The best password managers for 2022 - 1Password, Keeper, Bitwarden, RoboForm, and NordPass.
It's that time of the year when my Password Manager renewal comes up. So I decided to test the most popular password managers available to help you decide which is the best for you.
1Password Password Manager
I've found 1Password to be very reliable over the years. Its features, as well as releases, appear to be getting better with time.
Watchtower lets you know about any password breaches, weak or reused passwords. Travel Mode allows you only to bring specific passwords if you decide to travel abroad. (Journalists can benefit a lot from this fantastic feature and can also get a free license via 1Password!)
1Password can integrate with fingerprint, FaceID, and even Apple Watch, making it easier for you to unlock and get your data quickly.
For US Customers, 1Password integrates with Privacy. This feature enables you to create burner cards, which you can use online to protect your card details. Further integrations with Fastmail lets users mask their email addresses.
Security is critical when deciding which password manager to use. And this is where 1Password scores big.
Very few password managers embed zero trackers within their Android app, and 1Password is among them.
You can use a Yubikey or Google Titan key to secure 1Password, and overall general Security is strong.
A recent Twitter post discussed that even the icons stored within 1Password have a tremendous amount of thought and Security baked into the product.
Let's narrow our focus further to one tiny part of the app: icons. Ever seen an icon pop in while scrolling through @1Password? There's a story behind that, and it's related to how we enforce memory hygiene, protect your anonymity, and provide full encryption at rest.
— Mitchell Cohen (@mitchchn) January 20, 2022
Overall, 1Password scores 35/40 with a solid start.
Pricing
- Personal: with 25% off, comes to $2.24 per month or $26 per year
- Family (5 licences): with 50% off, comes to $2.49 per month or about $30 per year
- Team Starter (up to 10 members): a flat monthly price of $19.95
- Business: $7.99 per user monthly (with three months free)
1Password also offers a 100% free version for journalists.
Keeper password manager
Keeper has always been one of the better password managers out there.
Keeper has Emergency access, a feature 1Password lacks. Emergency Access gives you the ability to add emergency contacts who can then gain access to your whole vault in the event of death or emergency.
You can share information with others and store your card details, and there's also space to upload documents like your driving licence or passport.
BreachWatch is a dark web monitoring service, and Keeper also offers additional secure file storage, which comes at an additional cost.
Like 1Password, Keeper has Zero Trackers embedded in its android app, and it also supports Yubikey and Google Titan Keys.
Keeper also states that they go through independent audits each year. However, the best available information on their website shows that the web application and cloud security vault are tested daily by McAfee Secure for known vulnerabilities. These seem to be automated and not independent audits like other password managers.
My major frustration around Keeper is their consistency to upsell you to something else.
When you log into the desktop app, it prompts you to leave a review, and on their mobile app, it reminds you to refer a friend.
And this isn't just from the notifications; it's the way they've integrated these 'additional features' into the app.
When you tap on them, it seems like you have data that's at risk but will only let you see why if you upgrade.
Another odd thing is that Keeper asked individuals watching my previous YouTube videos to leave positive comments on that video.
But, as a password manager, Keeper doesn't have issues that make it unusable. Overall, Keeper scores 30/40.
Pricing
- Keeper Personal: £2.49 per month (Get 30% discount)
- Keeper Family (5 licenses): £5.99 (30% off comes to £4.19 per month)
- Keeper Business: at £3.33 per user per month, or £40 per year.
Bitwarden password manager
Bitwarden is the best free password manager, and they also offer a paid-for Premium plan. It's also 100% Open Sourced.
Bitwarden offers secure password sharing, security insights into your password health and some additional technical features for those looking to use this for work purposes.
Because of this, password sharing can be a bit complex and limited compared to others.
Bitwarden is one of very few that offer a self-hosted option. So, if you don't trust 'the cloud', you can run Bitwarden locally instead.
Like the others, Bitwarden includes features to help identify weak or leaked passwords. But these are only available in the web version of the vault.
Overall, the features are suitable for the average user, but if you're into IT or looking to use this for business, some more advanced features could make this a great fit.
Bitwarden has solid features for the average person but requires a little more technical know-how to use.
Bitwarden is also Zero-knowledge, and it also supports physical security keys like the Yubikeys. They also have regular third-party audits by the same people who audit 1Password and comply with the usual regulations and standards.
Revisiting how 1Password deals with and secures something as small as the Icons. Bitwarden does recognise this as an issue and provides a way to switch this off.
Bitwarden has two trackers included in the android app for Analytics and Crash Reporting.
But given that it's open-source and independently audited, we haven't come across any reports of any data making its way out.
The client itself, I found a bit awkward. You can only click and drag on specific areas of the client when using it on Mac, and it gets annoying and doesn't happen with any of the other clients I've tested.
Overall Bitwarden scores 33/40
Pricing
At only $10 for a full year of the premium version, you're going to find value for your money.
Other plans:
- Families organisation: $3.33 per month for up to 6 users
- Team organisation: $3 per user, per month
- Enterprise organisation: $5 per user, per month, depending on the features you need.
RoboForm password manager
RoboForm started as a form filler and is one of the best form fillers out there. Recently though, Roboform has developed into a fully-fledged Password Manager.
RoboForm has a security centre that scores your passwords and identifies which ones are weak or easy to guess. A secure notes section to keep any sensitive notes or information locked away, along with your passwords.
You also get the emergency access feature to pre-grant certain people access to your passwords after a severe incident.
It also supports custom fields, so you can customise your logins and the information it stores, including credit card information.
RoboForm also stored Application Passwords, a feature that seems unique to other password managers.
RoboForm seems on the basic side as far as features go, but it is catching up.
They recently added the ability to use RoboForm to generate 2FA codes and breach notifications.
There is 2FA support for Authy and Google Authenticator for Security, but no physical keys like the Yubikey or Google Titan keys.
There are also two trackers embedded in the Android App, based on the last result on the Exodus website.
They have a Security Whitepaper displayed on their website, but we couldn't find any results from any independent audits.
When compared with others, the interface could do with a facelift. It feels a bit outdated, and even though it supports custom fields, they're hidden away in the menu system.
Overall, RoboForm scores 29/40, but if you're looking for a good password manager that fills out forms nicely, then this is one of the best.
Pricing
RoboForm Unlimited at 30% off unlocks all of the features and comes to $16.68 per year after discount, which is around $1.39 per month.
NordPass password manager
I was surprised and impressed with what I saw with NordPass.
It has all of the usual features that we've reviewed here. They include:
- secure notes,
- the ability to store your credit cards and payment information,
- filling forms with your personal information,
- folders that you can use to structure your passwords,
- and password audits to show you weak passwords.
Breach notifications aren't available (they're coming soon), but there is an emergency access feature.
To me, NordPass looks like a better version of 1Password.
Features are good and work well, but they aren't developed as quickly as other password vendors.
NordPass uses newer and more robust encryption than the other password managers we've tested for Security.
It also supports physical keys like Yubikeys and undertakes independent audits.
With that said, they do have two trackers embedded in their Android app for Crash Reporting and Analytics, which I'm not a fan of.
The client itself is beautiful but only wins for aesthetics. It's still missing features like breach notifications and quick launch that others have.
Overall, NordPass scores 33 out of 40.
Pricing
There's a free tier, which will only let you log into one device at any one time. This can get annoying quite quickly if you switch devices often.
But for the paid-for version, it's:
- $4.99 per month if you pay month to month
- $2.99 per month if you pay yearly
- $2.49 per month if you pay for 2 Years
They also offer a families subscription that gives you up to 6 licences for $3.99 per month.
Conclusion
So, what's the best password manager?
- 1Password
- Bitwarden & NordPass
- Keeper
- RoboForm
Remember, the scores may not necessarily reflect what you're looking for. For the cheapest password manager, then Bitwarden would do.
For the best form filler, check out RoboForm.
Best looking, then it's NordPass.
But for me, best overall and who I will be sticking with for another year, it's 1Password.
