![]() Keeping clients' computers safe and profitable for over 30 years | |||
Home Forms About Current Newsletter subscribe Search All Articles
Browse by Category
![]() |
The Best Password Managers Article for: Everyone Difficulty: Simple Importance: It is critical to have and use a password manager ![]() LocalThe data resides on your computer and is available to you all the time. These have advantages and disadvantages:
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Keepass is my recommendation for a local password manager. It has millions of users, is free, is very secure and has been audited. It is open source, so experts can examine the code. Keepass integrates with Windows, so it is easy to login to online accounts and local programs. You can use hotkeys that will send usernames and passwords out to websites or local programs.
Keepass has several mobile apps that are compatible with it. I use Keepass2Android on my phone and tablets. It is great.
I used to copy my password file occasionally to my mobile devices. Since I always add passwords from my office computer, I didn't need to sync. The same password file works on both Windows and Android.
Now, however, I sync them with a free Dropbox account. It is a little tricky to set up the sync on Keepass, but if you know what you are doing, you can do it in a few minutes. However, I don't recommend this for my clients. You also lose a little of your security because you store your passwords outside your control. I don't worry about it because my password into my Keepass safe is excellent, so no one could break into it even if they took the file.
Strongbox is an option that is open source, Keepass compatible, and works with Mac and iOS products. They have both free and paid versions and are highly recommended.
OnlineOnline password managers provide programs for Mac, Android, Windows and Linux and store the information on their servers in the cloud. They also sync from their servers to your local devices so you could use them even if you could not access their servers. You have local copies of the master in the cloud.
The biggest and most famous is Lastpass, which was purchased by LogMeIn in 2015. Lastpass offered an excellent free version and an even more robust paid version. In 2017, they doubled the price and removed some free features. Recently they announced you could no longer sync the mobile version with the desktop version for free and are requiring purchase of their premium product for syncing. This has bothered many. I wrote them off after LogMeIn bought them. There is no reason to use Lastpass if you will not sync devices. Keepass is a better, safer option.
I currently recommend Bitwarden for an online option. It is also free or paid depending on features. It is open source and audited. The free version allows you to sync all your devices and even use your own server to host the passwords instead of theirs. You also have unlimited passwords and support with their free version. For $10/yr. the paid version allows 1 GB of encrypted file attachments, an authenticator, more 2FA support, health reports and priority support. Besides, if you use it, you should support them. Start with the free version, and if it becomes an important part of your online life, subscribe for $10/yr.
Further reading
Date: April 2021
![]() This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. |
||
|