Keeper vs Bitwarden: which one takes the lead?

Keeper and Bitwarden are two popular password managers. They both show good overall performance and security. But how do you pick the best one?

Keeper offers unlimited password storage, collects minimum personal data from its users, and has intuitive features. Meanwhile, Bitwarden is open-source, has a customizable password generator, and offers a budget-friendly plan for single users.

In this article, I compare Keeper and Bitwarden in detail based on factors such as security, features, pricing, ease of use, customer support, and more. This information should provide you with everything you need to pick the right password manager for your needs.

Keeper vs Bitwarden – an overview

Both Keeper and Bitwarden offer industry-standard AES-256 encryption, which ensures your personal data will stay confidential and secure. Keeper has a higher overall rating, while Bitwarden offers a lower price point. However, both password managers offer a free version and are compatible with a wide range of OSs and browsers, with Bitwarden having a slight lead.

	Keeper	Bitwarden
⭐ Rating:	4.6 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★	4.2 ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
🥇 Overall rank:	#4 out of #19	#6 out of #19
🔥 Coupons:	Keeper coupon 50% OFF	Cybernews Password Manager Coupons
💵 Price:	From $1.46/month	From $0.83/month
✂️ Free version:	Yes	Yes
🔒 Encryption:	AES-256	AES 256-bit
🖥️ Platforms:	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
🌐 Browser extensions:	Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Opera, Edge, Internet Explorer	Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera, Safari, Vivaldi, Brave, Tor

Bitwarden vs Keeper: which is more secure?

To evaluate each provider’s security, I’ve tested and analyzed their encryption protocols, independent audits, data storage, privacy policies, and more.

Both Bitwarden and Keeper are armed with 256-bit AES encryption and multi-factor authentication. Plus, they’ve also undergone multiple audits by independent third parties.

However, Keeper comes out ahead with its more privacy-friendly data storage. Beyond that, Keeper’s privacy policy, which keeps data collection to a minimum, is also relatively more agreeable and favorable to users.

Security measures	Keeper	Bitwarden
Encryption protocol	AES-256	AES-256
Multi-factor security	✅ Yes (authentication app, hardware tokens, YubiKey, smart wearables, RSA SecurID, SMS)	✅ Yes (email, authentication app, Duo Security, YubiKey, FIDO2)
Data storage	Unlimited	1GB
Privacy policy	Zero-knowledge	Zero-knowledge
Security audits	✅ Audited by independent third parties	✅ Audited by independent third parties

Encryption

When it comes to encryption, Keeper and Bitwarden take a very similar route to keep your sensitive data protected. They both opt for the unyielding 256-bit AES encryption, which is considered the gold standard for password managers.

In Keeper’s case, it also employs PBKDF2 on top of the 256-bit AES encryption. This is a password-based key derivation function that makes it much harder for hackers to guess your password through brute-force attacks.

Along the same path, Bitwarden employs 256-bit AES encryption to protect your vault and PBKDF-SHA256 to derive your encryption key from your master password.

Beyond that, both password managers’ zero-knowledge architecture guarantees secure end-to-end encryption. So, all data encryption/decryption is carried out locally, and only encrypted data is sent to their servers. This way, even Keeper and Bitwarden themselves have no way to access the content of your vault.

Overall, Keeper and Bitwarden are evenly matched and don’t compromise on data handling when it comes to encryption.

Multi-factor security

In terms of multi-factor security, both Keeper and Bitwarden have a good range of options. However, Keeper offers more types of 2FA, while Bitwarden only offers more MFA options with its more expensive plans.

Once enabled, multi-factor authentication (MFA) requires you to verify your identity with more than just a username and password when logging in. It’s an extra layer of protection that helps to shield your account from breaches.

With Keeper, you get several two-factor authentication (2FA) methods. Among them are:

• TOTP generator apps such as Google Authenticator and Microsoft Authenticator
• Hardware tokens
• U2F-based physical keys such as YubiKey
• Smart wearables such as the Apple Watch
• RSA SecurID

Additionally, Keeper also supports SMS verification. But I’d advise giving this method a skip. SMS verification is notorious for being one of the least secure 2FA methods.

In contrast, Bitwarden’s MFA methods depend on your plan. Free users only get two-step logins with emails and authenticator apps. Meanwhile, Bitwarden’s Premium users can enable 2FA with:

• Email
• Authenticator apps
• Duo Security
• YubiKey
• FIDO2

Data storage

Bitwarden and Keeper offer different data storage options with their plans. Which one is best for you will depend on the number and type of files you plan on storing on your password manager.

Keeper includes unlimited password storage for all plans. This is quite a perk, especially if you follow one of the essential security best practices to use different passwords for different accounts. But, to store more than passwords, you’ll need to shell out for the Family plan. It comes with 10GB of storage.

And, if you need even more storage, Keeper also has Secure File Storage – a paid add-on that offers up to 100GB of encrypted storage for personal users and 10TB for businesses.

Meanwhile, Bitwarden’s paid users get 1GB of storage. There’s also an option to purchase additional storage in 1GB increments. But, here’s the catch: each file must be under 500MB or 100MB if you upload from a mobile device.

An even bigger catch is that Bitwarden stores its data in the US – one of the Five Eyes nations. The Five Eyes alliance has long been criticized for its infringement of privacy. This might not be a big deal for the average user, especially considering Bitwarden’s end-to-end encryption. However, for security-conscious users, this could certainly be a deal-breaker.

Privacy policy

Keeper and Bitwarden are zero-knowledge security providers, meaning you’re the only one who can access your vault. But, even then, the duo still collects some user data.

Keeper collects “limited personal information” like your username and email address for account verification and 2FA. Besides that, it also logs aggregate user statistics and website traffic for site service improvement, performance diagnosis and tracking, and website administration.

In contrast, Bitwarden is far more aggressive with data collection. Among other things, it collects such data as:

• Personal identifiers including name, address, IP address, and email address
• Financial information like billing data
• Employment information like the name of the employer

There’s also an issue with how Bitwarden uses your data. According to its privacy policy, it might share user data for legal purposes, emergencies, and to “protect the security and integrity of the Site or Bitwarden service.” This leaves plenty of room for interpretation.

Plus, information could also be shared with other third parties like its subsidiaries, affiliates, and partners.

Overall, Keeper’s privacy policy is considerably more privacy-friendly. It collects only the necessary information and is far more transparent about how it uses the data.

Third-party security audits

Both Keeper and Bitwarden have undergone multiple security audits by various independent third parties to stand on an equal footing with each other.

In Keeper’s case, it complies with the Service Organization Control (SOC 2) – a framework that outlines the criteria to manage users’ data securely. Plus, it meets the ISO 27001 standard, which details the requirements for an information security management system (ISMS). This includes access control, operations security, and cryptography. Keeper also has a bug bounty program on Bugcrowd.

Likewise, Bitwarden has been rigorously audited. For starters, it’s SOC Type 2 and SOC 3 certified. Additionally, it has completed a series of security assessments and penetration tests by auditing firms Insight Risk Consulting and Cure53.

And, since Bitwarden is an open-source password manager, its source code is available online for all to inspect, audit, and contribute. Beyond that, Bitwarden has a public bug bounty program on HackerOne.

Keeper vs Bitwarden: features overview

In addition to secure password management and storage, both Keeper and Bitwarden provide a range of complementary features. This includes password importing, generating, and sharing as well as password recovery and autofill.

For this round of Bitwarden vs Keeper, the latter has the upper hand. In comparison to Bitwarden, Keeper’s features and implementations are smoother, better developed, and more intuitive.

Features	Keeper	Bitwarden
Password importing	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Account/password recovery	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Password generator	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Password sharing	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Autofill	✅ Yes	✅ Yes

Password importing

Keeper and Bitwarden each have a password importing feature for easy password migration. In Keeper’s case, it has quite a range of password importing options.

To start, its Keeper Importer automatically imports all unprotected passwords from web browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari.

Apart from that, Keeper supports imports from other password managers, too. This includes LastPass, 1Password, Dashlane, KeePass, RoboForm, and ZOHO. Beyond that, Keeper also supports imports using CSV, Excel, JSON, and Commander CLI.

Likewise, Bitwarden also allows data importing from various browsers, password managers, CSV, and JSON.

But, unlike Keeper’s convenient drag-and-drop approach, Bitwarden’s migration process requires more clicking. Despite that, everything is guided – so there shouldn’t be too much confusion.

Another stumbling block is that Bitwarden doesn’t allow bulk import for file attachments. Instead, you’ll need to manually migrate them into your vault.

Overall, Keeper’s password importing feature is considerably smoother and more user-friendly than you get with Bitwarden.

Account and password recovery

Both Keeper and Bitwarden are rather forgiving and accommodating when it comes to account and password recovery. Yet, the two offer different recovery methods.

With Keeper, you can pick 5 contacts who can access your vault if there’s an emergency. This feature also doubles as a recovery solution if you forget or lose your master password.

Plus, Keeper requires all new accounts to set up a security question. To reset your master password, you’ll need to provide the correct answer to the security question.

Meanwhile, Bitwarden provides a recovery code when you set up 2FA. You want to keep this code safe because you’ll need it to recover your account if you forget your master password.

If you’ve set up a password hint, you can also request for your master password hint to be sent to your email. Alternatively, you can designate an emergency contact who’ll get Read or Takeover access to your vault, too.

Password generator

Both Keeper and Bitwarden offer password generators that are customizable and flexible, which is helpful when you need to create unique and unbreakable passwords.

With Keeper, its password generator lets you generate either passwords or passphrases – the latter would be easier to remember than a long stream of random characters. You can also decide the length of the password and the types of characters to include. The character length is cut off at 100, which is nothing to be sneezed at.

With Bitwarden’s password generator, you can also generate either passwords or passphrases, and the lengths go up to 128 characters for passwords and 20 words for passphrases.

To sum up, both password generators certainly pass muster.

Password sharing

The difference between Keeper’s and Bitwarden’s password sharing features is that Keeper’s password sharing is more user-friendly and less restricted than that of Bitwarden.

Keeper makes secure password and data sharing easy. Its One-Time Share feature lets you share records with anyone for a limited time. This includes login credentials, files, and more.

The recipient only needs a link for access, which you can send through channels like direct QR code scan, airdrop, email, and SMS.

And, to double down, One-Time Share is device-locked so that the link is only accessible on the original recipient’s device. Additionally, all server requests are signed with elliptic-curve cryptography (ECDSA) – a cryptographically secure digital signature form.

In contrast, Bitwarden’s version has many strings attached. First off, it’s not available to Free users. But the restrictions don’t end there. Even those on its Premium accounts can only share passwords with one other user. And, those on Families can only share passwords with up to six users.

Overall, Keeper wins the Keeper vs Bitwarden matchup hands down if we compare the two password managers’ password-sharing features.

Autofill

To round out their password management solutions, both Keeper and Bitwarden provide autofill for quick and easy logins, too.

For Keeper, its KeeperFill will automatically fill in your username, password, and even payment details like credit card numbers. It can be used directly through Keeper’s app or downloaded separately either as a browser extension or as a system-tray item. To speed things up even further, you can set up hotkeys to immediately launch KeeperFill.

In comparison, Bitwarden’s autofill process isn’t as seamless. Instead, it requires multiple clicks: right-click on the login field > click on Bitwarden’s icon > search for the right login entry > click autofill. Not exactly rocket science, but it’s not convenient, either.

All in all, it’s an easy win for Keeper. Its autofill feature is much better developed and more intuitive.

Bitwarden vs Keeper: plans and pricing

Both Keeper and Bitwarden offer 3 pricing plans, which include one-user, family, and business packages. You also have the option of a free plan with both password managers.

Plan	Keeper	Bitwarden
Free	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Premium	$1.46/month (1 user)	$0.83/month (1 user)
Family	$3.13/month (5 users)	$3.33/month (6 users)
Business	From $2.00/month (1 user)	From $4.00/month (1 user)
	Try Keeper	Try Bitwarden

Bitwarden offers a cheaper Personal plan than Keeper: $0.83/month compared to Keeper’s $1.46/month. However, Keeper is more generous with its features and can be used on an unlimited number of devices, while Bitwarden’s plans come with more basic features.

If you want to accommodate more users, both password managers offer Family plans. Keeper’s Family plan is slightly cheaper than Bitwarden’s at $3.13/month compared to Bitwarden’s $3.33/month. However, Bitwarden allows up to 6 users while Keeper allows only up to 5.

For teams, Keeper and Bitwarden offer Business plans. Pricing is set per user, which means you pay exactly for the number of accounts you require. Keeper’s Business plan is cheaper, with its price starting from $2.00/month per user compared to Bitwarden’s $4.00/month per user.

Both password managers also offer limited free plans. Plus, Keeper has a 30-day free trial, while Bitwarden has a 30-day money-back guarantee, but you’ll need to reach out to its support team to request cancellation.

Platforms, interface, and ease of use

Bitwarden and Keeper work well with all of the major operating systems and web browsers out there. However, Keeper has an edge here since I found its apps and interfaces to be significantly more user-friendly than Bitwarden’s offerings. Meanwhile, Bitwarden’s interfaces are more old-school and less intuitive.

	Keeper	Bitwarden
Supported OS	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Browser extension	Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Opera, Edge, Internet Explorer	Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Opera, Edge, Brave
Number of users	Up to 5	Up to 6

Desktop apps

Both Keeper and Bitwarden desktop apps are available for Windows, macOS, and Linux devices. Whichever password manager or operating system I chose to test, the installation process was a breeze and required just a few clicks.

As for the apps’ interfaces, Keeper’s apps are very modern and sleek. Navigation was also a piece of cake for me since the features are well-categorized. Plus, I liked that there’s quick access to the most important items – vault, identity and payment details, security audit, and deleted items – on the left of the interfaces.

Contrastingly, I didn’t like that Bitwarden’s desktop apps are more archaic look-wise and less intuitive. That said, I still found it to be clean and easy enough to navigate. There’s a menu to your left and a search bar right at the top.

In brief, Keeper’s desktop apps come out on top, courtesy of their contemporary design and intuitive layouts.

Browser extensions

The pair offers extensions for all the popular browsers: Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Opera, and Edge. The one glaring difference I noticed is that Keeper supports Internet Explorer while Bitwarden supports Brave. But, in any case, adding the extension to your browser requires just a click.

As for functionality, I found that both password managers’ extensions have limited features. The extensions come with things like autofill, autosave, and a password generator. But that’s about all you get. All other features are tied to their web apps. This is pretty standard for all password managers, but it’s still a bummer.

Mobile apps

Keeper and Bitwarden’s mobile apps have much in common. Downloading the chosen app from either the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store was all that I needed to do to set up either password manager’s mobile app.

Beyond that, I liked that both providers’ mobile apps for Android and iOS are modern, streamlined, and sophisticated.

But they have one big difference. Keeper’s mobile apps offer all the same features that you’d find in its browser and desktop apps. The whole nine yards except for password importing/exporting.

In contrast, you get only the core features with Bitwarden’s mobile apps. For instance, autofill, password sharing, and a password generator. Everything else is a no-show.

Keeper vs Bitwarden: customer support

While both password managers offer a good range of customer support options, Keeper has the clear lead in the Keeper vs Bitwarden customer support matchup. Unlike Bitwarden, Keeper provides real-time 24/7 support to assist its users.

	Keeper	Bitwarden
24/7 live chat	❌ No	❌ No
Phone support	❌ No	❌ No
Ticketing system	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Support community (forum)	❌ No	✅ Yes
How-to guides/Knowledge base	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Q&A webinars	✅ Yes	✅ Yes

For Keeper, you want to hit up its knowledge base first. This is where you’ll find heaps of detailed guides, how-tos, videos, and more. You’ll also find its server status here.

For agent assistance, Keeper has a 24/7 ticketing system. While not instantaneous, the response times are fairly short. Plus, the agents are knowledgeable and effective.

Bitwarden, too, has a well-stocked knowledge base. But, it comes up empty if we talk about real-time support options. The best you can get is a reply via email, community forums, or weekly live Q&A sessions – none of them are ideal if you need assistance quickly.

Overall, Keeper easily defeats Bitwarden when it comes to customer support. Its real-time 24/7 support will ensure you get quick help whenever needed.

Keeper vs Bitwarden – which one to choose?

Ultimately, Keeper is a better password manager than Bitwarden, based on our hands-on testing. It has all the markings of a top password manager: uncompromising security, robust additional features, and great user-friendliness.

In terms of security, Keeper outperforms Bitwarden, as it offers more 2FA options and unlimited password storage with all its plans and collects less personal data than Bitwarden. Keeper’s apps and features are also better developed and more intuitive. Plus, while Keeper’s Personal plan is a bit more expensive than that of Bitwarden, overall, it offers a better price-to-value ratio.

Category	Keeper	Bitwarden
Features	✅	❌
Pricing & plans	✅	✅
Security	✅	❌
User-friendliness	✅	❌
Customer support	✅	❌
Compatibility	✅	✅

How we tested Keeper vs Bitwarden

I tested and analyzed these two providers in detail to make sure my Bitwarden vs Keeper comparison is as accurate and comprehensive as possible to help you pick the best one for you. In my tests, I used the following password manager testing process:

1. I evaluated their security, which included looking at factors such as encryption, independent audits, and privacy policies.
2. I downloaded both providers’ apps and tested how well their features work. I also paid attention to how easy it was for me to use them.
3. I checked if there were any additional security features available with one provider that the other lacked.
4. I contacted their customer service team to check their responsiveness and helpfulness.
5. I summarized all that I’d found to decide if the overall package provides good value for the price.

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