If it's anything to do with security, I've always preferred OpenSource first.
When it comes to a long history, I've been working online for, like, 30 years. The original sort of app one would use for these sorts of things was called KeePass. You'd have a data file of your passwords in that, and then you would share it on a file server.
My main use case started from working with other web developers, system administrators, and software developers. We would always need to share credentials for the logins and systems that we managed. As time passed and it became obvious that many people weren't good at managing passwords, and everyone was reusing the same password for everything.
In the old days, people had very few logins. They'd have an email login, and that was about it. But as time went on, web apps emerged, which all required a login. Most people would reuse the same email address and password, but software developers wouldn't because they'd use KeePass.
When you place the file on a file server, only one person can have the file open at any one time. So you'd have to call or message each other to say, "Can you close the password file? Because I need to open it." That was the original way it was done. Many companies and people just kept their passwords in spreadsheets.
As time went by, things like Google Suite, now known as Google Workspace, came out. We found the first software-as-a-service solution for those things because Microsoft was still on-premise. They hadn't fully transitioned to the cloud.
We then adopted LastPass, a well-known software, as a service password manager. Over the years, it became somewhat bloated and clunky, but it was the one we all moved to. Bitwarden didn't exist then. But as we moved our operations into the cloud, using platforms like Google Drive and Amazon Web Services, we wanted to ensure our data wasn't trapped with any one provider.
The EU introduced rules, like the GDPR, to ensure data portability. Some apps, like LastPass, weren't making migrations easy. So when choosing an app, we considered: Is it open source? Can we host it ourselves? Is the data portable? Can it move in and out without being too tight for any proprietary data structure? Will it be fast and light? Bitwarden quickly checked every box. It offered extensions for every browser, worked on all platforms, and could be self-hosted or used as a SaaS. It didn't lock you in with proprietary data structures.
Bitwarden lets you use it how you want to use it and doesn't lock you in. It gives you just what you need, and nothing you don't, and it's simple.
The CEO of the group I set it up with said every time he gets a new computer, Bitwarden is the first thing he installs. Without it, you can't set up anything else. It's become mission-critical for portability between browsers, computers, and team members. Plus, you've got the permissions management for different team members and the ability to hide passwords, though that's more obscure than truly secure.
It's open source, fast, light, and simple. It does its job, and it does it great.
Of all the things in technology that are always failing, breaking, changing, or difficult to use, Bitwarden is very constant and simple. It's a reliable constant. That's all anyone wants now: reliability.
You can always rely on it.
I've found something else that is extremely valuable. Bitwarden refers to it as "emergency access". It's essentially a digital legacy where you can assign approved users who can request access. If you don't decline within a certain timeframe, they can access it in case you're incapacitated or deceased. When I last checked, only a few services offered this feature. Bitwarden had the simplest and best implementation.
So, everyone, including our families, should be informed about this due to the potential difficulties they might face if we pass away or are hospitalized. The speed and convenience it offers contrast sharply with the slowness and inconvenience of not having it.
It's essential because of the value your password manager contains. I recently had an issue with a friend who lost her husband. She wanted to access his iPad to see photos. It's such a difficult situation. But there's the emergency access system. For such a small price, the benefits it provides are priceless. No other product offers this feature at the same price point. It's only $10 a year for an individual and includes the emergency access feature.
