The Best Password Managers With Offline Features of 2023 | Password Manager (2024)

Password managers are generally built for cloud rather than offline storage, but offline password managers offer some important advantages.

For example, even though cloud-based password managers generally are safe, it’s impossible to beat the security of keeping your sensitive information in one place. Since your data will never go anywhere else, the only way for someone to gain access would be to take your physical device.

We focused on these four features to bring you the definitive list of the best offline password managers available in 2023.

Offline Functionality

Of course, the first thing we had to consider was how well each password manager performs offline. While every password manager on this list at least supports some form of offline storage, there are still important differences in offline features.

For example, Bitwarden allows users to access their passwords offline, but only if they have already been saved in the cloud. Furthermore, Bitwarden users can’t make any changes to their vault without going back online. In contrast, KeePass is our top recommendation due to its robust support for offline-only usage.

Ease of Use

Ease of use is a close second to functionality in our password manager evaluations. Keeping track of your passwords can be complicated, and you shouldn’t have to fight your password manager to keep your login credentials straight.

Along with things like the user interface, password imports, and installation, we also considered the apps and clients available from each password manager with offline features. Some of these password managers only support desktop while others are compatible with a wider range of devices and operating systems.

Pricing

When you’re evaluating any kind of software, functionality is only half of the equation. Along with how well each option works, you also need to think about which one is worth the cost.

Most people wouldn’t pay twice as much for a product that’s only slightly better than the alternatives. Meanwhile, it might make sense to pay twice as much for something that offers much more than any of its competitors. We included password managers at a variety of price points to find a good option for every reader.

KeePassXC is our top overall recommendation for users who want to store passwords offline. Unlike most other password managers, KeePassXC isn’t built for online storage at all. You can use third-party services like Google Drive to sync passwords between devices if you want, but the core application is designed for offline storage. KeePassXC also comes with a comprehensive set of features including autofill, two-factor authentication (2FA), password generator, and command-line interface.

Even better, all of these tools are available at no charge. While some password managers offer a limited free option, KeePassXC is entirely free with no paid subscriptions or add-ons available. You can donate to the development team if you’d like to support them, but you won’t be missing out on anything as a free user. One of the more unique features of KeePassXC is the ability to choose between AES 256-bit, Twofish, and ChaCha20 encryption.

It’s worth noting that KeePassXC is only available for macOS, Linux, and Windows — there’s currently no mobile app for either iOS or Android. KeePassXC is built on the basic KeePass platform, which is also accessible through third-party mobile apps, such as Strongbox (iOS) or Keepass2Android. While KeePassXC hasn’t generated many reviews on its own, many other KeePass apps have received positive user feedback.

Most password managers offer plans for families and/or teams, giving users a discounted rate in exchange for more subscriptions. 1Password is the only password manager with offline features we’ve seen that gives families the chance to pay for the exact number of users they need. The base rate is $4.99 per month for a group of five, but you can add as many more people as you want for an extra $1 per month each. With most family plans including five or six users, this is the best option for families of more than six people.

1Password usually charges $2.99 per month for individuals and $4.99 per month for families of up to five, with family rates going up from there. Those prices were discounted to $1.50 or $2.50 per month, respectively, when we visited the 1Password website, but there was no information on when this deal would expire. While 1Password is primarily intended for online use, you can download information to your local device and even make changes with no connection. Keep in mind that your edits will be synced in the cloud as soon as you reconnect.

Reviews for 1Password are mostly positive, but it has also received a few common criticisms. This is particularly clear on Android, where the average user review score drops down to 3.9 out of five. Many reviewers felt that 1Password’s autofill tool is inconsistent. For example, one user mentioned that the Android app would turn autofill off randomly and ask them repeatedly to reenter the master password to enter saved passwords.

Like KeePassXC, KeeWeb is a password manager client built on the KeePass framework. One key difference is that while KeePassXC is only available as a desktop app, KeeWeb also offers a web app that works on all modern browsers and doesn’t require any installation. The web app can function without an internet connection, and there are no limitations on offline features. If you want a simple, straightforward password manager with offline features, you won’t go wrong with KeeWeb.

Since KeeWeb is free and open-source, you’ll never have to pay for any features or perks. KeeWeb also facilitates cloud syncing through Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and private servers for users who want to use it on multiple devices. Other key features include tags, color coding, drag-and-drop uploading, password generation, and automatic backups for old versions of your passwords.

Even though KeeWeb is primarily designed for desktops, the web app works as well on mobile. Since there’s no mobile app and the project seems to be relatively small-scale, we weren’t able to find many reviews from real users. KeeWeb has a solid reputation on Reddit and other forums, with users praising its security as well as the transparency of the developer.

When you look for cheap software, you probably try to find the provider with the lowest monthly or annual fee. However, one-time payments tend to be more cost-effective than recurring subscription fees over a long period of time. Enpass offers a lifetime license for a single payment of just $79.99. That might sound like a lot, but it’s probably the most affordable option for most users. After 10 years, for example, you would have paid an effective rate of 67 cents per month.

If you don’t want to make a lifetime commitment, you can also get Enpass for $2 per month, billed annually. However, it’s important to note that you’ll end up spending more than $79.99 after four years. Like KeePassXC and KeeWeb, Enpass is an offline-first password manager that also facilitates cross-device syncing through private cloud storage accounts. Your passwords will never leave your device unless you choose to set up cloud syncing on your own.

Enpass has a mix of reviews. We found complaints about common password manager issues such as inconsistent autofill, trouble with syncing, and an unimpressive visual interface. Meanwhile, most users were satisfied with the application’s support for offline storage, allowing them to keep their passwords safe on a single local device. For example, one reviewer mentioned that they switched to Enpass after their cloud-based password manager experienced a data breach.

Every user is looking for something different in a mobile password manager, but Dashlane stands above the competition when it comes to mobile reviews. The Dashlane app has an average score of 4.6 out of 5 on Android and 4.8 out of 5 on iOS, demonstrating exceptional levels of customer satisfaction. It also comes with an impressive set of features including password sharing, a secure virtual private network (VPN), an automatic password changer, and 1 GB of file storage.

Compared to KeePassXC and other top password managers with offline features, the main downside of Dashlane is that it’s an online-first platform. You can access your vault without a connection after authorizing the device, but the online vault will always be the primary version. The free version of Dashlane supports up to 50 passwords on a single device. At $6.49 per month or $4.99 per month, paid annually, the Premium subscription adds in the advanced tools mentioned above plus unlimited passwords, dark web monitoring, and more.

Dashlane partly stood out due to its strong user reviews on both major mobile platforms. Feedback is slightly more mixed with respect to the desktop platform but reviews are still mostly positive. We found that customers are especially happy with Dashlane’s visual interface and overall ease of use as well as the dark web monitoring service. The most common complaint we saw involved the price —at $4.99 per month, paid annually, Dashlane is one of the more expensive password managers in 2023.

Whether you’re using your password manager online or offline, you may find yourself needing help with technical problems or other unexpected issues. Keeper Password Manager is our pick as the provider with the best customer support due to its 24/7 availability and excellent performance in user reviews. Keeper also offers a thorough set of guides and other support articles to help users learn about the platform. Whatever your issue is, you should be able to get it resolved quickly through Keeper’s responsive support system.

Keeper (like Dashlane) is on the expensive end of password managers in 2023. The base subscription runs $2.92 per month, paid annually, and comes with all basic password management features. At $4.87 per month, paid annually, the Keeper Plus Bundle includes the password manager along with dark web monitoring and secure file storage. Some other password managers provide those same features for less money, so it’s fair to question whether Keeper is truly worth the additional cost.

Keeper’s reviews are some of the best we’ve seen from any password manager, receiving excellent marks on both desktop and mobile. Most users find Keeper extremely easy to set up and start using. In particular, Keeper seems to have an exceptionally reliable autofill tool, only rarely requiring users to copy and paste login credentials themselves. However, like Dashlane, Keeper only offers limited functionality without an internet connection.

RoboForm is one of the only password managers we’ve seen with native functionality for both offline and online users. If you want to sync your passwords in the cloud through RoboForm, you have that choice as long as you’re a premium subscriber. If you’d rather keep your passwords on a single device, that option is available as well —even if you’re a free user. You can switch between these two configurations as needed, making RoboForm the most flexible option for offline and online usage in 2023.

The free version of RoboForm doesn’t support cross-device syncing, but it comes with a wide range of other features. Free users can still save unlimited passwords, analyze their password strength, share passwords with others, and more. The Everywhere plan starts at $1.99 per month paid annually, with significant discounts available for longer commitments. For example, you’ll pay just $1.66 per month if you’re willing to prepay for a period of five years. On top of support for unlimited devices, Everywhere also comes with cloud backups, emergency access, 24/7 customer service, and support for 2FA.

RoboForm has received mostly positive user reviews for each of its applications. We found positive feedback for virtually every element of RoboForm, but there were some complaints about its lack of an account recovery system. If you lose your master password, you will have to reset it to log back in. The reset process will delete everything in your vault, forcing you to start again from scratch. This is a significant oversight, especially considering that other password managers make it easy to recover your vault without compromising account security.

When you think of storing your passwords offline, you probably imagine keeping them on a computer or mobile device. However, offline storage can also go through a portable key that plugs into different devices. For a single payment of $9.95, you can get unlimited lifetime access to the Disk-on-Key version of Password Safe. This can be installed on any USB flash drive to keep your passwords safe while still being able to use them on multiple devices.

If you only need your passwords on one device, you can get the regular version of Password Safe on Windows at no charge. While Password Safe doesn’t currently offer a client for any other operating system, the website offers links to clones that are available on other platforms. We can’t vouch for the security or functionality of those other services, but they’re worth a look if you want to use Password Safe on another platform.

Password Safe has only received a small number of reviews, but the feedback we were able to find shows strong customer satisfaction. Users appreciate the flexibility to keep their passwords on a single computer, on the USB service, or in the cloud via a third-party cloud service. Based on their comments, Password Safe appears to work seamlessly with most or all of the clones listed on the platform’s website.

Bitwarden is one of the leading password managers of 2023, and it has been our top recommendation in several different categories. While Bitwarden can be used offline, we moved it down our list due to its lack of support for offline editing. You can still unlock your vault without accessing the internet, but you will only be able to access the latest version that was synced in the cloud. This makes Bitwarden less practical for users who want an offline-only password manager.

While some features are only available to paying members, you can get most of Bitwarden’s tools for free. The main benefits of a premium subscription are emergency access, security reports, and additional 2FA methods ― specifically YubiKey and Duo. Paid plans run just $10 per year (83 cents per month), making Bitwarden one of the cheapest password managers available in 2023.

Despite the lack of offline editing, Bitwarden has still generated exceptionally strong customer reviews on all platforms. From customer support to the feature set and overall value, the vast majority of users are satisfied with its functionality. In particular, we found many positive comments surrounding Bitwarden’s interface and visual design, which make it easy for new users to get started.

Like Bitwarden, NordPass is a popular password manager that’s mostly intended for online rather than offline use. We put it at the end of our list due to the same limitations. NordPass will let you view and copy passwords while you’re offline, but you won’t be able to add, delete, or edit any of your entries — even just for offline viewing. That makes NordPass an honorable mention rather than one of our top picks.

The free version of NordPass supports unlimited passwords plus cross-device syncing, 2FA, a password generator, and other helpful features. New users will also get a free 30-day trial of the Premium subscription after creating a Nord account. Premium adds in some advanced tools like emergency access, password health analysis, and password sharing. When we checked the website, Premium was listed at $1.49 per month for a two-year commitment. However, that promotional rate may not always be available, and the price may increase when you renew your subscription.

NordPass comes with a generous 3 GB of free cloud storage through NordLocker, but this won’t help with offline storage. The application has also received more mixed reviews than most of the other password managers we’ve covered, particularly on iOS and Android. Most users like the interface and visual design, but they have trouble with technical issues and inconsistent autofill.