Which should you choose in 2023?

Our digital presence in 2023 necessitates the holding of dozens of passwords. We’re informed to make them lengthy and sophisticated, all totally different from one another, and to alter them commonly. However we’re additionally suggested to not write them down for safety causes. Should you don’t have a photographic reminiscence, the one solution to sq. all of these necessities is to make use of a password supervisor. We’ve in contrast two of the highest choices in the marketplace: Bitwarden vs LastPass.

There’s no utterly proper reply right here — each password managers are premium choices with nice options which might be prone to be greater than ample for any person. However there are huge variations between them, and also you would possibly discover that one higher fits your wants and funds.

Right here’s what it’s worthwhile to find out about Bitwarden vs LastPass.

Editor’s notice: This publish is present as of Could 2023. We’ll be updating this comparability between Bitwarden and LastPass periodically.

Bitwarden vs LastPass: At a look

Each password managers have dozens of attention-grabbing options, principally geared towards safety and comfort. Right here’s a abstract of the important thing parts.

Of the 2 providers, Bitwarden seems to position a stronger emphasis on safety measures. By default, Bitwarden makes use of 200,001 password iterations, offering enhanced safety towards brute-force cyberattacks, whereas LastPass solely defaults to 100,100 iterations. Bitwarden additionally encrypts all person knowledge, whereas LastPass has confronted criticism for its inadequate encryption practices.

LastPass has skilled a latest safety breach, which raised considerations amongst customers. Though the corporate claimed that buyer knowledge was not compromised initially, subsequent statements confirmed that the hacker gained entry to encrypted passwords. The breach highlights LastPass’s vulnerability to hackers, particularly if customers have weak grasp passwords or reuse compromised passwords from earlier breaches. In distinction, Bitwarden has not encountered such important breaches and is taken into account the safer choice.

Whereas each providers supply related security measures, akin to zero-knowledge encryption, encrypted sharing, multifactor authentication, and customizable password era, Bitwarden surpasses LastPass in transparency. Bitwarden is open-source, permitting public scrutiny of its code, whereas LastPass’s proprietary nature prevents exterior verification of vulnerabilities.

When it comes to knowledge assortment and sharing, each Bitwarden and LastPass gather related classes of knowledge and share them with third-party service suppliers underneath applicable confidentiality agreements.

In the end, whereas each providers present ample safety for customers’ vaults, Bitwarden emerges because the superior selection over LastPass when evaluating its stronger safety measures, transparency, and privateness focus.

The character of each Bitwarden and LastPass being top-tier password managers signifies that they share many widespread or very related functionalities. However in addition they have distinctive options that set them aside.

When it comes to core options, each Bitwarden and LastPass permit customers to retailer, generate, and autofill passwords for numerous on-line accounts. They supply browser extensions, cell apps, and web-based interfaces, guaranteeing seamless entry throughout a number of units and platforms. Each providers additionally assist numerous types of two-factor authentication (2FA), including an additional layer of safety to person accounts, and each supply the choice to ship safe passwords to a different person.

Bitwarden gives extra superior safety reporting choices, offering insights into breached passwords, unsecured web sites, and websites missing two-step authentication. However LastPass does supply a fundamental safety dashboard with an general safety rating, alerts, and darkish internet monitoring.

Each platforms supply a random password generator. Bitwarden’s generator gives further customization choices, akin to specifying the inclusion of numbers and particular characters. LastPass additionally gives distinctive choices like producing passwords which might be sturdy however simpler to learn than your common salad of letters, numbers, and particular characters.

Bitwarden additionally permits customers to enter a number of Uniform Useful resource Identifiers (URIs) for passwords, enabling the usage of the identical login info for a number of websites. And it offers the choice to re-prompt the primary password when auto-filling for particular websites, enhancing safety.

Concerning the person interface, LastPass has a extra visually interesting and accessible interface, providing sorting choices for folders and web site names. Bitwarden’s interface is a bit much less polished and appears fairly dated. It’s not one thing that’s prone to be a dealbreaker in selecting a password supervisor, however person expertise issues.

Autofill performance differs between the 2 platforms. LastPass mechanically fills in login credentials with out person interplay, whereas Bitwarden requires guide configuration to allow autofill, both by settings or by choosing the specified login info. LastPass additionally simplifies the method of saving new passwords with an attention-grabbing pop-up field. Bitwarden makes use of a small pop-up bar that could be simply missed, which is one other vote for LastPass on the UX aspect of issues.

Until you’re severely techy, compatibility isn’t going to be a deciding issue when selecting between Bitwarden and LastPass. Each have vast availability throughout a large number of platforms and units, offering devoted desktop purposes for Mac, Home windows, and Linux working techniques, in addition to cell apps for iOS and Android units.

When it comes to browser extensions, each password managers supply a wide range of choices. LastPass helps extensions for standard browsers akin to Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera, and Safari. As compared, Bitwarden goes a step additional by supporting all of the aforementioned browsers and lengthening compatibility to incorporate Vivaldi, Courageous, and Tor. Furthermore, Bitwarden’s Net Vault permits customers to entry their password vault from any browser, offering comfort for conditions when their common units are unavailable.

Whereas each providers have free tiers, Bitwarden’s offers a way more beneficiant package deal. Bitwarden permits customers to get pleasure from their service throughout a limiteless variety of units, no matter the platform getting used. LastPass, nonetheless, has restricted this flexibility totally free customers. They’ll solely entry their LastPass vault on one system, which could imply selecting between cell or desktop. This limitation poses a problem since a password supervisor must be available on all units to boost safety successfully.

Bitwarden can be the cheaper choice when evaluating the paid plans. For private use, Bitwarden gives a paid tier priced at $10 per yr, whereas LastPass costs $36 per yr for its particular person account. Bitwarden additionally gives a household account for $40 per yr, overlaying as much as six customers, whereas LastPass costs $48 per yr for its household plan.

Nevertheless, LastPass does have a bonus over Bitwarden by way of the period of its free trial. LastPass gives a 30-day free trial, whereas Bitwarden offers a trial interval of seven days.

We’re not going to counsel you must use one among these providers and keep away from the opposite. As we’ve already talked about, each of those are top-tier password managers that might be greater than ample for any sort of person. And the variations are extra trivial in case you’re only a informal person who wants a password supervisor on one system for a comparatively small variety of passwords. Each supply a large number of options and, on the entire, have wonderful safety practices.

That stated, Bitwarden most likely pips LastPass to the publish primarily based on the issues we’ve lined above.

Whereas LastPass gives a extra aesthetically pleasing interface and a few distinctive options, there’s little or no it could do this Bitwarden can’t. However Bitwarden is extra beneficiant on the free tier, particularly in relation to the variety of units on which you should use it. It’s additionally noticeably cheaper than LastPass once you step as much as the paid plans.

Whereas each password managers are suitable over a variety of platforms, Bitwarden is obtainable on extra extensions than LastPass, which might be a decisive issue for technical-minded customers. And on the safety aspect, Bitwarden has by no means been hacked — a declare that LastPass can not make.