LastPass is a veteran in the password management industry. It is reliable and easy to use. But the LastPass free plan does not support synchronization between devices. If you are looking for a free alternative to LastPass, Bitwarden may be the best option. Here’s why.
Compared to LastPass, Bitwarden is the new kid on the block. While LastPass is eye-catching, Bitwarden is discreet and utilitarian. That said, Bitwarden gets a lot of things right, from its feature-rich free plan to its reasonably priced Premium and Family plans, all while offering best-in-class security.
Bitwarden’s free plan offers cross-device support
As of March 16, 2021, LastPass changed the operation of its free plan. Users of the LastPass Free plan will no longer have access to device sync support. This means that passwords will only be available on a single device and will not be synchronized between your desktop and mobile clients. To gain access to the cross-sync feature, users will need to upgrade to the $ 3 / month LastPass Premium plan.
On the other hand, Bitwarden offers support for synchronization between devices and unlimited password storage in the Free plan. In fact, it has almost everything a user needs, including strong password generation, secure card storage, notes and more.
Bitwarden is available on all platforms natively
LastPass is a service that prioritizes the web and is shown when you look at your downloads page. You will find extensions for all popular web browsers, but you will not see a native desktop application (Android, iPhone and iPad only).
In terms of security, there is a case to be made to keep your usernames and passwords away from your browser (which can be used by other members of your family). With Bitwarden, you get access to native apps for Windows 10, Mac and Linux. The Mac application even supports Touch ID. There is also a command line client for advanced users.
Bitwarden has a super fast automatic login feature
LastPass is designed to be easy to use. You’ll see this when you browse the web client (which features large images and buttons) and when trying to automatically fill in passwords using browser extensions. When available, LastPass will display saved logins next to the password fields. This is very convenient for beginners.
Bitwarden, on the other hand, takes a more utilitarian approach. It is designed for businesses and advanced users. If you want to log in to a website with saved passwords, you will have to click on the Bitwarden extension and then select login from the drop-down menu.
But, at the time of this writing, Bitwarden also has an advanced feature that automatically fills in the login data saved the second you load the login page. This is an experimental feature that you can enable in Settings> Options> Enable autocomplete when loading the page.
Once enabled, this small feature leaves the LastPass autocomplete feature behind.
Bitwarden is open source
Both LastPass and Bitwarden follow industry-standard encryption protocols using AES-256 encryption on their servers and during data transfer (which protects you from man-in-the-middle attacks).
Both services do not have key identifiers. This means that if you lose your master password, there is no way to access your safe. On the other hand, it also means that there is no way for LastPass or Bitwarden to access your data (even if the service gets hacked, as LastPass was in 2015).
But Bitwarden has a big advantage here because the product itself is open source. This benefits users in two ways. First, it means that third-party security companies can audit the code and ensure that Bitwarden is not vulnerable to a hack or attack. Bitwarden received a clean bill of health from security firm Cure53 in 2018.
Second, Bitwarden’s open source code helps third parties and communities build additional tools and customers. It also means that if Bitwarden closes, community members can create applications or tools that can still use the Bitwarden database.
Bitwarden’s premium plan is quite cheap
For most users, Bitwarden’s free plan is enough. But if you like to use two-factor authentication in your password manager application (instead of using a standalone utility like Google Authenticator), you can generate two-factor authentication codes directly from Bitwarden using your $ 10 / year plan .
RELATED: How to enable two-factor authentication for your Google account with Google Authenticator
Bitwarden Premium also offers access to 1 GB of encrypted storage space. You can add more storage by paying $ 4 / month for each additional gigabyte.
This contrasts sharply with LastPass Premium, which costs $ 36 / year. It is the same story if you consider family or business plans. The Bitwarden family account costs $ 40 / year with access to six user profiles. LastPass charges $ 48 / year for your family account.
On the commercial side, Bitwarden offers a free account for two users, and additional users can be added for $ 3 / month for each new user. LastPass charges $ 4 / month for each user and does not offer a free business plan.
Moving to Bitwarden is very easy
For most users looking for a free alternative to LastPass, Bitwarden makes more sense. It provides the same functionality at a cheaper price. Also, switching from LastPass to Bitwarden couldn’t be easier. All you need to do is export a CSV file from LastPass and import it into Bitwarden.
Made with LastPass? Make sure to delete your LastPass account.
RELATED: How to delete your LastPass account