Bitwarden Question and Answers

[Apple_Robert]

With the recent mention of Bitwarden on the forums, (due to 1Password angry customers over a update) I thought it would be prudent to create a thread dedicated to Bitwarden, where people can ask questions, receive help, and read reviews about Bitwarden.

Bitwarden is free to download and use. There is no mandatory subscription. It is open source software that is available for review on GitHub. The app is also regularly audited by well-known experts in the field.

Bitwarden does offer a premium subscription ($10.00 a year) with the following features.

You can also find help on the Bitwarden community forums.

"Upgrade your personal account to premium and unlock some great additional features.
Everything from a free account, plus:

• 1GB encrypted file storage
• Two-step login with YubiKey, FIDO U2F, & Duo
• Password hygiene & vault health reports
• TOTP authenticator key storage & code gen.
• Priority customer support"

What is YubiKey and Duo ?

Even though I already use 1Password and have for many years, I also believe in being prepared at all times. If something happens to password manager A, I want to be able to securely access all my important logins and notes in password manager B. Never ever rely on only 1 password manager. Always have a backup plan, not to mention a backup of your latest backup password file.

This thread isn't about bashing 1Password or trying to say Bitwarden is better than all the rest. This thread is about the exchange of information and ideas related to online security using Bitwarden.

If you have questions about Bitwarden, please ask. I know there are several members here who have been using Bitwarden for a while.

If you have practical Bitwarden experience, please share, as it may save someone else some time and frustration when setting up and using Bitwarden for the first time etc.

I think it would also be beneficial to provide honest "pro and con" posts about the various features of Bitwarden.

If you are a current 1Password user, (or the user of some other manager) I have found that it is much better to manually input your information into Bitwarden, versus importing via the cv or Pif file. Importing the information leaves your newly created vault in textual shambles, and you will spend far more time trying to clean up the mess, than importing manually. Bitwarden does provide information on manually editing your current manager files with the Bitwarden format source file, for those who want to go that route.

I have Bitwarden installed on my iMac, iPhone, and both of my iPad mini 5's. I have YubiKey authentication required for the iPhone and iMac, and I am using Authy for the numerical codes for the iPad minis, since they don't support NFC in this manner.

 

[MacDawg]

If you are a current 1Password user, (or the user of some other manager) I have found that it is much better to manually input your information into Bitwarden, versus importing via the cv or Pif file. Importing the information leaves your newly created vault in textual shambles, and you will spend far more time trying to clean up the mess, than importing manually. Bitwarden does provide information on manually editing your current manager files with the Bitwarden format source file, for those who want to go that route.

I'm a current 1Password user and happy with it, but I'm open to other options.

I read your post in the other thread where you mentioned importing and here as well. I have to say, without a reliable import into Bitwarden, I don't think I could make the migration. Manually entering all of my information would be tedious (and prone to error). If it was a clean import, I would consider testing it out, but short of that I can't see that as a viable option for me.

I like what I saw on their website and the interface, and some of the features intrigued me. But again, no import is no go. Hopefully they will get that worked out.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I'm a current 1Password user and happy with it, but I'm open to other options.

I read your post in the other thread where you mentioned importing and here as well. I have to say, without a reliable import into Bitwarden, I don't think I could make the migration. Manually entering all of my information would be tedious (and prone to error). If it was a clean import, I would consider testing it out, but short of that I can't see that as a viable option for me.

I like what I saw on their website and the interface, and some of the features intrigued me. But again, no import is no go. Hopefully they will get that worked out.

One user on the Bitwarden forums imported a small number of accounts at a time from 1Password and it worked much better for him. Do a little more reading on the Bitwarden site about Importing and try a little test. It may work out better for you, than when I tried a mass import, which rarely works well with any secondary manager.

Edited to add: YubiKey support is coming to Safari 13 on MacOS (with 1Password). I haven't read anything about iOS support.

I have been adding a small about of data each day to Bitwarden, which makes it a lot easier in the recliner.

 

[MacDawg]

One user on the Bitwarden forums imported a small number of accounts at a time from 1Password and it worked much better for him. Do a little more reading on the Bitwarden site about Importing and try a little test. It may work out better for you, than when I tried a mass import, which rarely works well with any secondary manager.

Edited to add: YubiKey support is coming to Safari 13 on MacOS (with 1Password). I haven't read anything about iOS support.

When you tried a mass import, about how many passwords/entries are we talking about?
I have about 350 entries, but I have no real comparison to whether that is a small amount or a lot?

 

[Apple_Robert]

When you tried a mass import, about how many passwords/entries are we talking about?
I have about 350 entries, but I have no real comparison to whether that is a small amount or a lot?

About 1,000.

 

[gaanee]

Thanks for creating this thread, this information would be very useful considering that many apps going the subscription route instead of one-time purchase. For something like a password manager, I prefer one-time purchase even on multiple platforms instead of subscriptions just for the sake of syncing between devices. Only justification for subscription-based password manager would be if I am going to use cloud storage or some other feature for which I am going to use their infrastructure.
I have 1Password Pro on iPhone and once you get used to using a password manager, it's very useful. I have also installed Bitwarden and Enpass pro but haven't been using it because 1Password on iPhone doesn't provide a way to export your passwords. So in that case I will have to install their free version of Windows application if they offer a standalone installation and then sync passwords on iPhone with the Windows application and then export and import into Bitwarden or Enpass. It would be much more convenient if 1Password on iPhone offered export functionality but they may not have much incentive offering that making it easier for users to switch to another password manager.

One question - how did you export your saved passwords, did you install Windows/Mac version and exported from there? And does the free version on Windows/Mac syncs all the passwords from iPhone, previously it allowed syncing only 20 entries with free version.
In addition to .csv, it can also export to other format, is that any better?

With the recent mention of Bitwarden on the forums, (due to 1Password angry customers over a update) I thought it would be prudent to create a thread dedicated to Bitwarden, where people can ask questions, receive help, and read reviews about Bitwarden.

Bitwarden is free to download and use. There is no mandatory subscription. It is open source software that is available for review on GitHub. The app is also regularly audited by well-known experts in the field.

Bitwarden does offer a premium subscription ($10.00 a year) with the following features.

You can also find help on the Bitwarden community forums.

"Upgrade your personal account to premium and unlock some great additional features.
Everything from a free account, plus:

• 1GB encrypted file storage
• Two-step login with YubiKey, FIDO U2F, & Duo
• Password hygiene & vault health reports
• TOTP authenticator key storage & code gen.
• Priority customer support"

What is YubiKey and Duo ?

Even though I already use 1Password and have for many years, I also believe in being prepared at all times. If something happens to password manager A, I want to be able to securely access all my important logins and notes in password manager B. Never ever rely on only 1 password manager. Always have a backup plan, not to mention a backup of your latest backup password file.

This thread isn't about bashing 1Password or trying to say Bitwarden is better than all the rest. This thread is about the exchange of information and ideas related to online security using Bitwarden.

If you have questions about Bitwarden, please ask. I know there are several members here who have been using Bitwarden for a while.

If you have practical Bitwarden experience, please share, as it may save someone else some time and frustration when setting up and using Bitwarden for the first time etc.

I think it would also be beneficial to provide honest "pro and con" posts about the various features of Bitwarden.

If you are a current 1Password user, (or the user of some other manager) I have found that it is much better to manually input your information into Bitwarden, versus importing via the cv or Pif file. Importing the information leaves your newly created vault in textual shambles, and you will spend far more time trying to clean up the mess, than importing manually. Bitwarden does provide information on manually editing your current manager files with the Bitwarden format source file, for those who want to go that route.

I have Bitwarden installed on my iMac, iPhone, and both of my iPad mini 5's. I have YubiKey authentication required for the iPhone and iMac, and I am using Authy for the numerical codes for the iPad minis, since they don't support NFC in this manner.

 

[i4k20c]

Has anyone used bitwarden instead of 1password? are there clear differences between the two that make 1P worth paying for?

 

[Crazy Badger]

I've just made the move from 1Password to Bitwarden and can't really say one thing made me switch. I've been using 1Password for around 7 years and have generally been happy with the way it works. I've had a few small niggles with it recently (sync not always working, having to refresh to auto-fill passwords) but nothing that was really making me switch. The fact is I would be completely lost without a password manager and could probably access less than a handful of the 800-900 services I use.

I hadn't even heard of Bitwarden until I stumbled upon a Youtube video, and it was probably the self-hosted option that hooked my attention. I'm running various services from my own home-office micro-data centre and thought I'd try and set up Bitwarden, which was remarkably straight forward.

I was also surprised how easy it was to export (from 1Password) and import (into Bitwarden) although I broke the process up into about 4-5 sections so I wasn't trying to import everything at once. I had a problem with one entry, which I identified and removed from the import file as it was no longer required.

I've also been quite surprised just how feature-packed Bitwarden is. I've added an Organisation (as I share some passwords with other users - a bad practice I know) and also signed up to Premium, although I don't think I need that functionality. Price wasn't really an issue with 1Password, as I felt the ~$40 I was paying for a Family subscription was pretty good value. It's not quite as polished as 1Password, but then it's nowhere near as mature, so in another 3-4 years who knows?

Anyway, the long and short of it is I'm going to try and use Bitwarden in anger for the next 2-3 months before my next 1Password renewal. If it performs as it has so far, I'll be cancelling 1Password in April.

If you're not using a password manager, why not? You should be, and Bitwarden's free hosted package is a no-brainer.

 

[Mr. Heckles]

I have to admit, Bitwarden looks nice. I‘ve been using 1Password for years and over all happy. The family plan is a great deal and my whole family is on it. I don’t see Bitwarden offering a recovery for their family plan. This would be my 2nd choice if I was to ditch 1Password.

 

[sgtaylor5]

Bitwarden lets you use non-mainstream browsers, like Waterfox or Brave. iPassword won't. I like the engineering of Bitwarden, as it gets out of your way with no little glitches when you are at a site and trying to login. It's also free.

 

[Mr. Heckles]

Bitwarden lets you use non-mainstream browsers, like Waterfox or Brave. iPassword won't. I like the engineering of Bitwarden, as it gets out of your way with no little glitches when you are at a site and trying to login. It's also free.

I use Brave an 1Password, no issues. I use the extension thats in the toolbar, and works great. I actually think there is an extension for Brave too.

 

[neflictus]

It’s free. Works on almost everything. Wouldn’t use anything else at the point. Used LastPass, Dashlane and 1Password before.

 

[Ulenspiegel]

I share BasicGreatGuy's sentiment, one always has to be prepared.

" “Success is where preparation and opportunity meet.”
(Bobby Unser)

I've used Locko for many years. Unfortunately it discontinued some years ago.
While enjoying the excellent app of the Forklift team, I looked for other password managers. Tested them. This way I found Enpass, imported all my data. I was prepared when the moment came. One of the criteria was that the software should not be subscription based.

 

[planteater]

I'm currently on 1 Password version 6. It's been too long since it's had security updates and I'm thinking it's time to move on. I'm considering Bitwarden, as I like the open-source nature of the app with the bounty rewards and third party audit they went through. I don't like the hosting being controlled by Bitwarden on their Azure cloud.

So, I'm thinking of setting up a CentOS VM at Linode and hosting my own Bitwaden server. Has anyone done this? I'd much rather use a product that utilizes iCloud, but have not found any that I get a warm fuzzy from a security perspective. Bitwarden appears to be the best from my, admittedly, limited research.

 

[Crazy Badger]

I've been using Bitwarden for over 6 months now after switching from 1Password and have absolutely no regrets. It performs as well, if not better in some cases, and once I'd got over a small installation issue that made updating problematic, its been a pleasure to use.

To be honest, I'd happily recommend 1Password after using that for so long, but if you're reasonably technical and like doing things for yourself, self-hosting Bitwarden is the way to go. Whatever you do, get and use a Password Manager!

 

[MisterSavage]

One of the things that convinced me to switch to Bitwarden was how active they are with their community. They host a weekly demo where you can answer questions.

Bitwarden Events | Bitwarden

Get all Bitwarden event information for virtual and in-person events here.

bitwarden.com