Why LastPass Sucks (& 7 Alternatives that are WAY better)

LastPass has reached a terribly bad 1.6 customer review score on TrustPilot.

This is a shame, since LastPass used to be a pioneer among password managers, but the service started going downhill once they were bought by a bigger company that didn’t fix bugs or add features.

They did increase the price though.

The technical problems with LastPass are simply too many to count:

Password autofill often doesn’t work. This happens on all platforms, such as Android, iOS, Chrome, Firefox etc.

Sharing features don’t always work. Sometimes you need to share a password 2-3 times for the other person to receive it.

LastPass often doesn’t auto generate a password for a new site you’re signing up for.

LastPass really slows down desktop & laptop browsers such as Chrome or Firefox. This is especially noticeable on lower end hardware.

On mobile devices, LastPass devours the battery.

LastPass is simply too expensive for what it offers. For single users, LastPass costs $3 per month, while competitors such as BitWarden offer the same features at just $0.8 per month.

Yes, you don’t actually need to pay for it. However the free version has become so limited it’s obvious LastPass is squeezing you very hard to pay for what is a mediocre product at best.

For example, the free version only lets you use 1 desktop device and 1 mobile device. If you’re a power user or regular office worker, that’s simply not enough.

Finally, LastPass has suffered multiple cybersecurity incidents. In some of these security incidents, LastPass themselves revealed that their databases were compromised and encrypted user data had leaked.

According to LastPass, this data could not actually be read since it was encrypted and attackers had not been able to obtain the decryption key.

Nevertheless, the sheer number of security incidents LastPass has suffered is problematic for a password manager.

Better LastPass alternatives (free + paid)

If the problems you’ve encountered with LastPass have reached a breaking point, then moving to a different password manager can help prevent further frustration.

Fortunately, transferring passwords in LastPass to a different password manager is super easy!

A quick guide on how to transfer from LastPass is included after this list of better password managers.

BitWarden

BitWarden is an open source password manager, and also one of the newest ones having released in 2016. It stands out because it offers lots of features in the free version, a very affordable paid version and being an open source software.

BitWarden at a glance:

Comes with free version.

Free version supports unlimited devices and passwords!

Free version includes two factor authentication.

Very affordable paid plans: $10 per year ($0.83 per month!)

No known service disruption or security incidents.

What BitWarden saves:

• Logins
• Credit / debit card data
• Personal identity information (adress, SSN etc.)
• Secure notes.

Offers custom fields support (for things such as security questions).

Uses FaceID to autofill passwords and login forms (iOS users).

In free plan, you can create a local BitWarden server. This means you can reroute all your data to go to your private server, instead of BitWarden’s server.

Download Bitwarden:

iOS | Android | Windows + MacOS + Linux

1Password

1Password is a very popular password manager, especially with Apple users since the app was initially designed from the ground up with iOS and Mac devices in mind.

Since it’s launch, the app has expanded to all major platforms, including Android and Windows.

A very cool feature of 1Password are its security alert notifications. For example, if a site you use suffered a data breach and leaked your password, 1Password will alert you of the breach and prompt you to change login details.

1Password at a glance

No free version.

$3 per month for single user / $4.99 for family of 5 people.

No data breaches or security incidents.

End-to-end encryption.

2 Factor Authentication.

Saves the following:

• Debit / credit card information.
• Password and logins.
• Software license keys.
• Documents.
• Bank accounts.
• Secure notes.

1 GB document storage

Custom Fields support.

End-to-end encryption. This means you, and only you, know the master password and stored passwords in your account. This means not even 1Password has any idea what password you use for what account.

2 Factor Authentication.

Download 1Password:

iOS | Android | Windows + Browsers + Mac

Password Safe

Password Safe is a completely free and open source password manager, with no paid plan, developed by renowned cryptologist Bruce Schneier.

It’s mostly designed for ultra cautious users who do not trust other companies with any sort of data, and want to be exclusive owners of their data.

Password Safe is different from most other password managers because it stores passwords only on the device you’re using.

This means all passwords you save to Password Safe are encrypted and then stored on the device.

To share passwords, you will first lock them in a vault, where they are encrypted with a master password. After that, you send the vault to a different device using email, Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud etc.

The other device then has to install Password Safe and unlock the vault with the master password to access the passwords inside the vault.

Password Safe uses a proprietary encryption algorithm called Blowfish, which is a strong competitor to the AES 256 encryption algorithm used in LastPass.

Download Password Safe:

Mac and iOS | Android | Chrome | Windows and Mac

Password safe at a glance:

• Completely free.
• No transfer of data to other password managers.
• Designed to be secure and private, not user friendly.

Dashlane

Launched in 2012, Dashlane is one of the better looking password managers, and arguably has the cleanest and most intuitive user interface of the ones listed here.

Dashlane at a glance

Free plan (maximum 50 passwords and just 1 device).

Price: Individuals $3.3 per month/ Family $4.99 per month

Security alerts for any password affected by a data breach.

Paid version comes with a VPN.

No security incidents.

Very clean user interface and good autofil function.

Uses FaceID on iOS devices to autofill passwords and login details.

1 GB of encrypted file storage.

Saves the following:

• Debit / Credit cards.
• Secure notes.
• Passwords and login details

Emergy contact feature. You can assign a friend or family member to access your passwords if something happens to you.

Download Dashlane:

iOS | Dashlane | Chrome | Windows + Mac

Keeper

Keeper is one of the little known password managers, but it has won awards such as “Best Password Manager” by PC Mag, and rated as “Best Security” by Tom’s Guide.

Keeper at a glance:

No free version, only a 30 day free trial.

Price: $2.91 per month / $5 per month for Plus Bundle

Family plan: $6.24 per month / $8.62 per month for Plus Bundle

No file storage $2.91 / $6.24 plans (only in higher priced Plus Bundle plans).

Autofilling passwords has an extra confirmation step which can be tiring.

No known security issues or outages

Guided sign-up process to help you transition from other password managers.

Comes with an importing tool to transfer in data from other password managers.

What Keeper stores:

• Logins and passwords.
• Credit and debit card information.
• Personal identities.

Emergency contact features.

Supports Custom Fields.

FaceID and fingerprint autofill

Download Keeper:

iOS | Keeper | Chrome | Windows + Mac + Other Browers

RoboForm

RoboForm is a more entry level password manager, with respectable free features and an affordable premium paid plan.

RoboForm at a glance:

Free plan (unlimited passwords, but doesn’t sync passwords between devices).

Paid personal plan: $2 per month

Paid family plan: $4 per month.

Excellent autoform fill function with great detection of individual fields

Has emergency contact feature

No custom field supports.

No file storage.

Download Roboform:

iOS | Android | Chrome | Windows + Mac + Other Browsers

NordPass

NordPass is the password manager developed by NordVPN, one of the leading players in the VPN industry.

NordPass at a glance:

Free plan (unlimited passwords, sync across devices).

For free users: can be logged in only on 1 device at a time. This means NordPass will log you out of other devices.

Paid plans: $1.5 per month for individual users. $5 per month for family plans.

What NordVPN saves:

• Passwords and logins.
• Debit and credit card info.
• Personal information fields auto-fill.

Two-factor authentication in free version.

In paid version:

• Emergy contact
• Scans for any compromised passwords you may have.
• Password sharing.
• 6 devices simultaneously.

Download NordPass:

iOS | Android | Chrome | Windows + Mac + Other Browsers

How to transfer from LastPass in 2 steps

If you’re a long time LastPass user you probably have accumulated a sizeable vault of login details, passwords, payment info and other information and are afraid you might have to transfer these one by one to a new password manager.

Fortunately, LastPass makes it easy to export all of your data. Once that is done, you can import that data to the new password manager of your choice using it’s import function.

Strictly as an example, here’s how you can transfer your data from LastPass to BitWarden.

Step 1: Export data from LastPass

Go to LastPass.com -> log in -> More Options -> Advanced -> Export -> Enter your master password.

Once that is done, LastPass will start loading for a few seconds to a few minutes (depending how many passwords you have).

At the end, you will get a browser tab that looks something like this:

The text contains all your passwords, login details, payment data and any other information written in plain text, in a .csv (comma-separated value).

Step 2: Import the data in the new password manager

Copy that text and paste it in your new password manager of choice using its Import function.

Most of them should have a text box like 1Password and BitWarden where you can paste the text.

The text will then be converted into login details, passwords and other types of information.

And that should be it! Do a quick checkup to see if everything works and intended and you’re good to go.