Bitwarden review
Updated September 28, 2026 · ShieldCue Editorial Team · Facts checked September 26, 2026
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Our verdict
Bitwarden suits households and small teams that want an audited password manager with a free plan and a cheap paid tier. Paid plans start at $1.65, well under the site entry median of €6.84, and the free plan covers the core vault. Expect less at the support end than at the price end.
Key facts
- Best for
- Households and small teams starting on the free plan and paying only $1.65 when they need more.
- Price from
- $1.65 (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Free plan
- Yes (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Platforms
- Web app (vault.bitwarden.com), Browser extensions (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Brave, Vivaldi, DuckDuckGo, Tor), Windows desktop app, MacOS desktop app, Linux desktop app, iOS app, Android app, F-Droid build, Command line interface (CLI) (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Family plan
- Up to 6 users (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Passkeys
- Yes (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Security audit
- Annual third-party source code audits and penetration tests by Cure53 (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Encryption
- Zero-knowledge end-to-end encryption, AES-CBC 256-bit for vault data, PBKDF2 SHA-256 or Argon2 key derivation (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Features
- TOTP (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Legal entity
- Bitwarden, Inc. (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Headquarters
- United States (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Founded
- 2016 (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Support channels
- Email, Help-centre, Community (Source, checked September 26, 2026)
- Pricing model
- Free, Budget
- Official website
- bitwarden.com
Apps and profiles
- Get the app
- App StoreGoogle Play
- Elsewhere
- WikidataWikipediaLinkedInXgithub.com
Pros and cons
Pros
- A free plan runs alongside a paid tier that starts at $1.65, and free and budget covers both the free and budget positions.
- The family plan covers Up to 6 users, and the listed feature set includes totp in the same vault.
- The vault runs on Web app (vault.bitwarden.com), Browser extensions (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Brave, Vivaldi, DuckDuckGo, Tor) and Windows desktop app, a wider spread than iOS, iPadOS and macOS offers.
Cons
- Support runs on email, help centre and community only, with no phone line, and phone support reaches 41.1% across the brands tracked here.
- The paid tier at $1.65 sits well below €9.99 at Total Password and BRL 64.22 at ESET Brasil, which leaves the free plan doing most of the work.
- The family plan stops at Up to 6 users, so bigger households are pushed toward separate accounts or the paid individual plan.
Who it suits
- People who want to start on a free plan and only pay $1.65 once a paid feature matters to them.
- Households that fit inside Up to 6 users and want a shared subscription instead of separate vaults.
- Readers who want passkeys and authenticator codes in the same place as their passwords, on a spread wider than iOS, iPadOS and macOS.
Who should look elsewhere
- Anyone who needs a phone line, since Bitwarden lists support as email, help centre and community only.
- Households larger than Up to 6 users, who may get a clearer price comparison by shopping €9.99 against BRL 64.22.
Protection features
Bitwarden describes its vault as end-to-end encrypted, with the master password never leaving your device and the encryption keys derived locally before any data is sent. The stated scheme covers vault data with a strong symmetric cipher and a memory-hard key derivation step, so the design is documented rather than vague. Source code audits and penetration tests run every year through an outside security firm, and that audit cadence is the first thing to check if your reading list rewards third-party review.
Plans and renewals
There is a free plan, and it is a standing option rather than a trial. The paid individual plan starts at $1.65, and that is the rate to plan around in every year you stay subscribed, since the published figure is not presented as a first-year discount. Entry cost is the strongest part of the pitch: the site entry median across the brands tracked here is €6.84, so the paid figure sits under the middle of the field.
Core features
The same vault runs on Web app (vault.bitwarden.com), Browser extensions (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Brave, Vivaldi, DuckDuckGo, Tor) and Windows desktop app, which covers a web vault, browser extensions across the major engines, desktop apps for Windows, macOS and Linux, mobile apps, an F-Droid build and a command line interface. The family plan covers Up to 6 users on the same account structure, so sharing is a plan change rather than a separate product. Passkeys are supported, and the listed feature set includes totp, so passkeys and second factor codes sit alongside the passwords rather than in a separate app.
The company behind it
The legal entity is Bitwarden, Inc., and the company was founded in 2016, which tells you how long the vault has been shipping. Headquarters sit in the United States, so the terms and the operator sit under a US jurisdiction. Support runs on email, help centre and community: a help centre for self service, email for direct questions, and a community forum for everything else.
How Bitwarden compares
9.2 vs 9.1
9.2 vs 8.8
9.2 vs 8.5
9.2 vs 9.5
9.2 vs 9.4
9.2 vs 9.1
9.2 vs 9.2
9.2 vs 9.4ESET Brasil lists BRL 64.22, a local currency figure worth holding next to $1.65 if you are buying in Brazil.
9.2 vs 9.2
9.2 vs 8.8
9.2 vs 9.3
9.2 vs 9.0
9.2 vs 9.0
9.2 vs 9.4
Frequently asked questions
How much does Bitwarden cost at entry, and is there a free plan?+
There is a free plan that covers the core vault, and the paid individual plan starts at $1.65. That sits under the site entry median of €6.84 and places Bitwarden at 2 on entry price among the 36 brands ranked here, so entry cost is a strong point.
What does a renewal cost after the first year?+
Bitwarden publishes one starting rate of $1.65 alongside a free plan, and the paid rate is not presented as a first-year discount. For anyone budgeting beyond the first year, $1.65 is the figure to plan around, and the free plan is listed as a standing option rather than something that expires.
How is the vault protected?+
The vault is described as end-to-end encrypted, with keys derived on your own device before data is sent, so the provider never holds the master password. Source code audits and penetration tests run every year through an outside security firm, which gives you an audit cadence to check rather than a promise to take on trust.
Which devices and browsers can I use?+
The same vault runs on Web app (vault.bitwarden.com), Browser extensions (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Brave, Vivaldi, DuckDuckGo, Tor) and Windows desktop app. That is a wider spread than iOS, iPadOS and macOS, which stays inside the Apple side, and it includes a command line interface and an F-Droid build for readers who want a vault outside the usual app stores.
Does it handle passkeys and authenticator codes?+
Passkeys are supported, and the listed feature set includes totp. Codes for second factor logins therefore sit in the same vault as the passwords, and both work alongside the free plan, so passkey and code storage do not force you onto a paid tier.
How many people can share a subscription?+
The family plan covers Up to 6 users, so a household can share a subscription up to that limit. Anyone beyond it looks at the paid individual plan starting at $1.65 or keeps the free plan. The family plan is the only shared tier listed in the pricing.
Where is the company based and who runs it?+
The legal entity is Bitwarden, Inc., the company was founded in 2016, and headquarters sit in the United States. That combination tells you whether the operator is long established and which jurisdiction its terms fall under before you store anything in the vault.
How do I get help if something goes wrong?+
Support runs on email, help centre and community. The help centre is the main route, with email for direct questions and a community forum for everything else. Only 41.1% of the brands tracked offer phone support, so a phone line is not the norm in this category either.
How does the price compare with other password managers?+
At $1.65 for the paid plan, Bitwarden sits below €9.99 at Total Password and BRL 64.22 at ESET Brasil. The site median entry price is €6.84, and Bitwarden places 2 on that measure out of the brands ranked here.
Sources
- bitwarden.com/about checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Founded, Headquarters, Legal entity
“Founded in 2016, Bitwarden serves over 80,000 businesses and more than 15 million users in over 180 countries and 50+ languages.”
- bitwarden.com/compliance checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Encryption
“Bitwarden uses AES-CBC 256-bit encryption for your vault data, and PBKDF2 SHA-256 or Argon2 to derive your encryption key.”
- bitwarden.com/download checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Platforms
“Install Bitwarden on macOS, Windows, and Linux desktops with native applications.”
- bitwarden.com/help/is-bitwarden-audited checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Security audit
“Bitwarden regularly conducts comprehensive third-party security audits with notable security firms. These annual audits include source code assessments and penetration testing across Bitwarden IPs,...”
- bitwarden.com/pricing checked September 26, 2026
Backs: Family plan, Features, Free plan, Pricing model, Passkeys, Price from, Support channels
“Families $3.99 per month, up to 6 users, billed annually at $47.88”
Compiled from 5 source pages, checked September 26, 2026. We did not open an account.
Bitwarden
Households and small teams starting on the free plan and paying only $1.65 when they need more.