best free and paid apps
There are excellent password managers that keep all of your passwords used on the Internet in one place, so you don’t have to memorize them. Here is our selection of the best free or paid applications.
The first security tip you can give on the Internet is to have a strong password for each of your online accounts, different from the others. The second is obviously to avoid keeping this list of passwords on a post-it on your screen or in a document stored in the clouds. The most efficient and secure solution is therefore to use a password manager which will create passwords long and complex and make them easily accessible from all your devices.
Here is our selection of the best password managers, whether free or paid.
The best free password managers
Good password manager does not necessarily rhyme with paid application. We have selected a few proven services that are offered free of charge.
BitWarden, the crush
It is CssTricks’s favoriteused by a large majority of the editorial staff: BitWarden is a modern service, but also free, open source and open-source.
The service offers an app on most platforms and browsers, and easily syncs everywhere. Bitwarden offers end-to-end data encryption, which means that only you know the content of the stored data. Better still, it is even possible to host the Bitwarden safe yourself on your own server, to be able to guarantee data security yourself. To learn more about it, you can read our article dedicated to this manager.
KeePass
KeePass is another popular solution and open-source originally designed for the PC. It is the only solution officially labeled by ANSSI.
Here, no synchronization offered, it is purely a software creating a secure vault file on the PC. To synchronize it with mobile devices, it will be necessary to place this file on a storage service in the cloud (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.). It is also necessary to find compatible software or applications for each platform, such as KeePass2Android for Android or KeePass Touch on iOS. On PC, it is better to use KeePassXC, with extensions for Chrome and Firefox.
The Best Paid Password Managers
Some password managers are available exclusively with paid subscriptions. This is the case with 1Password and Dashlane, which are often recommended for their ease of use and the clarity of their interface. The difference with the free services is also on the services provided.
1Password
Formerly exclusive to Apple products, 1Password has therefore inherited the ease of use of the Apple ecosystem to integrate it into its Android application. The app addresses some issues in a way that others can’t quite beat. If an app doesn’t support Android’s password manager, 1Password has a keyboard that automatically fills in the password.
The app and service are available for $36 per year, for compatibility between your macOS, iOS, Windows, Android, Linux, and ChromeOS devices.
Nordpass
You must have already seen a YouTube video sponsored by Nordpass. In this case, the software comes in the form of a freemium. Understand that a free version is available, for one user. With the auto-fill passwords feature, you already have a little experience protecting your passwords. The Premium is billed at 1.49 euros per month with the possibility of storing your passwords and other bank card details. Above all, important data, but also a little disabling, you must keep your master password at all costs. It is the latter that protects your Nordpass account.
The app is available on Android, Windows, macOS, iOS and Linux. It is even possible to install an extension on your browser to use your password manager on a daily basis. On your dashboard, you will have a directory of saved passwords as well as installed cards. Similarly, it is possible to create a “Notes” section if you have confidential information to keep. Nordpass will evaluate the “strength” of your passwords and if ever some of them are repeated, it will encourage you to change one of them. Nordpass is a simple but effective solution if you want to keep an eye on your accounts all the time.
Dashlane
“Killing passwords” was Dashlane’s declared ambition in 2018 when it announced its Project Mirror. The application is very complete and wants to position itself as the market leader. Many features are available such as a web browser dedicated to the application or a VPN service.
The application is available for free on an Android device for up to 50 passwords and at 39.99 euros per year for unlimited passwords and compatibility between your Android, Windows, macOS, Linux and iOS devices. Warning: if you stop your subscription, you will have to get your hands on the wallet again to access the list of your passwords.
Why use a password manager?
When we talk about security on the Internet, the most recurrent subject is undoubtedly that of passwords. This is also one of the important chapters of our guide to securing your smartphone, tablet or PC.
To guarantee the best possible security, it is necessary to choose different passwords from service to service, but also complex passwords. Following these two recommendations can be a headache, which is where the password manager comes in.
The latter saves all your identifiers and passwords in a secure safe, so there is only one password to remember: that of the safe (you must therefore create a good lockdown). This type of solution is increasingly popular, for its ease of use on a daily basis.
Managers most often make it possible to automatically complete the connection fields, which saves time and is not insignificant in terms of convenience. On smartphones, they now make it possible to replace entering the safe password with biometric identification (fingerprint reader or facial recognition). Security requires, care must be taken to select the right password manager.
Why is LastPass not in this selection?
You may have noticed that one of the most popular names on the market is not mentioned here. LastPass lost some of its features in March 2021, which makes it less attractive than the password managers featured here. In addition, a hacking of its database in 2022 raises fears for the security of our passwords on this service. That’s why we’ve opted for a selection of alternatives to LastPass.
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