These are the only programs I would trust with my passwords in 2024.

A password manager is a program consisting of a secure and encrypted database that stores all our passwords so that no one can access them. They allow us to use secure, different, and random passwords on each of the websites we log into, minimizing both the likelihood that they will be able to guess it and the damage if they do.

Remember that the secure key must be more than 8 characters long, use uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols, and be unique, meaning we must not use it on other sites to log in. Although there are many password managers available online, not all are created equal. And, if I had to personally choose one of them, these are the only ones I would consider.

Password managers for installation on Windows

A password manager generally behaves like any other program. That is, we can install it on a computer and run it whenever we need it. It also receives support and updates like any other software. If you are one of those who trust the cloud, you can choose them.

Kipass

Kipass is a completely free and open source password manager. It’s not the most intuitive or aesthetically pleasing option, but when it comes to getting the job done, it’s one of the best options we can consider. This program creates a 100% secure, military-grade encrypted database in which all our keys will be stored. And we can also save all the data we want.

This program is designed to save passwords locally on your PC. But, if we want, we can install extensions that will allow us to synchronize the database with the cloud (although this means breaking one of its main functions) so that we can also have them on our mobile or other computers without having to make a copy. hand.

We can download it from here. There are also other forks or derivatives that offer other features, such as KeePassX.

Web navigator

Although people are generally not very supportive of this, in my opinion browser password managers (such as chromium, Edge, Firefox, etc.) are also one of the best ways to store keys securely. While security is not its strong suit (since anyone with access to a PC can access passwords), it is the easiest way to use secure keys online.

Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox and all other browsers now have a secure password generator that is activated when you register on a website. When using one of these keys, it is stored directly in this password manager and gives us the opportunity to use it automatically when logging in. Additionally, we can use the cloud to (securely) sync passwords to the cloud so that we can access all of them from anywhere.

It is true that we delegate passwords to Google, Microsoft or the relevant company depending on the browser we use. But do we really think they don’t know them yet?

Save passwords in the cloud

If we want to save passwords in the cloud, access them from anywhere and always have them at hand, in this case we recommend only two services.

Last pass

One of the oldest and most famous password managers we can find. Thanks to this, we can safely store all the passwords we want and, in addition, we will have various advantages over previous programs, such as periodically analyzing the Deep Web for leaks, synchronizing them between several computers and mobile phones. and even share some keys with family members. Additionally, in addition to passwords, it also allows us to securely store other types of information, such as credit card information, to speed up online shopping.

Problem Last pass is that it has already had several security breaches that allowed customers’ passwords to be stolen. And, in addition to the fact that the databases are paid, they are controlled by a commercial company, which, as we saw in the previous point, is not good.

Vault Keeper

The best option, the most secure and reliable for storing all passwords is Guardian of the Vault. This program is a completely free and open source implementation of the Bitwarden API for setting up our own password manager in the cloud. Vaultwarden needs to be installed on a server (e.g. in the cloud) or on a NAS we have at home, so we are responsible for security and are 100% owners of the databases.

We can store passwords, bank details, double authentication codes and all the information we need in this program. And access it from major web browsers, your mobile phone, PC or any app that supports Bitwarden.

Why not use the original program instead of this API? Because many of the functions of the original program are paid, and the API has more security measures.

Editor’s recommendation

Despite the wide variety of passwords we can find, I used two: the Chrome password manager (my main browser) and Vaultwarden installed on my NAS. Which one do I recommend? In the end, the most convenient use a web browser password manager. It has everything we can expect from a tool for this purpose, and no matter how much hate there is for Big Tech, what they’re ultimately interested in is Big Data, not my specific password.

But, for those who are not afraid of technology and like to keep everything under control, I recommend Waltwarden’s copy. Getting started with Docker is an exciting adventure, and then you will have a reliable and reliable tool that allows you to have 100% control over your data.