Here is the list of password managers that I used I created to support this poll. You are welcome to update this list if you have better info and have a high enough trust level in this forum.
Table of password managers
Key
Platform:
Android
B = web browser-based primarily local storage with cloud syncing
C = primarily cloud-storage accessed through a web browser
iOS/iPadOS
Hardware required e.g. USB encryption device
Linux
macOS
Unix-like
Windows
Open = Open source
Free = Free version, not trialware, is available but some are very limited
“Norton (prev. Identity Safe)” is an option in the poll so you can vote for it.
To keep the option descriptions short, I haven’t included the category name of “Password Manager” in any product options. If I had then then that option would be “Norton Password Manager (prev. Identity Safe)”.
I use Bitwarden - I switched from LastPass when they were taken over. I tried quite a few others, but I was most comfortable with Bitwarden. It’s open-source, independently validated, and you can run the vault on a local server.
Tweak pass is Indian. Not open source. New to the market and hadn’t been audited properly. I have already problems to trust Enpass which is also Indian but does normally only store locally your password.
So before to speak about the best password manager, let’s see how they are doing on sone black hat conventions like 1password last pass or bitwarden have been tested.
I’ve been thinking about the 2021 poll so it would help me if anyone has discovered new password managers.
For your interest only, here’s a summary of the results of the password manager polls for the highest polling products sorted by their initial release date:
Password Manager
Free?
Since
2017
2018
2019
2020
Roboform
Y
2000
28%
-
8%
8%
Keepass
Y
2003
17%
-
16%
24%
Keepass (Other)
Y
2005
-
-
1%
12%
1Password
N
2006
6%
-
7%
12%
Lastpass
Y
2008
44%
-
29%
32%
Dashlane
Y
2012
6%
-
8%
9%
Bitwarden
Y
2016
-
-
11%
18%
Note that the results:
are not statistically rigorous and are unlikely to be statistically significant between years.
are not representative of all GlassWire users, only of forum users.
Keepass is Windows-based but I’ve included ports and forks under Keepass (Other) particularly KeepassX, KeepassXC and Keepassium.
I can understand why there’s been some downward drift in the numbers of people apparently using Lastpass. I think people tend to interact with voluntary polls like this one when they are happy and reasonably enthused about, in this case, their password manager.
Longer term users of Lastpass have seen the price paid rise from USD12 per year to now (if memory serves me correctly) USD36 for six months. Rising from 12 to 72 dollars per year is absolutely ridiculous and there’s been very little improvement in functionality, if any.
A blog/comments section was introduced whereby Lastpass would ostensibly promote their supposed product improvements and invite comments, but all comments not slavishly singing their praises were deleted.
Without wishing to hijack this thread, if any users have any comments on moving away from Lastpass (or any other password manager for that matter) and have any pain-free strategies for moving hundreds of usernames and passwords from the old to the new password manager, this would be gratefully appreciated.
Thanks very much for producing this poll, as despite any difficulties with inclusivity, representation or statistics, seeing how many Glasswire users utilize each password manager is very helpful as I tend to think that the vast majority of Glasswire users display an ability to think independently and have more than above-average technical knowledge, so their rationale for using one password manager over another is quite insightful, and especially so when users report that they have migrated from one password manager to another.
Many thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread
I had a a quick look to answer that question for myself. Three drawbacks are probably killers for most people:
inadequate database security - imagine if I lost my password database
no autofill in applications - only in web browsers
no sharing the database among different users accounts
I’ve sorted the results by average % of votes 2019-2020:
Password Manager
Free?
Since
2017
2018
2019
2020
None
?
?
?
5%
Lastpass
Y
2008
44%
?
29%
30%
Keepass
Y
2003
17%
?
16%
20%
Bitwarden
Y
2016
-
?
11%
16%
1Password
N
2006
6%
?
7%
13%
Roboform
Y
2000
28%
?
8%
8%
Dashlane
Y
2012
6%
?
8%
6%
Keepass other (X, XC, etc)
Y
2005
-
?
1%
8%
Norton
N
2008
?
?
2%
1%
Sticky Password
Y
2005
?
?
2%
1%
Passbolt
Y
2016
?
?
-
1%
Thycotic Secret Server
N
2005
?
?
-
1%
Buttercup
Y
2014
?
?
?
1%
Firefox / Lockwise
Y
2019
?
1%
Google Passwords
Y
2008
?
?
?
1%
IOLO ByePass
Y
2011
?
?
?
1%
Kaspersky
Y
2008
?
?
?
1%
Keeper
N
2010
?
?
?
1%
The overall market for password managers is said to be increasing by 15% a year. From 2017 to 2020 that would be more than 50% increase which could mean that the number of Lastpass users has not fallen even if their marketshare has declined.
If the Keepass trend is in the right ballpark then I’m surprised. It is an excellent product which is why I use it. But it is not easy to use like the other most popular password managers. For this reason I suspect that GlassWire users are more technical. But having said that, Keepass does well in product comparisons that emphasize features like secure, free, open-source, and portable: https://www.slant.co/topics/900/~best-cross-platform-password-manager
Hi Remah, thanks very much for your helpful reply and additional sleuthing work on the Lastpass paid verses free.
To be honest, it was some years ago when I upgraded from the free to the paid account. If I discover software that I like I tend to buy the paid version, especially if it is a new product, as I like to support the development of products I like and use, rather than just surf through using the free version (I upgraded to Glasswire paid version early on too), however I have to say that now that Lastpass has been taken over, the product quality had stagnated and the price is now unrealistic for the value provided.
Seemingly Lastpass is secure, or maybe a better way to put it is that I haven’t experienced any compromises yet, but given that I’d rather support a smaller company than a listed corporate who’s main aim is to fleece it’s users, I am still looking for alternatives, so thanks once again for producing the list.
Looking at the averaging you’ve done recently, I am going to check out the second and third most used on your list and see if any seem to fit my requirements. I’m wondering just how different password management software can be? (probably quite different?)
I guess the issue for me will be having used Lastpass for so many years (and having so many usernames, passwords and other secured info with them) I’ll need to discover some type of safe digital transfer of information from one password manager to the other as the idea of manually typing it all is just out of the question.
Imagine typing passwords like Kh6sDx$Ro0@1JfT35y9tz hundreds of times? No thanks!
If you’re going to continue the list and are interested in adding a column, discovering which password managers offer this type of portability would be very helpful to informed decision-making. Just a thought.
Lastpass can export a text file (e.g. the most common delimited-text format is csv = comma-separated values) of all your records and that file will be able to be imported into every or nearly every password manager.
Regarding the sort of portability where you can change your application without changing the database then, AFAIK, Keepass and its variant password managers (more than 30 ports and forks) are probably the only options. They share either or both of the two Keepass database formats. At least one enterprise password manager also uses the Keepass database. This means that I can choose from a range of password managers on each platform depending upon my requirements. So I use Keepass on Windows and Keepassium on iPad OS.
However, I wouldn’t automatically recommend Keepass for anyone because there are easier to use password managers, as I’ve already mentioned previously.