What Is a Password Manager?
Password managers are tools that make it easy for you to generate strong and unique passwords and securely store them in one place. You only need to remember a master password to unlock the vault, which you can then access all your other passwords.
Criteria For A Good Password Manager
Not all password managers are created equal. For a password manager to be in this best list, it has to meet the following key metrics: supports the latest security encryption, multiple device support and compatibility, and vault accessibility.
1. Buttercup
Buttercup made it onto this list because it’s one of the few open-source, cross-platform, multi-device password managers. It can be used on Linux, Mac, Windows OS, iOS, and Android, and there’s an extension for Google Chrome and Firefox too. When it comes to data encryption and security, Buttercup uses the 256bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), a widely used and trusted data encryption algorithm. It includes the abilities to save your password database locally, use third-party cloud services, export and import your password database in various formats, and two-factor authentication.
2. Bitwarden
Bitwarden is one of the most popular password managers. It is cross-platform, multi-device, and an open source utility for anyone to contribute and use.
Apart from its intuitive and very easy to use user interface, Bitwarden also provides features such as extension support for all major browsers, high encryption standards (including 256-bit AES), multiple device support (including smartphones), and Family and Business password sharing.
Bitwarden has various packages, including a free one which is suitable for most users. However, you can also add a Premium package or self-host your own.
3. LastPass
LastPass is one of the most popular password managers. LastPass is cross-platform with support for desktop clients for all major operating systems. LastPass provides features such as support for the AES-256 bit encryption standard, a browser extension compatible with most browsers, multi-factor authentication, and an extra security layer using salted hashes. Also included are additional utilities, such as password generator, password health report and master passwords for your password vault. LastPass also provides an easy-to-use Universal Linux Installer, which allows you to install a browser extension on installed browsers for your Linux distro.
4. KeePassXC
KeePassXC is a variant or fork of the open-source KeePass password manager tool for Windows. Besides being free, it’s natively designed to work well on Linux systems. It also offers multi-device and platform support for all major OSs, browsers, and smartphones, including Blackberry. It uses the AES-256-encryption to secure your password vault locally and a master password. It allows you to sync your encrypted password database using third-party cloud services, such as Google Drive and Dropbox, and has a very functional GUI. KeePassXC also offers unlimited storage space, which means you can use the auto-password generating feature to generate and store as many passwords as you want and auto-fill features for the main browsers.
5. Keeper
Although Keeper is not open source, it’s one of the best password managers. It supports multiple devices, including Linux, Windows, Mac OS, Android and iOS. It also supports popular browsers. This well-designed and easy-to-use password manager uses 256-bit AES data encryption. It also has additional security measures, like two-factor authentication, a secure password generator, biometric log-in, and a database self-destruct feature after five wrong password entries. You can give read-only password access to trusted parties in case of an emergency. If you forget your master password, simply purge the vault and reset passwords one after another.
