DYKWIA

My renewal for Lastpass just came through, and it's now $36 per year. It's gone from $12->$24->$36 in subsequent years. Also, they are now charging VAT on UK subscription which pushed it up to $43...

So, I started looking at the alternatives. One that I'd not heard of before was Bitwarden. This is open source, and free for personal use (you can pay $10 a year for some extra features).

There are clients for Windows / MacOS and Linux, and browser plug-ins for all the major browsers. It's remarkably similar to Lastpass, and seems to do everything Lastpass does. You can export from Lasspass in CSV format and them import into Bitwarden. Moving everything onto Bitwarden took less than an hour for all my devices.

From what I can see, everything is held fully encrypted on the Bitwarden servers. Because it's open source, security audits can take place on the source code. A big advantage it has over Lastpass is that you can use your own server to host the Bitwarden server software (all done via Docker) - so you can choose not to have any of your data on the Bitwarden servers if that is what you'd prefer,

Anyway, this has been a public service announcement for those who don't want to be gouged any further by LogMeIn (the new owners of Lastpass).

gfunkdave

Neat, I didn't know about it. Looks like it's been audited for security and they didn't find anything of note.

I personally agree that LastPass's price escalation is annoying but it costs the same as 1Password now, and $36/yr is still pretty cheap. I'll stick with LastPass for now.

docbert

Do you actually need the paid version of LastPass? Whilst they have increased the price of the paid version over the past few years, they have also increased the functionality of the free version.

gfunkdave

That's a good point. I just looked at the feature comparison. The only premium features I use are YubiKey auth (which I could do without) and possibly the oversize storage. Free gets 50MB and premium gets 1 GB.

Need

I kept looking at the price plan for LastPass since I had been using it for years now. I just don't use the paid option and don't have any excuse to subscribe. It is the same with Evernote. I kept using it for years and nothing in the paid version I need.

DYKWIA

Actually, that's a very good point regarding LastPass. I've always paid, so I didn't realise there was a free version also. Looking at the version comparisons, I think the free version would have been fine!

DYKWIA

Thinking back, ISTR that you could only get the Android and iOS Apps if you paid the $12 subscription. That's the reason I subscribed.

gfunkdave

Yes, agreed. It was variously that you had to subscribe for the mobile apps, or that you had to subscribe to be logged in on more than 1-2 devices.

LordHamster

I went from bitwarden to lastpass.

Few caveats to be aware of:

• There is no easy path BACK from bitwarden to lastpass. No automated import mechanism. So be sure you are happy with Bitwarden before deleting your lastpass
• Bitwarden has dropped support for safari browser on the Mac, and probably will have less browser support overall.
• Bitwarden is Blocked as a chrome extension by my employer. Lastpass is not. Be sure to try to install the bitwarden extension if you work for a large corporation.

Other than that, I love bitwarden. works great with my Yubikey

CatJo

I've used LastPass for years as a paid subcsriber, and added Families as well so my older teen kids can also have access to a good password manager (and get in the habit of using it). We do share some logins to sites so this is a nice option for us.

König

I've been using a free version of Bitwarden for a while now, and was generally satisfied with it. It works great on all platforms and is very easy to use. One thing I found annoying is the inability to make Bitwarden (Android) app log out on exit. It just locks which then only requires my master password to unlock. Hence, even though I have 2FA (TOTP that I store only on my Yubikey) enabled for my account, the app does not use it unless I manually log out each time I'm done with it.

DYKWIA

I've got it set so it requires a fingerprint to authenticate on my Android devices. That's good enough for me. If they chop my finger off, then my passwords are the least of my worries

Ben Fly

I’ve used both of them and finally decided to settle on 1Password. By far the best, in my opinion. It’s a few bucks a month and worth it in my opinion. Your passwords and secure files deserve the best security because what’s the price for having all your data hacked?

gfunkdave

They all have comparable security, and LastPass/1Password have similar pricing. Why did you choose 1Password?

Ben Fly

Sure, first off all 1Password is backed by various people in the cyber security world. Secondly the design and integration with Apple products, which is use are superior than other apps, in my humble opinion. Also, from what I can tell the development team behind 1Password is more active and has more funding than any of the other apps. I prefer to follow big and industry leading apps since I like to think long term with stuff.