Best Password Managers in 2025 (Free & Paid)

Nobody likes to remember endless passwords for all of their different accounts, which is where password managers come in to make your life a lot easier.

A password manager is an app that helps you create, remember, and fill in passwords. The user only needs to memorize a single master password, making it much easier and safer to manage passwords across multiple accounts.

Password managers can make your digital life much safer and more convenient, and many are free, so there’s little reason not to use one. But which one is best? If you don’t want to read the whole article, here’s a summary.

We found these to be the best password managers:

1. Proton Pass: Best overall password manager. Developed by the team behind ProtonMail and ProtonVPN, it offers strong end-to-end encryption, open-source transparency, and secure cloud syncing. It’s easy to use and privacy-focused above all else.
2. Dashlane: Excellent all-rounder. A safe choice if you want an easy-to-use password manager. It has a decent free option and the Premium option has some nice extras such as automatic data backups and syncs to all devices.
3. Sticky Password: A good all-round password manager. It’s very easy to use, secure, and syncs across devices. Highly recommended.
4. LastPass: A decent free service and for just $3 per month, the Premium is great value and well worth the money.
5. NordPass: If you are looking for a low-cost, easy-to-use password manager NordPass is a good option. Paid and free options available.
6. Password Manager Pro: A password management solution for enterprises with a free version available for small businesses.
7. 1Password: A paid-only password manager, targeted at businesses, teams, and families.
8. KeePass: A great, free, secure password manager but tougher to use than most and not for the non-technical.

Password manager testing criteria

We chose these password managers based on the following criteria:

• Security and privacy: We look for the highest levels of encryption, along with additional features such as biometric logins and passkeys. A zero-knowledge policy is also essential.
• Usability: Support for multiple platforms, cross-device syncing, and easy-to-use apps are just some of the criteria we use to score usability.
• Price: Subscription cost is a key factor in our pricing score, but it’s not everything. We also consider free trials, money-back guarantees, and more.
• Customer support: We look at the ways to get in touch with support, test response times, and resolution quality.

We cover our methodology in more detail later in this article.

Best password managers

Here’s our list of the best password managers:

1. Proton Pass

Nov 2025

Proton Pass is a privacy-first password manager created by the team behind ProtonMail and Proton VPN. Based in Switzerland, it combines ease of use with exceptional security, offering both free and paid versions.

Free version

The free plan includes unlimited password storage on a single device, autofill for logins and credit cards, and strong end-to-end encryption. It also lets you store secure notes and access Proton’s open-source browser extensions.

Premium version

The paid plan starts at $1.99 per month, making it one of the most affordable premium password managers on the market. The upgrade adds:

• Password syncing across unlimited devices
• Support for multiple vaults and email aliases
• A built-in 2FA authenticator
• Dark web monitoring for compromised credentials
• Priority support from Proton’s Zurich-based security team

Functionality

Proton Pass works across all major platforms, including:

• Windows
• macOS
• iOS
• Android

It also supports browser extensions for:

• Chrome
• Firefox
• Edge
• Brave

Your passwords and data can be managed through a simple dashboard that integrates with your Proton account for a fully integrated privacy experience.

THE BEST PASSWORD MANAGER:Proton Pass is our top pick. It’s incredibly powerful, but surprisingly easy to use. End-to-end encryption makes it secure, and it can be used across most popular platforms.

Read our full Proton Pass review

2. Dashlane

Dashlane is a feature-rich password manager with an easy-to-use interface. Both free and paid versions are available.

Free version

The free version is limited to 25 passwords and lets you share up to five of them.

Premium version

The paid version is a bit more expensive than some of the competitors here (at $4.99 a month). However, we believe the quality of this provider justifies the price. The Premium version includes:

• Password syncing
• Unlimited devices
• Unlimited passwords
• The option of two-factor authentication (2FA), which can be set up to further secure your account
• The option to add an emergency contact
• The ability to set up personalize security alerts

Functionality

Dashlane works across a wide range of devices including:

• Windows
• MacOS
• iOS
• Android

You can also use this password manager with the following browsers:

• Chrome
• Safari
• Firefox
• Edge

Everything can be managed from a security dashboard.

PAID AND FREE PLANS AVAILABLE:Dashlane can suit all budgets. It has a solid free plan, and the paid plan is great value for the features included. It’s an ideal choice for beginners.

Read our full Dashlane review.

COMPLETELY FREE:KeePass is completely open-source and doesn’t cost anything. You need to be tech-savvy to use it, and it’s only officially available on Windows.

Read our full KeePass review.

Why use a password manager?

Password managers ensure you can use unique, hard-to-guess passwords with ease

The average internet user has dozens or even hundreds of online accounts. To maximize security, all of the passwords for those accounts should be unique. Why? Because if cybercriminals manage to steal a password for one account, they’ll try to use the same password on many other accounts.

Cybercriminals know that most people — two out of three, according to one study — reuse passwords across multiple accounts. This attack is called credential stuffing. It’s usually an automated attack that allows hackers to make hundreds or even thousands of login attempts in a very short period of time.

Unique passwords for every account prevent credential stuffing, but memorizing 100 different passwords isn’t feasible for most of us. That’s where password managers come in.

Methodology: how we test password managers

There are an array of providers out there competing for your cash in return for a password manager that removes one less headache from your busy life online. But with so many choices, how do you know which is best? That’s where we come in. We use several tests and criteria to determine which password managers to recommend before listing them. Here’s a snapshot of what we look for:

1. Encryption: We look for password managers that use industry-standard encryption algorithms, such as AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) with 256-bit keys.
2. Ease of use: We find software that has an intuitive design and is easy to set up and use.
3. Security features: We consider security features like two-factor authentication, which adds an extra layer of protection by requiring you to confirm your identity with a second device or service.
4. Pricing: We look for providers that have a free tier of service and reasonable prices for premium features.
5. Privacy: We also take into account each provider’s privacy policy when making our recommendations. Some providers collect data about your usage in order to improve their services, while others do not.
6. Customer support: We prefer password managers that offer 24/7 customer support in case you run into any problems.

You can find out more in our guide to how we test password managers.

How do password managers work?

Most password managers do three main things:

• Generate new passwords
• Store passwords safely
• Input passwords automatically

Password generation simply creates strong passwords of at least 12 characters with a combination of:

• Numbers
• Upper- and lower-case letters
• Symbols

We have a password generator of our own on Comparitech. Once you’ve added an existing password or generated a new one, the password manager stores it. It uses your master password as a key to encrypt all of the other passwords so they can’t be deciphered if anyone manages to steal them. They can only be decrypted when you enter the master password.

Passwords are stored in a database alongside the websites and apps where they are used to log in. When you arrive at a login page, the password manager will recognize it and prompt you to enter the master password. After doing so, it fetches the correct password for the app or website and fills it in for you.

How do I use a password manager?

Once you’ve signed up and downloaded a password manager app, you’ll probably start by entering your existing passwords into it.

Password manager apps can either be browser extensions for web browsers like Chrome and Firefox, or native apps that run directly on:

• Windows
• MacOS
• iOS
• Android

After the initial setup, most of them simply run in the background and only appear when you arrive at a login page. It’s usually possible to fetch passwords on-demand as well so you can simply copy and paste them as needed.

How do I choose a password manager?

There are plenty of options out there, so which password manager should you choose? First of all, be sure to stick to reputable brands with a strong track record for security and privacy. All of the password managers we recommend meet our standards in this regard.

Beyond that, it comes down to:

• Price
• Features
• Compatibility

Price: Should I pay for a password manager?

Many password managers are free or at least have free versions. These are fine but might not have the full set of features offered by paid password managers.

These days, password managers are often bundled with other security software such as antivirus and VPNs. NordPass, for example, is bundled with the NordVPN service at no extra cost.

Paid password managers offer additional features that often cater to power users and businesses.

Features

Many password managers come with additional features, many of which are limited to paid users. These might include:

• Password sharing with other users such as your family members or colleagues
• Syncing passwords between devices
• Live customer support
• Setting an emergency contact who can use your passwords if you are incapacitated
• Password strength auditing
• Web form autofill
• Duplicate password removal
• Two-step verification/two-factor authentication
• Bulk password adding

You may also want to consider the app design and user experience. Some password managers cater to complete novices while others are focused on more tech-savvy users.

Compatibility

Make sure the password manager you choose works with all of your devices and web browsers. There’s no point in signing up for a password manager that doesn’t work on your device.

Are password managers safe?

While no software can ever guarantee 100 percent security at all times, password managers are, broadly speaking, quite safe. We talk more about this in our ‘are password managers safe?‘ article.

We recommend using a password manager that uses strong encryption and doesn’t store your master password on its servers. That way, if the company that makes the password manager is ever hacked, your passwords remain safe. All of the password managers we recommend meet these standards.

Compared to reusing the same password across multiple accounts or writing them down in plain text, passwords are a huge improvement for privacy and security.

Additional ways to protect your security

Using a password manager should be one way of protecting your online security and privacy but not the only way. To prevent malicious hackers from gaining access to your personal information, we recommend supplementing a password manager with the following tools (assuming your chosen provider doesn’t already offer them):

• Antivirus software
• Firewall
• VPN