Overview
Bitwarden is an open-source password manager developed by Bitwarden, Inc., which was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Santa Barbara, California[5]. The company says it serves more than 80,000 businesses and over 15 million users in more than 180 countries[5]. Its client and server code is published openly, which allows independent inspection of how vaults are encrypted and synchronised[5].
The free plan is the most generous among the commercial products in this list: it has no limit on devices or stored passwords, supports passkeys, and includes Bitwarden Send for sharing text and files, plus sharing with one other user[4]. The paid Premium tier adds an integrated authenticator for one-time codes, 5 GB of file attachments, emergency access and vault health reports[4]. Bitwarden states that it holds ISO 27001 certification, SOC 2 and SOC 3 reports and undergoes annual third-party HIPAA audits[6].
The interface is more utilitarian than that of 1Password or Dashlane, and some features that rivals include by default, such as the authenticator, sit behind the paid tier[4]. For households, the Families plan covers six premium accounts and unlimited shared collections[4].
Bitwarden features
- Unlimited passwords and devices on the free plan
- Open-source clients and server
- Bitwarden Send for encrypted text and file sharing
- Passkey storage and sign-in
- Integrated TOTP authenticator (Premium)
- Emergency access and vault health reports (Premium)
- Self-hosting option for organisations
- Directory sync and SCIM provisioning (Teams)
Bitwarden pricing
Free: $0, unlimited devices and passwords, sharing with one other user. Premium: $1.65 per month, billed annually at $19.80. Families: $3.99 per month for up to six users, billed annually at $47.88. Prices are in US dollars and exclude taxes.
Bitwarden strengths and limitations
Strengths
- Free plan without device or password limits
- Lowest published paid price among the major vendors
- Open-source code available for inspection
- ISO 27001 and SOC 2 attestations published
- Low published per-user prices
- Self-hosting available
Limitations
- Authenticator and file attachments require Premium
- Free sharing limited to one other user
- Interface is plainer than 1Password or Dashlane
- Passwordless SSO and self-hosting reserved for Enterprise
- Less developer tooling than 1Password
Appears in
Bitwarden alternatives and competitors
Alternatives to Bitwarden: companies ranked in the same lists.
- 1Password
Proton VPN for Business
Dashlane
Keeper
RoboForm
Enpass- Zoho Analytics
LastPass
KeePassXC
Apple
Google Password Manager- Passbolt
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