Password management applications (Opens in a new tab) Very useful in helping active internet users keep track of their passwords across multiple sites and apps and avoid being locked out of their accounts.
There are many Password managers (Opens in a new tab) Available, two popular examples are Bitwarden and LastPass. These examples offer similar functionality, and enable users to store passwords and other types of sensitive information in a digital store. However, we want to see how they compare to each other based on other important factors like features, pricing, performance, and customer support. You can see the above Bitwarden Review (Opens in a new tab) And LastPass review (Opens in a new tab) for more information.
Features
LastPass and Bitwarden work the same way. You can create a digital vault where you will keep passwords and other types of sensitive information. Anytime you want to remember a password, you can head to the vault to retrieve it.
The vault is protected by a master password that you create and must be entered anytime you want to log in. You should use a combination of letters, numbers and symbols to create a strong master password. Alternatively, you can use a hard-to-guess passphrase, for example, “Aren’t dogs beautiful creatures?”.
Both platforms offer a browser extension that lets you auto-fill passwords into login forms across different websites. These extensions are available for popular browsers such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, and Opera.
Where both platforms differentiate themselves are the additional features they offer. For example, Bitwarden offers a tool that allows you to do this Generate strong passwords (Opens in a new tab) With the click of a button, passwords protect your online accounts. LastPass provides a dark web monitoring tool that checks your credentials against a database of compromised credentials and notifies you if you are the victim of a data breach.
You can access both platforms from the web interface or mobile and desktop apps.
performance
LastPass delivers solid performance through its native web or app interface. You can download the apps to a smartphone (iOS or Android) or a desktop (Windows, macOS, Linux). Once installed, you can add credentials for different websites to your vault easily. You can also access these credentials at any time.
Note that LastPass’ desktop app allows you to add a maximum of 5,000 items, including passwords, notes, forms, or any other type of sensitive information. However, you should expect to see a significant performance degradation after adding about 2,500 or more items.
Bitwarden can also be accessed through the web interface or native apps for desktop (Windows, macOS and Linux) and smartphones (iOS and Android). The apps offer a broad interface that you should find easy to navigate, with features neatly arranged on the left side of the dashboard.
Just like with LastPass, you may notice a drop in performance after adding a lot of items to your Bitwarden vault. The platform doesn’t mention a specific limit, but user reviews across the web put it at around 2,000 items.
the support
LastPass offers customer support via email and phone but free users do not have access to this support. Other than that, there is an official help page with a large number of articles and user guides to help users familiarize themselves with the platform. There is also an official support forum where you can interact with other LastPass users and find solutions to problems you encounter.
Bitwarden offers customer support via email. There is no option to speak with support agents via live chat or phone. Otherwise, you can head to the official Bitwarden Help Center for articles and user guides to help you navigate the platform. Just like LastPass, there is also an official support forum where you can interact with other Bitwarden users and search for solutions to problems you encounter.
LastPass is the winner in this category, as it offers more support options than Bitwarden. You can speak with LastPass support team over the phone and get instant help, whereas with Bitwarden you have to send an email and wait a few hours for feedback.
pricing
LastPass and Bitwarden both offer a free tier that anyone can use but with limited features.
They offer different paid plans for personal, family and business use. Bitwarden’s Personal tier costs $10 / £10 / AU$15 per year, much less than the equivalent LastPass plan which costs $3 / £3 / AU$5 per month when paid annually.
Bitwarden’s family plan costs $3.33 / £3 / AU$5 per month and supports up to six users, while LastPass charges $4 / £4 / AU$6 per month for the same number of users.
For corporate use, Bitwarden offers two plans; Teams and projects. The first costs $3 / £3 / AU$5 per month per user, while the second costs $5 / £5 / AU$8 per month per user. The difference is that the latter includes advanced functionality such as single sign-on integration.
Similarly, LastPass offers two different levels for corporate users. Businesses with less than 50 employees pay $4 / £4 / AU$6 per user per month for a LastPass subscription. Those with more than 50 employees pay $6 / £6 / AU$9 per month per user.
| Header cell – column 0 | LastPass | bitwarden |
|---|---|---|
| Free class | yes | yes |
| Personal | $3 per month | Less than $1 a month |
| family | $4 per month | $3.33 per month |
| Business | $4 to $6 per user per month | $3 to $5 per user per month |
Bitwarden is clearly the least expensive option. But, note that if you are a large company with hundreds to thousands of employees, you can contact both Bitwarden and LastPass sales teams to arrange a custom plan with deep discounts.
Rule
LastPass and Bitwarden each have their pros and cons against the other. The latter is the more expensive option but offers fewer customer support options. LastPass is more expensive and offers better customer support, making it more suitable for enterprise users.
Both systems provide good performance, so you have nothing to worry about in this category. Overall, we think Bitwarden is the best choice for personal and family use, while LastPass is the best choice for corporate use.
We have listed the best business password managers.