Bitwarden Password Manager
Move fast and securely with the password manager trusted by millions.
About Bitwarden Password Manager
Bitwarden is an open source password manager for businesses and individuals. End-to-end encryption, secure password sharing, cross-platform accessibility and flexible integrations are just a few of the many reasons Bitwarden is one of the best tools around for securing your online data.
In this review, Forbes Advisor takes a look under the hood of Bitwarden to give you a glimpse at what you can expect in terms of features, ease of use, security and support. You’ll learn everything you need to know to decide whether Bitwarden is the best password manager for you.
PROS
- Two-factor authentication
- Unlimited devices and syncing
- Feature-rich free plan
- Budget-friendly paid plans
CONS
- Interface not intuitive
- Autofill feature can be glitchy
- Sharing files is somewhat complicated
- Limited customer support
Bitwarden Password Manager Overview
Many free password managers have annoying limitations that force most people to upgrade to a paid tier. Not Bitwarden. The free version of this open-source password manager does not restrict you to a certain number of entries or prevent you from syncing your vault across all your devices. Even the paid version, which adds several high-end security tools, is very affordable.
Our main complaints with Bitwarden are that the Premium tier offers very little encrypted storage space by default, and that it had trouble automatically capturing and filling credentials on certain pages in our testing. Those issues notwithstanding, Bitwarden wins an Editors’ Choice award for the free password manager category. However, if you want to pay for a password manager, other products offer a more seamless and sophisticated experience, albeit at an increased cost.
Features
Bitwarden is quite impressive in terms of the number of features it offers on all its plans. All free and paid plan users benefit from:
- A secure password generator (that creates exceptionally strong passwords)
- Unlimited vault items
- Unlimited number and types of devices
- Unlimited syncing
- Free cloud hosting
- Bitwarden Send (a tool that lets you securely transmit data to anyone)
- Encrypted data export
Security
Bitwarden adopts a zero-knowledge encryption approach to protecting your data, which means not even Bitwarden staff can access the information you store. AES 256-bit encryption—considered a virtually unbreachable way to encrypt data—keeps every item in your password vault secure. In addition to keeping passwords and login information in your Bitwarden vault, you can also securely store notes, credit card numbers and personal or business information such as addresses.
Two-step authentication for account access is accomplished in a variety of ways. Creating a strong Master Password is the first way to protect your Bitwarden account. You can then use a second method to verify your identity, such as using an authenticator app like Authy or Google Authenticator, a YubiKey, TOP Security Key or Duo Push. You can also request a verification code be sent to you via SMS or email.
Plans & Pricing
Bitwarden has three types of plans: Baisc, Premium and Family. The chart below breaks down the key differences among these plans.
Reviews
How good & safe is it?
If you're looking for a truly secure solution to store all your passwords, you could certainly do worse than Bitwarden.
The best free password manager available today?
One of the top password managers around, Bitwarden is secure, feature-packed, open-source, and has support for mobile devices.
Free, open-source password management for everyone
The open-source Bitwarden’s free tier handles all expected password manager tasks with surprisingly few limitations. Its paid tier adds security and storage tools at an extremely low price for the category.
Ranked #2 in Best Password Managers of 2022
Bitwarden securely saves and synchronizes your logins across as many devices as you want and includes a password generator to create new, random passwords for your accounts. It provides desktop and mobile apps as well as browser extensions.
This free password manager has few restrictions, and little polish
Bitwarden’s generous free plan makes it a good option for users on a budget, but you’ll get more polished experience and advanced features with a paid password manager.
Bitwarden has the best free tier of any password manager
Bitwarden's free version has the basics of a good password manager, and its premium features are inexpensive. However, Bitwarden isn't the most intuitive platform to use.
