PASSWORD-MANAGER CHECKLIST
What do you need from a password manager?
Answer four questions, then download a checklist to use during your trial. No signup. This tool helps you compare plans; it does not rank products or test their security.
Check these before importing passwords
- Test saving and filling a low-risk login on every device you use.
- Check how you would recover access after losing your main device.
- Start with private storage; there is no need to pay for sharing features you will not use.
- Confirm that the free plan covers all required devices and features, rather than relying on a temporary paid trial.
A plain-text file with your choices, checks, what they leave out, and when we checked the sources. Keep it beside you while you try a plan.
HOW THE RESULT IS WORKED OUT
Four answers, five or six checks
- 01
One check is always first. Every checklist starts with “Test saving and filling a low-risk login on every device you use.” Nothing you answer removes it, because an app that does not fill reliably on your own devices is not worth comparing on price.
- 02
Who needs access sets the second check. “A household or family” asks you to count separate accounts and confirm each person can keep private items outside shared storage. “Freelance or client work” asks you to use the client’s approved tool and agree who owns each account first. “One person” asks how you would recover access after losing your main device.
- 03
How often you share sets the third. “Often” asks you to test adding and removing someone from a shared collection, and to ask what happens to copies they have already saved. “Occasionally” asks you to share one low-risk item and check how access is ended. “Never” tells you to start with private storage and not pay for sharing features you will not use.
- 04
The budget answer sets the fourth. “Yes, start free” asks you to confirm the free plan covers every device and feature you need, rather than relying on a temporary paid trial. “I can pay for features I need” asks you to record the full renewal price and billing period.
- 05
Email aliases add a fifth check, only if you tick the box. It asks for the included allowance and how to reply, disable an alias, and keep access if you cancel. That is the question providers answer differently: Proton Pass includes 10 aliases on its free plan, while NordPass’s Email Masking stops forwarding if a subscription drops to Free.
- 06
The link at the end follows the same answers. Client work sends you to the freelancer guide. A household, or any sharing at all, sends you to the family guide. Otherwise, wanting aliases sends you to NordPass vs Proton Pass, and everything else to 1Password vs Bitwarden.
WORKED EXAMPLE
What the starting answers produce
These are the values the page opens with: one person, never sharing, starting free, no aliases. They are example answers, not a recommended setup.
- One person
- Adds “Check how you would recover access after losing your main device.” With a household you would instead be asked to count separate accounts; with client work, to agree ownership first.
- Never sharing
- Adds “Start with private storage; there is no need to pay for sharing features you will not use.” Bitwarden’s free plan already shares with one other user, and Proton Pass Free shares 2 vaults with up to 2 others, so occasional sharing does not automatically mean paying.
- Start free
- Adds “Confirm that the free plan covers all required devices and features, rather than relying on a temporary paid trial.” This is the check that catches NordPass Free’s one active session on one device, and 1Password having no free plan at all.
- No aliases
- No fifth check is added. Tick the box and one appears.
- Where it sends you
- One person, no sharing, no aliases: “Compare personal plans”, which opens 1Password vs Bitwarden.
What this checklist cannot tell you
It does not rank products or name one. The four answers change which checks you get, not which app we point at. The link at the end opens a comparison of documented plans, not a recommendation.
It does not price anything. No answer produces a number. For prices, see the provider pricing pages and the pricing guide, and confirm the amount at the provider’s own checkout.
It cannot tell you whether a provider documents the feature you need. Some do not: NordPass does not publish how many people an item can be shared with, or what happens when someone is removed from a Family plan. Where a provider is silent, our comparisons say “check” rather than guess.
This tool matches plan requirements, not product security. Check recovery options and try the features you need before moving important accounts.
Your answers are processed in this browser. The download saves a text file on your device. Do not put passwords, recovery codes, account names, or email addresses in it. Your four answers are also kept in this browser, so our password-manager pricing and comparison pages can show the plan that fits them; Reset removes them.
YOUR NEXT STEP
Put the checks against real plans.
Take the checklist to a comparison of documented plans: 1Password vs Bitwarden for a household weighing renewal prices and recovery, or NordPass vs Proton Pass if free-plan device limits and email aliases are what decide it.
PRIMARY SOURCES
Verify the current price before you buy.
- Bitwarden personal plan pricing (Free, Premium, Families) ↗
- Proton Pass personal pricing (USD selected) ↗
- Proton Pass: Hide-my-email aliases ↗
- 1Password: Share items with anyone ↗
- Bitwarden: Emergency access ↗
- NordPass: How to use Email Masking ↗
- 1Password personal pricing ↗Re-check overdue
- NordPass free, Premium, and Family plans ↗Re-check overdue
- Proton Pass product documentation ↗Re-check overdue