Bitwarden Password Manager Reviews

by BluegrassYakFishin

After the last update, BitwardenPasswordManager has begun crashing fatally. It will suddenly log me out and then will crash on the Log In option but it will let me create a new account (which is useless). This continues even after hard restarts. BitwardenPasswordManager cannot be uninstalled as iOS thinks it’s still there and gives the “open” option in BitwardenPasswordManager Store rather than the download option even after BitwardenPasswordManager is deleted. I had to wipe my phone last Saturday and start over. Of course my passwords were there when I was able to sign back in after the restart, but I lost the rest of my phone (restoring brought back the glitch). Now I have to do it all again 5 days later. I loved Bitwarden and have been a paid user for a year, but this is just too buggy to rely on. A password manager today is critical to personal security. Since Bitwarden can no longer be trusted so I’m off to find another solution.

by Al12?

Likely my interrupted rating attempt a few min ago was posted. So I will finish the prior discussion. I inadvertently copied my pwd , i.e. “Password copied”. No information was provided as to what the icon meant, nor could I locate any info as to “where” my pwd was copied. After reading topics in the discussion groups, I determined it likely was copied to the “clipboard”. I could find no information as how to locate clipboard, nor how data retained it would be used. I inadvertently found that I could give the clipboard a timed delete setting...that I did immediately. I still do not know how to view what is in the clipboard, nor how it is used...other than such items are apparently copiable in an unencrypted format to other apps, such as Word, email, etc. All basic operations, such as installing login info for tablet/phone apps is done without any supporting info as how this activity is done. I also could not locate any info as to how to link the Bitwarden info to the other app on IPad...fortunately another person was able to show me how BitwardenPasswordManager works. BitwardenPasswordManager seems geared towards ppl familiar with this type of app and greatly lacks the basic info on how to begin setting up BitwardenPasswordManager to work successfully. If you look at the various Help topics, it is clear the Bitwarden authors assume very tech-savvy users...not the novice user.

by BrokeYaBones

This is a good app I’ll say it right off the bat. For the most part it auto fills on both pc and phone as you expect the normal digital keychain too (you can have both Bitwarden and the default keychain activated at same time if you please) Password generation is solid just as you need(just remember to hit save after you select the password!) ive had multiple instances of not saving the new random password and needing to use the password history tab(also a life safer) to fix the error. It has everything you need like credit cards and all that, definitely a top notch app and program. Get the trio, phone, computer app and browser extension for the best possible experience.

Only real cons is that you sometimes have to manually set a new login on pc as some sites just aren’t detectors

by ZethiaZ

Bitwarden is as a service, much better than any other password manager. Its Open Source, and they host it for you so its not a pain to manage. That means its the most secure password manager, and since the entire point is to be secure, I think it is very important. BitwardenPasswordManager itself has a lot of bugs, nothing so bad that I cant use it. It crashes randomly sometimes, it closes out windows when im creating accounts, it sometimes doesnt fill passwords for no reason, etc. Its never so broken I cant get my password, but its because annoying and cumbersome to deal with all of the bugs constantly. The worst thing is it barely gets better, BitwardenPasswordManager is rarely updated and I havent noticed any improvements with all of the bugs since I started using Bitwarden over a year ago. Its still by far my top choice for a password manager, but if you know that you will be highly frustrated by bugs, and are ok with using something less secure, maybe look elsewhere.

by Glubstermeister

Does nearly everything one would need. 3rd party certification puts it next to 1Password and others.

Open source. Features & improvements added occasionally.

Free if you need basic password management & sync.

For most people, it’s about $10-22 annually if you need more features such as premium support or secure sharing for family / team.

Working with “Organizations” & “Collections” is key to sharing encrypted records.

It’s available on basically any platform, all of which sync, and if all else fails you can login via web browser.

Good interaction with OS and browsers, FaceID & TouchID. Clears clipboard after 30 sec (or whatever threshold you set).

Still hoping for a “local backup” option, so an encrypted backup file can be kept, just in case the main cloud database becomes corrupt.

Biggest bug I’ve seen (as of April 2019) is some of the search functions are intermittently buggy in Safari (both the extension and even logged into web vault). It’s a minor issue as search works fine in iOS and MacOS X apps. Also works great in Brave Browser (Chrome).

May also be related to the fact that Safari extensions library is very slow to approve updates (an Apple delay), so Safari extension is always a couple months behind.

Aug 2019 also saw a bug regarding auto-syncing new items. Some users reported auto-sync to cloud was not initiating as it had before, and you had to manually sync each time you made a change. I’m hoping this gets resolved.

by Noah_r

I switched from 1Password 6 (paid) to a paid BitWarden family account about four months ago since 1Password moved to subscription pricing model. I figured I might as well pay lower subscription cost of BitWarden since it is highly rated and similar features.

The feature I miss the most from 1Password is the in-app iOS web browser. For websites that don’t match up to fields well or need OTP, I may switch between safari and Bitwarden 3 times to get all of the form data populated. Not very productive.

A couple of bugs have persisted for months in iOS app. 1)Search results get obscured by the on screen keyboard and there’s no apparent way to hide the keyboard. 2) sometimes BitwardenPasswordManager crashes on open and the second attempt always works.

by Malcolm59

The only reason I can see for people giving BitwardenPasswordManager a pad if you is lack of knowledge of how these apps worked begin with. I was a Truekey user for years and they have not updated their app and over a year and BitwardenPasswordManager is constantly glitching or you can’t log into it and they want to charge you $35 a year for that functionality. NOT!!! So, I decided I would start looking for a new password manager and I downloaded LastPass and Bitwarden and several other apps and have found a Bit Warden to be the one for me. Even though it’s not the most elaborate of apps it works for what you ask you to do and for those that say that you can’t set it to auto fill you’ve just haven’t bothered to dig down into the options to set it to do so. For a free app or if you choose to do so a $10 subscription fee BitwardenPasswordManager by far meets any demands that I would have for this type of product. And for God sakes people set up 2FA authentication when you set up a app like this using an a authentication app to help safeguard your data.

by Bozzie Jones

Started off using passwords I could remember. Every site or app needs a password and shortly you can’t remember them all. Tried several different password managers but each had their own short comings or flaws. Found one that worked better than most, but then it was no longer supported. Each time I changed password managers, I had to spend hours inputting all my data. Found a manager that worked but didn’t sync across devices. Each time you made changes you had to go through the “Dropbox” routine. Finally came across “Bitwarden”. It seems to fit my needs and it is free. So nice that a change on one device is quickly updated to my other devices.

by Bvignesh

The first thing to install on any device I get is BitwardenPasswordManager followed by my favorite browser. It’s that important. Sometimes it might give sync issues if I change my phone’s passcode. Simply sign out and sign in again on BitwardenPasswordManager and things will be fine.
It was annoying at first not having the ability to change passwords in bulk, or having to deal with autocomplete not working sometimes. Also generating new passwords can be a pain. If you’re editing a login key in the browser extension and you navigate away you will lose the changes if you forgot to hit save. All things considered I doesn’t bother me as much now, but I do hope they fix those issues.

by Michael McShane

Long time password manager user and migrated from Lastpass after the company was acquired by LogMeIn. I had long felt that a total Open source GitHub hosted codebase was the best option to ensure open development with peer review. I changed after LogMeIn wanted to raise the premium price again so looked for alternatives and have never looked back. BitWarden provides a solid migration tool that imports your existing lastlass passwords directly into BitWarden. In the two years I’ve been using the product, it has performed admirably and also bought the $10/year premium version so my wife could also use for her passwords. Highly recommended. It just works on all of my devices from iOS to windows to linux.

by _maxrom

For a one man show, BitwardenPasswordManager and system overall has had near parity with at least LastPass (the good parts of LastPass) since the beginning. In a rare feat these days, updates make BitwardenPasswordManager better, not worse. This had iOS 12 password filling within 3 days, after a discussion with users on the feature request forum on how it should look and work. The premium subscription is a no-brainer but you can absolutely get by without it and not miss any basic functionality you’d expect from a password manager. My bug reports are always responded to almost immediately, if only to tell me it’s a duplicate of another bug he’s already working on or that I’m doing it wrong. Try getting that out of LastPass (you won’t, which is why I moved here).

by Logitwood12

Came from LastPass like most of these users and will switch to this one because LastPass is no longer syncing your passwords and data on all and any devices for free anymore after they made an announcement to their terms of services that it will take effect after on March 16. Most of these users got the same reason for this too. Just using one device at a time isn’t enough for me. I hope this feature for syncing in BitwardenPasswordManager will be free forever unlike LastPass making you buy it for premium as a subscription. I will see how this service goes since I heard many people like your products and services, making them satisfied for what they need.

by Bg6154

Bitwarden is simply the best password manager......easy to use, offers 2FA, yubikey, paid version very affordable compared to others, no un-needed “bells & whistles” and it is encrypted before it leaves your device for cloud syncing.

I dont understand why its not the #1 rated password manager, guessing bias sponsored opinions because I have never seen any reports that involved password leaks or breaches from Bitwarden. I have seen almost all the other competing password managers at some point or another which in my mind makes them unsecure, but never Bitwarden.

In a password manager I look for simplicity, affordability and SECURITY....Bitwarden has it all! If your not using a secure password manager and 2fa you are the low hanging fruit and will eventually be compromised.

by The L$T

All I can say is WOW! Wish I had found this before I subscribed to another app. I have used several different password managers and tested just about them all. I had been using Dashlane for a few years but decided the yearly cost was just too high. So I tried RememBear which is good for a basic one but left me wanting more.
I read a ton of reviews and decided to try Bitwarden. Boy was I shocked at the quality of the apps and how well they work for a small company and a free offering. Even the paid version for $10 is way cheap for what it gives you. So far everything works very slick just as good as Dashlane for a fraction of cost if any. Definitely worth giving a try if you want a great manager for free or reasonable price.

Oh and importing my passwords from RememBear was super easy and quick with no mistakes in process!!

by Topuhit

Now that LastPass has moved to weird thing called Active Device Mode after acquired by LogmeIn company this is your way to go Password Manager if you do not want to use Google password manager and you dont want to pay for this kind of service.
Only feature I wish it had is auto fill in of password on desktop browser. Currently you have to right click on the mouse and select a pair.
Also if you are importing from LastPass via CSV file you will get error if you have longer that 1000 character Secure Note.
I am really great full that LastPass provided amazing password sync store generate service for so many years. Wish them all the best.
I hope Bitwarden will give their service for few years until Bitwarden does something like LassPass did and everybody is forced to use Google password manager.

by Cmstskrt

A problem lead me to believe that my Lastpass account was breached, and i was significantly worried to say the least. I was a paid premium user and I could not get a response for almost 3 days. To top it off, it was what i interpret as a “whatever” type response. I was stunned.

If you are currently using this type of service, you know there is way too much personal info stored for that kind of ****** service.

Researched more apps than i care to mention and went with BW. From account creation, to explaining the steps to move all my data, to its first couple days of hard use... its been virtually flawless. I went with the paid, because frankly the dev deserves it, but its not something you are forced to do by any means. I have tested the Web Vault, MacOS Desktop, and iOS so far - simplistic, fast, accurate.....very pleased with all. Feel confident if you are looking for alternatives, Bitwarden rocks ;).

by QuarterSwede

I’ve been using BitWarden as an alternate backup to Passwords (Keychain) for a few years now and it’s only gotten better. One thing I was surprised to find is that it’s faster to open vs 1Password. Also, it has yet to lose any of my data when syncing, unlike 1P which consistently failed to save secure note data.

I like that BitWarden is open source, cross platform, including the web access, and has a good roadmap.

The free version is great for single users and I think the family sharing options are fairly priced. Also, it’s nice to see a macOS version that isn’t stupidly high priced or requires an equally high priced subscription. Yes, developers need to pay the bills too but sometimes it feels like they’re taking advantage of a market because of their growth. Hopefully the BitWarden devs don’t fall into the same trap while still being able to run a successful business model.

by M0tis

I’ve been extremely happy with BW. I was a long time 1password user. I eventually became unhappy with their pricing model. A year ago I evaluated almost every PW tool available, the most well known tools were just as expensive as 1password, but not as good. Some also have questionable privacy and security policies. I decided to try Bitwarden, because it was free and open source. I have been so impressed with the features and reliability. It works seamlessly across my Mac, Windows, and iOS devices. About 3 months in I decided to upgrade to their premium membership (only 10/yr)— which was not necessary to get all the features I needed, but I just wanted to reward their efforts.

It may not have the full UI polish of 1password, but comes pretty close. It is fully functional and reliable with all the features you’d expect, such as sync across all devices, end-to-end encryption, collection sharing, 2FA, auto fill, full data import/export, etc.

by Valtarien

BitWarden completely blows away all competing products (with the possible exception of KeePass, which is better suited for local, non-synchronized storage (yes, I am aware you can use it through cloud syncing, but you have to set it up properly for that). As stated in my review title, it offers excellent open-source, secure and privacy-respecting password management. You can even self-host BitwardenPasswordManager on your own server if you don’t want to trust your database to the BitWarden staff. I wish all software products had all of these features. Far too many apps want to collect data on you (basically spyware) and sell/give/trade it to the highest bidder for more money, or store it on insecure servers for hackers to grab it and sell/give/trade it on the Dark Web. Thank you BitWarden, for respecting your customers and providing such a great essential tool for people to remain secure in this increasingly hazardous online world.

by The Unkown...

Bitwarden has quite literally changed my life and I believe it is the best password manager because of its ease of use and security. Not only does it eliminate the fact that you need to remember a ton of different passwords to be secure, it has a really clean and simple User interface which makes signing into webpages and apps a breeze. It has strong encryption that I can trust so I don’t have to worry about my vault being compromised/hacked into. Bitwarden has unlimited passwords even in the free plan which is just great. I have had absolutely no problems or errors with the browser extension, mobile app, or PC app. You have literally nothing to lose with Bitwarden and I highly suggest downloading and using it if you haven’t already.

by Must Exit

TL;DR Good and cheap app, but is slow on all platforms and lacking features.

This is a good enough password manager available on multiple platforms. The free tier provides a lot and the paid subscriptions are quite cheap (compared to some commercial and non-open source password managers).

* BitwardenPasswordManager is slow on every platform it runs on. Unlocking, selecting items, searching for items — it’s all slow, taking a few seconds with that spinning icon.*

The iOS app also continues to be very slow even with regular updates. Opening most menu options or items in the vault takes a couple of seconds every time, as if it’s fetching things over a network (no, it’s not — it’s reading the local vault). Responsiveness is one area where it behaves like one of those apps built with some “cross platform” framework, and you don’t get that native feel.

On features, it does not have many different kinds of items you can store, like software licenses, for example. It does not automatically sync the vault on launch either. You have to manually remember to sync if you’ve made changes through another device.

by Zethia_xD

Bitwarden is as a service, much better than any other password manager. Its Open Source, and they host it for you so its not a pain to manage. That means its the most secure password manager, and since the entire point is to be secure, I think it is very important. BitwardenPasswordManager itself has a lot of bugs, nothing so bad that I cant use it. It crashes randomly sometimes, it closes out windows when im creating accounts, it sometimes doesnt fill passwords for no reason, etc. Its never so broken I cant get my password, but its because annoying and cumbersome to deal with all of the bugs constantly. The worst thing is it barely gets better, BitwardenPasswordManager is rarely updated and I havent noticed any improvements with all of the bugs since I started using Bitwarden over a year ago. Its still by far my top choice for a password manager, but if you know that you will be highly frustrated by bugs, and are ok with using something less secure, maybe look elsewhere.

by JSanchez!

Bottom Line: Great app/add-on for your passwords

I needed a way to easily store/access the multiple passwords I have for the dozens of websites/apps I use constantly. My first attempt was to use a spreadsheet stored locally on my computer and it worked fine as an interim solution but eventually became cumbersome. After searching online and reading lots of reviews, I decided on two options: Dashlane and Bitwarden. Both apps provide similar functionality but after using both for a short period of time, I decided Bitwarden was for me and have not looked back. It's been almost a year now and I couldn't be happier with all BitwardenPasswordManager provided. It works on every platform with little effort from the user. My only concern/con for BitwardenPasswordManager is my willingness to trust a company with all of my information so currently I don't store anything tied to my bank account or credit card but that will change. I also keep a spreadsheet as a backup because you never know when a company will decide to close shop and take all your data.

Cons:
- unsure how I can verify security measures
- unsure how long they'll be around

Pros:
- easy to use
- open source
- donation based
- not platform specific

by Nuke807

I have tried every major password manager that is available, and after many months of trials and hours spent researching different password managers, I can honestly say this one is the best one I have used and fits my needs perfectly.

The fact that this is open source and audited is a huge point for me. Along with that the price point is just right and the support is great. I have sent a couple of emails and received an answer within the hour.

Great software, make sure the purchase the premium version to support the developer and to get the additional perks.

by FinalFantasia

I was undecided between bitwarden and a few other password managers. Eventually, I chose bitwarden because of its growing reputation on Hacker News and reddit. The other unique differentiator by which bitwarden won me over the other options is that it’s a very user-friendly, cross-platform, cross-browser solution with “batteries included” while at the same time being FLOSS (free/libre/open-source software) because I am a strong believer of Linus’s Law (“given enough eyeballs, all the bugs are shallow”.) The latter, in my opinion, is especially important when it comes to a piece of software that is in charge of keeping your personal information securely.

by Gsjbdifibdjdq479999432

I’ve struggled to find a password manager I liked. I want something I can trust, is easy to use, has useful features, and is affordable. There are other decent options but no great ones. I stumbled upon Bitwarden and have been happy with it since day one. It is especially good since iOS 12 was released with the more powerful auto fill for password apps. The dev releases new features like that very quickly which is nice. There was one small issue I encountered and Kyle responded very quickly and worked with me to get it resolved. More people need to be using BitwardenPasswordManager!

by David Steckler

I was referred to y’all by CONSUMER REPORTS. They stated in their magazine I think? Last year in December issue that y’all were the Best Hands Down! I have tried keeper and last pass and 1PASSWORD and 2 more, my point is y’all truly have the best password manager above and beyond the rest! And y’all have excellent customer service! And anyone reading this; rest assured I do not have any affiliation with Bitwarden! I’m just a guy that has gotten my identity stolen and I am being Ghosted on my new Apple IPhone X Device! I also paid out the wazoo for VPN’S
Etc!! Too have the hacker take my Gmail accounts; and I can’t recover my Gmail accounts are my annual Apps I purchased
From ITunes!! But she and her hacker crooked friends will get caught! Thank y’all Bitwarden and if y’all can please let me know if My account can be affected?? Since I have a man in the middle and also being Ghosted?? Thank y’all very much!!!

by Leahy02116

I’ve been stuck using 1Password 4 for awhile since I wasn’t interested in moving to their subscription service or shelling out for an overpriced standalone license. Since 1PW 4 is now legacy software, I was looking to move over to Keepass until I came across Bitwarden—I was sold immediately & haven’t looked back. Bitwarden is very polished, easy to use, open source, and works on every device/OS you can think of. I’m honestly blown away by how much functionality it supports and how simple it was to switch over & import my 1PW vault; there’s no learning curve, no clunky plugins to deal with, etc. I’m very pleased with Bitwarden & look forward to seeing how the developer continues to improve it.

by Toborobot

I have used multiple password managers assuming they were all the same. I was using the premium version of LastPass. Although I like last pass, a lot of the reasons and features I went with LastPass became annoying eventually. Bitwarden solves the same problems using different methods that I personally prefer. Password managers are one of the applications I believe open source developers can make better than someone with a business plan. Great job to the developers who made this. It is simple, it works, and does all I would expect and a little more.