We Tried 4 Password Managers. Which One Came Out On Top?

Have you been spending a lot more time and money online right now? With e-commerce booming it's safe to say, everyone is opting for online shopping.

But unfortunately, it's becoming less safe by the day with many online threats. Hacking attempts have increased dramatically over the past several weeks and look to only continue and become more technically advanced. Let's be honest - none of us are going to stop going online.

One of the best and easiest things you can do to protect yourself online is to use a secure password manager. Protect your password and your whole account, and your information will be protected.

Trying to decide which password manager to go with can be hard, especially with all that confusing tech jargon. So we tried the top-rated password managers and broke them down to see what each one really offers and which one's the best.

Here's what we found:

Dashlane

Dashlane appears to be the most popular password protector out there. From our analysis, that's down to its user-friendly format and high-security aspects while still offering a variety of powerful features. It comes with two-factor authentication, VPN (Virtual Private Network), and dark web monitoring.

This means:

• It supports standard two-factor authentication apps such as Authy, Google Authenticator, and FreeOTP, as well as biometric identification and USB authentication through YubiKey.
• It unblocks geo-restricted streaming services without slowing down the internet connection, and their no-logs policy ensures that Dashlane can't store your browsing data.
• While scanning the dark web for logins, financial data, and ID info so if your identity has been breached, Dashlane will notify you immediately and recommend a solution.

Our favorite and most used feature is the Password Changer - with one click you can replace hundreds of passwords. Dashlane is the only password manager with this feature which saves a ton of time, and you can sync across multiple devices and safely store your payment info.

Dashlane has a free version that isn't like a trial; it comes with many of the above features, including 50 passwords, form & payment autofill, securely sharing of up to 5 accounts, personalized security alerts, and two-factor authentication.

They also offer a Premium and Premium Plus versions that start at only $4.99/month and offer so many amazing features; unlimited passwords and devices, share unlimited accounts, dark web monitoring, VPN for Wifi protection, credit monitoring, identity restoration support and so much more including storing cards, notes, and addresses too.

1Password

The choice for families with children on the internet. You can share the Families subscription with up to 5 individuals. Each family member gets two password vaults — a Private vault and a Shared vault. The Shared vault is useful for storing the Wi-Fi password, the Netflix login, and the code for your home security system.

It also comes with features such as:

• Watchtower - notifies you when your password has been breached, assesses overall password strength, and generates new passwords.
• Two-factor authentication
• Travel Mode - Deletes sensitive information from your device when you travel and restores it when you return home.
• Limit Sharing function - Children can have access to the passwords but not the ability to change them.

All of this is useful when you have small children but it doesn't offer the same protection as Dashlane against the dark web, which has a greater range of powerful features. Also, there's no free version, only a paid trial that starts at $4.99/month.

NordPass

Designed by NordVPN - the cybersecurity experts so it may sound familiar. But it was the least advanced system we tried. It simply stores and auto-fills your passwords.

NordPass free version does not allow you to access your passwords on multiple devices at the same time or share items from your vault. They do offer a premium version that allows you to access passwords on up to six devices and share items for $4.99 per month. This is pricey compared to other services that offer so much more.

NordPass is an easy-to-use password manager with an attractive interface but it offers very few advanced features such as form-filling, folders, security monitoring, or two-factor authentication key support.

LastPass

LastPass was one of the first password managers on the market, and the first complete solution for storing and synchronizing user's passwords. The key features of LastPass are;

• Unlimited storage of passwords
• Automatic backup and syncing
• Automated filling of web forms
• Security Challenge password audit
• Multi-factor authentication

LastPass can also act as your 'digital wallet' and store a variety of other details like credit cards, secure notes, addresses, online identities, insurance cards, passports, driving license, and more. However, It's not so user-friendly.- The dashboard is a little bit confusing and messy, especially for less tech-savvy users. It worked great but everything took a few extra steps and the audit report lacked information.

It's clear many password managers offer similar features; saving and storing passwords, generating new passwords, two-factor authentication, and so on. But, once you start to use them you see the details that set them apart.

Our Favorite

For ease of use and variety of features, our top pick is Dashlane. It is the easiest platform to use with the best user-interface and offers the widest variety of useful and powerful features at the best value.

Final word: Dashlane is the absolute best when it comes to password managers and securing yourself online. It's comprehensive audit report, simple user-interface and identity theft protection for web surfing truly sets it apart. Plus, Dashlane uses the military-grade 256-bit AES to encrypt your data and derive the master password using PBKDF2 SHA-256. In simple words, it would take more than a billion years for hackers to decode your encrypted data.

The free version gives you so much, but the premium version comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so there's no risk in trying it out.