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Best for Mac or iOS users
Free and integrated with Apple products
Easy to use
Best for compatibility across browsers and devices
Helpful features like family profiles and a password generator
Compatible with lots of browsers, OS, and devices
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’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.
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| 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 |
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| 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.
| Feature | |
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| 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.
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.
Our Pick |
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| Most recent security audit | N/A | July 2022 |
| Most recent data breach | N/A | August 2022 |
Our Pick |
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| 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 uses end-to-end encryption, which means that even Apple cannot see your information. Apple also uses authentication codes and biometric authentication on devices for added protection.
The major downside of LastPass is the 2022 security breach. The risks of using LastPass simply outweigh the benefits, in our opinion.
Apple Keychain lets you see certificates, passwords, account credentials, notes, or other information stored there. If you have a new iPhone, it should prompt you to set it up when you activate it.
If you missed the prompt, you can access Apple Keychain by following these steps:
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.
Free and integrated with Apple products
Easy to use
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.
Free and integrated with Apple products
Easy to use
