7 Best Password Managers of 2019 (Paid, Family, and Free)

What sets 1Password apart from the rest is the number of extras it offers. In addition to managing passwords, it can act as an authentication app like Google Authenticator and, for added security, it creates a secret key to the encryption key it uses, meaning no one can decrypt your passwords without that key. (The downside is that if you lose this key, no one, not even 1Password, can decrypt your passwords.)

Another reason 1Password offers the best experience is its tight integration with other mobile apps. Rather than needing to copy/paste passwords between your password manager and other apps, 1Password is integrated with many apps and can autofill. This is more noticeable on iOS, where inter-app communication is more restricted.

The other reason I like 1Password is “Travel Mode,” which allows you to delete any sensitive data from your devices before you travel and then restore it with a click after you’ve crossed the border. This prevents anyone, even law enforcement at international borders, from accessing your complete password vault.

There’s a 30-day free trial for either plan so you can test it out before committing.

1Password costs $3 per month ($36 per year, $60 a year for families)

After signing up, download the app for Windows, MacOS, Android, iOS, ChromeOS, or Linux. There are also browser extensions for Firefox, Chrome, and Edge.

Best Free Option

Bitwarden

Photograph: Bitwarden

Bitwarden has become a popular choice among open source software advocates. After using it for a few months, I can see why. It’s free with no limits, and it’s every bit as polished and user-friendly as our top pick.

Did I mention it’s open source? That means the code that powers Bitwarden is freely available for anyone to inspect, seek out flaws, and fix them. In theory, the more eyes on the code, the more airtight it becomes. Bitwarden has also been audited by a third party to ensure it’s secure. Bitwarden can be installed on your own server, for easy self-hosting if you prefer to run your own cloud.

There are apps for Android, iOS, Windows, MacOS, and Linux, as well as browser extensions for all major web browsers, plus less common options like Opera, Brave, and Vivaldi (which all support Chrome extensions).

Another thing I like is BitWarden’s semi-automated password fill-in tool. If you visit a site that you’ve saved credentials for, Bitwarden’s browser icon shows the number of saved credentials from that site. Click the icon and it will ask which account you want to use and then automatically fill in the login form. This makes it easy to switch between usernames and avoids the pitfalls of autofill we mention at the bottom of this guide. If you simply must have your fully automated form filling, Bitwarden does support that as well.

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