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Bitwarden vs. Dashlane Overview

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 could wholeheartedly recommend either as a great option for password management without reservation. But in this competition, one leaves as the victor.

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

Review factorWinner
PriceTie: Bitwarden (5.0), Dashlane (4.7)
Platform compatibilityTie: Bitwarden (5.0), Dashlane (5.0)
User experience (UX)Bitwarden (5.0)
Form fillingDashlane (4.7)
SecurityBitwarden (5.0)
Two-factor authentication (2FA)Bitwarden (4.7)
Best overallBitwarden (4.8)

Our bottom line: Both Bitwarden and Dashlane are excellent choices, but a robust “free forever” plan and great 2FA features push Bitwarden over the top to take the win.

Learn how we evaluated Bitwarden vs. Dashlane.

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Bitwarden vs. Dashlane: Specs

Password managerDetailsBasic plan features
Bitwarden

Overall rating: 4.8/5

Read our full Bitwarden review.

Starting price: Free

Platform compatibility: Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Web (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, Opera, Vivaldi, Brave, Tor)

Security: AES 256-bit encryption, 2FA

  • Unlimited vault items
  • Unlimited device syncing
  • 2FA
  • Username data breach reports
  • Browser, mobile, desktop apps
Dashlane

Overall rating: 4.7/5

Read our full Dashlane review.

Starting price: Free

Platform compatibility: Windows, macOS, Linux, Chrome, Firefox, iOS, Android

Security: AES 256-bit encryption, 2FA

  • Unlimited passwords and devices
  • Single sign-on (SSO) integration for business plan
  • 2FA with all plans
  • Live dark web monitoring with advanced plan
  • VPN offered with premium plan

Bitwarden vs. Dashlane: Plans and Pricing

Price winner: Bitwarden

Bitwarden (5/5)“Free Forever” plan, with a premium plan starting at $10 annually and a family plan for $40 a year
Dashlane (5/5)Free version for individuals; $33 per year for advanced; $59.88 per year for premium

Let’s cut to the chase — Bitwarden’s equivalent premium pricing plan costs significantly less than Dashlane’s, but both offer excellent value. In our independent reviews, each scored a perfect five out of five. How is this possible? We rate plans for password managers based on industry standards. And by those standards, Dashlane is still one of the best free password managers.

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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 offer 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.

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Winner: Both are a great value, but Bitwarden offers significantly lower rates for individuals and families and slightly lower rates for businesses.

Bitwarden vs. Dashlane: Platform Compatibility

Platform compatibility winner: Draw

Bitwarden (5/5)OS: Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, iOS

Supported browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, Opera, Vivaldi, Brave, Tor

Dashlane (5/5)OS: Windows, MacOS, Linux, iOS, Android

Supported browsers: Brave, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, Safari

Bitwarden is compatible with nearly every platform — a huge selling point for the free version. Many free password managers are compatible with a limited range of platforms. Bitwarden is also accessible in over 50 languages, solidifying it as one of the most accessible password managers on the market.

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Dashlane is also available on most popular platforms and browsers. It’s even available in the Google Play store, meaning it can be added to devices like Kindles. Also, compared to some other password managers, Dashlane works with older versions of Android and iOS, which can be useful to some.

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

Winner: It’s a tie, as Bitwarden and Dashlane both offer great compatibility with all major platforms.

Bitwarden vs. Dashlane: UX

UX winner: Bitwarden

Bitwarden (5/5)Bitwarden’s desktop, browser, and mobile apps each have a clean, user-friendly UX that makes navigation easy.
Dashlane (4.75/5)A clean, visually appealing interface — almost no one will be left wondering how to use Dashlane.

Bitwarden’s desktop, browser, and mobile apps each have a clean, user-friendly interface that makes navigation easy and understandable. I found Bitwarden’s desktop app for Mac to be especially minimalistic (in the best way possible). Adding and editing vault items is a breeze.

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The browser extension is also quite user friendly. Vault items can be added from the browser extension, which isn’t also a given among free password managers.

While I found Dashlane’s desktop app was simple to navigate and visually appealing, I didn’t have the same experience with the browser extension. Dashlane essentially packed its desktop interface into the extension. Some may find this helpful, but I only use the extension to quickly add or retrieve passwords.

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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.

Winner: Bitwarden has a more consistent and user-friendly interface across platforms.

Bitwarden vs. Dashlane: Form Filling

Form filling winner: Dashlane

Bitwarden (4.5/5)Login and credit card information auto-filled with ease. Yet two notable shortcomings make Bitwarden a less competitive option.
Dashlane (4.75/5)I found no difficulty with the password or username autofill, but it did struggle at times with more comprehensive fields, such as payment and shipping information.

Both Bitwarden and Dashlane offer robust form-filling — including logins, addresses, and credit card information — on both desktop and mobile.

Bitwarden’s form-filling performs just as well as any premium password manager I’ve used. Both login and credit card information auto-filled with ease. Two shortcomings, though, make Bitwarden a less competitive option:

  • It does not have a vault template for addresses. While you can store addresses via a custom vault entry, they will not work with autofill. This is a major roadblock regarding filling in shipping and billing information.
  • Autofill must be triggered via the browser extension. Most premium password managers, such as 1Password or NordPass, have icons that automatically appear in unfilled fields. Bitwarden requires a few extra clicks.
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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.

Winner: Dashlane wins by making it easy and mostly seamless to autofill information.

Bitwarden vs. Dashlane: Security

Security winner: Bitwarden

Bitwarden (5/5)
  • 256-bit AES encryption
  • No knowledge architecture
  • 2FA
  • End-to-end encryption
  • Source code transparency
Dashlane (4.7/5)
  • 256-bit AES encryption
  • Live dark web monitoring
  • No knowledge architecture
  • 2FA
  • Local encryption
  • Password health monitoring

Most password managers use powerful 256-bit AES encryption, and Bitwarden is no exception. 256-bit AES encryption is widely accepted to be unbreachable and is the industry standard. No-knowledge architecture ensures only you will have access to your data. While not everyone uses 2FA, it should always be an option and Bitwarden does offer it.

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Where it falls short is more premium features some competitors offer at higher prices, including live dark web monitoring, biometric 2FA, and VPN. However, Bitwarden will give you reports of leaked usernames and passwords.

Additionally, its source code is open source and able to be inspected by anyone — if there’s a weakness in the code, you can bet that there’s someone on the internet who is sure to point it out.

Dashlane’s security stands out, though, with two unique offerings: live dark web monitoring and a VPN. While many password managers offer dark web monitoring, few offer Dashlane’s live version. When Dashlane detects your information on the dark web, it notifies you in real time. This is a useful feature because such matters can be timely.

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Where Dashlane truly stands above the rest, though, is the VPN it includes in its premium tier. Dashlane uses a licensed version of Hotspot Shield, which on its own costs $12.99 per month. You get it with Dashlane for just $4.99 per month. The version Dashlane offers is 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.

Winner: Bitwarden wins by offering more features at comparable plan levels.

Bitwarden vs. Dashlane: 2FA

2FA winner: Bitwarden

Bitwarden (4.75/5)Bitwarden offers many 2FA options, including:

  • Authenticator app (such as Authy and Google Authenticator)
  • Email
  • Duo Security with Duo Push, SMS, phone call, and security keys (premium only)
  • YubiKey (any 4/5 series device or YubiKey NEO/NFC) (premium only)
  • FIDO WebAuthn Authenticator (premium only)
Dashlane (4.25/5)
  • Dashlane offers 2FA by way of an authenticator app. This is perfectly adequate. But I would like to see them introduce more options.

Both Bitwarden and Dashlane support 2FA via authenticator apps (which use time-based one-time passwords, or TOTPs) but that’s pretty much the end of the list for Dashlane. Bitwarden simply offers more options.

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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 opt for Biometric or SMS authentication and find it surprising that Dashlane’s 2FA is limited to 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 more options are always better.

Winner: Bitwarden wins by offering more 2FA options, including several options available to free plan users.

Should You Get Bitwarden or Dashlane?

Bottom line winner: Bitwarden

Bitwarden (4.8/5)
  • Unlimited passwords synced on unlimited devices
  • 2FA via YubiKey, FIDO2, Duo, email, authentication app
  • Free password sharing

Best for: People who want a free password manager without sacrificing performance

Dashlane (4.7/5)
  • Unlimited passwords and devices
  • SSO integration for business plan
  • 2FA with all plans
  • Live dark web monitoring with advanced plan
  • VPN offered with premium plan

Best for: Those who want more premium features

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.

How I Evaluated Bitwarden vs. Dashlane

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.

author-img

About the Password Manager, Gunnar Kallstrom:

Kallstrom is a Cyber Team Lead for a Department of Defense (DOD) contracting company in Huntsville, Alabama, and has also worked as a computer network defense (CND) Cyber Analyst. An author and content creator for a cybersecurity academy, Kallstrom spent nearly 15 years in the Army as a musician before entering the cybersecurity field.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in music from Thomas Edison State University and a master’s in organizational development and leadership from the University of the Incarnate Word.

Kallstrom has completed several Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) courses, including Security+, Network+, A+ Core 1, and A+ Core 2. He earned a CompTIA Security+ Certification. Additionally, he has completed the Cyber Warrior Academy program with more than 800 hours of hands-on, intensive, and lab-driven technical training in cybersecurity methods and procedures.

Passionate about all things cyber, Kallstrom was a speaker on a panel at the 2022 InfoSec World conference, giving a talk entitled “Hacking into a Cyber Career – True Stories.” Kallstrom is also a mentor to entry-level cybersecurity candidates seeking to break into the field. When he’s not working, he still enjoys playing guitar and fishing (not phishing).