With one of the best password managers, you can easily store all of your passwords securely in one place for easy access. Instead of having to remember dozens of long, complex passwords or even worse, relying on a few passwords you reuse across multiple sites (certainly not recommended), you have a single master password which can unlock the credentials for all of your online accounts.
The best password managers also allow you to quickly and easily generate strong, complex passwords so you don’t have to come up with them on your own while minimizing password reuse. If you do reuse passwords, once a hacker gets one of them, they can then easily access your other accounts.
With one of the best password managers installed on your devices, your passwords and other sensitive data are encrypted and securely stored on the password manager’s servers. Meanwhile, two-factor authentication (2FA) makes it more difficult to break into your account, especially if someone else learns your master password. To make things easier for you, we’ve rounded up the best password managers available today and highlighted their unique features.
The best password managers you can buy today
1Password no longer leaves its non-Apple users lagging behind. Its Windows app has reached feature parity with its Mac app, and 1Password now even has a Linux app. The Android and iOS mobile apps aren’t quite as versatile as the various desktop interfaces, but they are easy to use and support autofill on both platforms.
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It also has excellent stand-alone browser extensions for Brave, Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari. They work directly with web browsers and now support biometric logins. The Chrome extension brings 1Password to Chromebook users, and you can also access your 1Password account through the company website.
1Password’s killer feature is Travel Mode which deletes sensitive data from your devices (you’ll get it back later) so that snooping border-control agents can’t find it. 1Password also has great form-filling abilities and true two-factor authentication.
1Password even offers “masked” email addresses(opens in new tab) for greater privacy through a deal with email provider Fastmail. The catch is that you have to subscribe to both services. It also has a secure data-sharing service called Psst!(opens in new tab) that lets 1Password users send a temporary link to anyone to share information, such as a password, that has already been saved in 1Password. The best part, the recipient does not need to be a 1Password subscriber.
1Password asks new users to sign up for a $36 annual cloud subscription. The older stand-alone application that let Mac users sync devices locally has been discontinued, and so has the free version of 1Password.
Dashlane matches LastPass, 1Password and Keeper in platform support and has very intuitive desktop software. Its killer feature remains a bulk password changer that can reset hundreds of passwords at once.
The password manager is well designed, easy to use and excellent at filling out your personal information in online forms. A scanner also goes through your email inbox to find online accounts you may have forgotten about.
Dashlane’s drawback is its high price. Its Premium plan is $60 per year, or $78 per year if you pay monthly. Dashlane’s free plan is limited to one device but it does let you store an unlimited number of passwords.
On the upside, the Dashlane Premium plan offers dark-web monitoring and unlimited VPN service, the latter courtesy of Hotspot Shield. By itself, the VPN costs $96 yearly, so it’s a huge bargain when bundled with Dashlane. That makes Dashlane Premium’s $60 price tag well worth it if you need these extra services.
Keeper ($20.98 per year for Tom’s Guide readers(opens in new tab)) is fast and full-featured, stores files and documents of any kind and has perhaps the best security of any password manager.
It offers a consistent, if not flashy, user interface no matter which platform you’re using, and 20 templates to fill in personal documents such as passports and driver’s licenses. Keeper’s free tier gives you everything except syncing across devices.
For an extra $25 per year, Keeper will also monitor the internet for unauthorized use of your personal data and give you 10GB of secure cloud storage, or you can add those services individually for $20 and $10 per year, respectively. It also offers a free secure messaging service.
To make it easier to securely share confidential information with friends, family and co-workers, Keeper has added One-Time Share to its password manager. This feature lets users share links that can only be used on one device and automatically expire at a time of your choosing. Even if you forget to un-share something, it expires automatically and the recipient’s access is removed.
