Bitwarden Review 2024: Features, Pros & Cons

A significant portion of the population relies on memory or less secure methods to secure their data. However, due to the shortcomings of traditional methods, the use of password managers is increasing rapidly.

A survey published in 2022 suggests that awareness of password managers is high globally, with 83% of respondents being familiar with them.

If you frequently forget your passwords or use the same login information across multiple devices, it’s best to use a password manager. This allows you to access all your account passwords using a single master password.

Bitwarden is a safe password manager with many features and a low price tag. The open-sourced Bitwarden’s free plan handles all the expected password manager tasks with few limitations, making Bitwarden one of the best tools among free password managers. Its paid plan adds storage and security tools at a low price for the category.

Here in this review, we will discover all the crucial information you need to determine before deciding if Bitwarden is a reliable password manager for you.

Bitwarden Overview

Bitwarden differs from the other password manager software as it is distributed under an open-source license. The fact that it is open-source (opens in new tab) indicates that anybody may access, examine, and participate in software development.

That is very good for Bitwarden’s efficacy when all you want the software to be is safe and open about functions.

Beyond its open-source status, Bitwarden has other positive aspects. It claims quick and effective security in minutes, limitless password and device compatibility, and safe and encrypted sharing.

It is one of the greatest tools available for protecting your online data because of its cross-platform compatibility, end-to-end encryption, safe password sharing, and versatile integrations, to name just a few features.

Bitwarden Features

Strong encryption

You can feel comfortable keeping your information on Bitwarden’s cloud servers because Bitwarden uses a strong 256-bit AES encryption, the same encryption method is used by banks and governments throughout the world to protect user data.

However, Bitwarden also provides the choice for local data storage if you’re concerned about the security of your data in the cloud (self-hosting).

Zero-knowledge password manager

Since only you know your Master Password and can decrypt your Bitwarden vault, it is a zero-knowledge password manager, meaning no one from the firm can access or view the data in your Bitwarden vault.

Although this increases your online security, it also means that if you forget your Master Password, you will also lose access to all of your other passwords since, unlike some of its rivals, Bitwarden does not provide any ways to restore your account.

Only if you have emergency access enabled or biometric logins set up on another device, you could be able to access your vault.

Bitwarden Password vault

Passwords and other crucial data may be stored in Bitwarden’s useful vault. Bitwarden’s password vault provides space for all your passwords and other sensitive information, which is all you will ever really need.

Two-factor authentication (2FA)

Bitwarden offers excellent two-factor authentication (2FA). When activated, 2FA requires you to sign in with your password and a different form of identification.

This adds a degree of security for safeguarding online accounts since it prohibits unauthorized users from accessing your accounts even if they manage to get their hands on your passwords.

To strengthen the security of your Bitwarden vault, Bitwarden offers the following alternative 2FA solutions, –

• Use an authenticator app, such as Google Authenticator or Authy.
• Receive email-based one-time codes.
• Biometric sign-on (on compatible devices).
• USB security keys like the YubiKey and Duo (Premium only)

TOTP (temporary one-time password)

You may log into the compatible accounts saved in your vault using the inbuilt TOTP (temporary one-time password) authenticator. It’s simple to use and a great convenience to have this capability.

Bitwarden demonstrates how to set it up and displays all the TOTP- temporary one-time password accounts in your vault.

Password generator

Bitwarden makes it quite easy to establish strong passwords or passphrases.

Its easy-to-use and efficient Bitwarden password generator feature allows users to produce random sequences of numbers, characters, symbols, and short passphrases like correct-horse-battery-staple.

Bitwarden can generate passwords with lengths ranging from 5 to 128 characters. Although the default password length of 14 is acceptable, I suggest extending your passwords by at least a few characters.

How to use Bitwarden?

Step1- Visit Bitwarden.com and create an account by clicking on “Get Started Today”

You will see this screen.

Step 2- Fill in the details and decide on a master password (secure, strong, and unique).

Step 3- Once you have created your account, you will see a login window. Log in using your master password.

You will see an empty Bitwarden vault.

Step4- Go ahead and add an item to your vault by clicking on “Add Item”

Step 5- A window to add items will appear. Fill in the details to add items

Once saved, it will appear in your vault.

Bitwarden Alternatives

Dashlane

Dashlane is password management software. It allows you to fill out forms quickly, save all of your passwords, and maintain the security and accessibility of your data.

Over 15+ million users and 20,000 companies rely on Dashlane to secure their logins. It offers easy-to-use solutions to monitor and protect your data at all times and has never had any single breach.

With the Dashlane extension, you can copy, read, and create passwords, save, and have login information automatically filled in while you surf the web.

To utilize Dashlane to its maximum potential, launch its online app: Monitor your Password Health score, share passwords safely, and respond when it flags one of your passwords as being at risk.

Keeper

Keeper is a user-friendly, extremely secure password manager software. It offers many unique and useful features.

It offers top-notch security, a simple user interface, a fantastic encrypted messaging service, and more cloud storage than any of its rivals.

LastPass

As an Award-Winning password manager, LastPass securely stores your passwords and provides safe access from any mobile or computer device. Your regular online duties may be made easier with LastPass.

LastPass gives you control over your online life by making it simple to save your sensitive data so you can access it anywhere.

Save all your passwords, usernames, credit cards, and other important information in your safe vault, and LastPass will automatically fill in the appropriate fields for you when you need them.

1Password

1Password uses AES 256-bit encryption. This indicates that your passwords are secure and that it is highly unlikely or impossible that someone will attempt to hijack your account directly.

A 34-character secret key serves as the master password while setting up.

Many can vouch that 1Password is a great password manager tool because it has all the features you’d anticipate and a few more.

Bitwarden Pricing

Bitwarden offers three personal plans-

Feature	Free	Premium	Families
Price per month	Free Forever	$1	$3.33
Price per year	N/A	$10	$40
Share vault items	2 users, 2 collections	2 users, 2 collections	6 users, unlimited collections
Bitwarden core features	✔	✔	✔
Email Alias Integration	✔	✔	✔
Encrypted file attachment	N/A	1 GB personal	1 GB for personal and 1 GB for organizational items
Bitwarden Authenticator	N/A	✔	✔
Passkey management	✔	✔	✔
Vault Health Reports	Username Data Breach Report	✔	✔
Priority Support	N/A	✔	✔
File attachments	N/A	✔	✔
Unlimited sharing	N/A	N/A	✔
Emergency access	N/A	✔	✔
Security reports	N/A	✔	✔
Organization storage	N/A	N/A	✔
Self-host options	✔	✔	✔

The core features in each plan include

• Open source security
• Passkey management and usage
• Username and password generator
• Zero-knowledge encryption
• Store notes, credit cards, identities
• Email alias integration
• Unlimited devices, unlimited passwords
• Free sharing with another user
• Advanced two-step login
• Browser, Mobile, Desktop apps
• Bitwarden Send
• Encrypted export

However, the business customers get to choose these plans-

Plan	Price	Billing	Includes
Teams	$4 per month/user	Billed annually	Premium features for all users
Enterprise	$6 per month/per user	Billed annually	Premium features and complimentary families plan for all users
Get a quote	–	–	Contact sales for a custom quote

FAQs

What makes Bitwarden stand out?

Bitwarden is a free password manager that does not seem to impose any heavy restrictions on its users. No other free password manager tool is so free of restrictions.

Most other free password managers limit the number of devices that can be synced or passwords that can be saved. Bitwarden bucks this trend; it allows you to sync your vault across all your devices and save unlimited vault items, all without spending a single penny.

Bitwarden also has a paid version with fantastic security features that cost just $10. This makes it a solid solution for users who can afford less.

It has all those security tools you can expect from password manager software, including password security auditing, two-factor authentication (2FA), strong encryption, cloud or local hosting options, and password breach monitoring.

In addition, Bitwarden also has a unique Send Feature, which allows you to send sensitive files and information to non-Bitwarden users.

It is one of the best options to consider, especially for advanced users.

Conclusion

Bitwarden has a lot of positive qualities. The software is open source, it has robust security features.

The software checks all the major feature boxes and is simple to use. It works with almost every browser and device, making it incredibly adaptable.

It offers a generous free plan, which makes it one of the best tools among free password managers, and a highly affordable paid plan. This is a great option for users with a tight budget.

Overall, Bitwarden is a low-cost option for tech-savvy people and users on a budget.