Technologies

Best password manager to use for 2021

Ditch the sticky notes and get peace of mind. One of our favorite password managers can be your first defense against getting hacked.

Working remotely has become routine for many of us, which means that it’s more essential than ever to secure your online accounts with strong passwords. But it can be a challenge to memorize dozens and dozens of passwords, and it’s downright dangerous to use the same old password over and over.

If you find yourself consistently getting locked out of one online account or another because you’re drawing a blank when you try to log in, it’s time to consider a password manager, which can help you seamlessly oversee and handle all your login credentials while maintaining password security. They’re also handy for autofilling forms and syncing your data across Windows PCs and Macs, iPhones, iPads, Android phones and more.

A password manager is essentially an encrypted digital vault that stores secure password login information you use to access apps and accounts on your mobile device, websites and other services. In addition to keeping your identity, credentials and sensitive data safe, the best password manager also has a password generator to create strong, unique passwords and ensure you aren’t using the same password in multiple places (password generation really comes in clutch when you can’t come up with yet another unique password on the fly for the latest must-have iOS app). With all the recent news of security breaches and identity theft, having a unique password for each location can go a long way to ensuring that if one site gets hacked, your stolen password can’t be used on other sites. You’re basically using multiple passwords to create your own security features.

Plus, with a manager, you don’t have to remember the various pieces of login information, such as shipping addresses and credit card information. With just one master password, or in some cases a PIN or your fingerprint, you can autofill a form or password field. Some also feature online storage and an encrypted vault for storing documents.

All our best password manager picks come in free versions, which typically let you securely store passwords for one device — although our pick for the best free manager can currently be used for syncing across multiple devices — and all handle hardware authentication through YubiKey. Our best password security manager picks also feature subscription options that let you sync your secure password login information across devices, share credentials with trusted family and friends, and get access to secure online storage. And if transparency is important to you, several of our picks are open-source projects. We also look at what a password manager is, its security features and the basics of how to use one.

Note that these password manager services are independently chosen by our editors. We’ll be updating this story periodically as new options become available. In light of our top choice’s recent pricing change, we may be reconsidering the order in the near future, and will update this story accordingly.

Read more: The best web hosting providers

Other free and paid options worth considering

Bitwarden, LastPass and 1Password are solid, affordable (or free) password keepers, and in a straw poll of CNET staffers, they were about neck-and-neck in use. But if you find none of our three recommended password managers works quite how you want, a handful of other apps are worth considering. These all have free versions available.

Dashlane

Offers limited free version (50 passwords on one device)
Base price beyond free: $59.88 per year
Works with: Windows, MacOS, Android, iPhone and iPad. Browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, Edge and Opera.

Dashlane provides a simple and secure way to manage your passwords and keep other login information stored. Just for managing passwords, we like it as much as our picks, but the free Dashlane app limits you to one device and 50 passwords. The $60 Premium subscription is similar to plans from 1Password and LastPass. The $120 Premium Plus annual subscription adds credit and ID-theft monitoring.

Keeper

Offers limited free version (unlimited passwords on one device)
Base price beyond free: $35
Works with: Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, iPhone and iPad. Browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, Edge and Opera.

Keeper is another secure password manager that helps you manage login info on Windows, MacOS, Android and iOS devices. A free version gives you unlimited password storage on one device. The step-up version costs $35 a year and lets you sync passwords across multiple device options. For around $45 a year, you can get 10GB of secure file storage.

KeePassXC

It’s free
Donations accepted
Works with: Windows, MacOS, Linux, Chrome OS, Android, iPhone and iPad, BlackBerry, Windows Phone and Palm OS. Access via the web plus popular browser extensions. (Except for the official Windows version, KeePass for other platforms are unofficial ports.)

KeePass, another open-source software password manager, started on Windows and has been ported using the same code base to other platforms, including MacOS, Android and iOS. On the plus side, it’s totally free and endorsed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation. On the other hand, it’s really for advanced users only: Its user interface takes a bit of fiddling to get all the independently built versions of KeePass to work together.

What about NordPass and Norton Password Manager?

There’s been a shift in the market for VPN and antivirus software in recent months. Many of the companies behind these software packages are expanding them to become wider software suites. For instance: NordVPN now offers NordPass, a dedicated password manager, and Norton now offers a Norton Password Manager as part of its antivirus and identity theft packages. We haven’t specifically reviewed these password storage managers, if only because they don’t yet appear to have a feature set or pricing option that beats any of our preferred options above. If and when that changes, we’ll check them out in more detail.

Password manager basics

Still need more info on what password managers are, and why they’re better than the alternatives? Read on.

How does a password manager work?

To get started, a password manager will record the username and password you use when you first sign in to a website or service. Then the next time you visit the website, it will autofill forms with your saved password login information. For those websites and services that don’t allow automatic filling, a password manager lets you copy the password to paste into the password field.

If you’re stuck picking a good password, a manager can generate a strong password for you and watch that you aren’t reusing it across multiple services. And if you use more than one device, you want a manager that is available across all your devices and browsers, so you can access your passwords and login information — including credit-card and shipping information — from anywhere through the manager app or its browser extension. Some provide secure storage so you can store other items too, such as documents or an electronic copy of your passport or will.

Take note: Many password managers keep the master password you use to unlock the manager locally and not on a remote server. Or if it’s on a server, it’s encrypted and not readable by the company.

This ensures your account stays secure in case of a data breach. It also means that if you forget your master password, there may not be a way to recover your account through the company. Because of that, a few password managers offer DIY kits to help you recover your account on your own. Worst-case scenario, you start over with a new password manager account and then reset and save passwords for all your accounts and apps.

What makes for a secure password?

When trying to avoid a weak password, a good password should be a long string of capital and lowercase letters, numbers, punctuation and other nonalphanumeric characters — something that’s difficult for others to guess, but a snap for a password manager to keep track of. And despite what you may have heard, once you select a good complex password or passphrase, you don’t really need to change it periodically.

Can I use a web browser to manage my passwords and login information?

You can certainly use Chrome, Safari or Firefox to manage your passwords, addresses and other login data. You can even set up a master password to unlock your credentials within a browser. And while using an online browser’s password tool is certainly better than not using a password keeper at all, you can’t easily access your passwords and other login info outside of the browser or share login info with others you trust.

What about iCloud Keychain?

Through iCloud Keychain, you can access your Safari website usernames and passwords, credit card information and Wi-Fi network information from your Mac and iOS devices. This cloud storage option is great if you live in Apple’s world. But if you venture outside the Apple operating system and have a Windows or Android device or use the Google Chrome or Firefox browser, iCloud Keychain comes up short.

David Gewirtz contributed to this story.

More computer advice

Technologies

Australians Flock to VPNs in the Wake of Online Age-Restriction Laws

App downloads for VPN services increase sharply as websites in Australia go behind age-restriction walls.

A new set of laws in Australia requiring adult websites and app stores to age-restrict content for those under 18, and requiring AI companies to restrict chatbot offerings from displaying certain types of sensitive or adult content to minors, is apparently driving many to download Virtual Private Network apps there.

Major adult sites have closed their virtual doors to those who aren’t age-confirmed in Australia, and these changes follow a nationwide ban on social media use by teenagers and young children that went into effect in December.

According to reports from Reuters, The Guardian and others, in response to the bans, downloads of VPN-related apps, which people can use to circumvent location-based restrictions, are sharply on the rise. According to Reuters, three of the 15 most downloaded free iPhone apps in the country were VPN-related as the new laws went into effect on Monday.

Lawmakers in some regions, including the US, are well aware that people use VPNs in this way. In states such as Michigan and Wisconsin, laws are being proposed to limit or outright ban VPN use. Wisconsin’s proposed law would require adult sites to block VPN traffic, while Michigan’s proposal would ban VPN use entirely in the state.

There is also a proposal in England under consideration to ban VPN use by minors. That proposal is currently under review.

Technologies

Here’s How to Track the Artemis II Mission in Real Time With NASA’s New Tool

The tool will let you track NASA’s modern lunar program during its 10-day flight around the moon and back again.

More than half a century after astronauts last left footprints on the lunar surface, humanity is preparing to return to the moon. The excitement surrounding NASA’s Apollo program once captivated the world, and now NASA hopes to rekindle that same sense of wonder with its modern lunar effort, the Artemis program.

NASA’s Artemis II launch is scheduled for the first week of April. It’ll be the first human mission to the moon since 1972, and it should be quite the achievement for the Artemis program. Now, NASA has released a new tool that lets the public track Artemis II in real time.

The Artemis program is NASA’s long-term effort to return humans to the moon and establish a sustained presence there for the first time since the Apollo program. The program aims to land astronauts near the lunar south pole, develop new technologies for long-term exploration and use the moon as a stepping stone for future missions to Mars.

The Artemis Real-time Orbit Website, dubbed AROW, is already available to the public, although there isn’t much to see since the launch is still a few weeks away. It’s also available directly from the NASA app if you’re using a mobile device. The site lets the public visualize data collected by sensors on Orion and sent to the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The website is simple to navigate. You’ll see a visual representation of Artemis II’s progress, including its speed, distance from Earth and distance to the moon. Mobile app users get all of the above, along with an extra augmented reality tracker that lets you point your phone at the sky and see where Artemis II is relative to your position on Earth. It works much like Google Star Map and other stargazing apps that use similar technology.

According to NASA, tracking will be available once the Orion capsule separates from the rocket’s upper stage, which is expected about 3 hours after the upcoming April launch. The site will then update its information in real time for the entire 10-day mission.

NASA is also making flight data available for download so that people interested in creating their own content, such as visualizations or tracking apps, can do so. The data will include all sorts of things, including state vectors, which are data that «describe precisely where Orion is located and how it moves.» That same data will be used by NASA to study Orion and make improvements for future Artemis missions.

An exact launch date for Artemis II hasn’t been set, but the agency plans on launching the mission no earlier than April 1. The launch was originally scheduled for February, but it was delayed multiple times due to a hydrogen leak and a helium flow issue. NASA says it has since fixed both issues.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for March 10, #1003

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for March 10, No. 1,003

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is a fun and diverse mix. If you know your US states, you’ll surely solve the blue category early. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Think Julia Child.

Green group hint: Also, Bro and Sis.

Blue group hint: Minn. and Ore. are two others.

Purple group hint: Hit with your fist.