Password Management

LastPass Password Manager Review

lastpass-screenshot
By

LastPass is a user friendly and good looking password manager though not the most privacy friendly of those on this website.

LastPass auto-fills forms well and whenever you have a login screen you will see a little LastPass icon directly in the username / password fields etc so that you can access your passwords directly from there. Another awesome user-friendly option is that you can enable ‘auto login’ which means that for websites you access a lot like Facebook, it will automatically fill out the username and password box, then click the log in button for you. I really love that option because it saves precious oh so precious time. Another thoughtful option is that it detects new websites as you log into them and asks you if you want to save the login. As you’d expect it is also able to auto-lock your vault after a specified time.

LastPass also has a good address manager. The options for each address are detailed and I’d imagine it has everything you’d need. For those of you who don’t identify as either male or female, you’ll like the fact that in LastPass you can select ‘other’. So as long as the website you visit also accepts the ‘other’ gender category, that’s how LastPass will fill it out for you. As well as addresses you can also store secure notes inside LastPass, your card details and bank account details.

Another very useful feature of LastPass is that it has a ‘security challenge’ section which rates how secure all of your user accounts on. It bases this on the strength of your passwords as well as their age and also whether any of your email accounts have been compromised in known security breaches. LastPass also has interesting share options. This means you can share information and logins from your vault in a secure way.

It’s free to use LastPass but the premium options don’t cost very much.

Now some things I dislike about LastPass. First of all is that to enter the vault, it takes you to their website rather than working entirely from their browser extension window (in contrast to Bitwarden for example). Second is that LastPass had a security breach once in 2017. Another annoying problem I have when I use it in a browser is that sometimes when I click the little LastPass icon in username fields etc, the LastPass floating window often pops up then disappears again. So usability in LastPast could be improved.

Where LastPast loses points for me is their privacy practices, which aren’t the best. It’s browser extension takes unnecessary permissions when you install it. Their privacy practices in general could also be improved on a lot (read their Privacy Policy… not as good as their competitors for privacy issues).

Overall though, LastPass is a good password manager and saves a heap of time. If you’re willing to accept the privacy issues I have with LastPass then it’s a service that could work for you.

Pros

  • Really great user interface
  • Free version available
  • Affordable premium options
  • Two factor authentication available
  • Auto-login available
  • Auto form fill
  • Generates strong passwords
  • Makes saving new logins very easy
  • Data and email breach centre
  • Password health indicator
  • Cross-platform compatible
  • Gender ‘other’ possible when storing address

Cons

  • Privacy policy far too complicated and too much analysis of user data (though granted not your actual vault content)
  • Pop-up password fill box currently has a glitch problem
  • Vault has to be accessed through a web page rather than in the browser extension itself
  • Unnecessary permissions required with browser extension

Get LastPass

Score: 7 / 10

Reviewer: Adam Rouge

Follow Adam Rouge:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *