Bitwarden VS LastPass

Bitwarden vs Lastpass - The tale of two worlds

Bitwarden and LastPass are both making waves in the Password Manager scene: Bitwarden is a relatively new, Open-source solution with a decent free and paid plan, while LastPass is one of the oldest players in the block with a very feature-rich but simple user interface. Let’s see how they battle it out. On thing to mention here: This article is a summary only, if you want to read the in-depth reviews, please check out our LastPass and Bitwarden reviews, where we talk about all these topics in-depth. If you want to check out which password manager we think is best of the dozens we tested, we suggest reading through this article. Anyway, let’s get it on!

Round 1 - Availability

Devices and extensions

On Mobile, the slight edge goes to LastPass, because it still offers support for Windows phones, otherwise, both apps are available for Android and iOS.

On Desktop: Both Bitwarden and LastPass has dedicated apps for PC and Mac, and a Linux option as well. This is a tie.

Extensions: Bitwarden has a slight edge here, because it supports Brave and Vivaldi browsers as well (LastPass has support for Maxthon) , however, both both password managers have solutions for Chrome, Firefox, Explorer, Microsoft Edge and Opera.

Overall rating: this is a Tie between Bitwarden vs. LastPass.

Round 2 - Security

Bitwarden has an open-source code, which is usually considered more secure than proprietary code (Like LastPass). Both of the apps have zero-knowledge implemented, and have AES-256 encryption, an industry standard. Both of these password managers are considered very secure, but LastPass had a security incident in 2015, so this round goes to BitWarden.

Round 3 - Additional features

So far, in this Bitwarden Vs. LastPass fight, this is clearly a tie, however, if we look at additional features, we’ll clearly see that LastPass pulls ahead. Their Form filling and secure notes section is much more customizable and easier to use than Bitwarden’s, and they offer easy password sharing. The big plus in case of both Password Managers is Multi-account sync in the Free Plan. This round goes to LastPass.

Round 4 - Pricing

If we only look at free-tier offers, it’s LastPass which offers more features for no investment, but if we look at the paid plans, Bitwarden offers more budget-friendly deals, if we only look at the dollar value. This round is won by Bitwarden.

Round 5 - General Usability

In the final round, we’ve tested general day-to-day usability of both password managers: We’ve installed Bitwarden and LastPass on all our devices for a week each. Our impression is, that overall LastPass is more likeable on a day-to-day scenario than Bitwarden, maybe because it’s more accurate form-filling capabilities.