Dashlane Review
A password manager that’s recently moved to a web-first model
Verdict
Dashlane has been making changes and updates to how its service works, but its features feel a little behind the times when compared to cheaper rivals.
Pros
- Password sharing for free users
- Free users can now store an unlimited number of passwords
- Clear, uncluttered interface
Cons
- No desktop clients
- Emergency access feature has been removed
Availability
- UKRRP: £33.79
- USARRP: $39.99
Key Features
- SecurityDashlane encrypts your data using AES-256 and provides different options for the key derivation function, with Argon2d as default
- SharingThe paid version offers unlimited sharing with other Dashlane accounts; you can share up to five items with each account with the free version
- Storage1GB encrypted attachment or secure file storage for paid subscribers
Introduction
Dashlane is a password manager of good and long-standing reputation that’s recently reduced its prices and improved its free tier to allow you to store an unlimited number of passwords on a single device.
The same restructuring has seen the insertion of an extra Advanced tier between the free and Premium tiers, which mostly means that you pay less but don’t get a decent, but unexciting, bundled Hotspot Shield VPN.
Pricing
Dashlane’s free tier has gotten a lot more generous since I last reviewed it, and now lets you store an unlimited number of passwords and access them from a single device, as well as giving 1GB of encrypted document storage. Unlike most other free password managers, free users can share items with as many other Dashlane accounts as they like, up to a maximum of five shared items with each person.
If you want to subscribe, you can pay monthly or annually to subscribe to one of three tiers. Advanced has most of the features of the old Premium tier and costs $3.49 (£2.73) per month or $33 (£25.83) per year.
Premium adds a Hotspot Shield VPN subscription for $3.99 (£3.12) a month or $39.96 (£31.28) a year – it’s certainly cheap, and the VPN is quick, if generally unexciting.
Finally, the Friends & Family tier is $5.99 (£4.69) a month or $59.88 (£46.87) for 10 users, plus the extra management dashboards you need to assign and help them with their accounts.
These are good, but not amazing, prices, particularly given the very competitive pricing from rival Bitwarden.
Features
- No longer provides desktop apps
- Paid users get unlimited sharing with other Dashlane accounts
- Biometric support for Touch ID and Windows Hello
Both free and paying Dashlane subscribers get 1GB of encrypted storage that you can use to attach files to entries. There are broad categories for logins, payment cards, secure notes, personal info and IDs, with more granular subcategories to ensure that the right form fields are available for your driving licence or bank account.
Dashlane doesn’t provide desktop apps, but the usual range of browser extensions is available, plus a web app that you can just keep open in a browser as needed. This is perfectly adequate, although I generally prefer having a desktop app on hand for filling in non-web passwords without needing to have my web browser open, even if it’s just a glorified web app in an Electron wrapper.
By default, web vault and extensions are automatically logged out when you close your browser, which is a strong behaviour for the security-conscious. You can also now configure autofill and auto-login behaviour on a per-entry basis, as well as specifically require that you re-enter the master password to unlock specified entries.
The interface is good – it doesn’t look amazing and hasn’t been significantly updated lately, but it’s clear and spacious, even though it doesn’t compare to the more polished user experiences offered by 1Password or NordPass.
Unusually, the web app allows you to unlock it using passwordless systems such as FIDO/WebAuthn security keys (the only passwordless option available for Linux users), and biometrics via Touch ID on macOS, or Windows Hello. However, all of this only works in Chromium-based browsers, so Firefox users will definitely need to look elsewhere.
As you’d expect, the mobile apps also support biometric unlock. If you want a second authentication factor to your Dashlane vault access, it supports TOTP (Time-based One-Time Password) authenticators and pre-generated recovery codes.
On the subject of TOTP, Dashlane doesn’t provide integrated TOTP code generation, although it does have a stand-alone authenticator available for Android and iOS. If you need TOTP codes alongside your passwords, try Bitwarden, 1Password, or a KeePass-compliant password manager instead.
Paid users get unlimited sharing with other Dashlane accounts, while free users can share up to five items with any given account. Items can be shared read-only or with full edit rights.
Emergency access is a major selling point for many password management services. Most of us want our loved ones to have access to our online identities and data stores and the vital information they hold if we’re injured, lost, or dead.
However, Dashlane removed its emergency contact feature and, although Dashlane says it will be replaced, users are currently advised to follow a clumsy workaround involving an encrypted data export, something you can do with any password archive. This looks set to stay, unfortunately, which is a shame given the service’s otherwise excellent sharing features.
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Should you buy it?
If you’re looking for convenience
It’s a web app and a series of browser extensions, so there isn’t much to go wrong. However, I missed having a desktop app, and minority browsers and operating systems get less love from Dashlane than many of its rivals.
If you require sophisticated and customisable security
Dashlane does what it needs to, but it isn’t as feature-packed as Bitwarden or 1Password.
Final Thoughts
Dashlane has gone up in my estimation by creating a separate Advanced tier for paying subscribers who don’t want an extra VPN and by making its free tier much more generous, albeit still limited to a single device.
Bitwarden, 1Password and KeePass are still better overall, but of those, only 1Password has a simpler interface than Dashlane. Check out our Best Password Manager guide for more options.
How we test
We test each password manager ourselves on a variety of computer and mobile operating systems. We carry out comparative feature analysis against industry standards and rival products, and test security and convenience settings such as default logout behaviour and offline access.
We used for at least a week.
Tested all of the available features.
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FAQs
Yes, Dashlane is a trustworthy password manager. There are plenty of security features, and all of your data is encrypted.
Dashlane offers both a free and paid-for service. The free account limits you to a single device, but is otherwise fully-featured.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
