LastPass is no longer recommended as a password manager solution due to the recent security breaches. If you’re looking for alternative solutions check out The best family password managers of 2023 (and why you should get one)!
Keeping track of all your passwords is one of the biggest challenges we face in the modern age. From streaming and social media accounts to bank and email accounts, password managers are incredibly helpful.
But what’s better, LastPass or Chrome Password Manager?
Although Chrome Password Manager is free and convenient to use, LastPass offers more security and privacy features. Since the goal of a password manager is to protect your passwords, LastPass is the better choice. However, you must upgrade to LastPass’s Premium plan to access LastPass on unlimited devices.
Your passwords hold the key to your entire digital and real-life identity. Therefore, it’s crucial to protect your passwords with the best password manager available.
If somebody gets ahold of your passwords, the consequences can be devastating. So let’s discuss the key differences between LastPass and Chrome Password Manager.
In this in-depth guide, I’ll explain:
Quick overview on LastPass vs Chrome Password Manager
Head-to-head comparison on LastPass vs Chrome Password Manager
Main differences between LastPass and Chrome Password Manager
Is LastPass or Chrome Password Manager better
How Trustworthy keeps your passwords safe
With Trustworthy, all of your important passwords, documents, assets and other sensitive information are beautifully organized and securely protected. Most importantly, you, your loved ones and your trusted professionals can access the information you need anytime and anywhere. Start your free trial today and get 20% off if you subscribe within 24 hours of starting your free trial!
Quick Overview: LastPass vs Chrome Password Manager
LastPass and Chrome Password Manager are both password managers that generate and store passwords for multiple websites and applications. Chrome Password Manager is a built-in function on the Chrome web browser and is completely free. However, LastPass offers both free and paid versions.
Both of these password managers can generate complex and unique passwords for your online accounts. Then, they save the passwords and let you auto-fill the passwords each time you log in to a specific account.
With Chrome Password Manager, you can only access your passwords when you’re using the Chrome web browser. Chrome Password Manager is a built-in function on Google Chrome and doesn’t require you to download an extension.
However, you’ll need to download LastPass as a browser extension for Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, and Internet Explorer. LastPass also provides mobile apps for Android and iOS devices.
Chrome Password Manager saves all of your passwords to your Google account. On the other hand, LastPass stores your passwords in a password manager vault that’s locked behind a secure master password.
Since LastPass is a stand-alone password manager vault, it offers more protection than Chrome Password Manager. This is because if somebody has access to your Google account, they’ll have access to all your saved passwords.
Let’s dive into a closer head-to-head comparison between LastPass and Chrome Password Manager.
LastPass vs Chrome Password Manager: Head-to-Head Comparison
Since LastPass offers free and paid versions, comparing Chrome Password Manager to each version is crucial. Chrome Password Manager is better than LastPass’s free version if you want to access your passwords on multiple devices. However, LastPass’s free version offers more security than Chrome Password Manager.
Even though the free version of LastPass is more secure than Chrome Password Manager, there are some weaknesses when compared to Chrome Password Manager. The main drawback of LastPass’s free version is that you can only access your passwords on one type of device.
Therefore, you can only store and auto-fill your passwords on computers only or phones only. You won’t be able to use the free version of LastPass on all of your devices. However, upgrading to LastPass’s Premium plan grants unlimited device access at an annual cost of $36.
LastPass’s Premium version also offers:
Secure password sharing to multiple people
Security dashboard and score
Emergency access
Advanced multifactor authentication (MFA) options
Personal support
The free version of LastPass only offers:
Unlimited passwords
Password auto-fill
Password generation
Secure password vault
Two-factor authentication (2FA)
For many users, these are more than enough features in a secure and convenient password manager. But as I mentioned before, the free version of LastPass limits access to only one type of device. So if you need to log in to your accounts on multiple device types, upgrading to LastPass Premium is the only option.
Chrome Password Manager carries these password management features:
Password generation
Unlimited passwords
Google’s built-in security protocols
Password auto-fill
As you can see, Chrome Password Manager and LastPass’s free plan are similar. The main difference is that LastPass is more secure, and Chrome Password Manager is accessible on multiple devices.
I’ll explain why LastPass is more secure than Chrome Password Manager and the other key differences in the next section.
Main Differences Between LastPass vs Chrome Password Manager
The main difference between LastPass and Chrome Password Manager is that LastPass offers more password protection. Security is the biggest concern regarding password protection, and Chrome Password Manager carries some risks that LastPass doesn’t. If your Google account gets compromised, the hacker can view all of your passwords.
However, LastPass and Chrome Password Manager also differ in pricing, password sharing, device limitations, and ease of use.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these key differences between LastPass and Chrome Password Manager.
Security
While Chrome Password Manager isn’t unsecured by any means, LastPass offers more security and protection for your passwords. Since Chrome Password Manager is connected to your Google account, there are many more opportunities for account breaches.
For example, if you accidentally leave your Google account logged in on a public computer at the library, the next user may be able to access your Chrome Password Manager. Similarly, a thief may be able to access your passwords if your phone is stolen.
This isn’t the case when you use LastPass. When you create a LastPass account, you need to make a master password for your password vault. It’s crucial to make a strong password because it unlocks your vault and all of your passwords. In fact, LastPass claims that your master password is “your last password ever”.
In addition to your master password, you can set up multifactor authentication which requires a second form of authentication before granting access to your account. Although Google also offers two-factor authentication, LastPass’s multifactor authentication offers more features, including adaptive security policies and customization options.
Furthermore, LastPass uses local-only encryption and your data is encrypted and decrypted at the device level. This means the data stored in your vault is completely private, even from LastPass. LastPass doesn’t even have access to your master password or the keys used to encrypt and decrypt data.
Therefore, all of your information is highly secure and private from LastPass Itself. LastPass is also SOC 2 Type II Compliant. This is a certification issued by outside auditors that confirm LastPass’s reliability and security.
Similar to LastPass, Trustworthy is also SOC 2 compliant with bank-level AES 256-bit encryption, allowing users to safely and securely store their most important documents
Pricing
While Chrome Password Manager and LastPass’s free version don’t cost a single penny, LastPass does offer paid single-use, family, and business plans.
LastPass’s single user and family plans include:
Premium: $3/month, billed annually ($36 upfront fee)
Families: $4/month, billed annually ($48 upfront fee)
LastPass’s business plans include:
Teams: $4/user per month, billed annually
Business: $6/user per month, billed annually
For individual accounts, you can purchase LastPass’s Premium plan, which costs $36 per year. However, the family password manager plan costs $48 per year and offers six individual password vaults.
Password Sharing
Another major difference between LastPass and Chrome Password Manager is their password sharing capabilities. Chrome Password Manager doesn’t provide the ability to securely share passwords with others.
However, you can share passwords with LastPass. Sending passwords through email or text carries potential vulnerabilities. When you share passwords with LastPass, the password is sent to the other person’s LastPass vault. Therefore, they will need to log in to their LastPass account to access the shared password.
Shared passwords on LastPass also sync automatically. If one person updates the password inside the vault, the other person's vault is updated with the new password. Once you share a password on LastPass, you can update permissions or completely revoke access at any time.
The free version of LastPass offers one to one sharing. This means you can share passwords with only one individual. The upgraded versions of LastPass offer one to many sharing. This allows you to share passwords with multiple individuals.
Trustworthy allows users to invite an unlimited number of trusted collaborators with specific access permissions that you can grant or revoke at any time. Start your free trial today.
Device Limitations
You can access Chrome Password Manager on any device, as long as you’re logged into your Google account with Google Chrome. Therefore, you can easily hop between devices and log into any account that’s saved on your Google account.
With LastPass’s free plan, you’re limited to one device type: computers or mobile devices. This means you can only access your LastPass account on your preferred device. For example, if you select computers as your active device type, you can use your LastPass account on your personal computer, work laptop, and any other computer.
However, you won’t be able to access your LastPass account on your phone too if you’re using LastPass Free. If you upgrade to LastPass Premium, the device limitations are removed and you can enter your LastPass account on any device.
Ease of Use
Both password managers are easy to use and beginner-friendly. However, Chrome Password Manager is inherently easier to use than LastPass because it’s a built-in feature on your Chrome web browser.
You must download LastPass’s browser extension or mobile application to use the password vault. For this reason, LastPass requires more initial steps to get your password manager up and running.
Nonetheless, LastPass is very easy to use once you have the extension or mobile application installed. LastPass also offers a much better user dashboard than Chrome Password Manager.
Inside LastPass’s dashboard, your information is separated by:
Passwords
Notes
Addresses
Payment Cards
Bank Accounts
Therefore, it’s exceedingly simple to find the information you’re looking for. Furthermore, LastPass’s organization makes it convenient to edit, delete, or share passwords.
On the other hand, Chrome Password Manager’s dashboard is much more plain and basic. It doesn’t organize your passwords. Instead, you can find the account you’re searching for by using the search function. This makes it more inconvenient to quickly access the right information when you hop into Chrome Password Manager’s dashboard.
In terms of password generation and auto-filling, LastPass and Chrome Password Manager are extremely similar. You can easily generate unique passwords and auto-fill account information with either password manager.
Which Is better? LastPass or Chrome Password Manager?
At this point, you should understand that LastPass is more secure and robust than Chrome Password Manager. However, you’ll need to pay for LastPass’s Premium plan to access all of its features.
For this reason, let’s discuss the best use cases for each password manager.
When to Use LastPass
If you want complete peace of mind, you should undoubtedly use LastPass as your password manager. LastPass offers the most protection possible in a secure digital password vault.
Last Pass is a league above Chrome Password Manager because of all the features it offers. From sharing capabilities and organization to accessibility and security, LastPass is the hands-down winner in today’s showdown.
Best of all, LastPass is inexpensive for the level of service it provides. In the fast-paced digital world we live in today, account security is crucial. If a hacker were to breach your passwords, the repercussions could be substantial.
So why not utilize the most secure password manager possible?
LastPass is a dedicated and standalone password manager focused on security and protection. Although Chrome Password Manager offers adequate security, it’s one of many add-ons Google offers. Therefore, Chrome Password Manager isn’t as advanced or innovative as LastPass.
When to Use Chrome Password Manager
You should use Chrome Password Manager if your want a free password manager that you can access on any device. Although I recommend using LastPass Free if you only use one type of device, Chrome Password Manager is available on all devices.
As I mentioned earlier, you can access your Chrome Password Manager on any device that has Google Chrome installed. However, you can only use LastPass Free on either computers only or phones only.
If you opt for Chrome Password Manager, it’s imperative to enable Google two-step verification on your account. This way, you’ll need to provide a second form of authentication every time you log in to your Google account from a new device. With two-step verification enabled, it will be difficult for hackers to breach your Google account and access your passwords.
Related Article: Firefox Password Manager vs LastPass: Which Is Better?
How Trustworthy Keeps Your Passwords Safe
You can take your password protection protocols one step further by combining LastPass with Trustworthy.
Trustworthy is a highly-secure digital storage platform that stores, manages, and organizes important personal information. With Trustworthy, you can safely store personal IDs, financial, documents, passwords, and more in a secure cloud-based platform.
Featuring bank-level AES 256-bit encryption, you can securely store your LastPass master password on Trustworthy. If you forget your LastPass master password, it can be difficult or even impossible to recover your account. For this reason, you need to store your master password somewhere safe and reliable.
Avoid the risk of losing your LastPass master password by uploading it to Trustworthy today (click here to start your free trial).
Trustworthy also offers more convenient sharing capabilities with password managers. When you share passwords using a password manager, the other person needs to install the password manager as well. With Trustworthy’s sharing feature, you send the other person a secure link with the password information.
You can set a time limit on how long the link is to remain active. Furthermore, you receive notifications when someone opens a secure link.
Trustworthy is best used as a collaboration and sharing tool, while password managers should be used as a daily driver. Furthermore, you can use Trustworthy to store passwords not related to online accounts. This includes your WiFi password, safe code, garage door code, and cell phone passwords.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Storing Your Passwords On Chrome Browser Just As Safe As LastPass?
Storing your passwords on your Chrome browser is not as safe as storing them on LastPass. This is because your LastPass password vault is protected by your master password. With Chrome Password Manager, your passwords are only as secure as your Google account. If your Gmail account is breached, the hacker will be able to access your password vault.
Other Related Password Articles
Is It Safe To Store Passwords On Google Drive? (4 Tips)
Is It Safe To Store Passwords On iPhone Notes? (3 Tips)
