Bitwarden vs. Dashlane: Compare Password Managers

Bitwarden and Dashlane are two excellent fully featured password managers with services that are comparable in price, services, and compatibility.

This is an incredibly close matchup, with every category being won by only a fraction. We can (and do) wholeheartedly recommend either as a great option for password management without reservation. But in this competition, only one can leave as the victor.

Which password manager should you get? Let this Bitwarden vs. Dashlane face-off help you make that decision.

However, if you’re an individual or a family, it’s hard to argue against Bitwarden being one of the best deals in the industry. Business plans are where things start to get a little more interesting. Dashlane technically has the cheapest per seat at $2 per person for the basic “Starter” plan against Bitwarden’s $3 per user.

But you pay for all 10 seats in the Starter plan, whether you’re using all 10 or not. Both of them have a $5 per user level, which offers a roughly similar level of service, but Dashlane also has an $8 per seat plan, which adds in a few extra features like on-demand phone support.

At the end of the day, Bitwarden still has Dashlane beat in terms of cost, though it’s a much closer comparison on the business end.

While Bitwarden is technically compatible with more platforms, the browsers that it adds aren’t common enough to make it a huge selling point.

Ultimately, I found that I preferred Bitwarden’s more minimalistic approach, though obviously your preferences may vary. The nice thing about these both having free versions is that you can try them both for yourself — risk free.

During my testing,, I found Dashlane’s form-filling capabilities worked mostly fine. Sometimes, it didn’t recognize certain fields in a given form — however, it was usually the form’s fault. Where Dashlane can improve, though, is by offering custom fields.

Most people should find Dashlane’s built-in sections more than adequate. Logins, payment information, addresses, and IDs can all easily be inputted and autofilled.

Where Dashlane truly stands above the rest, though, is the VPN it includes on all tiers. Dashlane uses a licensed version of Hotspot Shield, which would cost $12.99 per month on its own. You get it with Dashlane for just $4.99 per month. The version Dashlane offers is admittedly more limited, but it still offers tremendous value for those who are new to VPNs.

However, you’re going to be paying quite a bit more for this feature.  From the standpoint of cost to benefits received, you get more for your money from Bitwarden.

I like that Bitwarden offers 2FA via YubiKey and FIDO, two highly secure forms of 2FA I’ve yet to see offered by a password manager. That said, the vast majority of people won’t make use of this feature.

As for Dashlane — personally, an authenticator app is not my preferred method of 2FA. I usually prefer biometric or SMS authentication and find it surprising that Dashlane’s 2FA is limited to only authenticator apps. Introducing biometric or SMS authentication would make it an even more competitive option. An authenticator can be a great way to secure your vault, but having more options is always better.

This was a close call, with both password managers scoring highly across the board and even earning perfect scores in some categories. Yet the win goes to Bitwarden for offering a great balance of useful features at a price that can’t be beat — no “introductory rates” here, just a low yearly fee for premium users and no cost at all for those who want to stick with the free forever plan. It’s one of the best cheap password managers.

However, this isn’t to say that Dashlane isn’t a great password manager. In fact, it ranks near the top of the list of our favorite password managers of 2023. There isn’t an objectively wrong choice between the two and their free versions let you try them before committing to anything.

On the surface, all password managers essentially generate and store passwords. As I evaluated providers, I dug deeper, comparing software on what matters most, including price, platform compatibility, security, and other factors.

I signed up for a plan with each provider to test:

• Plan value: Most password managers offer various subscription plans from free to around $20 per month. While free plans may be sufficient for some, those that need more functionality may prefer paid plans. We included a wide array of free and paid password managers to find the one that works best for you.
• Platform compatibility: You likely access your online accounts from multiple devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets, phones, as well as through different web browsers. Your password manager should be compatible with various devices, operating systems and browsers, and sync seamlessly between them all.
• UX: This is how you interface with all the features and functions of your new password manager — if it’s bad, you’ll be less likely to use the service. While this is a highly subjective category and some will disagree, it’s important to provide an overview based on my experience.
• Form filling: A password manager doesn’t have to include form-filling, but it’s somewhat standard and the ease with which it performs that function can be the deciding factor in which password manager you ultimately choose.
• Security: Since a password manager is first and foremost a security tool, it should come with all of the most up-to-date standard security features. This includes the highest level of available encryption (256-bit AES with PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA512); 2FA, such as biometric logins or multi-factor authentication, and a password generator.
• Two-factor authentication (2FA): Used all over the internet to protect your accounts, this is quickly becoming a standard security practice. 2FA is a great way to secure more sensitive accounts to ensure they’re not breached.

Learn more about our review methodology.