheme and layout.
Specs & Configurations
Product Category
Password Managers
Two-Factor Authentication
Actionable Password Strength Report
Multiple Form-Filling Identities
Product Price Type
Direct
Learn More
Keeper Password Manager & Digital Vault Review
LastPass
(Credit: LastPass)
(Credit: LastPass)
Pros & Cons
Easy-to-use apps and browser extensions
Free, continuous dark web monitoring
Smartwatches supported
Stores unencrypted data in vaults
Limited free tier
Insecure and weak passwords not detected in vault
Why We Picked It
LastPass is well-known for its easy-to-use and well-designed apps that allow you to access passwords on every device you own, from desktops to a smartwatch. Free data breach monitoring at all service levels is helpful, too. That said, LastPass still stores unencrypted data in customer vaults, a problem that has persisted over the years, despite the company enduring reputational fallout after someone stole its customers’ information.
Pricing and plans: LastPass Free is limited to one account on either a computer (a browser running on a desktop or laptop) or mobile devices (includes phones, smartwatches, and tablets). Free accounts include one-on-one credential sharing and dark web monitoring. LastPass Premium costs $36 per year. LastPass Family costs $48 annually and includes six Premium licenses, unlimited shared folders, and access to a family dashboard.
Key features: A Premium subscription includes one-to-many password sharing, advanced multi-factor options (biometric and YubiKey support), access to the LastPass Authenticator smartwatch app for watchOS or Wear OS, emergency access, priority tech support, and 1GB of encrypted file storage.
Platforms: LastPass is available as Android and iOS apps, as well as extensions for Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, and Safari. You can also access LastPass via apps for watchOS and Wear OS.
Ease of use and interface: LastPass’s attractive apps are uniform-looking across a wide range of platforms, which is ideal. We were particularly impressed by the smooth capture and replay function exhibited by the Chrome browser extension.
Customer support: Free subscribers can fill out a form on the support website and wait to be contacted by a LastPass support agent, or they can engage with the on-site chatbot. Business, Family, and Premium personal account customers can request phone support from a LastPass support agent.
Who It’s For
Newbies: LastPass is ideal for anyone seeking an easy-to-use password manager. We were particularly impressed by the smooth capture and replay function exhibited by its Chrome browser extension, and the app excelled in our form-filling tests on all platforms.
Data breach report readers: LastPass is one of the few companies to offer free data breach monitoring for all subscribers, which is excellent. Free customers can monitor up to 10 email addresses, while paid subscribers can monitor 200 email addresses.
Specs & Configurations
Product Category
Password Managers
Two-Factor Authentication
Actionable Password Strength Report
Multiple Form-Filling Identities
Product Price Type
Direct
Learn More
LastPass Review
(Credit: LogMeOnce)
(Credit: LogMeOnce)
Pros & Cons
Free tier
Local storage available
Emergency access options
Helpful account security features
ID theft protection and dark web monitoring are paid add-ons
Inconsistent credential capturing and auto-filling on Android
Why We Picked It
LogMeOnce offers a free version with no limit on the number of saved passwords or devices you use. The paid version offers several options for authentication and features a unique password inheritance option that allows users to send notes to their loved ones about the credentials they’re about to access.
Pricing and plans: LogMeOnce offers a totally free version that includes authentication options, 1MB of encrypted file storage, credit card credential storage, and limited password sharing. The three tiers of paid password management are as follows: The Professional tier ($30 annually), the Ultimate tier ($39 annually), and the Family plan ($59.88 annually).
Key features: In addition to unlimited password storage and syncing across devices, LogMeOnce Professional subscribers receive 1GB of encrypted storage, the ability to create up to 50 secure notes, share 50 passwords, full emergency access, unlimited credit card storage, and expanded authentication options. Continuous dark web monitoring and scanning the vault for leaked passwords is a paid add-on with LogMeOnce; however, paid account holders can scan only one email address at a time. Ultimate is the best value, because it includes all of the Professional tier perks and adds 10GB of encrypted file storage, authentication via hardware security keys, unlimited secure notes, unlimited password sharing, unlimited credit card credential storage, remote logout, a customizable dashboard, and account activity reports. The Family tier provides these perks to an additional 6 accounts, and the Family account owner can access a Family Manager Dashboard.
Platforms: LogMeOnce offers browser extensions for Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari, as well as apps for Android and iOS.
Ease of use and interface: If you’re waffling between storage options for your passwords, LogMeOnce has you covered. We like that customers get the option to keep passwords on their devices or store them in the cloud. As for the interface, LogMeOnce features a unique and well-designed emergency access portal; however, its vault interface is not as modern-looking as that of competitors. Additionally, we were unable to auto-fill passwords using the Android app during the latest round of tests.
Customer support: Personal accounts can troubleshoot any technical difficulties by submitting an emailed help request within the app or requesting assistance via a form on the support website. Business customers get priority dedicated engineering support, email responses, along with phone and Zoom meeting support.
Who It’s For
Digital inheritance planners: LogMeOnce allows you to designate people to “inherit” your passwords in the event of your demise. Here’s how it works: After a specified period, the app will alert your loved ones and pass along a note from you, along with access to your vault. This feature is helpful if you want to leave instructions for closing your bank accounts and deactivating your social media profiles.
Specs & Configurations
Product Category
Password Managers
Two-Factor Authentication
Actionable Password Strength Report
Multiple Form-Filling Identities
Product Price Type
Direct
Learn More
LogMeOnce Review
(Credit: Bitwarden)
(Credit: Bitwarden)
Best Budget Pick
Bitwarden
Pros & Cons
Free
Open-source
Emergency access for paid accounts
Username data breach scanning
Paywalled password hygiene monitoring
Identity form-filling failure in testing
Why We Picked It
Bitwarden is open-source software, and its code undergoes regular audits by independent researchers, making it less vulnerable to hacks and breaches. Bitwarden’s password manager is easy to use and does not limit the number of passwords you can store. Additionally, it does not prevent you from syncing your vault across devices, unlike many free password managers.
Pricing and plans: The Bitwarden Premium plan is the lowest-priced option on this list, costing $10 per year. A Family account costs $40 per year and includes all free and premium features, as well as support for up to six people. You can also create unlimited Organizations for easy data sharing between accounts. Bitwarden’s free plan includes unlimited password storage and syncing for up to two people.
Key features: In addition to the core functions of a password manager, you also get passkey and password storage across unlimited devices on multiple platforms, username data breach scanning, and the option to run a Bitwarden server application on your network, all for free. Premium adds file storage (up to 1GB), emergency access, passkey support, password hygiene reports, and expanded sharing options.
Platforms: Bitwarden is available as Android and iOS apps, and there are desktop apps for Linux, macOS, and Windows. Bitwarden also offers extensions for many browsers, including Brave, Chrome, DuckDuckGo, Edge, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Tor, and Vivaldi.
Ease of use and interface: Bitwarden’s apps aren’t as sleek and futuristic-looking as Proton Pass, nor as customizable as 1Password, but the spartan blue-and-white interface is fairly easy to navigate. Following a recent update, Bitwarden’s browser extensions have received a facelift, making their layouts more intuitive. Other functionality points to note: Sharing credentials with family members and friends who use Bitwarden is easy using the Bitwarden Send feature. That said, Bitwarden’s form-filling tool recently failed a few of our tests.
Customer support: Bitwarden does not offer live chat or phone support. Instead, you can fill out the contact form on the company’s help site. Paying customers get priority email support.
Who It’s For
Beginners: If you’re not sure how often you will use a password manager, or you’re just not ready to spend a lot of money on an app yet, Bitwarden’s free plan is a good start for password manager newbies. The free service tier is one of the best in the business because, in addition to unlimited password storage and syncing across devices, the plan includes dark web monitoring for emails.
Customers on a budget: For those seeking a password manager that won’t break the bank, consider Bitwarden. The paid versions start at just $10 annually. For that price, you get excellent features, like an actionable password health report, emergency access options, the ability to generate TOTP codes, and support for enhanced multi-factor authentication methods.
Specs & Configurations
Product Category
Password Managers
Two-Factor Authentication
Actionable Password Strength Report
Multiple Form-Filling Identities
Product Price Type
List
Learn More
Bitwarden Review
(Credit: Enpass)
(Credit: Enpass)
Best for On-Device Storage
Enpass Password Manager
Pros & Cons
Free for desktop users
Local storage available
Includes data breach monitoring
Attractive, easy-to-use apps
Android app failed auto-filling tests
Form-filling test failures
Lacks digital inheritance options
Why We Picked It
Enpass is free for desktop users, and its subscription tiers are reasonably priced. Key features include data breach monitoring and a password auditing system.
Pricing and plans: If you use Enpass on a Linux, macOS, or Windows desktop, you can store unlimited logins for free. There’s also a portable version you can run from a USB drive. There’s a totally free mobile-only version that doesn’t sync with a desktop account and is limited to 10 logins. You can upgrade within the app to a free Lite subscription, which includes syncing between your device and a desktop vault, as well as room for up to 25 logins. The Individual Enpass plan costs $23.99 per year, and the Family plan covers up to six people at $47.99 per year.
Key features: In addition to standard password manager functions, Enpass delivers security alerts for website breaches, allows passkey creation and storage, and identifies accounts in your vault that support multi-factor authentication or passkey creation. You have two options for password storage: locally on your device or keep them in a third-party cloud storage account. If you want to use Enpass on multiple devices, you will need to sync your credentials using a third-party cloud provider or a shared Wi-Fi connection.
Platforms: Enpass offers apps for Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows, as well as browser extensions for Brave, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, Safari, and Vivaldi.
Ease of use and interface: The desktop app is easy to navigate, though it didn’t fill passwords in web browsers. To do that, install one of the browser extensions. That said, Enpass’s browser extensions didn’t pass our auto-filling tests for vault information other than passwords, like your name, address, or phone number.
Customer support: Enpass subscribers can get help with the apps by emailing customer support, asking a question on the community forums, or visiting the Enpass support website.
Who It’s For
Privacy-conscious consumers: People who are concerned about losing their passwords or other information in a data breach will appreciate Enpass. Its best feature is its inherent security. The company doesn’t keep your private data on its servers, which are juicy targets for hackers and other cybercriminals. Instead, Enpass puts the responsibility on you, the password owner, to keep your passwords safe, either by storing them locally on your device or via private cloud storage.
Customers on a budget: Enpass offers several ways to use its apps for free, which is helpful. The Individual subscription price is less expensive than many of the other apps on this list.
Specs & Configurations
Product Category
Password Managers
Two-Factor Authentication
Actionable Password Strength Report
Multiple Form-Filling Identities
Product Price Type
Direct
Learn More
Enpass Password Manager Review
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The Best Password Managers for 2025
Compare Specs
Buying Guide: The Best Password Managers for 2025
Why You Can Trust Our Recommendations
We test each password manager’s functionality on multiple platforms to ensure it can capture and replay credentials, store sensitive data in an encrypted vault, fill out web forms, and create new and unique passwords, among other key features. Read our password manager testing process for more details.
To summarize, we prefer products that include the following:
A diverse selection of multi-factor authentication options.
Cross-platform syncing.
A password generation policy that defaults to long, strong, unique passwords.
Helpful features such as dark web monitoring, email alias creation, emergency access, password inheritance, password hygiene monitoring, and secure credential sharing.
We also compare each password manager’s price to similar products in the category, and we generally prefer free or lower-priced apps. To hold companies accountable for their subscribers’ trust in their products, we conduct annual interviews with company representatives. We also review the company’s data security policies and public responses to past security incidents.
Which Password Managers Do Security Experts Recommend?
The best password manager is one that you will actually use. If you get annoyed or are baffled by a password manager, you may abandon it and go back to using sticky notes to store and share passwords or, worse, use the same password for everything. If you’re fed up with your current password manager, check out our guide on switching to a new one.
A company like LastPass, with a well-established name in the password management space, has a much longer history than a relative newcomer like Proton Pass. That means there are more chances for reputational damage due to security incidents. That’s why, each year, we ask every company to tell us how they secure your data and to describe any security incidents that have affected customers, as well as how they remedied the issue. Read this section of the review carefully, as it provides an opportunity to learn more about the company’s history and its response to past data breaches and security incidents.
While making recommendations, we also ask our readers to consider the “how” of it all. How are you planning to use your password management app? Some password management companies are rolling out features that make these apps into “everything managers,” capable of performing a wide range of tasks, from generating credentials to scanning data breach databases for your information. Many go further and offer encrypted cloud storage for storing and protecting all of your most private data. Editors’ Choice award winners NordPass and Proton Pass allow you to store files in your password vault, along with crypto keys, medical records, passport numbers, and even pet details.
What Is the Best Password Manager for You?
Below are our recommendations for password managers that are best for specific use cases:
Best Password Managers for Sharing Passwords
Many families and friend groups share credentials for financial apps or streaming services. Editors’ Choice winner NordPass’s sharing options make it easier to give and revoke access to credentials. Keeper also has a stellar password-sharing system that allows you to choose how to share the credentials and how long the recipient can access them.
Best Business Password Managers
Business owners may appreciate Dashlane’s extensive reporting tools for administrators. Understanding employee password hygiene is one of the first steps toward securing a workplace against external threats. Keeper and NordPass also offer helpful business features.
The Best Password Manager for Mobile Devices
1Password offers stellar apps for Android and iOS. It’s incredibly easy to sort your logins into different categories and vaults using the minimal user interface. Another mobile app highlight comes from Proton Pass, which features clean, well-designed app interfaces for both Android and iOS.
The Best Password Manager for macOS and Windows
Enpass offers a completely free desktop app, making it an easy choice for individuals who primarily log in to their accounts using a Mac or Windows PC. You can also sync up to 25 passwords to a mobile device for free. With ongoing data breach threats, it’s wise to monitor who is holding onto your data and how they’re securing it. We appreciate that Enpass requires users to store their data locally on their devices or via a personal third-party cloud storage account.
Is There a 100% Free Password Manager?
We love all things complimentary, but you often get what you pay for with free password managers. Maintaining high-quality and effective security software free of charge is difficult without other revenue-generating products or features. That’s probably why many password management companies have quietly adopted new restrictive policies for their free tiers.
Many of the top recommendations on this list do cost money, though you can use some for free if you accept their limitations. For example, some limit the number or types of devices you can use with the password manager.
Free and capable apps from Bitwarden, Proton Pass, LogMeOnce, and Zoho Vault are notable exceptions. We were particularly impressed by Proton Pass’s email masking feature, which is a feature usually reserved for paid accounts by other companies. Check out the list of the best free password managers to learn more about our recommendations.
Well-known security companies, such as Avira, McAfee, and Norton, also offer simple, free password management apps. A password manager is usually included with a security suite subscription, so it’s worth checking to see if you’re already paying for one that you should set up and use.
What Is Two-Factor Authentication?
How Does a Password Manager Work?
Most people use a password manager primarily to manage website credentials. In practice, when you log in to a secure site, the password manager asks if you want it to save your username and password. When you return to that site, the password manager asks if you’d like it to fill in those credentials. If you have multiple logins for the same site, the password manager lists all the options, allowing you to select the correct one and log in. Most password managers also feature a browser toolbar menu of saved logins, allowing you to access a saved site and log in automatically.
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When you create a new account or update a weak password, don’t strain your brain trying to come up with a different password that is both strong and unique. Let your password manager handle it. Ensure your generated passwords are at least 20 characters long and include all the major character types: uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and symbols.
What Is a Passkey?
Passkeys eliminate the need for an email address and password combination when logging into an app or website, offering a different way to secure your online accounts. In theory, widespread passkey adoption should make it harder for criminals to steal your credentials and access your accounts since passkeys can’t be stolen by hacking into a company’s system. Many password managers we test let you store passkeys in their password vault.
However, as one expert noted, passkeys are no substitute for maintaining healthy cybersecurity habits. “You have passkeys? That’s fantastic. But if I can access your device, I can likely find a way around those passkeys,” warned Trevor Hilligoss, vice president of SpyCloud Labs at SpyCloud, a cybersecurity company.
Hilligoss said that criminals have already found ways to circumvent passkeys by exploiting flaws inherent to the online authentication process. Cookie hijacking and the use of specialized malware-as-a-service tools make accessing accounts easy for a determined criminal.
Still, some protection is better than none at all. 1Password offers an updated list of websites that support passkeys.
What Makes a Password Manager Good?
Password managers keep you safe, and they’re convenient. With a password manager, you don’t have to remember a complex and unique password for each account. A password management app helps you generate new, random passwords and stores them for you.
When you sign up for a password manager, one of the first things to do is create a master password for your account. Your master password is used to encrypt the contents of your password vault, so it should be difficult for anyone else to guess. However, it can’t be so random that you can’t remember it. Your master password is likely unrecoverable if you do.
Read PCMag’s tips for creating secure, complicated passwords. One technique you might want to consider is forgoing simple passwords in favor of more complex passphrases and using passkeys whenever possible to secure your online accounts.
What Is a Password Manager, and Why Do I Need One?
Some password managers eliminate the need for a master password by offering a passwordless entry to your desktop or mobile vault. That means you can log in using a QR code with a third-party authenticator app, biometrics, a magic link, or a one-time password.
You should also set up multi-factor authentication to secure your password manager account via biometrics, SMS, or time-based one-time passwords (TOTP) stored in an authenticator app. The best password managers support authentication via U2F or OTP-based hardware security keys, most of which are about the size of a standard key and can be easily carried on a key ring.
Before you commit to any password manager, you should ensure it works on each device you use and doesn’t prevent you from syncing your passwords across all your devices. In the past, most companies offered desktop password management apps for macOS, Windows, and even Linux; however, many of the apps on this list are now browser- or mobile-first applications.
Which Password Manager Features Are Important?
Password management goes beyond creating and storing unique passwords for your online accounts. The best password managers will include additional features, such as those listed below, designed to make online work and interaction a little easier and a lot safer.
Auto-Filling Capabilities
Most password managers can fill in personal data on web forms, such as your first and last name, email address, phone number, credit card details, passport numbers, and more. We test each app’s ability to fill in this data on different websites, noting which apps complete all the designated forms.
Some password management browser extensions function as expected in one browser but fail to fill forms in a different browser. For example, after Google began including its password manager in Chrome, many third-party password managers were unable to function within that browser. Currently, most password managers on this list can fill in passwords on all supported browsers; however, you may need to visit the app’s Settings menu to tweak the auto-filling options.
If you want to auto-fill passwords for your desktop applications, you’ll need a password manager that offers a desktop app. Enpass offers a desktop app that can also capture and fill in credentials for desktop applications. If you’re using a Mac with macOS Sequoia installed, you can fill and store desktop app passwords using Apple’s Passwords app.
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B2B Services
Some password management companies also offer versions of their products for businesses and teams. These products usually emphasize multi-factor authentication and offer single sign-on and advanced credential-sharing capabilities between team members. The best password managers allow administrators to view which employees use weak, reused, or compromised passwords for their work accounts.
Credential Sharing
We don’t condone sharing every password with everyone, but we understand that sometimes you need to share passwords under special circumstances, such as a family streaming service account. Most apps include a built-in mechanism for securely sharing passwords with others, but some take it a step further with advanced permissions. For instance, a few password managers allow you to share a login without making the password visible, revoke sharing, or make the recipient a co-owner.
Customer Support Options
When selecting a new password management app, consider the company’s subscription cancellation policy and the ease of deleting your account. We recommend looking for companies that offer subscription refunds, generous premium trial periods, and easy, one-click account deletion.
You’ll also want to use a service that allows you to speak with a human representative when encountering an issue with the app. Many companies are adopting a self-service approach to customer service, expecting customers to troubleshoot their technical problems using AI-enhanced chatbots or an FAQ on their website.
We recommend seeking password manager app subscriptions that include live, human support via chat or phone. At a minimum, a company should offer 24/7 email support for paying subscribers. We include a section in the password manager reviews that focuses on each company’s support options and the ease of canceling subscriptions.
What Features Do Premium Password Managers Offer?
The best password managers offer more than simple credential storage. If you want more value from your monthly or yearly subscription, look for apps that offer high-quality privacy or security features, such as the options below.
Anonymous Emails
Email masking is a particularly useful feature for reducing spam in your inbox and protecting your privacy. Some password managers, like Proton Pass, allow you to generate a new, fake email address to log in to websites. You can also create an inbox for the address, allowing you to quickly reply to emails anonymously. This feature is helpful if you’re shopping online and don’t want to share your real email address with a company.
Dark Web Monitoring
Data breaches are daily occurrences now, and as you may know, when a company loses or sells your data, there’s a good chance it will end up in a breach report on the dark web.
Many password manager paid plans include dark web monitoring, though not all companies offer the same kind of monitoring. For example, Bitwarden and LastPass allow free and paid customers to register email addresses for continuous dark web monitoring. That means the app periodically scans dark web report databases for your information and can send alerts about new reports.
Other apps, like NordPass, take monitoring a step further by scanning for other sensitive personal information, such as your credit card number or passwords. NordPass utilizes a third-party service to process your data, which, in my opinion, makes this feature somewhat risky. We recommend sticking with email address monitoring and scanning.
Emergency Access
Everyone has business, email, financial, or social media accounts, so you should consider giving someone emergency control of your accounts after you die. After all, online scammers are using abandoned social media accounts, often referred to as “zombie accounts,” to lure unsuspecting people into online scams. Luckily, most of the premium password managers on this list offer options for designating a loved one to inherit your logins, allowing them to close your accounts after your death or incapacitation.
Encrypted Cloud Storage
Secure storage is also an increasingly common feature among password managers. Allocating storage space won’t replace the need for a dedicated cloud storage and syncing service, but in many cases, it’s sufficient for storing important documents in an encrypted state.
Password Hygiene
Most password managers include tools that help you identify breached, weak, and duplicate passwords. These password hygiene features are typically located in a section labeled Security Center. Each company’s tool is a little different, but most allow you to transform your duplicate or weak passwords into long, strong, and unique credentials with just one click. Some password managers even verify whether you have enabled multi-factor authentication for your online accounts.
VPN Access
Running your secure connections through a virtual private network (VPN) adds an extra layer of protection. Dashlane includes a simple built-in VPN. NordPass comes from the same company behind NordVPN. A Proton Unlimited subscription gets you access to the top-rated Proton VPN.
It’s Surprisingly Easy to Be More Secure Online
