The best password managers can make it simple to manage all your online passwords in a safe way.
Welcome to our guide to the best password managers around today. Having a top password manager will make it simple to manage all of your online login details whilst ensuring they stay protected from cybercriminals. Growing online security concerns have made password management an essential tool, especially as more of us pivot to remote working that splits our time between the home and office. Most of us already have scores of online accounts, and it’s all too easy to fall into the habit of reusing the same password for multiple sites and services. It might be convenient, but it also leaves you in danger of a very real cybersecurity breach which could affect not just your personal files but also any business data you are working with. The best password manager will not only save you the effort of remembering dozens of different logins for all your online accounts, it will also help keep them secure by generating strong passwords that are impossible to guess, and storing them all safely in an encrypted vault. Here’s our pick of the services we think offer the top features and value for users when it comes choosing the best password manager. The growth in popularity of password managers means there are more options around today than ever before – as of October 2021, there were more than 250 free and paid password managers on the Google Play app store alone. So choosing wisely who you will share the keys to your online kingdom is vital – we have tested and evaluated more than twenty of the top password managers, and selected the pick of the bunch for our list. Our expert reviewers have evaluated each service individually, ranking them on features, setup, platform compatibility, value-for-money as well as support, security and performance – and picked out the ones that we’d trust to secure our own account details. Many of the ones listed here offer both free and paid accounts, so you can pick one that suits your needs, and your wallet. Bear in mind that this buying guide focuses primarily on individual/consumer offerings. Check out our best business password manager buying guide for business and enterprise grade password management platforms. We’ve also featured the best password generators and best password recovery software around. Jump to our list of the best free password managers. As one of the most popular password managers in the world, Dashlane is a capable password manager for a single device, capable of storing logins for up to 50 accounts in a secure vault with multi-factor authentication, Like LastPass, it can do much more than just fill in passwords for you; it can also store all kinds of information and fill out forms with delivery addresses and contact details automatically. So far so good, but Dashlane’s premium service is even more impressive. Not only does it let you synchronize all your passwords across all your devices (both desktop and mobile), it also monitors the dark web for data breaches and sends you personalized alerts if any of your stored details appear in a batch of stolen data. There’s secure file storage too (ideal for scanned ID documents, insurance policies and receipts) and even a VPN for browsing the web more securely via Wi-Fi hotspots. Unsurprisingly, all of this comes at a price, and Dashlane’s premium plan is one of the most expensive options around, but the extra services (plus remote account access and priority support) do justify the cost. LastPass is easy to use, super-secure, packed with features, and offers both free and premium tiers so you can choose the option that suits you best. All data is stored using AES-256 bit encryption with PBKDF2 SHA-256 and salted hashes to keep it secure – and this isn’t limited to passwords either. You can also store credit card details and delivery addresses so they can be entered automatically when you’re shopping online, plus encrypted notes, details of insurance policies and much more besides. The free version of LastPass is superb, but premium accounts are very reasonably priced and offer an extremely useful extra feature: the ability to log into apps on your phone. Very few password managers offer this, and it could prove invaluable if you ever lose your phone, preventing people from accessing your emails and social media.
