Sources checked Sep 22, 2026
NordPass vs Proton Pass: free-plan limits, sharing, and email aliases
Two questions decide most of this: must a phone and a laptop stay signed in at once, and do you want email aliases without paying? NordPass Free allows one active session on one device and puts sharing and Email Masking on Premium. Proton Pass Free works on unlimited devices and includes 10 aliases, and Proton publishes its prices—$35.88 a year for Pass Plus—while NordPass’s plans page showed us none.
PUBLISHED PLAN DETAILS
Free-plan limits, sharing, aliases, and leaving
Proton figures are USD for annual billing, read with USD selected on Proton’s pricing page. NordPass personal prices are region-dependent and its plans page rendered none for us, so no NordPass figure is printed here. Confirm both at checkout.
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| What to compare | NordPass | Proton Pass |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | One person. NordPass says the Free version allows one active session on one device, although you can install the apps and extension on as many devices as you like. Item sharing, Email Masking, Emergency Access, the Authenticator, file attachments, Password Health, and the Data Breach Scanner are Premium features. | One person, unlimited devices, and unlimited logins, notes, and cards. 10 hide-my-email aliases. 2 vaults, each shareable with up to 2 others; no single-item sharing. |
| Paid personal plan | Premium: stay logged in on unlimited devices at once. NordPass’s plans page did not render prices for us, so check the price in your own country and currency; the page lists a 30-day money-back guarantee. | Pass Plus: $35.88 every 12 months ($2.99 a month), or $4.99 billed monthly. Adds unlimited aliases, vault and item sharing, secure links, the 2FA authenticator, file attachments, and Emergency Access. |
| Family plan | Family: six separate encrypted vaults with Premium features, one per account. No price rendered for us, so check it on the plans page. | Pass Family: $59.88 every 12 months ($4.99 a month), or $6.99 billed monthly. |
| Accounts in the family plan | 6 user accounts. The organiser copies an invitation link from their Nord Account and sends it; each person activates their own account from that link. | 6 Pass Plus accounts. The admin can add or remove up to five family members from the dashboard and manages the payment details. Anyone with an active Mail Plus, VPN Plus, Drive Plus, Unlimited, Proton Family, Visionary, Duo, or business plan cannot join. |
| Sharing model | Sharing items is for Premium or Business users; free users can view what is shared with them, but their changes are visible only to themselves. Five levels: Owner, Can edit, Can share, Can view, and Can autofill—passkeys and secure notes have no Can autofill level. You can set a default permission and expiry time, or set them per recipient, and re-sharing is capped at your own level. Both accounts must be in the same data centre: a US account cannot share with an EU account. NordPass does not state how many people one item can be shared with, so check. | Share whole vaults: 2 vaults with up to 2 others on Free, 50 vaults with up to 10 others on a paid plan, at view, edit, or admin level. Paid plans can also share single items, and a secure link for someone who does not use Proton Pass. |
| Email aliases | Email Masking is a premium tool. NordPass lists up to 200 email masks per account on Premium and Family, with a limit of 30 created per day, and you can switch forwarding off or delete a mask. If the subscription downgrades to Free, NordPass says you cannot use the tool and it stops forwarding mail to your primary address. Whether you can start a new email from a mask is not stated, so check. | Built in: 10 hide-my-email aliases on Free, unlimited on Pass Plus and Pass Family. Replies you send appear to come from the alias, and you can disable or delete one. Starting a new email from an alias needs a paid plan. |
| Passkeys | Store, use, and share passkeys as vault items. NordPass says passkeys cannot be viewed, that a passkey item’s username and website cannot be edited, and that there is no option to import or export passkeys to password managers. | Proton lists passkeys as supported on all devices, on every plan including Free. |
| Import routes | Desktop import accepts LastPass (CSV), Dashlane (CSV, ZIP), Keeper (CSV, JSON), RoboForm (CSV), 1Password (CSV, 1PUX), KeePass (CSV, XML), Bitwarden (CSV, JSON), and ProtonPass (JSON, ZIP), plus a Spreadsheet option for other files. The Android app imports from browsers. | The import tool covers Chrome, Firefox, Brave, Edge, and Safari, and managers including Bitwarden, 1Password, Dashlane, KeePass, Keeper, LastPass, and NordPass. |
| Emergency access and recovery | Emergency Access needs individual Premium or Family, and can be granted to any NordPass user, including a free one. After a request you have 7 days to grant or decline it; if you do nothing, access is granted automatically. NordPass says no active subscription is needed during the emergency access period. | Proton lists Emergency Access on Pass Plus and Pass Family, not on Free. Proton tells you to download the recovery kit PDF with your recovery phrase when you sign up and store it somewhere safe. |
| If someone leaves the plan | NordPass documents how to add members to a Family plan, but not what happens to a member who is removed. Check that before you move a household. | A removed user is downgraded to Pass Free and keeps the passwords stored in their private and shared vaults. Proton says they will still have access to any shared vaults they are a member of, so revoke each shared vault separately through Manage access. |
What the choice depends on
- Whether two devices must stay signed in at once. NordPass Free allows one active session on one device; Proton Pass Free works on unlimited devices.
- Whether you need to share anything. Proton Pass Free shares 2 vaults with up to 2 others; NordPass keeps item sharing on Premium, and free users cannot make changes others can see.
- Whether you can see a price. Proton publishes $35.88 a year for Pass Plus and $59.88 for Pass Family; NordPass’s plans page did not render personal prices for us, so you have to check yours before the two can be compared.
- How many aliases you need, and what happens if you stop paying. NordPass lists up to 200 masks on a paid plan and stops forwarding if the subscription drops to Free; Proton Pass keeps 10 aliases on its free plan.
Neither is right for every household. List the features you need with the password-manager checklist →
A phone and a laptop, both in daily use
If both devices need to stay signed in, NordPass Free’s single active session is the constraint, so the real comparison is NordPass Premium against Proton Pass Free. Proton publishes $35.88 a year for Pass Plus; NordPass’s plans page showed us no price, so you cannot put the two side by side until you check yours. If aliases matter, Proton Pass Free already includes 10, while NordPass’s Email Masking needs a paid plan and stops forwarding if you downgrade. If you share with one other person, Proton Pass Free covers it and NordPass does not. None of this tells you which app fills your logins more reliably on your own devices.
See every plan from each provider
This comparison covers the plans most households weigh against each other. For every published plan, including business entry tiers and what to check at checkout, see NordPass pricing and Proton Pass pricing.
Try this before a full import
- Sign in on your phone and your laptop, leave both for a day, and check whether either session ends.
- Share one low-risk item with another person, then remove their access and check what they can still see.
- If aliases matter, create one for a low-risk sign-up, reply from it, then switch forwarding off.
- Save a passkey for a test account and check it signs you in on each device you use every day.
- Import a small export first and compare the item counts before moving anything important.
- Write down the renewal price, and name an emergency contact before you need one.
Use a non-sensitive test login before moving your full vault.
CHECK THE PROVIDERS
Confirm the plan for your setup.
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