Remembering all the passwords you use on a daily basis can be a struggle. Whether it’s logging into Amazon, checking your online banking or settling down to watch something on Netflix, seeing the log-in box appear can make your heart sink.
Then there’s the fact that each site seems to require a different length or combination of certain characters, meaning you need different ones for nearly every site or service (which, sadly, is also a good idea). How are our limited human brains supposed to store all these weird strings of letters, numbers and special characters? All I want to do is stream Star Trek: The Next Generation for the 50th time, not prove my intellectual prowess!
Password managers can help you manage all your passwords and login information across your Mac, iPhone, iPad and other Apple devices. Apple offers it’s own Passwords app to keep track of all your passwords, but is that the best password manager for Mac and iPhone, or is there another password manager for Apple devices that would do a better job.
We’ve reviewed lots of password manager that work with Macs, iPhone and iPads to see how they compare and whether the extra features on offer are worth the extra expense when compared to Apple’s free Passwords app. In a nutshell, it is wise to get a password manager that isn’t limited to Apple devices, especially if within your family unit there are other kinds of devices. Read on to find our why you need a password manager and which password managers are best for Apple devices.
PROMOTION
RoboForm Premium: Just $0.99/Month!
Secure your passwords with RoboForm Premium—now only $0.99/month, a massive 60% off! Exclusive to Macworld readers. Offer ends soon. Grab it today!
Best Password Managers for Mac and iPhone
The following password managers offer a variety of features to help carry the burden of remembering your passwords. If you use a Password Manager you only need to remember one master password, after which the app takes care of logging into all other accounts. Some apps even make recommendations for really secure passwords, others will tell you if there is a risk that your password has been leaked.
In our round up we’ve included Apple’s Password app at the top because it’s free and already on your device (as long as your Mac or iPhone has iOS 18 or macOS Sequoia or later). However, there are other good password managers, such as the award winning 1Password, feature heavy Dashlane and easy to use NordPass. Read on to find the one that suits you best.
Apple Passwords – Best for basics and free!
Apple’s Passwords app works well enough for the basic functions most of us rely on. It stores and fills login passwords, Wi-Fi passwords, 2FA codes, and passkeys. It warns you of easy-to-guess passwords, reused passwords, and passwords that appeared in major data breaches. It’s also relatively easy to securely share passwords with others. Apple also provides its own suggested passwords for new signups.
It doesn’t give you much in the way of other features–stored credit card and identification info to autofill in forms, secure document storage or notes, and so on. Apple has other apps that do those things in encrypted ways, but if you use other platforms and browsers, this information is not easily available.
Increasing the font size on the 2FA codes by a few points would help. There’s text at the top of the Codes screen that shows you how long until the codes reset, but it scrolls off the top of the screen when you scroll down your list–it should stay anchored at the top of the screen.
Apple’s Passwords app gets the job done and is fine for the bulk of Apple users who don’t regularly use other platforms or browsers. If you use the required extrensions it will even work for those who use Chrome, Edge – and even Windows.
Read our full Passwords review
1Password – Best password manager
One of our long-standing favorite password managers is 1Password which has a nice, clean layout and is simple to use. As well as storing and autofilling your passwords and Passkeys it can also hold other important information, such as your payment details, address, driver’s licence and passport. All of which can be instantly called up to fill out online forms or checkout from websites and apps.
Security is front and center, with 1Password boasting AES end-to-end encryption so only you will hold the key to your account. It also uses the Secure Remote Password (SRP) protocol, which allows you to authenticate your details to a site without the information being sent to a server which could compromise security.
A feature called Watchtower analyzes the overall strength of your online security and warns you if passwords are repeated or vulnerable. There’s also a password generator if you want to replace your tired old attempts with something a bit more secure.
A free 14-day trial is available, but after that, you’ll need to move on to a paid subscription that renews every year. For this, you’ll be able to use the software on as many devices as you like, including macOS, Windows, ChromeOS, and Linux, plus the accompanying iPhone and Android apps.
1Password has won numerous awards and is an easy service to recommend.
Read our full 1Password review
Dashlane – Best for features
Dashlane is another hugely popular password manager, with a comprehensive suite of tools to make your life a lot easier.
The app analyses your current passwords to see how secure they are and gives you an overall rating based on how often you reuse login details for multiple sites. Password monitoring will check if any of your details have been exposed in data breaches or have been reused too many times. There’s also a feature to auto-replace passwords instantly with ones generated by Dashlane.
It’s not only your account details that you can store in Dashlane, you can store bank details, your address and important documents like your passport and driving licence. There’s also a section for any secure notes you wish to keep safe. The app also supports Passkeys, which are the latest innovation which seem set to replace passwords in the long run.
All your transactions between the app and sites are end-to-end encrypted using 256-bit AES technology. There’s also 2-factor authentication available, with the Dashlane app acting as an authenticator, and you get a VPN service as part of the paid tiers.
Dashlane is available on a wide range of platforms, with dedicated apps for iOS/iPadOS and Android, plus extensions for Chrome, Safari, Edge and Firefox.
Dashlane has a yearly subscription, but there is a free tier available that acts as a taster for the full package, and you can use it indefinitely, but it has a limit of 25 passwords.
Read our full Dashlane review
Bitwarden – Excellent free tier
When it comes to technology, we often say that you get what you pay for, but in the case of Bitwarden, this isn’t quite true. The service offers a really impressive range of capabilities on its free tier, so with this app, you get what you don’t pay for!
Without signing up for a premium account you get unlimited storage for passwords, credit cards, notes, and online account IDs, secure text messaging with individuals, a secure password generator, two-factor authentication, plus the ability to either have your data stored on the Bitwarden servers or one you host yourself. Oh, and you can sync all your devices, rather than the single one offered by most other free tiers.
Should you want to expand the features, then the Premium tier (which has a yearly subscription) adds secure file sharing, 1GB of encrypted file attachments, additional two-factor authentication options, password safety analysis, and access to your account by family if you die or become sick.
Encryption is high-grade stuff, with Bitwarden deploying end-to-end AES-256 bit encryption, salted hashing, and PBKDF2 SHA-256, all of which are down locally on your machine.
Apps are available on a wide range of platforms, including macOS, Windows, Linux, pretty much every browser you can think of, Android, and iOS, and there’s even a secure web version if you find yourself without your device.
If you’re looking for value when it comes to password managers, it’s very hard to look past Bitwarden.
Read our full Bitwarden review
NordPass – Easy to use
One of the newest additions to the password manager arena is NordPass, which is made by the same fine fellows at NordVPN. The latter is one of our favorite VPNs, as you’ll see from our Best VPN for Mac roundup.
NordPass offers full desktop apps for macOS, Windows, and Linux, plus the standard iOS and Android offerings. You can also use NordPass through browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Brave, Edge, and Safari.
NordPass has all the features you’d expect from a modern password manager, with quick importing of existing passwords from other services, zero-knowledge architecture, local encryption, 2-factor authentication, password generation, and secure storage for credit details and notes. There’s of course autofill for logging into accounts, folders to store passwords for work, home or other classifications, security monitoring for password hacks, support for biometrics, plus a neat interface to manage all of your various data.
NordPass offers a decent free tier, which supports unlimited passwords, stores credit card details, and secure notes, plus has the ability to sync across all your devices. The main drawback is that you can only be logged into one device at a time. But if you can work with that it’s a service you should definitely investigate. The paid tiers include a Premium account which you pay for yearly.
Read our full NordPass review
Roboform – A solid password manager
RoboForm works across iPhone, iPad and Macs, plus you can use it on Windows and Linux as well as Android.
Set up is simple. Download the relevant app or extension, then sign up for an account. There’s a free trial that gives you access to the Premium tier features for 14-days, then you can either continue to use it for free on the limited tier or sign up to a fully-functional paid variety.
As well as passwords you can store personal details (e.g. address and phone number), your passport, driving license and other sensitive data. You can import your existing login details from other services or your browser.
The password generator does a good job of helping you choose new passwords. You can select the number of characters, numbers, symbols, upper or lower case, and create passphrases.
There’s a built-in authenticator and Roboform can handle two-factor authentication. You can also use passkeys instead of passwords.
There’s also a Security Centre that analyses your password integrity. This includes how many times you’ve used the same ones, how complex they are, and if they’ve been involved in hacks. Everything you do is end-to-end encrypted via AES 256-bit encryption, with PBKDF2 SHA256.
Roboform offers a limited free tier (one device with unlimited passwords). The Premium tier (which used to be called Roboform Everywhere), adds the security center, access on all your devices, customer support, and web access to your account and is a yearly subscription.
Read our full RoboForm Premium review
Keeper
Keeper can store unlimited passwords, auto-generate strong new ones, and sync passwords across multiple devices, all while holding credit card details and other important payment details in its secure vault. There’s also support for Passkeys, which is good.
AES 256-bit encryption is all performed locally, so Keeper can never know your details, but there is the option to securely share folders and passwords with friends and family if they need to access any of your accounts. The included secure messaging service is also useful for communicating these requests
There’s also support for Touch ID on the Mac and iPhone, with the latter also working with Face ID, plus Apple Watch compatibility and the option of using two-step authentication.
Keeper Unlimited Password Manager is available for a yearly subscription, but there is a free tier that is limited to one device and ten passwords.
LastPass
LastPass is probably one of the best-known password manager, thanks to it being one of the original pioneers in the field, however, in recent years it’s lost its crown after being hit with several hacks, including at least one that stole encrypted customer data. This recent history makes it harder to recommend.
Not that security measures aren’t there, the company explains that it uses “AES 256-bit encryption with PBKDF2 SHA-256 and salted hashes to ensure complete security in the cloud.” The app does all of its encryption locally, so LastPass never knows your master password, and the Premium tier also supports a form of two-factor authentication for another layer of security.
You can either use LastPass locally on your device via dedicated apps (macOS, iOS and iPadOS), or via the web with plugins and extensions available for Safari, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and Microsoft Edge all of which allow you to automatically access login details for sites and accounts or have LastPass autofill the login fields on your behalf.
Just like with other managers you have access to a vault where all of your passwords are stored, and these can be changed to more complex alternatives at the touch of a button. LastPass will also advise you on how secure your passwords are for your existing accounts. Getting set up is easy too, as you can import existing passwords from web browsers, email, and other password managers.
The app offers a digital wallet to store your card details, plus another area for official ID such as passports and driving licenses. The Note section is a place where you can keep Wi-Fi passwords, insurance details and any other important documents that you need to access. It’s also possible to securely share account details and logins with friends and family, even if they don’t have LastPass.
There is a free tier, although this is limited to one device, so if you want to sync across your Mac and iPhone you’ll need to move up to the Premium tier, which is a annual subscription. One of the advantages of a paid plan is an Emergency backup which means that, should you suffer an accident or even pass away, your family will be given access to your account.
Read our full LastPass review
Enpass
Those looking for a simple, secure solution that doesn’t break the bank would do well to consider Enpass.
The macOS client is completely free, but if you want to add the same features to your iPhone or Android device then you’ll need to move to the Enpass Premium tier. Here you have the choice of an annual subscription or a lifetime license – which is rare these days.
Enpass doesn’t store any of your information on its servers. Instead, everything is encrypted and kept on your personal device so you never lose control of your data. Details can be synced securely via iCloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, Box, or ownCloud/WebDAV, to keep all of your devices in step.
You still have the classic features of other password managers, such as auto-fill forms, security analysis of your passwords and generating complex replacements easily, secure storage for sensitive information, passkey support, and AES 256-bit encryption, plus support for iOS, Android, and Apple Watch devices.
There are plenty of fine-tuning options for those who are a little bit more hands-on, but we like the no-nonsense approach and the fact that your data never leaves your device.
Do you need a password manager?
Now that Apple has its own standalone Passwords app (which arrived in iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia) do you need another Password Manager?
As you will see from our review above, and our full review of Apple’s Passwords app, most users can replace their paid password manager with Apple’s free solution. Most people don’t use a password manager at all, so getting them in the door this way is a good thing – and Apple Passwords is definitely good enough for most everyday users.
For more ways to keep your data safe, read our iPhone security and Best Mac security tips articles.
Need some help coming up with a safe and secure password? Read our tips to make your passwords even stronger.
Do I need to use passkeys?
Apple and other tech companies are encouraging the use of passkeys. This is a system that uses encrypted keys for account authentication. You have one key and the website has another and when you attempt to log in the two keys pair.
Passkeys improve security, but for now they haven’t been widely adopted, but that is likely to change in time.
Dashlane, NordPass, and 1Password already support passkeys.
How we test password managers
When evaluating password managers we assess the different features on offer, focussing on ease of use – because let’s face it, if it’s too much hassle people won’t use their password manager and they will ignore its warnings.
Another area we check is cross-platform compatibility, because a password manager should work across all your devices. If you aren’t only in the Apple ecosystem you need a password manager that will assist you outside as well.
Also important are the security features, so we look out for good encryption, multi-factor authentication, and strong password generation.
Finally we look at the additional features, like how easy it is to share with family and friends, and what happens if you pass away.
Price is also assessed. Many password managers have a yearly subscription so we feel it is important to assess whether the password manager will still feel as valuable a year from the date you first start to use it. Especially as moving to an alternative can be a stressful process.
Why you can trust Macworld
Macworld is a team of Apple enthusiasts with decades of experience with, and expertise in, all things Apple. We offer fair and honest reviews and unbiased buying advice based on our own practical experience with the products. Our testing process is rigorous and we frequently look again at software to ensure that it still meets our requirements and the needs of our readers.
How password managers work
The idea of password managers is to simplify the way you access your various accounts. Instead of having to memorize multiple complex passwords for each of the services you use you need only recall one password – or provide a fingerprint or Face ID – and the password manager will automatically fill in the required details for you. Just remember this is only as safe as the password you use to unlock access to all your passwords – so don’t lock them all behind an easy-to-guess password, like your pet’s name.
The password managers also offer various other features. For example, they can generate random, highly secure passwords for your accounts, they can warn you if your password has been compromised, and some can advise you about existing insecure passwords and support your efforts to update them.
Obviously, security is a high priority—as the manager apps have the virtual keys to your kingdom—which is why all of the options listed use high-grade encryption to protect your details.
Many also feature digital wallets so your bank details can be safely stored and used to make purchases online without having to root around in your pocket or bag for the card number and expiry date.
A good Password Manager makes it easy to use strong, unique passwords everywhere on the web, no matter what platform or browser you happen to use. But to get the most out of them, you need to pay a subscription fee.
How to choose the best password manager
First decide which of the features you need from those mentioned above and then look for a password manager that offers them. You likely want password generation to make it easy to come up woth a new password every time you are asked. Many password managers will also analyze your existing passwords for weaknesses and help you upgrade them.
Another feature you may want is the ability to share a password with friends and family. A good password manager will allow you to do that without sacrificing security.
It’s important that the password manager has good security, because it holds the key to all of your data, including bank account and address probably. So make sure that you have protection for this information, which is usually two-factor authentication so that your password can’t be hacked without access to a trusted device via a second method of identification.
Are password managers safe?
Good password managers will offer enhanced security features beyond basic protection. They encrypt all stored data, making it highly unlikely cybercriminals can decrypt it. Since all passwords will be encrypted, hackers shouldn’t be able to view them even after theft.
However, the strength of your master password is crucial. If you’re concerned, consider choosing a password manager that stores your master password on a separate server, adding an extra layer of security.
Should there be a security incident, a reputable managers should publicly release details.
If you suspect a hack, determine if it’s your data or the password manager’s database. If the database is hacked, you can decide whether to continue using the service.
Should I switch password managers?
Problems can arise if you are trying to switching from an existing Password Manager. Indeed, the biggest annoyance we ran into was making the switch to Apple’s Passwords app and getting everything transferred over, as you can see if you read: Apple’s free Passwords app can replace your paid password manager (kinda).
If you just love your current password manager and use it to connect to multiple platforms and browsers, it may well be worth continuing to pay its subscription fee.
If you’re thinking of switching to save the fee for your existing password manager, by all means move, just expect it to take a little time.
Author: Martyn Casserly, Contributor, Macworld
Martyn has been involved with tech ever since the arrival of his ZX Spectrum back in the early 80s. He covers iOS, Android, Windows and macOS, writing tutorials, buying guides and reviews.