Bitdefender Password Manager review: Straightforward security

Best Prices Today: Bitdefender Password Manager

Bitdefender is well-known to consumers for its antivirus software, but it’s a relative newcomer in the password manager space. That’s apparent in its Bitdefender Password Manager app. While it offers essential tools for generating, managing, and auditing your login credentials, it lacks the organizational capabilities, business features, and family support you find in more established password managers like LastPass, Keeper, and Dashlane.

You need a Bitdefender account to download and activate its password manager. Once you log in, you’re prompted to create a master password. Bitdefender immediately evaluates its strength and generates a recovery key that allows you to recover your data if you forget your master password. You’re instructed to download a PDF containing this key and store it securely. Anytime you change your master password, Bitdefender generates a new recovery key.

From there, you just need to download the password manager. There’s no standalone app or web interface for desktop use, only a browser extension for Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Microsoft Edge. Opera and alternative browsers like Brave and Vivaldi aren’t currently supported.

Note: See our roundup of the best password managers for information about competing products, what to look for in a password manager, and buying recommendations.

Michael Ansaldo/Foundry

You can import passwords from several password manager apps and browsers, including 1Password, LastPass, Dashlane, Sticky Password, Firefox, Chrome, and Edge. I exported my data from LastPass as a CSV file and then imported it to Bitdefender’s app using a simple drag-and-drop interface without a hitch. Bitdefender also supports transferring data in JSON, XML, TXT, 1pif, and FSK formats.

All the critical features you’d expect in a consumer password manager are here. Bitdefender can auto-save your login credentials and payment cards, autofill your details, generate secure passwords, and identify weak, leaked, old, and duplicate passwords. The app can auto-capture usernames and passwords as you log in to sites, or you can add new accounts manually. In the latter case, you have the option of auto-generating a secure password of up to 32 characters, evaluating password strength, adding notes, enabling auto-login, and marking it as a favorite account, all within the same window.

Despite being limited to a small extension window, the app interface is straightforward to use. It’s divided into tabs for viewing your accounts, the password generator, your security report, and instantly securing your browsing. Additional options, including payment method and identity information as well as app settings, can be found in the main menu.

Given Bitdefender’s background in home and business cybersecurity solutions, it’s no surprise its password manager uses the latest, military standard, cryptographic algorithms—AES-256-CCM, SHA512, BCRYPT, HTTPS, and WSS—to encrypt the transmission of your data. All data is encrypted and decrypted locally on your device so no one but you, not even Bitdefender, can access your information.

As an introductory offer, Bitdefender is currently offering annual subscriptions for its password manager for $19.99 for the first year (normally $29.99). A monthly plan is available for $2.99 a month. The app comes with a 30-day free trial period.

Bottom line

Bitdefender Password Manager is a straightforward solution for managing your passwords, payment card details, and identity information. If you’re new to using password managers, it offers an easy way to get acclimated to these tools and their most essential features. If your needs go beyond daily password management, though, you may soon find yourself bumping against its limitations. For organizational purposes, it’s often helpful to group passwords together by type of website or service, for example, but that’s not possible with Bitdefender’s app. Nor is managing passwords for an entire family. And if you’re working with hundreds of passwords, you’ll miss the extra space a desktop app or web interface provides. In these cases, a more robust password manager like Dashlane or LastPass is worth considering.