Although Apple’s Keychain password manager is suitable for auto-fill purposes, it’s not enough to keep your data safe. I tested dozens of password managers in the App Store to find the best one for iOS. After extensive testing, 1Password came out on top. It provides exceptional security features, including 2FA, a password auditor, a data monitoring tool, and Travel Mode. Although it doesn’t offer a money-back guarantee, you can test it with its 14-day free trial. Try 1Password for iPhone risk-free
Quick Guide: Best Password Managers for iOS in 2023
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The Best Password Managers for iOS — Full Test Results in January 2023
1. 1Password — Best Overall Security & Tons of Unique Extras
Key Features: I tested 1Password extensively, and it has become my go-to password manager for iOS. Apple’s in-built Keychain password manager does a decent job protecting your password from prying eyes. However, it lacks many other security features, such as dark web monitoring and hidden vaults, exposing you to data hacks. 1Password uses two-factor authentication (2FA), which adds another layer of security to your password vault by linking it to your specific device. I easily linked it to my Google Authenticator app. That’s not all — it also provides biometric logins using TouchID or FaceID, whichever applies to your iPhone. If you don’t want to use a third-party authenticator, 1Password gives you the option of using its in-built TOTP generator, an app that authenticates your login using a time-sensitive one-time login code. 1Password’s Watchtower feature on iOS audits all your passwords and identifies weak and reused ones, so you can replace them with strong passwords that contain a mix of uppercase and lower case letters, numbers, and symbols. Watchtower also serves as a data breach monitoring tool, notifying you if you haven’t changed your password for a previously compromised site. On the other hand, Apple’s Keychain doesn’t provide data monitoring and, therefore, is not enough to protect you from prying eyes. 1Password’s Travel Mode (a feature available on both iOS and macOS) makes it stand out from its competitors. By enabling Travel Mode, you can hide vaults on your device(s), and only those you mark safe will appear on 1Password’s app dashboard. This is a vitally important feature if you’re traveling to high censorship countries and are stopped for inspection for whatever reason. Lastly, I was happy to see that 1Password offers privacy cards (another feature that other contenders don’t). Privacy cards are virtual payment cards that replace your actual card number with another one, so your credit card information is safe even if the site’s data is breached. The only catch is this feature is only available to US citizens so far. Overall, 1Password provides airtight security for all your passwords and confidential data. Alongside the various useful extras, it also offers 1GB of encrypted storage if you ever need to upload your files to the cloud. It’s the most secure password manager on this list, and I strongly recommend you try it out for yourself with its 14-day free trial. Try 1Password for iPhone risk-free
2. Dashlane — Hosts a One-Click Password Changer
Key Features: Dashlane is another excellent choice if you’re looking for a powerful password manager for your iPhone. It boasts a wide array of unique security features that other contenders don’t. For one, it hosts Hotspot Shield VPN in its iOS app — I haven’t come across any other password manager so far that host a VPN, so this was an impressive bonus. While a VPN is a great feature, I didn’t see how it enhances Dashlane’s password-manager-related features. Although it provides excellent speeds on nearby and mid-range servers, it only offers servers in 20+ countries, which isn’t enough for accessing your home content catalog while traveling. If you’re looking for a decent standalone VPN, I highly recommend using ExpressVPN. Another unique feature of Dashlane is its one-tap password changer, which is a major convenience when you want to replace your weak passwords with strong ones but can’t think of any. Dashlane’s password changer lets you change your passwords in a single tap. The best part is you don’t need to go to every website and change the password there — you can change passwords on supported sites from within Dashlane’s iOS dashboard. Dashlane’s 2FA capabilities are remarkable. Apart from linking it to my Google Authenticator, I also set 2FA on my Apple Watch — it displayed 30-second TOTP codes for my accounts. It’s a much easier way to log in than switching between a third-party authenticator app and the site you want to log into. Your Apple Watch will still display these codes after you’ve locked your iPhone but will disappear if you log out of your iPhone’s Dashlane app. If you’ve lost your master password, there’s only one way you can get back into your Dashlane account, and that’s through your iOS app. Make sure you’ve enabled biometrics login, and you’ll be able to get in without a hiccup. I was pleased to see that Dashlane offers a dark web monitoring tool on its iOS app, considering most password managers only offer it with their desktop apps. With this tool, you can check if your email’s contents are safe. I entered one of my old email addresses and found that it had been involved in a data breach two years ago. Dark web monitoring is particularly valuable when you have sensitive data stored on the cloud or in your inbox. Overall, Dashlane provides exceptional security to your sensitive data and offers many helpful extras unique to it. I particularly enjoyed using its one-click password changer, a feature I haven’t seen most other password managers offer. It hosts one of the most feature-rich plans I see. However, if you want to access features like encrypted cloud storage, VPN, and dark web monitoring, you’ll have to sign up for one of its premium plans. You can use its 1-month free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee to test it out risk-free. Try Dashlane for iPhone risk-free
3. RoboForm — Powerful Auto-Fill Function
Key Features: RoboForm is an excellent password manager, offering a variety of features to protect your confidential data. Its most standout feature, however, is its advanced form-filling capabilities. RoboForm has the best auto-fill functions of the password managers on this list. Just make sure you’ve changed the auto-fill function from Keychain to RoboForm. The password manager comes with 7 pre-built templates and even provides you with the option to build your customized template. You can store addresses, credit card information, vehicle registration, passport and legal documents, and more, making this RoboForm fill out even the most complex web forms. I also liked that Roboform has an Emergency Access feature that lets you assign a trusted contact who can access your password vaults in an emergency. To enable it, open the RoboForm app on your iPhone, go to Tools > Emergency Access, and tap the “+” sign to add an emergency contact. RoboForm lets you easily share your passwords, bookmarks, and notes securely with other users. The only problem is you can’t share your data with non-RoboForm users. Apart from that, it also hosts a user-friendly password auditor that evaluates how strong your passwords are. Overall, RoboForm is a decent password manager but doesn’t have many standout features unique to itself. However, it provides ample security with its military-grade AES 256-bit encryption, zero-knowledge architecture, and 2FA. It also has a free plan, which lacks many essential features, such as cloud backup, emergency access, and even 2FA. Therefore, I think it’s better to test its premium plan risk-free with its 14-day free trial and 30-day money-back guarantee. Try RoboForm for iPhone risk-free
4. Keeper — Encrypted In-Built Messaging App
Key Features: I was delighted to learn that Keeper offers its in-built messaging feature called KeeperChat. Although iOS has its native messaging iMessage app, having a chat dedicated to a password manager doesn’t hurt. It helps communicate with other users whom you’ve shared files and notes with using Keeper. I used KeeperChat extensively and enjoyed using it. All messages you send are end-to-end encrypted, which means even Keeper doesn’t know what files you’re sharing with others. To further add to your security, KeeperChat offers a self-destruct timer, so the messages you send are automatically destroyed after a particular time. Alternatively, you can also retract your sent messages. Besides its in-app messaging feature, Keeper encrypts all your data with the virtually impenetrable AES 256-bit protocol. Unlike 1Password and Dashlane, Keeper stores your data on its cloud servers. However, I was relieved to find out that at least it’s in encrypted form, so even if Keeper’s servers get hacked, the encrypted data would be unhackable. Keeper supports 2FA, but what impressed me the most was its seamless compatibility with iOS. Apart from linking my Keeper account to Google Authenticator, I set up biometric login on my Apple watch and could easily log into Keeper without a hassle. I was a bit disappointed to learn that Keeper’s iOS app didn’t let me import passwords from other password managers like its macOS app. This would have been such a convenient feature, but to get around this I enabled syncing between all my devices that I was using Keeper on. As soon as I imported my passwords from 1Password to Keeper on my Mac, my iPhone got updated too. Lastly, Keeper’s password auditor detects all your weak and reused passwords and prompts you to fix them. It’s not a feature unique to Keeper, but I liked how easy it was to use. All you need to do is tap on “Breachwatch” — Keeper’s password auditor and dark web monitoring tool — and then the “Scan Results” button. I was hoping the “Resolve” button would automatically change my password without me having to manually do it by logging into LinkedIn. Unfortunately, Keeper doesn’t have a one-click password changer like Dashlane, so I manually fixed all the high-risk passwords. Overall, Keeper is a good choice for budget-conscious users. Remember, though, that its affordability comes with a lack of feature-richness. For instance, it doesn’t include a Travel Mode or a one-click password changer, which I think are premium but essential features of any password manager. Its free plan is not worth signing up for, as it doesn’t even provide the auto-fill function or 2FA. If you want to test it for free and see if it’s a good fit, I recommend you sign up for its 30-day free trial — unfortunately, it doesn’t offer a money-back guarantee. Try Keeper for iPhone risk-free
5. Panda — Log Out of Other Devices Remotely
Key Features: Panda is a secure password manager that uses the AES 256-bit encryption protocol and has a zero-knowledge architecture. It doesn’t store your data on its cloud servers, which also means that if you lose your master password, there’s no way you can recover your account. I always recommend writing down the master code in your diary and keeping it safe. It supports only a handful of 2FA options, namely the most popular authenticator apps like Google Authenticator, Authy, SoundLogin, and Duo Mobile. Although that should suffice for average users, I would have liked it if it offered a way to log into its iOS app via Apple watch. Having said that, I liked its “Secure Me” feature, which lets you log out of your Panda account on a lost or misplaced device remotely. It even deletes browsing history and cookies, which is quite impressive. I used Panda’s password generator to create new passwords in a few taps. Although it generates strong passwords consisting of letters, numbers, and symbols, it can only create passwords 16 characters long. On the contrary, other password managers like RoboForm let you generate passwords with 500+ characters! I also noticed that Panda considered a 7-character password strong. Meanwhile, most popular sites today like Facebook or Instagram have a minimum requirement of 8 characters to ensure maximum protection for your accounts. Panda’s password manager has fewer features than its competitors. However, I liked that it lets you access which passwords you generated earlier, which is helpful if you forget to save or update your credentials for a website. I liked Panda’s auto-fill function, as it provided me with flexibility on what I wanted to auto-fill. For instance, I checked the “Disable automatic filling of accounts” box so that Panda doesn’t auto-fill my credentials for a phishing website pretending to be my bank. After disabling auto-fill, I had total control over which fields I wanted auto-filled by clicking the Panda logo at the corner of every field. The only problem I found with the auto-fill feature was that it was too limited, as Panda doesn’t have any pre-built templates to store your personal data, such as a passport or other identity documents. So, filling out complex web forms with Panda wasn’t much help. In summary, Panda is a decent password manager with enough security features to protect your data. However, it doesn’t have any unique features that make it stand out from its competitors. It’s a good option for amateur users who aren’t looking to store all their sensitive data but rather a convenient way to manage all their passwords in one place. Although Panda doesn’t offer a free trial, you can test it out using its 30-day money-back guarantee. Try Panda for iPhone risk-free
Quick Comparison Table: 2023’s Best Password Managers for iOS
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How I Tested and Ranked the Best Password Managers for iOS In 2023
iOS Compatibility — I picked password managers that had an iOS app. Features on iOS — I tested each password manager to check whether it includes all the features advertised on its iOS app. Security features — I picked password managers with 2FA and a zero-knowledge architecture. I also tried choosing those that offered login via Apple watch. Extra features — I picked contenders that offered useful extras like Travel Mode, VPN, one-click password changer, and superior auto-fill capabilities. Ease of use — I thoroughly used each contender’s iOS app and picked out the ones that have easy-to-use and intuitive iOS apps.
1. Is iCloud Keychain good enough on its own?
No, although iCloud Keychain is an excellent password management tool native to the Apple ecosystem, it doesn’t provide perfect security for your confidential data. For instance, it doesn’t host a dark web monitoring tool and can’t tell you if any of your email addresses have been involved in a data breach. Therefore, you need a standalone password manager to store and manage your passwords and protect your data. After extensively testing dozens of password managers, I picked the best 5 you can start using risk-free on your iOS device.
2. Do I need a password manager on iOS?
Yes. Although Apple devices are generally more secure than Windows devices, they’re still not immune from being infected or hacked. Viruses are evolving fast, and many of them (like keyloggers) can record your keystrokes and obtain sensitive information about you. Therefore, having a good password manager that provides airtight security for all your data is crucial. It keeps your data safe and monitors your email addresses 24/7 for any data leaks. I strongly recommend using 1Password because it hosts a wide array of security features to keep you safe — I especially liked its Travel Mode, which lets you hide certain password vaults while traveling to high censorship regions.
3. Are iOS password managers safe?
Not necessarily. Not all password managers are created equal. Many of the free ones offer mediocre security and privacy, which is one reason why I don’t recommend using free password managers. However, the iOS password managers on my list are 100% safe to download, install, and use. They host a range of security features, such as 2FA, TOTP, secure file sharing, and dark web monitoring. You can even try them out for a limited time completely without risk with their free trials, money-back guarantees, or both. Try 1Password for iPhone
Keep Your Passwords Safe and Secure on iOS
While Apple’s native Keychain password manager is great for securely storing your passwords, you can’t solely rely on it all the time. It lacks many features that premium password managers offer, failing to provide perfect security for your sensitive data. Not all password managers are good. Some aren’t compatible with iOS or are just difficult to use — others may fail to adequately protect it, or, worse yet, may even store and sell your personal data. I tested several password managers on my iPhone, and 1Password came out on top. It provides great security features and a one-of-a-kind Travel Mode, which lets you hide certain password vaults when traveling. If you’re looking for ease of use, I recommend using Dashlane, which hosts a one-click password changer compatible with 300+ popular sites. That means you can change your passwords from within Dashlane’s iOS app instead of manually doing it on every website. Dashlane provides a 30-day free trial and 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it risk-free for 60 days! Try 1Password for iPhone risk-free
