First of all, if you’re still considering whether or not to use a password manager - you should. Check out my blog giving a brief overview of some of the benefits of using a password manager here.

What to consider

When choosing a password manager, there are some things to consider:

• What are the capabilities? (i.e., MFA Code Generation, Random Password Generation, Generating Backups, Password Sharing etc.)
• What is the support like? (i.e., Is it community-driven? Are there resources online if I get stuck?)
• What are the costs? (Can I trial the software if there is a cost?)
• Personal or Business use?
• What platforms are their apps available on? (i.e., iOS, Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, Browser)

TL;DR For those starting out with a password manager, I would suggest trying 1Password. While it is paid, it’s quite cheap at $2.99 USD/month. It has many user-friendly features such as password recovery and travel mode, and has lots of online support available if you get stuck.

Summaries

Bitwarden

Best Open-Source Password Manager.

Bitwarden is an open-source (their source code is available for anyone to view / scrutinise) password manager with Free, Premium and Family packages for Personal use, as well as options for Business use.

• MFA Integration
• Password Generation
• Simple Import / Export
• Password Sharing
• Free option
• Cloud-Sync
• Cross-Platform
• iOS/Android
• Windows/Mac/Linux
• Web-Application

1Password

Best for Mac & Best for Families.

1Password is a cross-platform password manager with Individual and Family paid options available (14 day free trial) for Personal use, as well as business options. 1Password provides a strong support base, with user-friendly features. 1Password was originally built for Mac.

• MFA Integration
• Password Generation
• Simple Import / Export
• Password Sharing
• Free option
• Cloud-Sync
• Cross-Platform
• iOS/Android
• Windows/Mac/Linux
• Web-Application

LastPass

Best for browser use.

LastPass is a freemium password manager, storing passwords online. LastPass was recently involved in a data breach, leaking some of their source code and other information, but remains to be a popular password manager. It is known for it’s good customer support and ease-of-use.

• MFA Integration
• Password Generation
• Simple Import / Export
• Password Sharing
• Free option
• Cloud-Sync
• Cross-Platform
• iOS/Android
• Windows/Mac/Linux
• Web-Application

Dashlane

Best for password security.

Dashlane is a French-based company that launched its password manager in 2009. One of the benefits of Dashlane is the Dark Web Monitoring, which allows users to ensure that their passwords haven’t been leaked online.

• MFA Integration
• Password Generation
• Simple Import / Export
• Password Sharing
• Free option
• Cloud-Sync
• Cross-Platform
• iOS/Android
• Windows/Mac/Linux
• Web-Application

Keeper

Best for businesses.

Keeper was rated by PCMag as their top password manager for 2022. The pros mentioned here include full password / file history, secure password sharing features, good user-interface as well as a wide variate of record type templates for storing all of your data in a secure place.

• MFA Integration
• Password Generation
• Simple Import / Export
• Password Sharing
• Free option
• Cloud-Sync
• Cross-Platform
• iOS/Android
• Windows/Mac/Linux
• Web-Application

KeePassXC

Best choice for Linux & Most secure.

KeePassXC is a freely available, offline password manager that is local to a device (it’s not connected to any servers). This was ranked as most secure due to the range of authentication methods that can be added in order to gain access to the database, as well as it being fully offline, meaning that there’s no risk of a company data breach leaking the master password for your password manager.

• MFA Integration
• Password Generation
• Simple Import / Export
• Password Sharing
• Free option
• Cloud-Sync
• Cross-Platform
• iOS/Android
• Windows/Mac/Linux
• Web-Application