The Best LastPass Alternatives in 2024: An In-Depth Look

In today‘s digital world, using a password manager is one of the most important steps you can take to protect your online security. With data breaches and hacks continuously on the rise, relying on weak, easily guessed passwords or reusing the same password across multiple accounts is incredibly risky.

Consider these alarming statistics:

81% of data breaches are caused by compromised, weak, and reused passwords, according to the 2022 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report
A 2021 study by Nordpass found that the average person has over 100 passwords to keep track of
Google recorded a 50% increase in compromised passwords in 2022 compared to 2021

Using unique, complex passwords for every account and storing them in an encrypted vault is critical for minimizing your risk. That‘s where a trusted password manager comes in.

The LastPass Problem

For years, LastPass has been a go-to recommendation as a user-friendly, feature-rich password manager. However, the company‘s reputation has taken a major hit due to several recent security incidents:

In August 2022, LastPass reported that portions of its source code and proprietary technical information were stolen in a data breach. The attacker leveraged information from this breach to target an employee, gaining access to credentials and keys used to access LastPass cloud-based storage.
Then in December 2022, LastPass CEO Karim Toubba disclosed that the threat actor had copied a backup of customer vault data from the encrypted storage service. While sensitive vault data was encrypted, the attacker likely had months to attempt to brute force master passwords and make credential stuffing attacks on accounts.
These breaches followed several other prior incidents, including a master password compromise bug in 2011, two breaches in 2015, and a vulnerability that leaked user credentials in 2017.

This pattern of breaches has understandably left many LastPass customers feeling betrayed and looking for alternatives that have a stronger security track record. If that includes you, read on for our takes on the top five LastPass alternatives to consider in 2024.

How We Tested and Compared

As cybersecurity experts, here are the key criteria we looked at when evaluating the best password managers to replace LastPass:

Security: Above all else, a password manager needs to keep your credentials safe and secure. We only considered password managers that utilize end-to-end encryption with keys derived from the master password, so that not even the company can access your passwords. AES 256-bit encryption or equivalent is table stakes. Regular security audits, bug bounty programs, and a track record free of breaches or vulnerabilities is ideal.
Features: While security is paramount, a great password manager should also include features that make your digital life easier and more organized. We looked for essentials like password generation, autofill, a security dashboard to evaluate password health, and multi-device sync, as well as useful extras like encrypted file storage, secure password sharing, and 2FA integration options.
Ease of use: For a password manager to become a seamless part of your workflow, it needs to be intuitive and easy to navigate. We tested each app‘s interface on desktop and mobile, looking for quick access to logins, simple folder/tag organization, and reliable autofilling. Welcoming design and clear menus for non-technical users were a plus.
Pricing: Cost is always a factor, so we evaluated the overall value proposition of each password manager relative to its price tag. The sweet spot combines robust free options for individual users plus affordable and flexible paid personal and family plans with extra perks.
Customer trust: As LastPass has unfortunately demonstrated, trust and reputation are important yet fragile things in the password management space. In addition to looking at each company‘s history of breaches or security issues, we also considered factors like transparency, frequency of updates/audits, certifications, and customer reviews.

Best LastPass Alternatives in 2024

1. NordPass: Best overall LastPass replacement

Launched in 2019, NordPass is a relative newcomer in the password management field, but it has quickly built a reputation for strong security and ease of use. NordPass is developed by Nord Security, the company behind NordVPN, which has a longstanding reputation in the cybersecurity space.

NordPass utilizes XChaCha20 encryption, which is thought to be even more secure against brute force attacks than AES-256. Your master password is never transmitted to NordPass servers or stored anywhere. All encryption and decryption happens locally on your device. NordPass has completed several independent security audits, most recently by Cure53 in 2022, and has had no known breaches or vulnerabilities to date.

From a user experience standpoint, NordPass has one of the most user-friendly interfaces we‘ve tested. Setting up your vault, generating passwords, and auto-filling credentials worked seamlessly across Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS in our testing. The Security Dashboard gives you an at-a-glance overview of your overall password health and helps you identify and replace weak or compromised passwords in a few clicks.

NordPass includes all essential password management features and several useful bonuses:

Unlimited passwords and secure notes
Password strength analysis
Multi-factor authentication via authenticator apps and physical security keys
Encrypted password sharing
OCR scanning to auto-save passwords from images
Breach scanning to see if your passwords have been exposed in a data leak
Emergency access to securely share your vault with a trusted contact
Trusted contacts for securely sharing passwords with family or coworkers

Pricing starts at just $1.49/month for the complete Premium experience. There is a free version, but it‘s limited to a single device. One minor downside is that there is no dedicated desktop app, so you‘ll need to use the web vault or browser extension on desktop devices.

Standout feature: We love the simplicity and effectiveness of the Breach Scanner feature, which alerts you immediately if any of your stored passwords have been exposed in a breach so you can change them.

NordPass has grown rapidly to over 2 million users as of 2024. It‘s an excellent choice if you want an all-around performer with best-in-class security, premium features, and competitive pricing.

2. 1Password: Most polished user experience

1Password has been around since 2005 and has long been a favorite password manager among Mac and iOS users. In the past few years, its apps have become feature-competitive across all platforms, making it a strong contender to replace LastPass no matter what devices you use.

1Password secures your vault with AES-256 bit encryption, with your master password and a secret key used to derive encryption keys locally on your device. Not even 1Password can access your master password or the contents of your vault. 1Password has never had a security breach, but it did discover a flaw in its implementation of the Agile Keychain format in 2015 that could have allowed brute force cracking of an encrypted keychain. A fix was quickly released to resolve the issue.

What really makes 1Password shine is its highly polished user experience. The interface is a joy to use, with sleek, well-organized menus that make it super intuitive to find and fill your logins. We love the Watchtower dashboard, which keeps tabs on your overall password security, identifies weak or duplicated passwords, and alerts you to any security breaches involving your accounts.

Some of 1Password‘s most useful features are focused on organizing and securely sharing passwords:

Store passwords in multiple vaults and organize with tags and favorites
Securely share passwords and documents via shared vaults
Duo integration for business plans
1 GB of encrypted storage for sensitive documents (paid plans)
Travel mode to remove vaults from devices when traveling and restore with one click
Universal 2nd factor authentication built in
2FA code generator
Command-line tool for power users

1Password is more of a premium product and doesn‘t offer a free version (though you can try premium for 14 days free). Personal plans start at $2.99/month for a single user and $4.99/month for families of up to 5.

Standout feature: We‘re big fans of Travel Mode. Before a trip, you can mark certain vaults as "safe for travel". Enable Travel Mode, and those vaults are temporarily removed from your devices so they can‘t be compromised if your device is lost or searched. A simple click restores all vaults when you‘re back home.

1Password is a great option if a smooth, intuitive UX and useful sharing/collaboration features are your top priorities.

3. Bitwarden: Best free LastPass alternative

If you‘re looking to move on from LastPass but can‘t afford to add another subscription to your budget, Bitwarden offers the most robust free plan of any password manager we‘ve tested. Unlike some competitors that make you pay to access essential features or sync your vault across devices, Bitwarden Free includes:

Unlimited password items across unlimited devices
Access on all major platforms and browsers
Secure password generator
Two-factor authentication
Encrypted file attachments

All of these features are wrapped in an interface that, while not quite as polished as 1Password or Dashlane, gets the job done well. We found importing passwords, generating new ones, and auto-filling a breeze across all apps and extensions.

As an open-source application, Bitwarden is fully transparent about its codebase, which is a huge plus for security. Bitwarden has completed multiple third-party audits and also maintains a bug bounty program on HackerOne. Like its competitors, Bitwarden secures your vault with AES-256 bit end-to-end encryption and has a zero-knowledge model for your master password. To date, Bitwarden has never suffered a breach or major vulnerability.

For $10/year, Bitwarden‘s Premium plan adds useful extras like:

1 GB encrypted file storage (plus more storage for a few dollars more)
Emergency access to securely share your vault with trusted contacts
2FA via hardware keys like YubiKey and U2F
Vault health reports to identify weak, reused, or breached passwords
TOTP authenticator for generating 2FA codes

Standout feature: In our opinion, Bitwarden‘s free plan is the most full-featured of any password manager on the market. It has everything most individual users need to fully replace LastPass at no cost.

With over 4 million users and an active community of open-source contributors, Bitwarden is a robust, transparent, and budget-friendly option to jump ship from LastPass.

4. Dashlane: Feature-packed with built-in VPN

Dashlane has been a popular LastPass competitor for years thanks to its robust feature set and user-friendly apps for all major platforms. One unique perk of Dashlane is that its paid plans include a built-in VPN for encrypting your internet connection along with your passwords, powered by Hotspot Shield.

From a security standpoint, Dashlane checks all the boxes, with AES-256 encryption, zero-knowledge architecture, and support for the latest 2FA methods. The company has never reported a data breach or major vulnerability. Third-party audits of Dashlane‘s infrastructure and apps have confirmed the security of its encryption implementation and security controls.

Some of Dashlane‘s most useful features include:

Password Changer to automatically update multiple passwords at once
Breach alerts if your credentials appear in a data leak
VPN for securing your internet connection (with paid plans)
Secure file storage
Secure password sharing
Built-in TOTP generator for 2FA codes
Personalized security alerts and tips in the Identity Dashboard

Dashlane‘s free plan is more limited than Bitwarden‘s, with a cap of 50 passwords on a single device. Premium plans start at $4.99/month for a single user and $7.49/month for families of up to six users. Business plans are also available.

Standout feature: The automatic Password Changer is a huge time saver for updating weak or compromised passwords in a few clicks.

Dashlane has over 14 million users worldwide. It‘s worth a look if you want a full-featured password manager with some unique extras like a bundled VPN.

5. Keeper: Fort Knox for your passwords

Last but not least is Keeper, a password manager with an intense focus on security above all else. Keeper uses not only AES-256 encryption, but also PBKDF2 to put encrypted data through over 100,000 hashing iterations, making it extremely resistant to brute force cracking attempts.

Keeper has completed numerous third-party audits and penetration tests to verify the security of its systems and apps. A bug bounty program has paid out over $500,000 to date. In over 10 years of operation, Keeper has never reported a data breach.

Beyond its core password manager, Keeper offers several other security-focused tools including:

KeeperChat for encrypted messaging
Keeper SSO and Keeper Connection Manager for enterprises
BreachWatch dark web monitoring
KeeperFill simplifies generating and autofilling passwords and payment info

Keeper offers a variety of personal and family plans starting at $2.91/month, plus free 30-day trials. Business and enterprise plans are also available.

Standout feature: Keeper makes it easy to securely provision and manage passwords across teams with features like role-based permissions, event logs, and detailed reporting.

If you‘re looking for enterprise-grade security and encryption or want to consolidate your business password management into a single platform, Keeper should definitely be on your short list.

How to Switch From LastPass to a New Password Manager

Once you‘ve chosen your ideal LastPass replacement, switching your data over is generally a straightforward process:

Export from LastPass: In your LastPass vault, go to "Advanced Options" and choose "Export". Save your vault data as a CSV file. You may be prompted to enter your master password to proceed with export.
Import to your new password manager: Create a new account with your chosen password manager. Check for an "Import" or "Import from LastPass" option in the app menu. Select your exported CSV file to import your data to the new vault.
Update your passwords: For an extra layer of security, now is a great time to rotate and update weak or old passwords that you may have been using for a while. Most password manager apps will flag these for you and help you generate new, strong, unique passwords for each account.
Enable 2FA on your password manager: Add an extra layer of login protection to your new password manager by enabling 2FA via an authenticator app or security key. This ensures that even if your master password is compromised, an attacker still can‘t access your vault without the second factor.
Remove browser extensions and delete your LastPass account: As a final step, remove the LastPass browser extension and delete the app from your devices. Once you‘ve confirmed that all your data has migrated successfully to the new password manager, delete your LastPass account as well.

The process will be similar for most password managers. Always make sure to have a secure backup of your vault data before making the switch.

Conclusion and Recommendations

As recent events have reminded us, no software is immune to vulnerabilities or breaches, not even the tools we rely on most to secure our digital lives. While LastPass still has many loyal users, its recent security incidents have understandably damaged consumer trust. Many are now seeking alternatives with better security track records and more robust encryption.

Fortunately, the password management landscape is more competitive than ever, with numerous strong contenders ready to fill the void for former LastPass customers. Our top recommendations for 2024:

NordPass: Our best overall pick for its combination of cutting-edge encryption, user-friendly experience, and fully-featured free option.
1Password: If you care about organization and user experience above all else, 1Password has the most robust features for organizing and securing passwords.
Bitwarden: For those on a budget, Bitwarden has hands-down the most generous free plan on the market without compromising security.
Dashlane: With useful extras like automatic password changing and a bundled VPN, Dashlane packs in a lot of value for its premium price tag.
Keeper: Enterprises and the most security-conscious users should consider Keeper for its intense focus on locking down passwords with multiple layers of encryption.

Ultimately, the "best" password manager for you depends on your specific needs and priorities, but you can be confident in the security of any of these thoroughly vetted options. Stay safe out there!