Bitwarden vs AliasVault: privacy compared
Bitwarden and AliasVault are both rated in password managers against the same 12 public criteria. Bitwarden does better on independent audit and security headers. AliasVault does better on no trackers or telemetry. Bitwarden is based in the United States (Five Eyes); AliasVault is based in the Netherlands (Nine Eyes).
| Criterion | Bitwarden Our pick | AliasVault |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | Grade C C (73/100) | Grade B B (75/100) |
| Jurisdiction | United States Five Eyes | Netherlands Nine Eyes |
| Open source Is all the source code needed to run the product public? | Yes source | Yes source |
| No trackers or telemetry Are the website and apps free of third-party trackers, with any analytics anonymous and any telemetry off by default? | No source | Yes source |
| No ads or data sales Is the product funded without advertising, ad targeting or selling user data? | Yes source | Yes source |
| Independent audit Has an independent security or privacy audit been published within the last three years? | Yes source | No |
| Transparency report Does the provider regularly publish how many government and legal requests it receives and how it responds? | No | No |
| Tells users about requests Does the provider promise to tell users about requests for their data, unless a court forbids it? | No | No |
| TLS configuration Does the website pass the Qualys SSL Labs test with a grade of A or better? | Yes source | Yes source |
| Security headers Does the website pass the Mozilla HTTP Observatory test with a grade of A or better? | Yes source | Partial source |
| Modern web standards Does the website score 90% or higher on the Internet.nl website test? | Not tested yet | Not tested yet |
| End-to-end encrypted vault Is the vault encrypted on the device before it is synced, with a key the provider does not hold? | Yes source | Yes source |
| Local or self-hosted option Can the vault be kept locally or on your own server? | Yes source | Yes source |
| Full export Can every item be exported in an open format? | Yes source | Yes source |
Summaries
Bitwarden. Bitwarden scores 73 out of 100 (grade C) on the password managers criteria. It meets 8 of 11 criteria: open source, no ads or data sales, independent audit, TLS configuration, security headers, end-to-end encrypted vault, local or self-hosted option and full export. It does not meet no trackers or telemetry, transparency report and tells users about requests. It is based in the United States: Five Eyes member; subject to the US CLOUD Act. Automated tests: SSL Labs grade A+ and Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade A+.
AliasVault. AliasVault scores 75 out of 100 (grade B) on the password managers criteria. It meets 7 of 11 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, TLS configuration, end-to-end encrypted vault, local or self-hosted option and full export. It partly meets security headers. It does not meet independent audit, transparency report and tells users about requests. It is based in the Netherlands: Nine Eyes member; EU member (GDPR). Automated tests: SSL Labs grade A+ and Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade B.