Just as LastPass overrides the free tier of its popular password manager, Dropbox has released a free version of its own password application – but there is a small problem.
Dropbox today announced that passwords will soon be free for all its users, whether they are on their free basic plan or on one of their individual or corporate premium levels. Starting in early April, any Dropbox user will be able to access a limited version of passwords that will securely store up to 50 credentials. The problem here, of course, is that most people probably have more than 50 passwords for multiple accounts, and a password manager should ideally be used for all of them.
The problem with passwords is that if complex ones that are hardest to remember – which is where the password manager comes in handy – are not used in all of their accounts, users may be inclined to reuse or create small variations of easily remembered passwords that make it easier for evildoers to access more than one of your accounts. So while any free password management is certainly an attractive offer, Dropbox may not be the best option for someone concerned with practicing good security hygiene across all of their accounts.
Dropbox launched Passwords last year, but at the time it was limited to Dropbox Plus and Dropbox Professional, as well as the service’s business levels. Dropbox Plus costs $ 12 a month, which includes 2 TB of cloud storage, as well as the standard version of passwords. The Professional plan jumps to $ 20 a month, but has additional storage and advanced support for file recovery, among other features.
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LastPass, however, announced last month, some changes to your free level that will drastically change the way people we are able to use the product. Starting today, the free LastPass plan will only support unlimited access on computers or mobile devices – not both. Existing users will have to choose an active device type from now on, although they have three chances to change their preferred device.
The company is also getting email support for free accounts, which will now only be offered on Premium and Family plans. These plans cost $ 3 and $ 4 per month, respectively (and charged annually), but the company is offering discounted rates of $ 2.25 and $ 3 for existing free users for a limited time. In other words, it is effectively forcing them to update if they want to continue using the service as before.
To be clear, there are many free password manager apps out there. Apple, Google and others offer their own password management tools for their browsers, for example. Dropbox is an option now, also, if it is extremely limited.