Password managers are just incredible tools that make your life easier. However, you might be running up some anxiety between the choices of password managers that are at your disposal. It just seems like there is a new password manager around every corner.
But two names that always make the list are LastPass and Dashlane.
These are the most popular password managers for both your desktop app and your mobile apps, and well, they’re good. So how do you pick yours?
You can’t have both, of course! In this LastPass vs Dashlane comparison, I’ll discuss their functions, features, extra incentives, billing plans, security levels, and all else that they offer right here.
TL;DR
LastPass has more features in its free version than Dashlane. Both have reliable security measures in place, but LastPass had a security breach that dulls its history.
However, the fact that no data was compromised in the breach redeems LastPass and proves the stability of its encryption system. So let’s see what tips the scale by going in-depth with these two apps.
Key Features
Number of Users
Both Dashlane and LastPass allow only one user to use each free account. But it’s a different story if you pay, and that story will be told in the Plans and Pricing section of our article below.
Number of Devices
LastPass can be installed on multiple devices without paying, but not on all your devices. You have to choose one type only and then stick to it. You can either choose between only mobile devices or your desktop, but not both. For the multi-device sync feature, you will have to get LastPass premium.
Dashlane free doesn’t support multiple devices of any type. You can get it strictly on one device only.
If you want to get it on another device, you have to unlink your account and feed that link to the device you want to keep on. In this case, your data will automatically be transferred. Beyond this, if you want to use Dashlane’s service on multiple devices, then you have to get a premium account.
Number of Passwords
The LastPass free plan will let you store unlimited passwords. Dashlane’s free plan will only let you save 50 passwords. Unlimited passwords in Dashlane is a premium service.
Password Generator
No stinginess when it comes to the password generator. This is a really fun and useful feature that both apps have. You can use the password generator to create new passwords for all your accounts.
The passwords are generated completely randomly. You will be able to choose the parameters and thereby determine their length and how complex they should be.
The password generator comes in free and paid plans on all versions of Dashlane and LastPass.
Security Dashboard & Score
Both apps have a security dashboard where the strength of your passwords is analyzed and displayed. If any of your passwords are weak or repeated, then quickly replace them by making a strong and uncrackable one with the help of the password generator.
Browser Extensions
Both are compatible with Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Opera, Firefox, and Safari. But Dashlane has a slight upper hand here as it works with Brave’s browser extension as well.
Import Passwords
You can import multiple passwords from one password manager to another. This flexibility allows you to try out different password managers for comparison.
LastPass is much more friendly in this case than Dashlane. It allows you to import passwords from other password managers, browsers, source exports, and so on.
You can passively import files with other password managers that don’t support such exporting. LastPass allows you to do it in a roundabout way – by running the two apps simultaneously and then copying the data through autofill.
Dashlane, on the other hand, won’t work up that roundabout way, but it will let you import and export files between password managers that share its transfer compatibility.
Password Sharing Center
LastPass has one-to-one password sharing, secure notes sharing, and username sharing. You can share an item with up to 30 users in the free version. But one-to-many password sharing is only upon their premium plan.
In Dashlane, you can share only 5 items with each user in the free version. So if you share one item with a user and receive 4 items from them, that fills your quota.
You cannot share any other item with that user. If you want to share more, you have to get their premium service. Also, you can decide what kind of access you want to give to a user — you have to choose between ‘limited rights’ and ‘full rights.’
Note: It is recommended that you share randomly generated strong passwords on both password managers for the sake of your own safety. Wise men say it’s better to be safe than sorry, so be extra careful when you are sharing sensitive data.
Emergency Access & Access Delays
Both Dashlane and LastPass will let you give emergency access to your trusted contacts.
You can give someone one-time access to your vault and set a delay time for them. With emergency access, they will see everything in your vault, including your user passwords, secure notes, personal information, etc.
But they will have to send you a request every time they want to get into your vault, and you can deny their request within that delay time.
For example, if you set the access delay to 50 minutes, then the user with emergency access will have to wait 50 minutes before they can access your account. If you don’t want to give them that access, then you have to deny their request within those 50 minutes; otherwise, they will be let in automatically.
Revoke Access to Shared Items
These are the best password managers in the market because they allow you to completely control your privacy.
So, if you have already shared an item with someone and later decided that you don’t trust them anymore, then you can go back and revoke their access to that item. It’s very easy, and both apps let you do it via their Sharing Center.
Recovering Accounts/Passwords
Although we would like to make it look like all is not lost when you forget your master password. There are ways in which the average user can get back to their account.
The least effective of these ways is the password hint. I always find password hints to be quite paradoxical in effect, but thankfully there are some more.
You can do a mobile account recovery and one-time password recovery via SMS or even tell your emergency contact to come through. But the most buttery way to recover your account is to get that biometric to work!
Use the fingerprint or face recognition systems in the standalone app in the mobile versions of LastPass and Dashlane to get through.
But if you have lost your phone along with the master password, and none of the non-biometric methods are working, then all hope for your account surely is lost. You will have to make a new account because neither Lastpass nor Dashlane knows your master password, so they can’t help you out any further.
Autofill Forms
Both the apps can autofill your web forms. The average number of hours that an average user spends in filling up forms is 50 hours. But you can save all those hours if you use autofill to transfer secure passwords and put in personal information on web forms.
However, be careful with autofill because it doesn’t write in plain text. So, anyone looking at your phone while your auto-filling will be able to see what they shouldn’t see.
LastPass Autofill will allow you to add personal information and bank details. Dashlane extends the feature to add usernames, addresses, company details, phone numbers, and so on.
Using the autofill feature on browser extensions is the easiest for both apps. However, LastPass is tighter on security with this feature, but Dashlane is more flexible and a teeny bit less secure.
Language Support
Language doesn’t quite affect the safety of your passwords, but it definitely determines the accessibility of these apps. Both LastPass and Dashlane are American, so they both run English but support other languages.
LastPass excels in this regard. It supports German, French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, along with English. While Dashlane only supports French, German, and English.
Data Storage
Not only do you get the destressing effects of easily secure passwords, but you also get the sweet relief of cloud storage with a password manager. And in this case, Dashlane surely excels the free version game.
It gives you 1 GB for storing data, whereas LastPass gives you merely 50 MB. You cannot save videos on either of the apps because individual files on Dashlane are limited to 50 MB, and for LastPass, they’re limited to 10MB.
Such a disparity between the apps was only seen in the case of password storage, where LastPass was giving so much more than Dashlane. Well, I guess that this is how Dashlane balances out the bar. It quickly compensated for low password storage by giving such high data storage.
But we still think that an extra 50 MB doesn’t quite cut it with regards to the unlimited password storage provided by LastPass.
Dark Web Monitoring
The dark web benefits from weak passwords and inefficient password managers in the market. Your personal data can be sold for millions without your knowledge.
But not if you’re using a reliable password manager that will give your identity theft protection and notifications when your login credentials are being used without your involvement.
Fortunately, managing passwords is not the only duty of these password managers – they will also protect all your sensitive information. Both LastPass and Dashlane will monitor the dark web and send you notifications in case of a breach.
Unfortunately, this feature is not a free one. It’s a premium feature on both apps. LastPass will protect up to 100 email addresses, while Dashlane will only protect up to 5 email addresses.
Customer Support
Basic LastPass support is free. You can get access to a library of resources that has solutions for all kinds of queries, and you can also be a part of the huge LastPass community of helpful users.
But there’s another kind of help that LastPass offers, and it is reserved for their premium customers only – Personal Support. Personal Support adds the convenience of getting instant help via emails straight from the LastPass customer care unit.
Dashlane Support is incredibly convenient. You just have to go into their website to find a plethora of resources on every category that you might need help with.
Everything is well compartmentalized, and navigation through it is pretty straightforward. Additionally, you can always reach out to their Customer Care unit to get specific help.
🏆 Winner: LastPass
All the features place them on the same level, but LastPass offers more flexibility in terms of the Sharing Center. In the paid version, too, LastPass protects more email addresses than Dashlane. And let’s not forget, LastPass gives you unlimited password storage in its free version whereas Dashlane is stingy.
Security & Privacy
For a password manager, security is the holy grail. Fall off the security wagon once; there will be so much damage that there’s no getting back up. But hey, we don’t know about other password managers, but these two that we’re talking about today definitely have their encryption systems and security levels figured out.
Well, LastPass figured out a little better recently than Dashlane. Ever since the security breach on LastPass in 2015, it has well resumed its operations with a tighter security model. Nothing has been lost until now.
We will point out that no plain texts were stolen from the Lastpass records. Only encrypted files were stolen, but thankfully, nothing was compromised due to the robust encryption on those.
However, no such data breaches were reported with Dashlane in the history of its operations.
So let’s move on and look into their security models.
Zero-Knowledge Security
Both the apps have a zero-knowledge security model, which means that even the servers that store the data can’t read them. So, even if the records are somehow stolen, they won’t be readable without the unique key that you have chosen as the master password.
End to End Encryption
LastPass and Dashlane both use ENEE to make all user data completely uncrackable. And not just the basic ENEE; they use AES 256 to encrypt all your data, which is a military-grade encryption method used by banks all over the world.
PBKDF2 SHA-256, a password hashing mechanism, is also used in conjunction with it. Each password manager uses these systems to jumble up your data and in that way, make them completely unreadable and uncrackable by brute force.
It is said that the current computational standards are not equipped to crack through this system as of yet.
This is the main reason for which LastPass and Dashlane show up in every list that talks about the best password manager. It’s also why they are trusted by organizations and big corporations worldwide.
So, rest assured your data is completely safe with these two systems.
Authentication
Authentication is common to both apps. It adds an extra layer of security to ensure that your account has a tight seal against basic hacking.
In Dashlane, there is two-factor authentication that ties in with U2F YubiKeys to tighten up your security. You need to enable 2FA by using your Dashlane desktop app, and when enabled, it will work on both Android and iOS mobile apps.
LastPass has multi-factor authentication, which utilizes a range of biometric intelligence in order to verify your authenticity so that you can get access to your accounts without even the need to type out your master password. It also makes use of single-tap mobile notifications and SMS codes.
🏆 Winner: LastPass
Both have robust security features, but LastPass has a better game at authentication.
Ease of Use
It’s much more difficult to get your way around an open-source password manager. But neither of these is open source, so it is fairly easy to work with them. They are both very intuitive across all platforms, and we really have nothing to complain about.
Desktop App
Both LastPass and Dashlane are compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux. The desktop apps are very much like web browsers, but we think the web version is a bit better in terms of the user interface.
Mobile App
Just get the apps from Apple Store or PlayStore, and get started. The directions for installation are pretty straightforward.
You will be guided through LastPass’s user interface effortlessly, and Dashlane is also an equally easy app to handle by all means. Apple users can sync the app through the Apple ecosystem for a seamless experience.
Biometric Login Convenience
Both the apps utilize biometric information to not even have to type your master password when you’re in a public setting. This is super convenient because it gives you an inconspicuous way to access your password vault.
🏆 Winner: Draw
Dashlane didn’t have a biometric login system for a while, but it’s all caught up now. So, in case of the ease of use, we see both to be at par with each other.
Plans and Pricing
Free Trials
In the free trial version, LastPass doesn’t put any limit on the number of passwords or devices. Dashlane, on the other hand, limits the free trial to one user and 50 passwords.
The free trials run for 30 days on both apps.
Check out the prices for the paid version of the different types of plans that they have below.
| Plans | LastPass Subscription | Dashlane Subscription |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 |
| Premium | $3/month | $4.99/month |
| Family | $4/month | $4.99/month |
| Teams | $4/month/user | $5/user |
| Business | $7/month/user | $7.49/month/user |
In terms of overall pricing, Dashlane is cheaper than Dashlane.
🏆 Winner: Dashlane
It has definite cheaper plans.
Extra Features & Freebies
A VPN helps you to keep your online presence even more untrackable. When you are outside and need to connect to a public network, that’s when your data is at its most vulnerable state.
Even though none of us are going out now, it is still very useful to keep a VPN service because you can hide your trace more effectively with it.
This is why Dashlane has built a VPN into its service from the get-go. LastPass, however, did not wait too long to catch up. It soon partnered with ExpressVPN to expand the range of security it can provide.
VPNs aren’t offered in any of the free versions. They are features of the premium plan for both these apps.
Our Verdict ⭐
I would say that LastPass is the winner. It has more flexibility than Dashlane, especially in the paid version. There are some features that are lacking in LastPass, but they are quickly catching up.
LastPass is the most popular password management tool right now, offering users a secure and convenient way to store and access private passwords, notes, and credit card details across multiple devices.
We’ll also say that there are two reasons for which LastPass seems like a better value for money. Firstly, all its plans are slightly cheaper than Dashlane. Secondly and more importantly, LastPass can protect 50 email addresses in dark web monitoring, while Dashlane can only protect five. Yet, if you prefer an integrated VPN, then Dashlane is for you!
How We Test Password Managers: Our Methodology
When we test password managers, we start from the very beginning, just like any user would.
The first step is purchasing a plan. This process is crucial as it gives us our first glimpse into the payment options, ease of transaction, and any hidden costs or unexpected upsells that might be lurking.
Next, we download the password manager. Here, we pay attention to practical details like the size of the download file and the storage space it requires on our systems. These aspects can be quite telling about the software’s efficiency and user-friendliness.
The installation and setup phase comes next. We install the password manager on various systems and browsers to thoroughly assess its compatibility and ease of use. A critical part of this process is evaluating the master password creation – it’s essential for the security of the user’s data.
Security and encryption are at the heart of our testing methodology. We examine the encryption standards used by the password manager, its encryption protocols, zero-knowledge architecture, and the robustness of its two-factor or multi-factor authentication options. We also assess the availability and effectiveness of account recovery options.
We rigorously test the core features like password storage, auto-fill and auto-save capabilities, password generation, and sharing features. These are fundamental to the everyday use of the password manager and need to work flawlessly.
Extra features are also put to the test. We look at things like dark web monitoring, security audits, encrypted file storage, automatic password changers, and integrated VPNs. Our goal is to determine if these features genuinely add value and enhance security or productivity.
Pricing is a critical factor in our reviews. We analyze the cost of each package, weighing it against the features offered and comparing it with competitors. We also consider any available discounts or special deals.
Finally, we evaluate customer support and refund policies. We test every available support channel and request refunds to see how responsive and helpful the companies are. This gives us insight into the overall reliability and customer service quality of the password manager.
Through this comprehensive approach, we aim to provide a clear and thorough evaluation of each password manager, offering insights that help users like you make an informed decision.
For more information about our review process, click here.
