Recent years have seen a sharp rise in cybercrime around the world. In 2023 alone, the number of reported cyber incidents increased by 62.5% compared to 2022. The same year saw the leak of the largest password database ever, as we wrote about earlier. That's why the issue of cyber hygiene on the Internet is quite acute now, especially in times of a full-scale war with a terrorist country. That's why today we're going to introduce you to such a handy and necessary tool as a password manager. It is necessary for organizing our passwords and protecting them from potential hacking.
Using a password manager is one of the most effective ways to protect yourself online, along with multi-factor authentication and keeping your operating system and web browser up to date. If your password is weak and easy to guess, or if you use the same password on multiple sites, you are at significant risk. If the site you use is hacked and your account is compromised, you could lose access to your data. Moreover, if you reuse passwords, there is a high probability that your password may have already been stolen. You can use the Have I Been Pwned resource to check if your email address or password was involved in a data breach.
Password managers offer a convenience that makes your online existence less vulnerable to password-based attacks. All the passwords you create are encrypted in one place. All you need to remember is your master password, and your password manager will remember the rest, filling in your username and password every time you log in to a site on your phone or computer. The biggest advantage is that, once set up, a password manager greatly speeds up the login process and simplifies the management of your online accounts.
There are quite a few different password managers available today, each with unique features and reliable protection. We're going to focus on a few of the most well-known ones. Our goal is to familiarize ourselves with the main and additional functionality, pricing policy, and most importantly, convenience.
1Password
Advantages:
- High availability;
- User-friendly interface;
- Wide functionality;
- Watchtower and Travel Mode function.
Disadvantages:
- The absence of a free version;
- Closed source code;
- Lack of Ukrainian language.
1Password, developed by the Canadian company AgileBits back in 2006, opens our list. It is undoubtedly one of the best password managers of our time. 1Password offers broad operating system support, ease of use, and advanced password security features. These include tools for generating strong passwords, monitoring compromised passwords, and performing security checks.
1Password is quite easy to set up. After downloading the app and creating an account, you need to create a master password. This password is crucial because it is the main password you will need to enter during authentication. It should be complex enough, but easy to remember. A good example is "passphrase" passwords, which can be a quote from a movie or a few sentences from your favorite song that are easy to remember but difficult for attackers to guess. Alternatively, there is support for FIDO U2F, which allows you to work with YubiKey and other security keys, as well as biometric authentication, such as fingerprint or face recognition.
After setting up your account, 1Password will help you import passwords from other managers or browsers. For example, I imported passwords from one of the test Google accounts I could find. It didn't even take me a minute to import the records.
In terms of security, 1Password generates passwords using a built-in generator, automatically saving them to your vault, which is protected by 256-bit AES encryption, one of the most secure encryption standards.
One of the main features of 1Password is its integration with the Watchtower service. It can instantly alert you to any weaknesses in your security ecosystem, including passwords that need to be changed or strengthened, compromised logins, and security updates from the websites for which you store credentials. In my case, the service indicates that I have significant security issues, such as repeated and weak passwords. Thus, knowing about these problems, I can successfully eliminate them.
Another unique feature of 1Password is Travel Mode. It allows you to hide or temporarily delete sensitive information from your device while traveling or crossing borders. Imagine you're traveling in a country that has strict rules about personal data. In this case, using Travel Mode, you can hide all your personal and work passwords, keeping only the data that can be safely displayed on your device. A useful feature for people traveling to other countries.
In terms of compatibility, 1Password covers major platforms such as iOS, Windows, Android, Chrome OS, and Linux. There is also an extension for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, Brave, and Opera browsers that allows you to save and enter passwords directly from the browser.
On tariff plans:
An individual subscription plan is suitable for individual users. It provides you with a single account for an unlimited number of devices and passwords, as well as access to the main features of 1Password. The cost starts at $2.99/month (~125 UAH).
The family plan supports up to 5 users for an unlimited number of devices. In addition to the basic features, there is a possibility of account recovery and shared password storage. The cost is $4.99/month (~205 UAH).
The business plan supports integration with Azure AD, OneLogin, Slack, Duo, and more. It includes the ability to generate reports, admin tools, and customize your own security policies. The cost starts from $7.99 per month (~330 UAH).
A starter plan for a team. Its feature is support for up to 10 users for a fixed fee with full functionality. The cost is $19.95 per month (~820 UAH).
To summarize, 1Password is an easy-to-use and reliable password manager. Its extensive security features, such as AES-256 data encryption, two-factor authentication, and a passwordless option with access keys, ensure that your data stays safe.
The only downside is the paid basis, although here, too, the service developers offer a 14-day free trial before signing up for a paid subscription.
You can try it at the following link.
Bitwarden
Advantages:
- High level of security;
- Open source software;
- Wide compatibility;
- Free plan;
- Support for the Ukrainian language.
Disadvantages:
- Limited functionality.
The successor and my personal favorite is Bitwarden. It combines an almost perfect balance between accessibility, functionality, and security. To begin with, the manager itself is open source, which makes it transparent in the eyes of users, unlike 1Password. In terms of functionality, Bitwarden offers standard features such as support for AES-256 encryption, a password generator, cross-device synchronization, and wide compatibility.
Additional features include various authentication methods, such as two-factor authentication (2FA) via email or hardware keys such as YubiKey. Quick access via Face ID or Touch ID, which allows you to log into your vault without re-entering your master password. In addition, Bitwarden offers a vault status report to help you monitor the security of your stored data.
In terms of compatibility, there are apps for Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, and Linux, as well as extensions for all major web browsers. Windows Hello and Touch ID are also supported in the Windows and macOS desktop apps, providing additional security through biometric authentication systems.
Bitwarden's interface is simple and functional, with clear navigation and easy-to-understand panels to access all the main functions.
The main advantage of Bitwarden is the availability of a free plan that already includes basic functionality such as a password generator, auto-fill, and synchronization of passwords across multiple devices. This advantage makes it an attractive choice for users looking for a reliable password manager at no additional cost, without sacrificing security and functionality.
Among the disadvantages are limited functionality compared to 1Password, such as the lack of the Travel Mode feature that allows you to hide sensitive information during customs checks, or 1Password X, a browser extension that allows you to easily manage passwords without opening the desktop application.
In addition to the free plan, there are Premium, Families, Teams, and Business plans.
Premium is suitable for individual users who are interested in additional features such as 1 GB of encrypted file storage, two-factor authentication with devices such as YubiKey, FIDO U2F, and Duo, as well as reports on password hygiene and storage health. It costs $1/month (~42 UAH).
The Family plan has an additional feature of shared storage for 6 people and a subscription price of $3.33/month (~136 UAH).
The Teams plan supports secure data exchange, event logs, and integration with other services. The cost is $4/month (~164 UAH).
The Business plan adds the ability to create corporate policies and restore credentials in addition to the functions specified in the previous plan. The cost is $6/month (~246 UAH).
All in all, Bitwarden is a great solution for people who want to get the most functionality without the extra cost. It offers a great balance between free and paid features. While some features may be limited compared to competitors such as 1Password, Bitwarden's free plan already provides a sufficient level of functionality for most users. For those who need additional features, the paid plans offer a wide range of options, including increased storage, two-factor authentication, and family plans. All in all, Bitwarden is a worthy competitor in the password manager market and deserves the attention of both experienced users and newcomers.
You can try it at the following link.
NordPass
Advantages:
- Reliable protection;
- Synchronization between devices;
- Simple interface;
- Integration with NordVPN;
- Availability of a free plan.
Disadvantages:
- Lack of additional functions;
- Less flexibility in customization.
The last password manager we're going to look at today is NordPass. It was launched in 2019 in a rather crude form, which is why it received mediocre reviews from users. However, over time, the development team has significantly improved the product. Now NordPass supports basic security functions, although it remains somewhat limited in additional features.
Overall, it is a fairly versatile client that has excellent performance, offering smooth and discrete operation all the way from initial setup to daily use. It offers robust security features, a user-friendly interface, and a free plan. While these characteristics are not unique, the market is saturated with managers that can offer similar features.
The NordPass interface has a clean, minimalist design that makes it easy to understand even for beginners. It is well organized, with the main screen displaying saved passwords, credit cards, notes, and other data. The main menu allows you to quickly navigate to functions such as password generator, form autocomplete, and storage management.
In terms of security, NordPass supports standard features such as password generation, password storage, autofill, and synchronization. It provides two-factor authentication using authentication programs such as Google Authenticator, Duo, and Authy. The latest version adds support for FIDO U2F, which allows you to work with YubiKey and other security keys. However, it is worth noting that this protection is built in when you log in to the service, not in the program itself, which can be a weakness.
Among the features of NordPass, it uses the XChaCha20 algorithm for encryption, which ensures high performance, especially on mobile devices. This algorithm is less vulnerable to certain types of attacks and is optimized for modern processors, while competitors mostly use AES-256.
The client is supported on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS platforms and has extensions for all major web browsers.
Despite its simplicity and efficiency, NordPass has some drawbacks. For example, it doesn't offer the ability to customize your vault, which is available with competitors like 1Password. In addition, the free subscription does not allow you to use NordPass on multiple devices at the same time, which can be a decisive factor for some users.
The free plan includes a limited number of features compared to Bitwarden, where the free subscription fully includes basic functionality such as synchronization between devices, secure data exchange, and two-factor authentication (2FA).
In terms of subscriptions, NordPass offers Premium and Family in addition to the free one.
The Premium plan offers all the features of the free plan plus synchronization across multiple devices and support for multi-factor authentication. The cost is $1.89/month (~70 UAH).
The Family plan offers all the functionality available in Premium, but for up to 6 people with the ability to share a password vault. The cost is $3.69/month (~150 UAH).
NordPass, despite its rapid development and improvements since its launch, still has some drawbacks. Although it provides a strong level of security and a user-friendly interface, there are other password managers on the market, such as Bitwarden, that offer more features in a free plan. However, for those looking for an easy-to-use and productive password management tool, NordPass is still a good option, especially if you are already using other products in the Nord ecosystem.
You can try it at the following link.
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To summarize, each of these password managers can be a reliable tool for protecting your passwords; it all depends on personal preference. If you need maximum flexibility and team capabilities, choose 1Password. If you're looking for a powerful yet affordable option, consider Bitwarden. And if simplicity and efficiency are important to you, NordPass will be your best ally.