Best password manager for Android 2021

These are the best Android password managers

1Password has taken a long, winding road to reach Android prominence, but the once Apple-only app is now intuitive and at feature parity with its iOS counterpart.

If you’re looking for a beautifully designed password manager, it doesn’t get much better than Dashlane. The app has been around for years and has seen its fair share of design changes, but the latest is arguably the best; plus, it’s pretty darn great at managing your passwords.

It’s tough to ignore LastPass, even with changes to the accessible version of the app. While the newly introduced limitations are a source of frustration, LastPass Premium is still a viable option for many.

1. 1Password

The great thing about 1Password is its simplicity. Like all options in this list, the app ties into Android’s built-in password manager SDK. However, if an app doesn’t support it, 1Password has a keyboard that lets you quickly copy and paste a username and password into the appropriate field.

1Password supports tags and groups; it can generate random solid passwords or 2FA codes; it helps multiple vaults, one for personal and one for a family or a team, and switches between them seamlessly; it’s fast to load and rarely crashes. 1Password also supports U2F keys now, adding extra protection to your account and your passwords.

According to our managing editor Daniel Bader, “1Password does everything well and is worth my annual subscription. In fact, for $36 a year, it’s a bargain.”

While 1Password is a favorite around here, Dashlane comes in a close second. The service features a beautifully designed application with an easy-to-navigate interface so you can find the passwords you need whenever you are prompted. There are apps for every platform, so you’ll never be without your passwords.

The free version of Dashlane will be sufficient for some, but you will likely begin butting up against the limitations quickly. The most significant hurdle is that you can only use Dashlane to store up to 50 passwords simultaneously. Considering how many different logins and accounts we all have, 50 may seem like a lot, but the truth is that it’s just a drop in the bucket. While the free version is limited to storing just 50 passwords, Dashlane’s Essentials plan offers unlimited password storage and uses the service with two devices instead of one.

If you want to replace LastPass or dive into a password manager for the first time, then Dashlane Premium is the way to go. The company offers a 30-day free trial to get your feet wet and everything organized. Then, you’ll be able to use the app on unlimited devices without limits on how many passwords can be stored. Plus, you’ll be provided with a VPN for WiFi protection and will receive alerts from Dashlane’s Dark Web Monitoring service.

You can create – and store – secure passwords with ease. LastPass allows you to remember one password to access your data on a new device: your master password. Unlike 1Password and other password managers requiring you to keep track of an access key, LastPass makes signing into a new device easily and relies on your email for secondary authentication. It’s possible to set specific passwords to only be visible to particular identities, which is incredibly useful when having a shared family or team account.

But changes to the accessible version of LastPass could leave you questioning whether it’s time to switch to a different password service. Recently, the company outlined plans to make it so users can only use the LastPass app on mobile devices or computers. Starting in March of 2021, if you sign in to LastPass on your fancy new Android phone, then your ‘active device type” will be locked into mobile devices. And if you opt for signing into LastPass free on your computer, then your “active device type” will be closed to whatever computers you use.

Those who think they can keep switching between mobile and computer device types will be disappointed. LastPass provides free users with three opportunities to change before moving to LastPass Premium. It’s not the end of the world, but for an app that was one of our favorites due to its superb free options, these changes feel like a punch in the gut.

Other great options

Though they didn’t quite make it into our top three, here are some excellent password manager apps.

Enpass

The most important parts of any password manager are security and convenience. Enpass offers the same level of password vault security as the rest of the competition. Still, its model’s an added layer of protection because it doesn’t store any of your data itself — you choose where to store and sync it so you can save it in Google Drive or Dropbox. That adds a little more overhead for you at first, but you can have the peace of mind of knowing you control the vault’s location.

Then there’s convenience. Of course, Enpass has apps for all major platforms, and your cloud service of choice can provide syncing, but there’s nothing more convenient than never having a recurring payment to keep your password manager around. Enpass is a one-time purchase, not a subscription, so you buy and own it. That’s it.

It has been a slow build-up over the last few years, but Microsoft has focused more on its apps and services. Over the last few months, Microsoft Authenticator has been transformed from a basic 2FA app into a more robust password manager. Edge is already one of the best Android browsers or computers now that it is using Chromium, and now Microsoft has its eyes set on helping you keep your information secure.

You can easily import your passwords from Chrome and use Authenticator to access those passwords or create new ones. It’s a pretty easy solution to managing your passwords. That being said, you won’t find an overly gorgeous design while using the app, but it’s completely free, and you can store as many passwords as you want.

Whenever you create a new account or need to update a password, Google will provide a bit of help so you can generate new logins that can’t be easily guessed. Instead of masquerading as a traditional application, Google Password Manager is already built into your Google account. You can access this manager since we’re already using Android and downloading apps.

There are a lot of great password managers out there that bring a lot more control and multi-layer security to this affair. Still, our writer Ara Wagoner hasn’t felt the need to pay for any of them since the default Autofill from Google gets the job done just fine:

I loathed to store most of my passwords anywhere but am super forgetful. The most important of my passwords are properly hidden outside any one system, and the rest sit in Google Passwords behind the same Master Key most of my life uses: my 2-factor-enabled Google Account password. So even though remembering a Master Key is more accessible than placing hundreds of unique passwords, I don’t want to hassle with it.

If you’ve ever looked into the best VPN services, you’ll see the resemblance with TunnelBear. Just looking at the logo, you may sense a feeling of familiarity with RememBear. RememBear comes from the same company and is available on all devices. You can use browser extensions inside Chrome, Firefox, or Safari on your computer or the mobile app on your smartphone or tablet.

The app itself provides end-to-end encryption while being able to save and help you create passwords and logins. You can even save your credit card information for easy access when your wallet is in the other room. Or maybe you want to take down some notes but don’t want to keep that information in something like Google Keep. Fire up RememBear, jot down what you need to remember, and keep it protected with one of the best password managers for Android.

Keeping with the trend of VPN apps making password managers, that brings us to WordPress. Easily import your passwords from your browser or use a CSV file if you happen to be coming from another password manager. As the name suggests, this is just one of the offerings from NordVPN, which also is one of the best Android VPN apps.

WordPress is free to use, although you’ll be limited to using it on a single device. If you want access to your passwords on all your devices, you’ll have to pay around $1.50 monthly. But with this, you’ll be able to have six active devices simultaneously, along with a Password Health scanner to ensure that your passwords are still strong. Plus, with NordPass’ Data Breach Scanner, the app will notify you if your password or login was found in a security breach so you can change the password quickly.

If you’re looking for a password manager that is a bit more robust than what Google and Microsoft offer for free options, then Bitwarden is the way to go. The service allows unlimited password storage with a free account while allowing you to self-host your passwords and generate new passwords. Then, all your passwords can sync across any devices you want to use Bitwarden with.

Turning things up a notch, Bitwarden Premium provides everything you can get in the free version, along with some extra goodies. You’ll earn 1GB of encrypted file storage to store images or notes with Bitwarden Authenticator. Bitwarden Premium even supports two-step authentication from integration with the YubiKey, if that’s your kind.