Apple Passwords vs. LastPass 2024: Which Password Manager Is for You?

Password managers are one of the simplest ways to shore up your online security. They securely store hundreds of passwords and offer additional security benefits. Recently, Apple released the beta version of Passwords, a new password manager that streamlines the credentials in your iCloud Keychain.

While Apple Passwords is certainly an improvement to the traditional iCloud Keychain, we checked to see how it stacks up to traditional password managers like LastPass.

In this article, we compare Apple Passwords and LastPass to help you determine which is best for you and to share our other recommendations for the best password manager alternatives.

Apple Passwords vs. LastPass review at a glance

Apple’s new password manager, Passwords, has a full release scheduled for this fall, so we went ahead and tested the beta version. Passwords allows users to sync seamlessly across their macOS, iOS, Apple Vision Pro, and even Windows, meaning it should have more efficient access to saved passwords and logins.

There aren’t a ton of upgrades from the iCloud Keychain, but if you use many Apple products — think iPhones, iPads, Macs — Passwords is a good option for keeping your credentials and login information organized.

While Apple Passwords does actually work on Windows, if you need compatibility covering a broader range of devices or browsers, LastPass may be a better option. LastPass offers all the benefits of a traditional password manager, including unlimited password sharing across devices.

• Apple Passwords: Best for Mac or iOS users
• LastPass: Best for compatibility across browsers and devices

Apple Passwords vs. LastPass

Price	Free	Free–$4.00/mo
Free version
Number of devices	Unlimited	Unlimited
Browser extensions		Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Safari, Opera
Password sharing	Yes — Unlimited with Apple OS	Yes — Unlimited
Encryption	AES-256	AES-256, SSO plus PBKDF2 hashing with SHA-256 salting for authentication
Password generator
Form filler
Learn more	Get Apple Passwords Read Apple Passwords Review	Get LastPass Read LastPass Review

Apple Passwords vs. LastPass: prices

Price range	Free	Free–$4.00/mo
Best value plan	Free	Family plan for $4.00/mo (billed annually)
Money-back guarantee
Learn more	Get Apple Passwords Read Apple Passwords Review	Get LastPass Read LastPass Review

Apple Passwords is free and has many features we look for in a dedicated password keeper, including a password generator and a form filler. The end-to-end encryption means not even Apple can see your password, which is a huge bonus in our book.

LastPass offers a free plan as well as two paid plans: Premium and Family. The free plan offers many features, including a password vault, autofill, and a password generator.

The Premium and Family plans offer the same features as the free plan, as well as emergency access, and dedicated, personal customer support.

Apple Passwords vs. LastPass: features

Feature
Password sharing
Two-factor authentication
Password generator
Autofill
Password strength report
Digital legacy
Learn more	Get Apple Passwords Read Apple Passwords Review	Get LastPass Read LastPass Review

Apple Passwords and LastPass are quite similar in terms of their features. They both offer password sharing, two-factor authentication, a password generator, autofill, password strength reports, and digital legacy.

While many of these features aren’t essential to a password manager, they’re certainly nice to have, and if we’re being frank, any password manager worth its salt will have them.

When it comes to security, however, we can’t put enough emphasis on the importance of two-factor authentication. A password manager houses your most valuable credentials, so we look for a minimum of two-factor and, ideally, multi-factor authentication.

This type of passwordless authentication provides extra layers of security to keep your information safe and private.

Which is safer, Apple Passwords or LastPass?

A password manager stores some of your most sensitive information, so privacy is paramount. A quick look at LastPass’s privacy policy shows that it shares information with third parties.

Additionally, LastPass experienced a massive data breach in 2022, including customers' information and the LastPass source code. [1] LastPass’s website boasts numerous security and industry-tested awards, but the last third-party external audit we could find a record of was in July 2022, before the security breach.

Since Passwords hasn’t been released yet, Apple hasn’t published any information regarding security audits or data breaches.

Apple Passwords vs. LastPass privacy and security

	Our Pick
Most recent security audit	N/A	July 2022
Most recent data breach	N/A	August 2022

Apple Passwords vs. LastPass: compatibility and customer support

	Our Pick
Windows
macOS
Android
iOS
Browser extensions		Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Safari, Opera
24/7 customer support
Customer support options	Online guides, phone, chat	Phone for paid plans, community help forum
Learn more	Get Apple Passwords Read Apple Passwords Review	Get LastPass Read LastPass Review

Our LastPass experience was pretty user friendly. We enabled the browser extension and navigated the internet easily without worrying about passwords. The dashboard housed all of our saved passwords in neat folders.

We also liked that we were able to add secure notes to each saved password and require extra security steps like a master password to log into certain accounts. This extra layer of protection is particularly helpful for banking and financial accounts.

We did experience a glitch when using LastPass on our MacBook — links didn’t open properly when clicked. While this isn’t a deal breaker, we had to manually toggle between our LastPass dashboard and our web browser.

Our experience with Passwords’ beta version was pretty seamless. With the new app, you can easily navigate between six different types of stored information: All, Passkeys, Codes, Wi-Fi, Security, and Deleted. Apple Passwords categorizes data into these helpful folders, which makes searching for information much easier.

We were pleased with the authenticator feature, which provides a one-time passcode for two-factor or multi-factor authentication. You can also create groups and share passwords.

If you’ve used iCloud Keychain in the past, Apple Passwords will look and feel familiar. There aren’t many changes, but the organization of your credentials makes it much easier to find what you’re looking for.

Apple Passwords vs. LastPass FAQs

Apple Passwords vs. LastPass: Which is better?

Unfortunately, the 2022 data breach still looms large in our minds, and LastPass is simply too risky for us to house our sensitive information. Apple Passwords wins this head-to-head match-up.

iCloud Keychain has always been a good option for anyone using an Apple device or operating system. Apple Passwords’ compatibility with Windows PC now makes this password manager more appealing to a wider range of users.

We’ve used iCloud Keychain to store our passwords, and we’re confident this new update will only improve the experience.

Apple Passwords vs. LastPass alternatives

Using a password manager not only helps you remember your passwords, but it can also boost your online security by helping you create strong passwords.

Strong, unique passwords reduce your risk of cyber-related exposure. In other words, a password manager is a must in our book.

We get it if you're still not sold on Apple Passwords or LastPass. Below, we share some password manager alternatives. You can also read our guide to the best password managers to find the right fit.

• NordPass: NordPass is consistently one of our top-ranked password managers, and for good reason. This option comes with all the bells and whistles: unlimited passwords and passkeys, autofill, password strength reports, multi-factor authentication, emergency access, digital legacy, and a breach scanner to see if your email addresses or credit cards have been found in a data breach.
  
  Get NordPass | Read Our NordPass Review
• RoboForm: RoboForm was first released in 2000, making it one of the oldest password managers; it hasn’t had any data leaks or hacks — which is a pretty impressive streak. Like NordPass, RoboForm comes with unlimited password storage, access on all browsers and devices, autofill, password generator, two-factor authentication, AES-256 encryption, and emergency access, all at an affordable price.
  
  Get RoboForm | Read Our RoboForm Review
• Keeper password manager: Keeper comes with everything we look for in a password manager: autofill, password generator, password strength reports, biometric authentication, and emergency access. Keeper offers Self Destruct, which deletes all locally stored data after a certain number of failed login attempts. In addition, Keeper has add-ons like a secure vault for images, passports, and other sensitive documents, BreachWatch, which alerts you if your information is found on the dark web, and 24/7 customer support.
  
  Get Keeper Password Manager | Read Our Keeper Password Manager Review