Two days back, we reviewed some good free password managers for Windows. Today we will see some of the best free online password managers. And since, reading reviews, forums and comments is considered as the best practice to find a most suitable service or program for your own use, today we will review a few good and free online password managers. These store your most valuable information (username and password), password in particular, in one safe place – and it is imperative you go with the one you trust.
While many prefer to have desktop password managers running on their computer, there are some who prefer to go with online password managers. Yes – using online password managers has its advantages and disadvantages. So before we check out 3 such, let us see the Pro’s and Cons of using them.
Pros & Cons of online password managers over desktop versions
The main advantage of online password managers over desktop based password manager software is portability. They can be used on any computer and web browser without having to install additional software. The major disadvantages of online password managers is that you have to be 100% sure that you trust the website.
Pros:
- Portability
- Possess low risk of losing passwords
- Do not require any type of software installation
- Provides secure back-ups in case there’s damage to a single PC
Cons:
- Requires a user to trust the hosting site
- Susceptible to cyber attacks
- No guarantee over appropriate encryption of stored password with a user defined key
Now you can decide if you want to go with a desktop password manager or an online password manager. So let’s now take a look at top 3 free online password managers that may help you keep your passwords safe and your mind at rest.
Online Password Managers
Clipperz
Viewed as a digital vault for your personal data, this online password manager manages your passwords and online credentials with great security. Clipperz is built upon standard encryption schemes and has a free and open version.
All the data you enter is first encrypted locally in your browser before being sent to the website. You can also import passwords from other programs and there is an offline backup system too. It stores an offline copy of your password data as an encrypted HTML document. Besides, Clipperz has a stripped down edition designed for the Firefox sidebar which makes “direct logins” pretty easy.
Clipperz features:
- One-click log-in
- Requires no installation
- Compatible with many browsers
- Enables direct log-ins (A stripped down edition designed for the Firefox sidebar)
- Supports bulk data import from a variety of formats (CSV, Excel, Keepass,etc.)
PassPack
The service is completely anonymous and gathers no personal information from you, except a username and password. After you enter passwords for all the sites you usually log into you can use the online portal to view a list of all of your accounts.
You could simply click a button to have your password for a particular service copied to your clipboard and ready to paste into the site. To make it more convenient, PassPack has a JavaScript bookmarklet that allows you to simply click a button in the “bookmark bar” in your web browser to have it log in for you. This helps in surfing web without constantly having to tab into the Passpack portal.
Though useful, JavaScript bookmarklet is not capable to login to every site. However, to resolve this issue too PassPack has a unique feature support- a training process! The process requests you to click on the username field, password field, and login button on the website. After doing that, Passpack remembers the login instructions for said site and is able to log into that site from that point forward.
Pros:
- The online password management service supports multiple users
- Encrypted passwords are stored on a server and are accessible from any browser and any location
- Complete secure transmission of password pack using AES encryption and SSL
- Complete security is provided even if PassPack servers get hacked
Cons:
- PassPack does not have form-filling options
- No two-factor authentication
- Cannot contain password pack on physical medium (ie. USB key).
Logaway
Logaway is yet another fine free online password management service to keep your entire login and password data in one place while simultaneously give you the best of the internet. All the user needs to do is create a free Logaway account to gain access to thousands of his online accounts from one easy-to-use Startpage.
The online password manager uses government approved encryption algorithms such as 256-bit AES encryption in C++ and JavaScript to protect customers from the accidental data breaches. Besides, it has the power to ‘Lock Up’ your account in case you leave your Logaway account signed in. It appears to have won the seals of approcal from McAfree Secure and TRUSTe.
Do let us know if you prefer to use online password managers, and if so, which one!
