5 Best Password Managers for Windows in 2021

Bottom Line:

Dashlane is my favorite password manager for Windows. Dashlane is very secure (it has strong encryption, 2FA, password strength auditing, and dark web monitoring), it’s user-friendly and intuitive, and it comes with a lot of extra features — including a one-click password changer, a VPN, Windows Hello compatibility, 1 GB encrypted storage, and more. Dashlane’s free plan includes a free trial of Dashlane Premium, and all Dashlane purchases come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

?2. 1Password — Best for Easy Password Management

1Password is secure, user-friendly, and has a lot of additional tools — making it a great choice for Windows users who are looking for a password manager that’s easy to use yet also feature-rich.

During my tests, the 1Password desktop app worked smoothly on Windows, allowing me to easily generate, organize, and share passwords. I was also happy to learn that 1Password is compatible with Windows Hello, so I could use my fingerprint and face ID to quickly access my password vault (1Password also supports Windows Hello companion devices like fingerprint readers or USB keys on older devices without facial recognition technology).

1Password comes with the following features:

• Unlimited password storage.
• Multi-device sync.
• 2FA.
• Password sharing.
• Password security auditing.
• Dark web monitoring.
• Account recovery.
• Encrypted storage (1 GB).

I really like 1Password’s password security auditing feature — while this feature isn’t unique to 1Password, I was impressed with how easy it was for me to check which of my passwords were weak, duplicates, or compromised in a security breach. I also think it’s very cool that 1Password’s security auditing feature monitors credit card expiration dates, notifying you whether any of your cards are expiring soon and need to be replaced with new ones.

1Password offers two plans — 1Password Personal includes unlimited passwords on unlimited devices, 2FA, password sharing, password auditing, dark web monitoring, and 1 GB of encrypted file storage, and 1Password Families adds a shared vault, coverage for up to 5 users, and account recovery. 1Password is also the only password manager on this list that lets you add as many users as you want under 1 plan — which makes 1Password particularly great for families or households with lots of people.

Bottom Line:

1Password is a user-friendly Windows password manager with lots of features — it’s a particularly good choice for beginners and non-technical users as well as large families (1Password lets you add as many users as you want to its family plan). 1Password has high-security features like strong encryption, 2FA (including compatibility with Windows Hello), password security auditing, dark web monitoring, secure password sharing, account recovery, and more. You can try out all of 1Password’s premium features with a 14-day free trial.

?3. RoboForm — Best for Advanced Form-Filling

RoboForm has a really good form-filling tool — it’s very accurate at auto-filling all sorts of web forms, from simple ones like Facebook and Instagram logins to very complicated ones like online shopping, banking, and accounting forms.

The RoboForm Windows app and the RoboForm browser extension are both easy to install and use — RoboForm’s intuitive interface and easy-to-use customization options make it a good choice for non-technical users.

There are 8 different templates that RoboForm can automatically fill out, including forms for addresses, banks, automobiles, and passports. In my testing, RoboForm completed each test web form in just one click, filling out all of my information in appropriate fields with zero errors.

RoboForm also includes:

• Unlimited passwords across unlimited devices.
• Windows application logins.
• 2FA.
• Password auditing.
• Emergency access.
• Secure folder for sharing passwords.
• Secure bookmarks storage.
• Secure notes storage.

RoboForm is one of the rare password managers to offer application logins — meaning you can save and auto-fill logins for your Windows applications, like Skype and iTunes.

We also really like RoboForm’s secure notes storage, which made it easy for me to save and share important information such as safe lock combinations, internet passwords, passport information, and even secret family recipes!

We also like RoboForm’s password auditing tool — it checks the strength of passwords using the “zxcvbn” algorithm, which is an open-source algorithm that many cybersecurity experts, including myself, believe is the most accurate password strength tool available today.

RoboForm Free offers unlimited logins, password auditing, secure password sharing, application logins, and bookmarks storage. With RoboForm Everywhere, you also get multi-device sync, 2FA, emergency access, and cloud backup. RoboForm Everywhere Family is the same, but it covers up to 5 users.

Bottom Line:

RoboForm has excellent form-filling capabilities — it accurately fills out even the most advanced web forms with one click. RoboForm also comes with lots of additional features, like 2FA, application logins, bookmarks storage, and more. You can try out RoboForm with a 30-day free trial, and all RoboForm purchases come with a 30-day money back guarantee.

4. Keeper — Best for Additional Security Features

Keeper comes with a wide range of high-security features — it uses 256-bit AES encryption, has a variety of multi-factor authentication options, and is Service Organization Controls (SOC 2) compliant, which means that Keeper regularly undergoes security audits to ensure that all user data is 100% safe.

The Keeper Windows app is really good — it has a clean, modern, and well-organized interface, all the features are easily accessible, and everything works exactly as promised. That said, I wasn’t too impressed with Keeper’s browser extension — it’s good for auto-saving and auto-filling passwords, but it doesn’t have some of the advanced functionality of other browser extensions like Dashlane’s or 1Password’s.

Keeper also has:

• Dark web monitoring (BreachWatch).
• Encrypted chat (KeeperChat).
• Password security auditing.
• Secure storage (10 GB).
• Emergency access.
• Biometric login with Windows Hello.

I really like Keeper’s dark web monitoring feature which searches the dark web for breached logins and passwords, alerting users if their credentials have been compromised. While some top competitors also scan the dark web for compromised credentials, I think Keeper does a particularly good job at detecting security breaches — during my tests, Keeper alerted me that one of my emails had been breached, which most competing password managers failed to catch!

Keeper’s free plan comes with unlimited passwords, but only on 1 device. Keeper Unlimited offers unlimited passwords on unlimited devices, 2FA, emergency access, password security auditing, and more. You can upgrade to the Keeper Plus Bundle to add dark web monitoring and secure file storage. And the Keeper Max Bundle is where you also get the encrypted messaging app. Keeper also has a range of family options.

Bottom Line:

Keeper is a highly secure password manager with a lot of additional features — including dark web monitoring, 10 GB of secure storage, multi-factor authentication, an encrypted chat, and password security auditing. Keeper has lots of different plans to choose from, both for individuals and families, and you can try all of Keeper’s premium features with a 30-day free trial.

5. LastPass — Best Free Windows Password Manager

LastPass has a good free plan for Windows users that offers unlimited password storage on an unlimited number of devices for a single user. LastPass is also one of the only free password managers to include password sharing — you can share unlimited passwords, but only with 1 other user.

Both LastPass’s Windows app and browser extensions performed well during my tests — I had no problems using all of the provided features, and I found it very easy to generate, save, fill out, and share logins (but some of LastPass’s browser extensions have limited functionality).

LastPass Free has:

• Unlimited password storage on unlimited devices.
• One-to-one password sharing.
• Account recovery.
• Password auditing.
• Automatic password changer.

What I like the most about LastPass is that it offers several options to recover your account in case you forget your master password — for instance, LastPass can send a recovery code to your mobile phone, or you can restore a previous master password up to 30 days after setting up a new master password.

While LastPass Free is good, LastPass Premium is even better, adding features like one-to-many password sharing, dark web monitoring, emergency access, and 1 GB of storage. LastPass Families is the same as Premium, adding coverage for up to 6 users.

Bottom Line:

LastPass has a good free plan for Windows users. LastPass Free comes with unlimited password storage on an unlimited number of devices for one user, plus password sharing with one other user, 2FA, account recovery, and password auditing. The premium version of LastPass adds advanced features like password sharing with multiple users, dark web monitoring, emergency access, and cloud storage. You can try LastPass with a 30-day free trial.

COMPARISON OF THE BEST PASSWORD MANAGERS FOR WINDOWS

Comparison of the Best Password Managers for Windows

1. Why can’t I just use the Chrome/Firefox/Edge password manager?

While your browser’s built-in password manager may be convenient, it’s just not that good — it only works on the browser, it doesn’t sync across devices, it can’t share passwords, the auto-filling functions are not good, and it won’t audit your password vault.

Unlike browser-based password managers, the products I’ve recommended here generate strong, unbreakable passwords, accurately auto-fill logins and various web forms, provide additional features like password sharing, password auditing, and dark web monitoring, and work across all browsers, devices, and operating systems.

2. Can I sync my Windows passwords with Android/iOS/Mac devices?

Definitely! One of the great things about third-party password managers is that they offer functionality on almost every device, browser, and operating system.

For example, with all of the password managers listed here, you can install the mobile app on an iPhone, the desktop app on a PC, and the Android app on a tablet — and all of your logins and encrypted files will be synced up between each of your devices.

3. Are these password managers really secure?

Absolutely! I only recommend password managers that use zero-knowledge protocols — ensuring that all data is encrypted before it gets to the password manager’s servers. This one-way encryption makes it impossible for the company to access any user data.

Also, the encryption methods these password managers use are virtually unbreakable. They’re the same encryption methods used by banks, major tech corporations, and even by the military.

Even if somebody hacked your computer and found your master password, they wouldn’t be able to access your passwords because they would fail the two-factor authentication test that all of these password managers have.

In short, all of these password managers are the most secure options today in 2021 but Dashlane takes the #1 Prize for 2021 in our testing.

4. Can I use these password managers with Windows Hello?

Dashlane, 1Password, LastPass, Keeper, and RoboForm are all compatible with Windows Hello.

Dashlane was the easiest for us, my family and friends during GeeksByTheHour extensive testing to set up with Windows Hello. After toggling a couple of settings, I was able to access my password vault with just my fingerprint — no master password needed!