Is It a Protected Password Supervisor?

Bitwarden is an open supply password supervisor that provides a beneficiant free model, a formidable privateness and safety structure, and inexpensive pricing throughout the board.

Its free model is without doubt one of the most full provided by password managers, making it an attractive choice for these on a tighter funds. Whereas its desktop software isn’t probably the most intuitive, its general package deal nonetheless makes it one of many prime password administration apps at the moment.

Is Bitwarden free?

Sure, Bitwarden has a devoted free perpetually model. Bitwarden’s Free Plan is without doubt one of the greatest free password managers obtainable, because it affords limitless passwords and entry for an infinite variety of units. That is in distinction to some password managers, reminiscent of Dashlane, whose free model solely permits entry on one gadget at a time and solely shops 25 passwords.

Bitwarden’s Free Plan comes with all of Bitwarden’s core password administration options, reminiscent of zero-knowledge encryption, username and password generator, and two-step logins. Nevertheless, it doesn’t include Bitwarden’s 24/7 electronic mail assist, emergency entry, and encrypted file attachments just like the paid subscriptions.

Bitwarden’s free tier is without doubt one of the most full free variations obtainable. It’s good for customers on a good funds wanting a fully-functioning password administration system.

SEE: Bitwarden Free vs Premium: Which Plan Is Greatest for You? (TechRepublic)

Bitwarden pricing

Bitwarden affords pricing plans for each private and enterprise use.

Private plan pricing

Other than having a robust free model, Bitwarden continues to be an awesome worth choice with its inexpensive pricing for its private plans. As premium subscriptions vary from $1.66 (RoboForm) to $4.99 (Dashlane) monthly, Bitwarden Premium affords a yearly charge of simply $10 per 12 months, or round $0.83 monthly, to be precise. This makes Bitwarden one of the vital inexpensive password managers obtainable.

Given the lower cost, I might say Bitwarden Premium isn’t probably the most feature-packed password supervisor. It lacks additional options like Dashlane’s built-in VPN or 1Password’s extra polished person interface. Nevertheless, you’re getting the elemental options you want at a really inexpensive value.

For first time customers, I like to recommend making an attempt out Bitwarden’s free model. It’s straightforward to arrange and provides you an honest really feel for his or her service. It additionally helps that upgrading to a premium model isn’t that costly both.

Marketing strategy pricing

Bitwarden’s business-tailored Groups plan falls throughout the traditional pricing in comparison with the competitors. You get 10 customers, all of Bitwarden’s core and premium options, occasion and audit logs, person teams, and a listing connector.

In 2023, Bitwarden’s Groups plan was truly known as Groups Starter and was priced at $20 monthly for as much as 10 customers. In 2024, it’s now simply known as Groups and is priced per person at $4 monthly. It maintains the identical characteristic set, reminiscent of all Bitwarden premium options, occasion and audit logs, and person teams. 

Whereas I personally like how Groups is now priced at a per person foundation, which will be nice for companies that don’t essentially want all 10 seats stuffed, it’s unlucky that it’s now additionally double the value. Because of this the identical 10 customers can be priced at $40 monthly. If you happen to’re searching for a extra inexpensive subscription to your small workforce, 1Password’s Crew Starter Pack is priced at $19.95 monthly for as much as 10 customers.

Fortunately, Bitwarden’s cost-effective Enterprise subscription at $6 monthly, per person was retained from final 12 months. Compared with different business-to-enterprise degree plans, it nonetheless sits as one of many extra inexpensive choices. LastPass’ Marketing strategy is priced at $7 monthly; whereas 1Password’s Enterprise subscription is at $8 per person, monthly.

For options, self-hosting and passwordless SSO integration are solely obtainable on Bitwarden’s Enterprise subscription. You get limitless customers, insurance policies, account restoration administration, and free Households Plan for customers.

Total, Bitwarden’s inexpensive pricing on most of its subscriptions is considered one of its strongest options. If you would like an inexpensive password supervisor that doesn’t skimp out on key options, Bitwarden is a superb decide.

Is Bitwarden actually safe?

Sure, Bitwarden is a secure password supervisor. It operates on a zero-knowledge structure, which signifies that the end-user is the one one with actual entry to their information. It’s additionally distinctive in that it’s open supply software program, permitting the general public to overview their code and monitor it for any vulnerabilities. That is a tremendous little bit of transparency that I do know privateness fanatics will discover worthwhile.

As well as, Bitwarden makes use of business main AES 256 encryption and undergoes common safety audits that validate its safety claims. I additionally respect how Bitwarden makes it clear that person grasp passwords are by no means saved both regionally or in reminiscence. That is large, provided that your grasp password is your important key to unlocking all of your different passwords.

At time of publication, Bitwarden had no reported hacks or information breaches. Altogether, Bitwarden is without doubt one of the most secure password managers to make use of in 2024.

Key options of Bitwarden

On prime of the elemental password supervisor options like password era and encrypted vaults, Bitwarden affords a number of options that assist it stand out from the competitors.

Limitless passwords and units free of charge

Bitwarden is greatest identified for its beneficiant free model. Particularly, the truth that Bitwarden permits for an infinite variety of passwords and units to apply it to free of charge makes it an awesome starter password supervisor, particularly for these on a funds.

In concept, particular person customers don’t must spend for a premium subscription to get a purposeful and safe password supervisor. Different password managers, like Dashlane, solely permit for 25 saved passwords, whereas 1Password doesn’t even supply a free tier of their service altogether.

Bitwarden Ship

Bitwarden Ship permits customers to ship out encrypted recordsdata and textual content for safe file-sharing. It might probably transmit textual content of as much as 1000 encrypted characters or recordsdata of as much as 500 MB. The cool factor about Bitwarden Ship is the configurable lifespan, permitting customers to set how lengthy a textual content or file will be accessed or considered earlier than being deleted from the system.

This characteristic will likely be particularly helpful to customers who recurrently ship out delicate or confidential paperwork like contracts, agreements, and the like.

Emergency entry

Whereas many password managers supply emergency entry, Bitwarden’s implementation stands out for its comfort. In Bitwarden, customers can grant emergency entry to trusted contacts by means of electronic mail — permitting them to request vault entry when wanted. This course of is much more streamlined in comparison with 1Password’s Emergency Equipment system, which makes use of a stowed PDF or Dashlane’s use of a proprietary DASH file for emergency entry.

I like how one can set a Wait Time for vault entry, which supplies the account proprietor time to just accept or deny emergency entry requests if crucial. Do observe that emergency entry is just obtainable for premium Bitwarden customers and isn’t obtainable on their free tier.

Bitwarden authentication and safety choices

Bitwarden consists of two-factor authentication for customers to entry their Bitwarden vaults. It affords quite a few 2FA strategies, reminiscent of an authenticator app, electronic mail, by way of FIDO2 WebAuthn credentials, YubiKey, by way of Duo Safety, and extra. Take observe, nevertheless, that solely the primary three 2FA strategies talked about are provided in Bitwarden’s free model.

By way of safety choices, Bitwarden permits customers to unblock vaults by way of biometric expertise reminiscent of fingerprint or face authentication. Throughout my testing, I used to be in a position to manually set a vault timeout motion to both require re-authentication or a grasp password to unlock my vault after a given period of time.

For password era, Bitwarden allowed me to create a random password with as much as 128 characters. I used to be additionally in a position to create a username utilizing Bitwarden’s password generator — a useful characteristic to make sure I didn’t reuse the identical username for various accounts.

Bitwarden interface and efficiency

Bitwarden’s desktop person interface follows a quite simple and minimalistic design. Whereas it seems clear, I do really feel that it may be extra intuitive by way of menu placement.

I would favor that necessary menus such because the Password Generator and Settings not be hidden in dropdown menus on the prime of the applying.

Bitwarden’s browser extension is extra intuitive to make use of, as necessary menus just like the vault and settings are extra simply accessible.

In 2023, I had a little bit of bother with Bitwarden’s auto-fill performance. Not like different password managers that routinely had pop-up icons in username or password fields for simple auto filling, Bitwarden required me to open their browser extension first, then click on on the recommended credential, for the login particulars to get stuffed in. You may see a pattern of this within the picture under.

If you happen to check out the Amazon electronic mail deal with subject, there’s no Bitwarden emblem or icon in sight to click on on for simple password filling. Whereas this wasn’t the tip of the world, it did add an extra step to the log-in course of and was barely inconvenient — particularly contemplating how that is the same old observe with different password managers.

Now that we’re in 2024, I’m very glad to report that Bitwarden has addressed this concern and now has its autofill menu showing on kind fields whenever you click on on them by default.

For my part, this modification gives a major enchancment to the day-to-day person expertise, because it not solely makes kind filling a lot simpler nevertheless it additionally helps make utilizing Bitwarden really feel like a seamless expertise. Under is a screenshot of the Bitwarden emblem for autofill in a username subject, as per the brand new adjustments applied.

Like final 12 months, Bitwarden’s auto-fill on web page load characteristic continues to be off by default. For context, what auto-fill on web page load does is that when a webpage masses and Bitwarden detects a login kind throughout the web page, your login credentials will routinely get fed to the shape subject with none motion from the person. Per Bitwarden, this characteristic is turned off as a result of some untrusted or malicious web sites could use this to steal person credentials.

To me, I respect Bitwarden going the additional mile in ensuring that its options are literally safe and don’t depart person credentials prone to being stolen. For customers prepared to tackle that danger, it’s nice that Bitwarden provides you the choice to take action.

For password seize and replay, I had zero points with Bitwarden. It was in a position to reliably seize new logins and passwords and replay them as soon as I revisited the corresponding websites.

One small nitpick I’ve, nevertheless, is that Bitwarden doesn’t allow you to generate new passwords from throughout the kind subject itself. While you click on on a password subject, you get an choice so as to add a brand new login as an alternative of getting a pop up of Bitwarden’s password generator.

While you click on “+ New login,” you’re greeted with Bitwarden’s Add merchandise web page that permits you to fill out all of the login data in a single single pane, reminiscent of the positioning title, username, and password. From right here, you’ll be capable of use Bitwarden’s password generator and tweak it to your liking.

Whereas some could like this extra organized method, I personally favor for the password generator to seem as a pop up within the kind subject itself. To me, this is able to make for a faster and extra seamless expertise in saving a brand new login. Once more, that is extra of a private selection, as Bitwarden’s password seize labored with no bother in any respect.

Bitwarden cell app

To Bitwarden’s credit score, their cell software mimics that of their intuitive browser extension. I examined the Bitwarden cell software on my Android telephone.

It adopts an easy-to-use interface and is pretty simple. I observed that the applying’s animations did really feel a bit clunky, nevertheless it was nonetheless a steady expertise general.

I additionally preferred how the Bitwarden cell app doesn’t permit for any screenshots or screen-grabs by default. This can be a delicate however necessary safety characteristic that may assist forestall your credentials from being stolen by dangerous actors.

SEE: Easy methods to Create an Efficient Cybersecurity Consciousness Program (TechRepublic Premium)

Bitwarden professionals

• Free model with limitless password storage.
• Very inexpensive pricing throughout plans.
• Simple-to-use emergency entry characteristic.
• Encrypted file-sharing system.
• Open-source.
• Clear safety popularity.
• Improved auto fill capabilities.

Bitwarden cons

• Desktop UI will be extra intuitive.
• Doesn’t have a ton of additional options.

Is Bitwarden value it?

Bitwarden’s beneficiant free model, zero-knowledge encryption, and inexpensive pricing make it an awesome selection for customers searching for a bang-for-your-buck password supervisor. The truth that you get limitless passwords and may entry them on limitless units, on prime of its open supply platform, makes Bitwarden a robust contender within the password supervisor house.

Whereas its desktop software will be extra intuitive, Bitwarden packs numerous worth for cash throughout all its plans to make it maybe the perfect funds password supervisor obtainable.

Bitwarden options

If you happen to discover that Bitwarden lacks in performance, I’ve listed a number of options that may very well be a greater match to your wants and workflow.

Dashlane

Dashlane is a well known password supervisor answer that provides top-tier safety, tons of options, and a modern person interface. It comes with a formidable darkish internet monitor characteristic that sends customers alerts in case a saved password or credential is concerned in a knowledge breach. It additionally permits for limitless safe password-sharing to share credentials with a number of customers.

To be taught extra, learn our full Dashlane overview.

1Password

For individuals who prioritize safety above all, 1Password is an effective selection. On prime of the common password administration options, it comes with vulnerability alerts and phishing safety to safeguard in opposition to malicious people. It additionally routinely locks the password vault during times of inactivity, including an extra degree of safety to defending your logins.

To be taught extra, learn our full 1Password overview.

Keeper

For giant organizations, Keeper is usually a nice match. It gives a extra organizational method to password administration with folders, subfolders, and shared workforce folders. For safety, Keeper additionally implements darkish internet monitoring that scans worker data and informs them of any points with their credentials.

To be taught extra, learn our full Keeper overview.

Incessantly requested questions on Bitwarden

Has Bitwarden been breached earlier than?

No, Bitwarden has by no means been breached. As of October 2024, there have been no experiences of incidents the place Bitwarden’s service or infrastructure has been compromised in any manner.

The place are you able to discover a tutorial on how you can use Bitwarden?

You may try our Easy methods to Use Bitwarden information that takes you thru the step-by-step course of of selecting a Bitwarden subscription, organising the Bitwarden browser extension, and saving your first password, amongst different issues.

We additionally present some ideas and methods on how you can greatest use Bitwarden for your corporation and how you can maximize its characteristic set.

Can Bitwarden be used on a number of units?

Sure, Bitwarden can be utilized on an infinite variety of units regardless in case you have an lively Bitwarden Premium subscription or are a Bitwarden Free Plan person.

What platforms does Bitwarden assist?

For desktop, Bitwarden has purposes for Home windows, macOS, and Linux. It additionally has cell apps for each iOS, Android, and F-Droid

By way of internet browser extensions, Bitwarden helps Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Courageous, Vivaldi, Tor, and DuckDuckGo.

Evaluation methodology

My overview of Bitwarden concerned an in depth evaluation of its security measures, value, and real-world efficiency. I had hands-on expertise with Bitwarden by means of its free model and supplemented my findings with person testimonials and respected evaluations.

To check Bitwarden, I put in its desktop software on my Home windows laptop computer and its cell app on my Google Pixel 6. I additionally examined Bitwarden’s Chrome extension on my browser.

I rated Bitwarden on every little thing from its password administration options to its pricing based mostly on an inside algorithm to get a ranking of 4.6 out of 5 stars. The scoring was based mostly each on Bitwarden by itself and in relation to different obtainable password managers.