From email accounts and banking apps to streaming services and online shopping, chances are you’re juggling dozens of login credentials. Using the same password across multiple sites or relying on weak, easy-to-remember ones leaves you vulnerable to identity theft and data breaches. A password manager securely stores your login credentials so you don’t have to remember them all. It also helps you generate strong passwords, improving your security.
NordPass and Bitwarden are two of the most popular password managers on the market. In this in-depth comparison, we’ll break down everything you need to know – from security to usability to cost – so you can decide which of these password managers is the best fit for you.
Highlights
NordPass
- Seamless syncing across devices
- Extras, including email masking
- Live chat support is available 24/7
- Option to bundle it with NordVPN
Bitwarden
- Affordable subscription prices
- The free version supports unlimited devices
- Command-line (CLI) tool
- Active community forum
NordPass vs Bitwarden pricing
| NordPass | Bitwarden | |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription periods | One year | One year |
| Two years | ||
| Special offer | Save 50% on the NordPass 2-year Premium plan | None |
| Highest price per month | $3.69/month (1-year family plan) | $3.33/month (1-year family plan) |
| Lowest price per month | $1.49/month (2-year premium plan) | $0.83/month (1-year premium plan) |
| One-year price | $23.88 | $10 |
| Money-back guarantee | 30-day money-back guarantee | 30-day money-back guarantee |
| Free trial | No | No |
NordPass and Bitwarden both offer one-year subscriptions. With the NordPass one-year Premium plan, you can save 33% and pay just $23.88, which works out to $1.99 per month.
Of these two password managers, only NordPass offers a two-year option where the biggest savings can be found. With the two-year Premium plan, there’s a 50 percent discount. At $1.49 a month, you pay $35.76 in all.
Bitwarden is almost half the price of NordPass when you directly compare their one-year subscription plans. This is despite the fact that Bitwarden doesn’t, at least at the time of writing, offer any discounts. At just $10 a year ($0.83 a month), Bitwarden is 58 percent cheaper than the equivalent one-year plan of NordPass. If you were to pay for Bitwarden’s Premium plan for two consecutive years ($20), that’s still 44 percent less.
The family plans of NordPass and Bitwarden are much closer to each other in price. Bitwarden costs $40 a year ($3.33 per month), whereas NordPass’s one-year equivalent, at a 38% discount, is priced at $44.28 ($3.69 per month). Bitwarden’s family plan would cost $80 over two years, and this is where NordPass has the edge. Discounted at 53 percent, it costs $66.96, 16 percent more affordable.
Similarly, NordPass and Bitwarden’s Premium plans cover one user account, while their Family plans cover up to six users. Both offer 30-day money-back guarantees, providing you plenty of time to try them out risk-free. NordPass and Bitwarden also offer free versions. Of these, NordPass is a bit more limited, as you can only use it on one device. With Bitwarden, you can use the free version on an unlimited number of devices. Both NordPass and Bitwarden also offer business password solutions for both small and large businesses.
Best deal for NordPass:Get 50 percent off a NordPass 2-year Premium plan and pay $35.76 for the first 24 months. This works out at just $1.49 a month.
Best deal for Bitwarden:Pay $10 a month with the Bitwarden Premium plan, the equivalent of just $0.83 a month.
NordPass vs Bitwarden features
| NordPass | Bitwarden | |
|---|---|---|
| Password storage | Unlimited (free and premium) | Unlimited (free and premium) |
| Autofill | Yes | Yes |
| Auto-save | Yes | Yes |
| Secure notes | Yes | Yes |
| Credit card info storage | Yes | Yes |
| Password generator | Yes | Yes |
| File attachments | Yes | Yes |
| Password sharing | Yes | Yes |
| Email masking | Yes | Yes |
When it comes to features, NordPass and Bitwarden are very similar, offering nearly everything you could ask for in a password manager. This starts with unlimited password storage regardless of whether you’re using the free or paid version of their products.
Two essential features in both NordPass and Bitwarden are autofill and auto-save. Autofill lets the password manager automatically fill in login credentials, credit card details, or other saved information on websites and apps. Auto-save detects when you sign up for a new account or update an existing password. It then prompts you to save the login to your vault.
It’s not just passwords you can save with these password managers either. It extends to credit cards, notes (helpful for software license keys, Wi-Fi passwords, etc.), and personal information, such as your address, email, and phone number. This information can then be autofilled on payment and signup forms.
File attachments allow you to securely upload and attach files to specific items in the vault. Just like passwords, these attachments are encrypted. An attachment may be a scan of an ID or passport, medical records, crypto recovery phrases, or software license files.
The best password managers not only securely save your passwords but also help you generate stronger ones. Both NordPass and Bitwarden make password creation easy, although NordPass is slightly more beginner-friendly with a little less clutter. Having said that, Bitwarden allows you to specify a minimum number of characters or special characters required. It also lets you randomly generate usernames.
With both, you’ll be able to cycle through randomly generated passwords easily, adjust for length, and choose between characters and words. You’ll also be able to specify whether you want to include or exclude uppercase or lowercase letters, numbers, or special characters. With the two password managers, you’ll have the option to securely manage passwords and other sensitive data.
NordPass and Bitwarden both offer email masking, which creates a unique and disposable email address. The trouble with NordPass is that it doesn’t use a third-party email alias service. As such, you’d fail to have emails forwarded if you ever stopped using NordPass. Bitwarden integrates with multiple third-party email alias services, including Fastmail and DuckDuckGo.
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Apps and user experience
| NordPass | Bitwarden | |
|---|---|---|
| Desktop | Windows, Mac, Linux (GUI) | Windows, Mac, Linux (GUI and CLI) |
| Mobile | Android, iOS | Android, iOS |
| Browser extensions | Yes (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, Opera) | Yes (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, Opera) |
| Web vault access | Yes | Yes |
| Offline access | Yes | Yes |
| Import/export tools | Yes | Yes |
You’ll have no trouble using NordPass or Bitwarden on all of your desktop and mobile devices thanks to the many different operating systems they support, along with the browser extensions on offer. As you’d expect from two popular password managers, they have apps for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. They also both have GUI apps for Linux, with the only difference being that Bitwarden also offers a command-line interface.
Both make browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, and Opera. Lightweight and accessible in your browser, they’re great for quick autofill and auto-saving. Alternatively, you can access either password manager through their respective web vaults, which is handy on public or shared devices where you can’t download software.
NordPass and Bitwarden both support offline access. You’ll need to be logged in for this to work. You can then view and copy information as required. Of course, some features won’t be available in offline mode, such as breach alerts and syncing across devices. Still, it’s a handy feature if you happen to be without internet for a short period. Tools are also available to import passwords from browsers or other password managers and export your vault data.
Both NordPass and Bitwarden make it easy enough to sign up. The key difference was that I could sign up for a NordPass Premium account directly. With Bitwarden, I was first prompted to create a free account – not necessarily a bad thing – before paying for a Premium subscription. Once inside, I’d say NordPass offers a cleaner and less overwhelming layout. However, the two Chrome extensions are similarly easy to navigate.
The NordPass and Bitwarden apps and browser extensions are easy to use. There’s one major issue with NordPass’s desktop app. I downloaded and installed this for macOS and found it to be extremely slow, almost to the point of being unusable. Looking at comments from users online, I’m not the only person to have had this experience.
That issue, I found NordPass’s and Bitwarden’s apps and browser extensions to be very responsive and easy to navigate. I had no problems adding login credentials or using the autosave and autofill features.
NordPass sets itself apart from Bitwarden with its seamless syncing. Adding or removing entries was almost instantly reflected across apps and browser extensions. Overall, syncing wasn’t as seamless with Bitwarden. The “Allow sync on refresh” option on iOS didn’t seem to work, and syncing only occurred when I went to Settings and tapped “Sync Now”. I had the same issue with the macOS app, which only reflected changes after I closed and reopened it.
One thing I liked more about Bitwarden’s browser extension is that, like the apps, there are generally more settings to play with, many of which are accessible directly within the browser extension, rather than opening a browser tab, as is the case with NordPass. Overall, there’s not a lot to separate them, but NordPass’s significantly slower macOS app puts it slightly behind the curve.
Security and privacy
| NordPass | Bitwarden | |
|---|---|---|
| Encryption algorithm | XChaCha20 | AES-256 |
| Master password requirement | Yes | Yes |
| Vault timeout/Auto-lock | Yes | Yes |
| Emergency Access | Yes | Yes |
| Two-factor authentication | Authenticator app, backup codes, security keys | Authenticator app, email, FIDO2/WebAuthn, security keys |
| Biometric login | Yes | Yes |
| Data breach monitoring | Yes | Yes |
| Password health reports | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Independent audits | Yes | Yes |
| Bug bounty program | Yes | Yes |
NordPass and Bitwarden both use strong encryption to secure your passwords and other details stored within their vaults. In the case of NordPass, it uses XChaCha20, whereas Bitwarden employs 256-bit AES. NordPass acknowledges that most password managers use 256-bit AES but cites XChaCha20’s speed and simplicity, particularly in terms of its ease of implementation. Either way, both are considered highly secure.
One key difference between NordPass and Bitwarden is that only the latter is open-source. Bitwarden’s apps, browser extensions, and server code are publicly available on GitHub, allowing for independent review. NordPass isn’t open-source, but like Bitwarden, it has undergone independent security audits for transparency. Both were audited by German cybersecurity firm Cure53.
With a password manager, you only need to remember one password, and that’s the master password. However, you can also make use of biometric logins. Touch ID lets you use your fingerprint instead of typing in the master password each time, allowing for faster logins.
You can further secure your NordPass or Bitwarden account through the use of two-factor authentication. Bitwarden offers slightly more options in this respect, including email authentication, but both support authentication applications and security keys. Using 2FA helps protect your vault and its contents even if your master password is compromised.
Another useful security feature available is Autolock (NordPass) and vault timeout (Bitwarden). They both serve the same purpose, allowing you to choose the amount of time you’d like to stay signed in before you’re logged out of your vault for inactivity. This helps prevent unauthorized access. Bitwarden offers more options, such as setting the vault to timeout after a browser restart or after a specific number of hours or minutes.
One of the extra features included with NordPass and Bitwarden is data breach monitoring, which alerts you if your saved credentials appear in known data breaches. Password health reports analyze your stored passwords to identify weak, reused, or old credentials and recommend improvements to strengthen security. Finally, emergency access is a feature offered by both that lets you grant a trusted contact access to your vault in the event of an emergency.
Customer support compared
| NordPass | Bitwarden | |
|---|---|---|
| Live chat support | Yes (24/7) | No |
| Email support | Yes | Yes |
| Phone support | No | No |
| Ticket system | Yes | Yes |
| Help center / Knowledge base | Yes | Yes |
| Community forum | No | Yes |
It’s easy to get help with NordPass and Bitwarden because both provide customer support that I found to be of a consistently high standard. In both cases, you can fill out a support form or send a direct email. NordPass also provides live chat support. Available 24/7, it’s ideal if you have a more time-sensitive issue that needs troubleshooting.
Each time I contacted NordPass and Bitwarden, I found them to be not only quick to reply but helpful in their answers. Alternatively, you have the option of their respective help centers, which offer setup guides and troubleshooting articles. Many guides provide step-by-step instructions and annotated screenshots, making them even easier to follow.
Bitwarden has a slight advantage with its community forum, providing another convenient way to get help when you need it.
NordPass vs Bitwarden: The winner
Whether you choose NordPass or Bitwarden, you can’t go wrong. They’re user-friendly, have plenty of features, and provide the kind of security expected from a product that’s storing your many passwords.
Overall, NordPass comes out ahead thanks to its superior syncing across apps and browser extensions, as well as its 24/7 live chat support. It doesn’t hurt that you can also bundle NordPass with NordVPN, our top-rated VPN service.
It’s not perfect, though. The NordPass macOS app was very slow in my testing so Mac users might prefer Bitwarden.