KeePass Evaluation (2024): Is It Protected and Dependable to Use?

KeePass quick details Our score: 3.2 stars out of 5 Pricing: Free Key options Downloadable user-generated plugins. Open-source. Utterly free.

KeePass is a free and open-source password supervisor that’s been round for 20 years. Since its launch in 2003, the password supervisor’s capability so as to add user-generated plugins and extensions has made it a preferred possibility for tech lovers through the years.

Whereas KeePass affords respectable and safe password storage, its dated design, lack of conventional password seize and replay and unintuitive software make it arduous to advocate in opposition to extra fashionable password managers.

KeePass pricing

KeePass is a very free password supervisor that doesn’t have any paid tiers or subscriptions. That is in distinction to rivals like Bitwarden and Dashlane, which have free variations however are restricted in options in comparison with their paid counterparts. For instance, Dashlane’s free model solely permits for a most of 25 passwords—which implies you need to pay for a subscription to retailer extra logins.

One massive distinction between KeePass and different password managers is that plenty of options aren’t included out of the field. As a substitute, customers can customise their KeePass shopper’s characteristic set by way of downloadable plugins from the password supervisor’s website. Plugins can be found for capabilities akin to importing and exporting passwords, knowledge backups and auto typing.

Is KeePass secure?

Sure, KeePass is secure. It makes use of the gold-standard AES-256 encryption for its database and person vaults. I like that KeePass encrypts the entire database, which signifies that not solely are passwords encrypted but in addition different objects akin to usernames and notes.

KeePass is open-source, permitting the general public to confirm its supply code for attainable vulnerabilities or safety holes. This can be a massive characteristic for privateness lovers, particularly those that worth transparency, because it lets the customers and specialists collaborate with KeePass in conserving it a secure software program to make use of.

As of January 2024, KeePass had not been concerned in any knowledge breach or hack. The password supervisor has been audited within the European Fee’s Free and Open Supply Software program Auditing (EU-FOSSA 1) undertaking, which confirmed that it had zero safety points.

KeePass additionally shares that its software program is put in by default on all PCs of the federal administration of Switzerland and is really helpful by the Swiss Federal Workplace of Data Expertise, Techniques and Telecommunication. I discover that it is a significant vote of confidence, particularly since Switzerland’s authorities is thought for its robust privateness legal guidelines.

Key options of KeePass

Except for password storage and password technology, KeePass comes with a couple of key options that make it distinctive in comparison with different password managers.

Library of plugins and extensions

Determine A

Considered one of KeePass’ greatest promoting factors is the power to obtain and add plugins for every person’s KeePass shopper. These plugins add extra options or modify current performance, akin to letting customers import or export completely different file codecs, altering the KeePass person interface or including autofill capabilities.

Proper now, there are greater than 170 downloadable plugins on the KeePass web site. That is good for customers who worth with the ability to customise their password supervisor and its characteristic set.

For me, I desire a password administration resolution that already comes with devoted options with out having to fret about including them after the preliminary set up. When you’re like me on this, 1Password or NordPass are password managers with a ton of built-in options.

Native-device password administration

Determine B

One other standout characteristic from KeePass is that it’s a utterly native password administration system. Which means all of your passwords and saved credentials are encrypted regionally in your pc or machine of alternative. That is in distinction to different password managers that retailer passwords within the cloud, like 1Password or LastPass.

When you’re paranoid about cloud-based password managers probably being concerned in an information breach and leaking your knowledge, KeePass is usually a nice resolution since every part is saved regionally. You may learn our LastPass overview to be taught extra about how knowledge breaches can have an effect on a password administration resolution.

KeePass’ all-local implementation is usually a drawback because you received’t have the comfort of easy accessibility to your passwords on a number of gadgets by the cloud.

Auto-Kind performance

Not like most fashionable password managers, KeePass doesn’t have a traditional autofill characteristic. What it does have is Auto-Kind—a worldwide auto-type hotkey which mechanically varieties out credentials in your chosen account pages.

Determine C

Auto-Kind works by having KeePass open within the background, switching to the web site and mechanically typing out your login credentials after you hit a selected keyboard shortcut. That is against different password managers that mechanically fill out the username and password fields by way of a browser extension or as a clickable button by a pop-up icon.

Whereas seeing KeePass mechanically kind out my password was cool at first, I did discover it actually finicky to make use of after a couple of instances As a result of I needed to manually set the sequence by which the login credentials are to be typed, i.e. if the username or password goes first, there have been instances that KeePass couldn’t kind my particulars within the correct fields.

Regardless of Auto-Kind being a singular celebration trick that I haven’t encountered on different password managers, I actually discovered manually copying and pasting from the KeePass shopper to be a greater various.

KeePass authentication and safety choices

KeePass comes with two predominant multi-factor authentication (MFA) choices: key file and linking a Home windows person account. A key file is a file you could save both in your pc, USB flash drive or another machine, which acts as a further requirement in tandem along with your grasp password to entry your database.

Determine D

You may set your KeePass vault or database to solely open in the event you’re logged into a particular Home windows person account. I might have most well-liked it if KeePass had extra MFA choices like 1Password’s fingerprint verification or NordPass’ authenticator app integration.

Whilst you can obtain two-factor authentication (2FA) or One-Time Password (OTP) plugins, I feel having these authentication choices baked throughout the app itself is extra person pleasant. This protects customers the time of getting to select which plugin is the very best, particularly since most rivals have these available as soon as put in.

For safety choices, I like that KeePass has a timer for everytime you copy passwords off your database. At default, KeePass mechanically removes any copied credential from the clipboard after 12 seconds.

There are additionally completely different Implement Choices that allow you to set whether or not you need your KeePass database to mechanically lock after inactivity or have KeePass warn you at any time when a key transformation setting is weak.

Determine E

KeePass interface and efficiency

KeePass’ desktop person interface (UI) falls flat in each design and ease of use. Its design is dated and appears a bit like legacy-Home windows functions from the 2000s. I desire password managers with a smooth and fashionable UI.

Determine F

KeePass’ software can also be not the simplest password supervisor to make use of and be taught. As soon as I put in the applying, I acquired a clean dashboard with no included information. There wasn’t a transparent tutorial on how you can save my first password or use any of KeePass’ options.

Fortuitously, there are video tutorials, guides and discussion board posts on-line that define how you can use KeePass. Nonetheless, I don’t suppose the password supervisor must sacrifice ease-of-use to get to their objective of customizability.

When it comes to efficiency, I had no hassle including new password entries contained in the KeePass app. The included password generator additionally labored with none difficulty and I like that there’s no restrict to password characters.

It’s unlucky that KeePass doesn’t have conventional autofill and password seize and replay performance. With none plugins, you need to manually enter login credentials to save lots of new usernames and passwords. This provides an additional step to the method in comparison with one thing like Keeper’s KeeperFill characteristic that mechanically saves and fills in new logins upon creation.

KeePass cellular app

KeePass doesn’t have its personal proprietary iOS or Android cellular software. Nonetheless, it acknowledges user-generated cellular ports of its service.

Determine G

This offers customers a ton of choices when it comes to KeePass cellular functions. Nonetheless, because of this there’s no assurance {that a} given cellular app will probably be supported long-term. Every cellular port will even have various ranges of high quality, so your mileage might range.

KeePass professionals

• Utterly free password supervisor.
• Open supply and safe.
• Extremely customizable.
• Downloadable user-generated plugins.

KeePass cons

• Laborious to be taught and never user-friendly.
• No autofill characteristic included.
• Auto-Kind is a bit clunky.
• Multi-factor authentication choices are separate downloads.
• Design appears a bit dated.
• No official cellular app.

KeePass alternate options

When you discover that KeePass isn’t a superb match, I’ve listed three various password managers which might be price a attempt.

Bitwarden

If you’d like a cloud-based password supervisor with a beneficiant free model, take a look at Bitwarden. Bitwarden’s free model permits for limitless password storage and entry on a limiteless variety of gadgets. You additionally get robust zero-knowledge encryption and reasonably priced pricing on its paid plans throughout the board.

NordPass

NordPass is an all-around password supervisor that doesn’t have many faults. It has an intuitive person interface, plans for each single customers and enterprise and independently audited functions. It additionally makes use of the safe and extra fashionable XChaCha20 encryption algorithm.

1Password

For avid vacationers, 1Password is usually a nice choose. It comes with a useful Journey Mode characteristic that lets customers disguise choose vaults at any time when they journey. That is on high of its smooth desktop UI and robust AES-256 encryption. 1Password additionally offers 14-day free trials throughout all its plans that allows you to take a look at their service.

Who’s KeePass for?

KeePass is for customers who need a password supervisor they will personalize. With its massive library of downloadable plugins and extensions, KeePass is usually a very highly effective software for these prepared to take the time to maximise its capabilities.

It’s additionally a superb choose for particular person customers who’re cautious of cloud-based password managers and need a safe solution to retailer their passwords regionally.

Nonetheless, its lower than pleasant person interface, clunky auto-type characteristic and lack of conventional password seize and replay make it arduous to advocate in opposition to different high password managers available in the market. Its locally-stored password storage additionally makes it arduous for organizations or companies to undertake it as a company-wide password administration resolution.

Evaluation methodology

My overview of KeePass concerned an in depth evaluation of its security measures and real-world efficiency. I used KeePass on my private Home windows laptop computer for testing and hands-on expertise.

I rated KeePass on every part from its password administration options to its ease of use based mostly on an inner algorithm to get a score of three.2 out of 5 stars. The scoring was based mostly each on KeePass by itself and in relation to different password managers.