The importance of a capable password manager is unmatchable. The majority stick with the Chrome Password manager or iCloud Keychain as they come by default on Android and iOS, respectively. However, there are many powerful third-party alternatives out there. Among them, both Dashlane and Bitwarden top the list on GT recommendations. If you are getting confused between the two, then read along to find the differences.
The comparison covers interface, cross-platform availability, features, price, sharing, password audit, and more. Let’s get started.
For example, Bitwarden caters for email, forum, Twitter, and user guide support, where Dashlane also has live chat, a chatbot, Q&A webinars, video tutorials, and various other support channels. The basic Teams subscription is $5.00 per for 5 users per month. Bitwarden, the open source password manager, makes it easy to generate and store unique passwords for any browser or device. Create your free account on the platform with end-to-end encryption and flexible integration options for you or your business. Dashlane is a cross-platform password manager with cloud sync across devices.
I had been seeing a ton of talk about Bitwarden with all the Lastpass stuff going on. My wife and I used Dashlane for the past couple of years and were overall happy with it. We did have a few annoyances but had become accustomed to them: DL did not always autofill logins correctly - they had a report feature, which I used many times, but never did I once see any of the sites I reported get. Thankfully, Dashlane offers to export all your stored information in a JSON so you can shift to some other (read: better) password manager. However, after migrating to Bitwarden, I noticed that it wasn’t working well with subdomains.
Also on Guiding Tech
How to Use Enpass Password Manager: A Complete Guide
Read MoreCross-Platform Availability
While Apple product users are mostly prefer iCloud Keychain solution, but it's not available natively on Windows and Android.
Cross-platform availability in a password manager is essential for the ease of access on all your devices, including the ones you plan to buy in the future. .
Bitwarden covers every possible platform and browser you can think of. It’s available across iOS and Android; it has native desktop applications on Windows, macOS, and Linux; and it also integrates with every major browser, including Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge.
Dashlane isn’t far behind either. The software is accessible on Android, iOS, Windows, and Mac.
User Interface
Both the Dashlane and Bitwarden use the standard macOS menu for navigation. We like Dashlane’s approach since has a better-looking translucent effect on the sidebar. It matches perfectly fine with the modern macOS design.
We found Bitwarden to be a bit on the safer side. It uses a standard white theme with black text across UI. For the fans of Dark theme, the app supports that as well.
Adding a New Item
Click on the ‘+’ button at the bottom, and you can add new items on Bitwarden. New item types are limited to Login, Card, Identity, and Secure Note only. Compared to that, Dashlane offers Business, Career, Shopping, Social Media, Tech, and more.
On Dashlane, you can create profiles to auto-fill forms and make payments. There is also a separate tab to save a digital copy of your important documents and receipts of purchases that you make online.
Bitwarden follows the folder model. You will have to create one and organize password entries manually. One can also add TOTP (Time based one-time password) and add relevant notes like security questions, birthdate, and more.
Also on Guiding Tech
iCloud Keychain vs LastPass: Should You Look for an Alternative
Read MoreSecurity and Backup
Dashlane audits passwords for strength and can generate complex, random passwords with the click of a button. You can view your overall identity protection strength at the Identity Dashboard and Password Health platforms.
Dashlane also offers other security features in paid plans, including a VPN, identity theft protection, and dark web monitoring. Getting a VPN separately would have cost more but may offer additional features.
With Bitwarden, all your data is fully encrypted before it ever leaves your device. Only you have access to it. Not even the team at Bitwarden can read your data, even if they wanted to. Your data is sealed with end-to-end AES-256 bit encryption.
As for Backup, Bitwarden stores all the user data on the Microsoft Azure Cloud platform.
Other Features
We love Dashlane’s audio report. It is one of the most reliable and comprehensive reports among all password managers.
The rigorous evaluating system can not only spot weak and duplicate passwords but also scans the dark web to see if your email address or other online accounts have been exposed.
Bitwarden is full of useful functions as well. The list of features includes encrypted file attachments, security audit reports, two-factor authentication, user groups, shared items, and more.
Pricing
Dashlane Export To Bitwarden
Bitwarden does have paid tiers, but we think most people will be able to do without most of the features they offer. Paying gets you access to encrypted file attachments, more second-factor security options, and reports on the overall security of the passwords you have in use.
Bitwarden only costs $10 per year. That is way cheaper than the competition out there. The family plan is set at $3.33 per month.
Dashlane Bitwarden
Dashlane plans are slightly on the expensive side at $3.33 per month, but they offer VPN. The Family plan is $5 per month per user.
Also on Guiding Tech
#security
Click here to see our security articles pageSecure Your Online Identity
Using a capable password manager like Dashlane and Bitwarden takes away the pain of remembering hundreds of login information across dozens of apps and services. Dashlane has a better UI and the audit report is one of the best we have seen. Bitwarden is open-source, available everywhere, and it’s cheaper than the rivals.
Next up:LastPass is another excellent Bitwarden rival to consider. Read the comparison post below to find all the differences between the two.
The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.
Read Next
LastPass vs Bitwarden: Should You Switch to An Open Source Password Manager
Here is an in-depth
That’s the end of the post. You can go home, now.
If you want a further breakdown, consider these points:
Security, most important, most overlooked
From a pure security standpoint, it’s a toss-up between Dashlane and Bitwarden. Both offer best-in-class security, so your passwords are safe on both.
Bitwarden offers 2FA auditing at the organization level for business users, while Dashlane does not. Enforcing is on the roadmap.
I would add that Bitwarden can offer a little more peace of mind for two reasons:
1. It’s open source.
A great many of you just sighed, but it being open source means it can be checked constantly for issues. The source for all their software is here.
Bitwarden Dashlane Import
This also means that if Bitwarden doesn’t have a feature you like, or something works in a way you don’t like, you can just change it.
2. It’s self-hostable.
Some hacker is far more likely to attack the behemoth that is Dashlane with it’s millions of user passwords, than they are to attack your little server with your 1000 passwords (at best). This also means that you are in control of your data, which is good news for the tin-foil hat wearers out there.
You can even get Bitwarden’s paid features for the price of hosting your server by following this guide
Nobody cares about security, though, right? So let’s move on to the good stuff:
Features, the good stuff (also price)
Bitwarden offers every feature Dashlane does with loads more on top of those, and more of them for free. It’s paid version is also cheaper than Dashlane’s.
Here’s a table I stole, that compares both service’s features:
| Feature | Dashlane | Bitwarden |
|---|---|---|
| Chrome support | yes | yes |
| Firefox support | yes | yes |
| Edge support | yes | yes |
| Safari support | yes | yes |
| Mac OS, Windows support | yes | yes |
| Linux support | poor | yes |
| Mac OS command-line client | no | yes |
| Windows command-line client | no | yes |
| Linux command-line client | no | yes |
| Android support, including auto-fill | yes | yes |
| Android auto-fill in Chrome | yes | yes |
| Auto-fill in Android work profile | yes | yes (1) |
| Android auto-fill shows full usernames | yes | yes |
| iOS support, including auto-fill | yes | yes |
| Two-factor authentication | yes | yes |
| YubiKey support in browser (Enterprise) | no | yes ($) |
| YubiKey support in browser (Personal) | no | yes ($) |
| YubiKey support in Android | no | yes ($) |
| YubiKey support in iOS | no | yes ($) |
| Saved password in Android, iOS | yes | yes |
| Fingerprint login in Android, iOS | yes | yes |
| Synchronization across devices | yes | yes |
| Import from LastPass | yes | yes |
| LastPass import distinguishes work from personal items | no | no |
| Preserves LastPass folders in some way when importing | doubtful | yes |
| Personal linked account support (or the equivalent) | poor | yes |
| Save location (personal vs. work) specified at creation time | no | yes |
| Save location (folder / collection / space) editable in web app | no | yes |
| Sensible password quality checks for master password | no | yes |
| Password history on Linux | no | yes |
| Password history on Windows, Mac OS | yes | yes |
| Secure notes | yes | yes |
| Attachments on notes on Linux | no | yes |
| Attachments on notes on Windows, Mac OS | yes | yes |
| Shared folders with access control on Linux | no | yes |
| Shared folders with access control on Windows | yes | yes |
| Shared folders with access control on Mac OS | yes | yes |
| Items can exist in multiple groups with distinct access control | no | yes |
| Nested folders | no | yes |
| Resists auto-filling invisible forms | yes | yes |
| Browser plugin only fills selected form | unknown | no |
| Browser plugin displays icon in form fields | yes | no |
| Browser plugin prompts to save new sites on Linux | yes | yes |
| Browser plugin prompts to save new sites on Windows, Mac OS | yes | yes |
| 2FA integrated into login entries in vault (Mac OS, Windows, iOS, Android) | no | yes |
| 2FA integrated into login entries in vault (Linux) | no | yes |
| Auto-fill in browser disabled by default | no | yes |
| Auto-fill in browser can be disabled by preference | no | yes |
| Admins can reset passwords | yes | no |
| Admins can access other people’s unshared credentials | no | no |
| Admins can reset other people’s 2fa | no | no |
| 2fa can be enforced at the organization level | no | no (3) |
| 2fa can be audited at the organization level | no | yes |
| Exporting items on Linux | no | yes |
| Exporting items on Windows, Mac OS | yes | yes |
| Password health reports | yes | yes ($) |
| App export includes attachments | unknown | no |
| CLI export includes attachments | no | poor (2) |
| Responsive to bug reports and feature requests | unknown | yes |
| Open source | no | yes |
| Option to self-host | no | yes |
| Users can delete own account (customer service not needed) | yes | yes |
| Admins can delete business account (customer service not needed) | yes | yes |
| Has a useful status page that can be subscribed to | yes | no |
| Number of outages in the past six months (since December, 2018) | 12 | 0 |
| Enterprise price per user per month | 4 | 3 |
| Personal price per user per month (no Attachments or YubiKey) | 4.99 | 0 |
| Personal price per user per month (w/Attachments & YubiKey) | 4.99 | 0.84 |
Note 1: In work profile apps Bitwarden might not pop up a dialog automatically inviting you to auto-fill, but it’ll display a notification you can tap to do it.
Note 2: CLI allows individual attachments to be exported. The user would have to write a script to iterate through and export all of them.
Note 3: On the product roadmap, not yet implemented as of writing (Click to see the feature request)
If you aren’t interested in either Bitwarden or Dashlane, or just want to see what else is out there, Consumer Advocate wrote a great article breaking down a bunch of password managers by their price, feature-set, overall user experience and more. It’s a great read, click here to check it out.