Password Managers: Bitwarden vs Google Password Manager

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biggles

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1. I have family members who write down the myriad of online passwords on a piece of paper and keep this in a drawer.
2. I have an Excel spreadsheet that contains passwords sorted alpha for easy retrieval. The computer is password protected (Windows password for login).
3. Google has a password manager, free, looks like this would be easier to start using vs item 4 below.
4. I have done some reading about password managers like 1password and lastpass. The one that sounded best was Bitwarden.

Questions:
In terms of security, is it fair to say 4>3>2>1? For password managers you would need a "master password" to access the long list of passwords. So, it seems like the main security risk there is that someone nefarious gets a hold of your "master password", correct?

FWIW I am smart enough to use passwords that are not easy to guess and I do NOT use the same passwords on multiple websites.

Any opinions on Bitwarden vs other password managers?
 
I currently have LastPass, but their fees for mobile is ridiculous. I'm moving to Bitwarden.

You can also 2FA your password manager, which I use Authy.
 
I don't know anything about Bitwarden. However, I have also used Lastpass for 8+ years. They keep changing their plans around (they were bought two years ago.) Their current plans actually allow access on mobile for free. I don't think most people would need their premium services, unless you need to share your passwords with multiple family members. I still have premium from when they required it for mobile. It was only $12/ year then. I keep it now as I am grandfathered into the $12/year plan.

It's dead simple to use and there is broad support for all devices. If you are on IOS, be sure you check how well Bitwarden integrates. IOS has funny requirements.
 
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warhol76 said:
I don't know anything about Bitwarden. However, I have also used Lastpass for 8+ years. They keep changing their plans around (they were bought two years ago.) Their current plans actually allow access on mobile for free. I don't think most people would need their premium services, unless you need to share your passwords with multiple family members. I still have premium from when they required it for mobile. It was only $12/ year then. I keep it now as I am grandfathered into the $12/year plan.

It's dead simple to use and there is broad support for all devices. If you are on IOS, be sure you check how well Bitwarden integrates. IOS has funny requirements.
Click to expand...
How did you get grandfathered in?
 
Farva said:
How did you get grandfathered in?
Click to expand...
i genuinely have no idea. I assume because that it what I was paying for the premium service before they changed it. I have been paying the $12 / year since 2011 (just checked to be sure I knew what I was paying.)
 
biggles said:
1. I have family members who write down the myriad of online passwords on a piece of paper and keep this in a drawer.
2. I have an Excel spreadsheet that contains passwords sorted alpha for easy retrieval. The computer is password protected (Windows password for login).
3. Google has a password manager, free, looks like this would be easier to start using vs item 4 below.
4. I have done some reading about password managers like 1password and lastpass. The one that sounded best was Bitwarden.

Questions:
In terms of security, is it fair to say 4>3>2>1? For password managers you would need a "master password" to access the long list of passwords. So, it seems like the main security risk there is that someone nefarious gets a hold of your "master password", correct?

FWIW I am smart enough to use passwords that are not easy to guess and I do NOT use the same passwords on multiple websites.

Any opinions on Bitwarden vs other password managers?
Click to expand...

I switched from Dashlane to Bitwarden a month or so ago and now that I'm used to it, I really like it.
 
I started using Bitwarden here.....It is very handy and is easily pulled up on my android or windows device. The google password manager for some reason gets things confused going from mobile to pc...not really sure why i could never log in correctly when switching from phone on road to pc at home....yes some sites did all right and it almost seemed kinda random when it remembered the incorrect pws. So far im having a much better experience with BW and im able to long into everything from phone to pc.

Bottom line its Open Source, Its Free, And it easy to use. And it makes it very easy to generate impossible pws to Hack and keep up with them for me. Yes if someone had knowledge of your user account name and master password, you would be in for a bad day. But that make it only ONE really hard password to keep up with, versus dozens. Im gonna keep using it.:)
 
I use KeePass.

Database file is hosted on a VPS instance. Clients for iOS and Windows are not a problem, Mac OS is a different story. I'm connecting to my VPN instance using SFTP to retrieve the database file and I cannot find a Mac OS client that supports SFTP. Right now I'm using Wine to run the Windows KeePass client on Mac OS, but I wish there was a better native client. The database file is password and key file protected. My home server checks in with the KeePass server every few minutes to see if the database file changed and backs it up if it did. And my home server in turn runs nightly backups to a small server at my parents house for an offsite backup.

I did not know about BitWarden, that looks kinda cool. Wish there was a self-hosting option. I try my hardest NOT to use google products and services so their password manager would be right out for me.

Another option you might find interesting is Kee (https://www.kee.pm/). Basically hosted KeePass.
 
Last edited:
Wrecked Em said:
I use KeePass. Totally free, syncs between devices via gdrive/onedrive/etc., but otherwise not cloud dependent.
Click to expand...
Second this one. Going to have to try Bitwarden and see.
Have some customers using Lastpass and it works usually for them but every so often it troughs errors and is a pain to correct.

Keepass really only need the DB file. Easy to use and there is USB stick option that makes it even easier to use.
 
I am in the market for one, I checked out BitWarden and also was looking at DashLane. Any thoughts on DashLane?
 
I been trying dashlane and have since moved to bitwarden. It did not take long to make the change.

Dashlane seems simple, but the free version is limited to one device and 50 entries. I use a few want the convenience of being able to change plus 50 entries is pretty small. Not a problem in Dashlane. Just hand that 60 bucks.

I like thee features and the ease of use of bitwarden and if I decide to go premium then it is ~10 bucks. Which I don't mind supporting either just for ease of pocket book bitwarden is cheaper and does the same things with the added benefit of free. if you need the 2 factor, which once I get migrated over I will probably enable. But at least for now bitwarden is doing fine.
 
Another LastPass user here. I pay for Premium and it has worked pretty well for me on both PC and mobile. It can be a bit clunky at times but does the job and I have no complaints.
 
LastPass premium user here. No complain, the yearly fee seems fair to me. But if I ever consider switching then Bitwarden would definitely be high on my list.
 
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