Proton Pass review: a private, open-source password manager

Whereas you will get by with password managers which can be constructed into browsers and working methods, it’s extra handy to make use of a third-party resolution that synchronizes account logins between all of your gadgets. Privateness is a vital consideration when storing your credentials.

I not too long ago examined Proton Go, a brand new password supervisor that’s obtainable in free and paid variations. You may acknowledge the identify for the reason that firm additionally makes the favored Proton VPN and Proton Mail.

This low-cost, open-source resolution sounds intriguing, so I examined its options, ease of use, and customer support to seek out out if it’s one of the best password managers for you.

Tiers and pricing

Proton makes a very good free password manager that gives a limiteless variety of logins and safe notes in two vaults. Since Proton Free syncs throughout a number of gadgets, it is likely to be all you want. It’s additionally useful when you obtain an invite to a shared Proton vault, however don’t have already got a paid subscription.

If you wish to share passwords and manage your account logins, Proton Go Plus is a greater resolution. For $24 per yr, you get 10 vaults, hyperlink and vault sharing, two-factor authentication (2FA), and darkish net monitoring. If you happen to attempt the $5 month-to-month plan and prefer it, it’s greatest to modify to an annual subscription inside 4 months otherwise you’ll find yourself paying extra for a similar options.

Many password managers embrace cloud storage so you possibly can connect information and pictures to logins and notes. Proton Go Plus lacks that characteristic, however 1GB of encrypted storage is accessible without spending a dime with Proton Drive.

Proton Limitless bundles Go Plus with different Proton companies like a premium VPN, 500GB of encrypted cloud storage, a safe electronic mail consumer with 15 electronic mail accounts, and extra. The bundle worth is $120 yearly, which is $60 off the price of shopping for these companies individually.

There’s no household plan, so you must pay for a number of Proton Go Plus accounts or set some individuals up with free accounts and share vaults to simplify family account logins.

Proton additionally gives enterprise accounts with plans beginning at $24 yearly for every person. Enterprise subscriptions are just like private plans, however embrace administrative options.

Design

Proton Go set up was simple, beginning with the browser extension on my Home windows PC. It additionally helps macOS, Linux, iOS and Android with all main browsers together with Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, Courageous, Opera, and Vivaldi. The browser extensions have the identical options because the desktop apps, so there’s no purpose to put in them.

The setup directions guided me to create a free Proton account and a grasp password earlier than importing passwords. With all my account logins in place, I switched to my iPhone.

For cellular gadgets, there’s a Proton Go app. After putting in it, I stuffed in my grasp password to unlock the vault I created on my pc. The iOS app defined find out how to allow Proton Go in Apple Settings.

I moved to my pc once more to discover what was attainable. I discovered I wanted to fill in my grasp password extra regularly than I favored, so I searched the assist middle for biometric choices. I needed to swap on two-factor authentication (2FA) in my Proton account and enter the PIN verification code earlier than I may allow Home windows Good day.

Options

I examined probably the most basic features of a password manager, autofill and cross-platform synchronization. Whether or not I exploit Proton Go as a launcher or go to a web site one other manner, my credentials seem routinely, so I can log in simply.

Autofill labored as anticipated. I knew sharing required Proton Go Plus, however I attempted anyway. An improve message appeared together with a button to take action. I entered my activation code and went on with my testing.

With Proton Go Plus, sharing is straightforward. I can create safe hyperlinks to share particular person logins, notes, playing cards, and aliases with others. I can restrict the variety of occasions the hyperlink is considered and set an expiration interval. That’s fairly just like 1Password’s sturdy sharing choices.

The extension is designed for fast vault entry, however after I needed to arrange, I discovered the net app to be extra handy. There’s a hyperlink within the menu.

Whereas most password managers use folders for group, Proton Go Plus has vaults to separate work, interest, monetary, and private accounts. You may create as many as you’d like and share as much as 10 vaults.

Shared hyperlinks will be considered by anybody, however a Proton Go account is required to entry a shared vault. A Proton Free account is enough to view and edit a vault, so you possibly can share collections of passwords and safe notes with household, buddies, and colleagues.

Help

Proton Go Plus assist is through electronic mail. If you happen to need assistance extra shortly, you possibly can browse the assist middle or publish within the official Reddit discussion board. With a low-cost resolution, slower customer support is frequent, however NordPass has live agents ready to help 24 hours a day, every day.

I despatched a message about utilizing Proton Go on my Meta Quest 3 and it took greater than a day to obtain a reply. With the net app, Proton Go ought to work in any fashionable browser.

Privateness and safety

Proton AG, the developer of Proton Go, is a enterprise. Nevertheless, its largest shareholder is the Proton Basis, a nonprofit group whose “legally binding goal is to additional the development of privateness, freedom, and democracy world wide.”

Which means Proton Go ought to place privateness and safety forward of income. Proton received’t promote, hire, or share your knowledge to third-party advertisers.

Proton Sentinel combines AI and human evaluation for twenty-four/7 safety and escalation of suspicious logins. Most often, that diploma of safety is pointless and Sentinel is off by default. Like most different password managers, Proton Go makes use of AES-256 end-to-end encryption so your knowledge can’t even be learn by Proton workers.

I couldn’t discover any report of a safety breach at Proton. monitor report and robust encryption ought to preserve your knowledge protected.

Is Proton Go best for you?

Proton has a 30-day money-back assure, so you possibly can attempt Proton Go Plus or Proton Limitless risk-free. The costs are good and safety is powerful, making this a very good password supervisor. If you happen to select the bundle, you get a premium VPN and far more.

If you happen to like bundles, Dashlane includes a fast VPN, whereas the antivirus software program options from Norton and Bitdefender include password managers.

The free model can be superb, offering limitless cross-device password administration for so long as you need. The one factor missing is sharing, which requires a subscription. Bitwarden is also open source, and its free version lets you share with one different individual.

General, Proton Go is an effective low-cost resolution, notably when you use different Proton companies. It’s not as full-featured as the more expensive Keeper, however the worth is correct.