1Password does have a few extras that might make it better for some though. If you frequently travel across national borders, you’ll appreciate my favorite 1Password feature: Travel Mode. This mode lets you delete any sensitive data from your devices before you travel and then restore it with a click after you’ve crossed a border. This prevents anyone, even law enforcement at international borders, from accessing your complete password vault.
In addition to being a password manager, 1Password can act as an authentication app like Google Authenticator, and for added security, it creates a secret key to the encryption key it uses, meaning no one can decrypt your passwords without that key. (The downside is that if you lose this key, no one, not even 1Password, can decrypt your passwords.)
1Password also offers tight integration with other mobile apps. Rather than needing to copy and paste passwords from your password manager to other apps (which puts your password on the clipboard at least for a moment), 1Password is integrated with many apps and can autofill. This is more noticeable on iOS, where inter-app communication is more restricted.
After signing up, download the app for Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Chrome OS, or Linux. There are also browser extensions for Firefox, Chrome, Brave, and Edge.
Best Full-Featured Manager
Courtesy of Dashlane
I first encountered Dashlane several years ago. Back then, it was the same as its competitors, with no standout attributes. However, updates over time have added several helpful features. One of the best is Site Breach Alerts, something other services have since added as well. Dashlane actively monitors the darker corners of the web, looking for leaked or stolen personal data, and then alerts you if your information has been compromised.
Setup and migration from another password manager is simple, and you’ll use a secret key to encrypt your passwords, much like BitWarden’s setup process. In practice, Dashlane is very similar to the others on this list. The company doesn’t offer a desktop app, but I primarily use passwords in the web browser anyway, and Dashlane has add-ons for all the major browsers, along with iOS and Android apps. If a desktop app is important to you, it’s something to be aware of. Dashlane offers a 30-day free trial, so you can test it out before committing.
After signing up, download the app for Android and iOS, and grab the browser extensions for Firefox, Chrome, and Edge.
Another Option
Courtesy of NordPass
NordPass offers apps for every major platform (including Linux), browser, and device. The free version of NordPass is limited to one device, and there’s no syncing available. There is a 30-day free trial of the Premium version, which lets you test device syncing. But to get that for good, you’ll have to upgrade to the $36-a-year plan.
NordPass uses a zero-knowledge setup in which all data is encrypted on your device before it’s uploaded to the company’s servers, like our picks above. Other nice features include support for two-factor authentication to sign in to your account, and a built-in password generator (which has plenty of options to handle those poorly designed sites that put weird requirements on your password). There’s also a personal information storage feature to keep your address, phone number, and other personal data safe and secure but easy to access.
