Bitwarden offers secure password management through browser extensions and mobile apps, with free synchronization across devices. Premium versions provide advanced features like YubiKey integration, two-factor authentication, security reporting and emergency access.
Bitwarden uses AES 256 encryption technology – widely considered unbreakable – with zero-knowledge architecture to provide secure protection of both resting data as well as transmission traffic, protecting it against compromise.
Security
Bitwarden stands out among password managers by employing numerous security measures, including end-to-end AES256 bit encryption, salting and PBKDF2 SHA-256. Furthermore, its open source project status gives it added credibility as an enterprise-grade password manager.
Bitwarden provides two-factor authentication, adding another layer of protection against unwanted access to your account even with your master password alone. Even if someone manages to crack it, they would still require your one-time PIN in order to gain entry. Furthermore, Bitwarden features emergency access which enables you to grant emergency contacts access in case something happens to you; this works via cryptography such as encryption/decryption processes as well as public key exchange and sending an encrypted message directly to them via an emergency access feature.
Bitwarden provides another layer of security by not knowing your passwords, nor storing them in plaintext on their servers. Instead, they’re encrypted and hashed prior to ever leaving your device, meaning no one from Bitwarden could read them and even if they could, it would take them the lifetime of a Greenland shark to reverse engineer your data!
All Bitwarden accounts come equipped with 1GB of encrypted file storage, making them an attractive perk, but bear in mind it’s not a cloud service like Dropbox; files can only be stored related to items within your vault. Furthermore, their desktop application and browser extensions may be more limited than those offered by competitors; for instance they cannot enable multi-factor authentication or import passwords directly.
Take note: Bitwarden’s autofill feature may not be as secure as advertised. Research conducted by data and intelligence company Flashpoint indicates that using its autofill feature on compromised websites could expose your login credentials for theft by filling them into inline frames (iframes).
One thing to keep in mind about Bitwarden is their lack of 24/7 live chat support. While they provide ample knowledge bases and community forums, it would be ideal if they adopted faster and more convenient means such as live chat in the future.
Apps
Bitwarden is a freemium password manager that securely stores sensitive information such as website credentials in an encrypted vault. It features web and desktop apps for Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems; browser extensions; mobile apps; as well as a command-line interface.
Even though this program is free, it uses top security encryption and authentication processes to safeguard against hacking attempts. Regular audits by third-party auditors also verify there are no security holes. Plus, its open-source code means developers can review its code and inform its creators (8bit Solutions) of any errors they encounter; such collaboration is key in keeping programs safe.
One of the primary features of any password management software is being able to generate secure and unique passwords, an area in which Bitwarden excels. Its password generator is extremely versatile and allows you to generate both single passwords as well as passphrases of any length – you can even specify whether numeric characters should be allowed!
Multi-factor authentication is another outstanding feature. To protect your account in case your phone or laptop are lost or stolen, using both email and an authentication app (YubiKey or Duo) to authenticate yourself can help keep accessing passwords more secure than before. Furthermore, this feature makes logging in quicker on compatible devices (for instance you could log in quickly with Face ID or fingerprint scan on iOS and Android devices).
Bitwarden password manager boasts excellent customer support. Their knowledge base and forums offer answers to frequently asked questions; their support center offers email responses; however, phone support remains unavailable – something many find disappointing.
This company is based in the US and operates as a small, privately held enterprise. According to their website, they specialize in security-centric user solutions with multiple platforms supported and offering free versions for individuals; more advanced plans offer features like data import from other password managers as well as 1GB storage capacity.
Pricing
Bitwarden offers multiple pricing plans and services, from its free version all the way through paid plans tailored specifically to individuals, families and businesses. It includes cloud-based synchronization across devices as well as password vaulting capabilities as well as tools that allow them to host their own servers if they feel more comfortable doing so than trusting an online service with sensitive data.
Bitwarden uses AES-256 encryption with salted hashing, making it difficult for hackers to break into user accounts. Users can generate strong passwords using uppercase letters, numbers, special characters and passphrases (randomly generated groups of words separated by hyphens).
Bitwarden costs $5 annually and provides unlimited storage of passwords and other data, while premium subscribers gain additional features such as two-factor authentication with Duo or SMS, secure password sharing, access to various reports from Bitwarden as well as family plans with additional storage and features at $10 annually.
Bitwarden stands out by virtue of being open source. This allows security experts the chance to inspect its codebase and look out for potential vulnerabilities, with Cure53 conducting independent security auditing of Bitwarden codebase and finding no vulnerabilities.
Bitwarden may not be as user-friendly as some of its competitors; loading times may take longer, auto-save and auto-fill functionality may be glitchy and its password vault sharing features don’t compare well to some brands. That said, if security is your focus and cost is important to you, Bitwarden may be worth looking at; although not designed for casual users it does provide feature-packed security solutions with affordable options available – make sure you weigh all potential options carefully before making your choice!
Conclusions
Bitwarden is an impressive password manager with an impressive list of features. Self-hosted and open source, giving users greater control over their security measures, it offers monitoring and risk mitigation tools as well as competitive pricing with other top password managers.
BitWarden provides an impressive set of password management and security features, including multi-factor authentication support, password syncing, and a password generator. However, its lack of automatic backups and convenient auto-fill make it less useful for non-technical users; and its storage quotas fall somewhat short of competing password managers.
If you need more than 1GB, Family or Teams plans are available for an extra $5/month – although their higher costs might not justify themselves if you already pay for another password manager with more storage capacity.
Bitwarden does not provide its users with an easily accessible button to enter usernames and passwords directly within its login form, unlike most of its competitors. Instead, this requires them to take an indirect route through browser extensions before accessing their accounts – while not a huge inconvenience, a direct option would have been preferred in terms of saving time when inputting data such as this.
Bitwarden poses one major security threat: its lack of two-step login recovery codes or account lockout functionality. This is because their security model only encrypts your data on their servers – thus protecting against unauthorized people gaining access to passwords but making recovery of accounts much harder.
Bitwarden can pose another potential security threat with its feature “autofill on page load”, which exposes your passwords to hackers. This feature fills your login information on pages containing inline frames (iframes). According to Flashpoint’s research report, this could allow malicious iframes to steal passwords even from legitimate pages; Bitwarden responded by increasing client-side iterations defaults; however they did not specify whether existing users would be updated automatically with these changes; furthermore they are located in the United States which does not foster great privacy protections either!
