the best free and paid apps

There are excellent password managers that allow you to keep all of your passwords used on the Internet in one place so you no longer have to remember them. Here is our selection of the best free or paid applications.

The first security tip we can give on the Internet is to have a strong password for each of your online accounts, different from the others. The second is obviously to avoid keeping this list of passwords on a post-it on your screen or in a document stored in the cloud. The most effective and secure solution is therefore to use a password manager which will create passwords long and complex and make them easily accessible from all your devices.

Here is our selection of the best password managers, whether free or paid.

The best paid password managers

Some password managers are available exclusively with paid subscriptions. This is the case of 1Password and Dashlane which are often recommended for their ease of use and the clarity of their interface. The difference with free services is also made on the services provided.

Nordpass

You must have already seen a video on YouTube sponsored by Nordpass. In this case, the software is in the form of a freemium. Understand that a free version is available, for one user. With the password autofill feature, you already have a little experience protecting your passwords. Premium is billed at 1.49 euros per month with the possibility of storing your passwords and other bank card details. Above all, important data, but also a little disabling, you must keep your master password at all costs. It is the latter which protects your Nordpass account.

The application is available on Android, Windows, macOS, iOS and Linux. It is even possible to install an extension on your browser to use your password manager on a daily basis. On your dashboard, you will have a directory of saved passwords as well as installed maps. Likewise, it is possible to create a “Notes” section if you have confidential information to keep. Nordpass will evaluate the “strength” of your passwords and if any of them are repeated, it will encourage you to change one of them. Nordpass is a simple, but effective solution if you want to constantly keep an eye on your accounts.

1Password

Formerly exclusive to Apple products, 1Password has therefore inherited the ease of use of the Apple ecosystem to integrate it into its Android application. The app addresses certain issues in a way that others can’t surpass. If an app is not compatible with Android’s password manager, 1Password has a keyboard that automatically fills in the password.

The app and service are available for $36 per year, for compatibility across your macOS, iOS, Windows, Android, Linux, and ChromeOS devices.

Dashlane

“Kill passwords” is Dashlane’s declared ambition in 2018 when it announced its Project Mirror. The application is very complete and wants to position itself as the number one in the market. Many features are available such as a web browser dedicated to the application or a VPN service.

The application is available for free on an Android device for up to 50 passwords and for 39.99 euros per year for an unlimited number of passwords and compatibility between your Android, Windows, macOS, Linux and iOS devices. Please note: if you stop your subscription, you will have to reach into your wallet again to access the list of your passwords.

The best free password managers

A good password manager does not necessarily mean a paid application. We have selected a few services that have proven themselves and are offered free of charge.

BitWarden, the favorite

It is Frandroid’s favoriteused by a large majority of the editorial staff: BitWarden is a modern service, but also free, open and open source.

The service offers an app on most platforms and browsers, and syncs easily anywhere. Bitwarden offers end-to-end data encryption, which means only you will know the contents of the stored data. Better still, it is even possible to host the Bitwarden vault yourself on your own server, to be able to guarantee data security yourself. To find out more about it, you can consult our article dedicated to this manager.

KeePass

KeePass is another popular solution and open source originally designed for the PC. It is the only solution officially certified by ANSSI.

Here, no synchronization offered, it is purely software creating a secure vault file on the PC. To synchronize it with mobile devices, you will need to place this file on a cloud storage service (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.). You also need to find compatible software or applications for each platform, such as KeePass2Android for Android or KeePass Touch on iOS. On PC, it is better to use KeePassXC, with extensions for Chrome and Firefox.

Why use a password manager?

When we talk about security on the Internet, the most recurring topic is undoubtedly that of passwords. This is also one of the important chapters of our guide to securing your smartphone, tablet or PC.

To guarantee the best possible security, you must choose different passwords from service to service, but also complex passwords. Following these two recommendations can be a headache, which is where the password manager comes in.

The latter saves all your identifiers and passwords in a secure safe, so there is only one password to remember: that of the safe (you must therefore create a good password to lockdown). This type of solution is increasingly popular, for its ease of use on a daily basis.

Managers most often allow connection fields to be automatically completed, which saves significant time and comfort. On smartphones, they now make it possible to replace entering the safe password with biometric identification (fingerprint reader or facial recognition). Security requires, care must be taken to select the right password manager.

Why is LastPass not in this selection?

You may have noticed that one of the most popular names in the market is not mentioned here. LastPass lost some of its features in March 2021, making it less interesting than the password managers featured here. Furthermore, a hack of its database in 2022 raises fears for the security of our passwords on this service. That’s why we’ve opted for a selection of LastPass alternatives.