Forgetting your login credentials can send you down a rabbit hole in your quest to reset your password, often when you’re in a hurry. It’s tempting to reset it to something simple so you won’t forget it or save just one password and use it everywhere. However, both strategies put you in a position to fail. For example, hackers can easily guess a simple password or use brute force to crack it. A data breach can also expose any complex password you create, thus putting every account that uses it at risk.
The potential blows – financial and otherwise – from using weak passwords can cost you a lot. If you’re on a tight budget and need password protection now, many of the best password managers we’ve reviewed offer free service plans. Below, we compile the best free password manager to help you choose the best.
Best for Unlimited Password Storage
NordPass offers an easy-to-use password management system at a reasonable price.
Best General Password Manager
Bitwarden offers the best free tier for password management we’ve reviewed. Bitwarden is open-source software, and its code is regularly audited by independent researchers, making it less prone to breaches and hacks.
Best Password Inheritance Options
The LogMeOnce Password Management Suite Premium has a completely free version with no limits on the number of saved passwords or the number of devices you use. The biggest value is the beneficiary feature, which allows you to grant someone else access to your credentials in the event of your death.
Best for Simple Password Storage
Avira Password Manager can sync passwords across all platforms and provides multi-factor authentication.
Best for Mobile Authentication
Symantec Norton Password Manager is a free password manager that can sync passwords across all platforms and comes with password hygiene tools to help you identify weak or previously used passwords in your vault.
Best for Personal Password Management
KeePass 2.34 is a free and open-source password manager with a 20-year history. This is not a password manager for beginners or those unfamiliar with old file management systems. Its add-ons page provides many options for those looking to manipulate the app.
Are There Free Versions of Paid Password Managers?
If you’re willing to give up something small, you can use many paid password managers for free. If you see a paid password manager with features you like, check its terms. You may be able to try it during a free trial period, or you can use a limited-feature free version of the premium password manager.
What Does a Free Password Manager Do?
For most people, getting started means installing password manager apps on desktop and mobile, as well as an extension for your favorite browser. When you log in to a secure site, the password manager captures your username and password and saves them in your vault. The best password managers capture your credentials when you create an account, and when you change your password online, they offer to update the stored password for that site.
When you return to a site, most password managers can automatically fill in the saved data. If you have more than one set of credentials, you can choose which one you’d like to use. Another useful (and common) feature of most of these extensions is that clicking an entry takes you directly to the site and logs you in.
Many
We are equally likely to log into a secure website from a mobile device as from a desktop computer, so finding a password manager that syncs your credentials across all your devices is essential. Most password managers use encrypted cloud storage to sync between devices. Some keep your data completely local, syncing between databases on different devices without storing anything in the cloud. The real benefit of having a password manager on your phone is that you can automatically fill in credentials for any mobile apps you use.
Another great thing about free password managers is that you can try many of them and see which one you like best. If you’re considering doing such a scan, look for products that can import from other password managers. Otherwise, you’ll have to go through the capturing process again for each candidate.
What else can password managers do?
The goal of adding a password manager app to your security tools is to replace weak and repeated passwords with a strong, unguessable password. But where do you get those strong passwords? Most of these apps come with a password generator, and many give you control over things like password length and character sets used. The best ones implement a password audit to help in identifying and fixing weak passwords.
Automatically filling in username and password is not much different from filling in other types of data in web forms. Many paid password managers can simplify the process of filling forms with personal data, such as addresses or payment card details. Among other features offered by password managers is secure document storage, although the allocated space is usually not sufficient to replace a dedicated cloud storage service.
In addition to using passwords on multiple devices, you may want to share logins with other users. Some free password managers do not support secure sharing. It is also uncommon for free password managers to allow you to designate a recipient for your passwords, a person who would receive them in the event of your passing.
Are free password managers safe?
When you put your passwords in one repository, you must be very careful in protecting that repository. This is where your master password comes in. This is the password used to encrypt the contents of your password vault, so it should be as strong as possible. On the other hand, you are less likely to be able to recover it if you forget it. Store your master password securely, or risk permanently losing access to your password manager.
Setting up two-factor authentication is another way to mitigate the risks of potential attacks. Two-factor authentication can be biometric, requiring a fingerprint or facial recognition, or even voice recognition. Some password managers rely on mobile authentication apps, while others use SMS-based methods or hardware security keys for authentication. Allowing access only from registered and trusted devices is another type of two-factor authentication.
What is the best free password manager?
Bitwarden is our choice for the best free password manager because it has great security features and few limitations on free users. If you are concerned about your online security, you should also read our summaries of the best antivirus software and virtual privacy networks.
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