Scored on five axes that actually differ between products: security architecture, independent audit history, platform coverage, sharing and recovery, and price. Ranking is independent — we take no affiliate money for placement.
Open-source, end-to-end encrypted, and independently audited every year. The free tier is genuinely usable rather than a trial, and the paid tier is the cheapest credible option on this list.
Parameter breakdown (out of 5)
Security model4.8
Audit history4.7
Platform coverage4.8
Sharing & recovery4.4
Value5.0
Key advantages
Client code is open source and auditable
Annual third-party security audits
Free tier covers unlimited passwords and devices
Self-hosting available with the same clients
Notable drawbacks
Desktop apps feel less polished than commercial rivals
Some admin features gated behind the business tier
The strongest recovery story of any manager here, thanks to the Secret Key that is combined with your password before anything reaches their servers. Excellent apps, no free tier.
Parameter breakdown (out of 5)
Security model4.9
Audit history4.6
Platform coverage4.9
Sharing & recovery4.8
Value3.6
Key advantages
Secret Key means a stolen vault is useless without local material
An unofficial, lightweight server that speaks the Bitwarden client protocol. Run it yourself and use the official Bitwarden apps against it. Excellent if you already operate infrastructure.
Parameter breakdown (out of 5)
Security model4.5
Audit history3.4
Platform coverage4.6
Sharing & recovery4.2
Value4.9
Key advantages
Runs comfortably on the smallest VPS
Works with the official, audited Bitwarden clients
The newest entry here, bundled with Proton's wider privacy suite. Built-in email aliasing is a genuine differentiator; the track record is simply shorter than the others.
Listed for completeness, not as a recommendation. The 2022 breach exposed encrypted vaults alongside unencrypted metadata, and disclosure was slow and repeatedly revised.
Parameter breakdown (out of 5)
Security model2.4
Audit history2.2
Platform coverage4.0
Sharing & recovery3.6
Value2.6
Key advantages
Wide platform coverage
Long-established, familiar to many users
Notable drawbacks
2022 breach exposed customer vault backups
Vault URLs were stored unencrypted
Disclosure timeline was revised several times after the fact
Each product is scored from 0 to 5 on five axes, then weighted into the headline score out of 100. Security model and audit history carry the most weight, because they are the only axes where a bad result is unrecoverable — a slow app is an annoyance, a broken threat model is a breach.
We take no affiliate payment for placement. Outbound links are marked nofollow.
What we deliberately do not score
Password strength meters, breach alerts and autofill quality are broadly comparable across every product here and rarely change a decision. Browser-built-in managers are excluded: they are a reasonable floor, but they cannot be shared, audited, or moved between ecosystems.
The one thing that matters more than this ranking
Any manager on this list, used consistently, beats the best one on the list used occasionally. If you are choosing between a product you will actually adopt and one that scores three points higher, pick the one you will use.
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