Bitwarden vs. LastPass: How Do CNET's Top Password Manager Picks Stack Up?
See which password manager heavyweight is best for you.
A password manager used to be something that was just kind of "nice to have" -- an ancillary player in your cast of online security tools. Now, using a password manager is an absolute necessity if you want to make sure that you're properly protecting yourself online from threats like data theft and phishing.
But it can be tough to find a password manager that's right for you because of how many options are available. Some may be easier to use than others while some may be more geared toward the techie crowd. And while password managers usually have pretty similar core functionality, the availability of specific features may vary at different price levels. If you're unsure what's right for you, CNET's breakdown of the best password managers is a great place to start.
The top two password managers on that list are Bitwarden and LastPass, two big-name leaders in the industry that offer internet users excellent, polished password manager options.
LastPass -- perhaps the most well-known and widely used password manager -- held CNET's top password manager crown for a long time. But the company's decisions in 2021 to begin limiting its free offering to just one device type and yank email support from free users, along with a series of security missteps, have relegated it to the second position behind Bitwarden.
That said, the quality of LastPass's paid tier is top-of-the-line. It's intuitive, easy to use and packed with tons of useful features like automatic syncing across devices, dark web monitoring, password generator and secure notes. However, though LastPass patched a vulnerability that could have leaked user credentials, the company's use of web trackers in its Android app is still concerning.
By comparison, Bitwarden allows you to use its service for free across an unlimited number of devices and device types. Bitwarden's free tier also includes core functionality like two-factor authentication, unlimited vault items, username and password generator and automatic syncing across devices. If you pay for the premium plan, you get all that, plus features like advanced two-factor authentication, encrypted sharing of text and files, emergency access and priority support. Like LastPass, Bitwarden operates on a zero-knowledge model of encryption (meaning that the companies themselves don't have access to your master password or anything stored in your vault) but scores bonus points for being fully open source.
In the end, both are great options -- but Bitwarden is generally the better option, particularly for its transparency. Let's take a deeper dive into how password manager heavyweights Bitwarden and LastPass stack up against one another in terms of price, platform availability and security.
2022-06-18 07:27:30
