Bitwarden vs Password Safe: privacy compared
Bitwarden and Password Safe are both rated in password managers against the same 12 public criteria. Bitwarden does better on independent audit. Password Safe does better on no trackers or telemetry.
| Criterion | Bitwarden Our pick | Password Safe |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | Grade C C (73/100) | Grade B B (88/100) |
| Jurisdiction | United States Five Eyes | Unknown |
| 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 | Not applicable |
| Tells users about requests Does the provider promise to tell users about requests for their data, unless a court forbids it? | No | Not applicable |
| TLS configuration Does the website pass the Qualys SSL Labs test with a grade of A or better? | Yes source | Not applicable |
| Security headers Does the website pass the Mozilla HTTP Observatory test with a grade of A or better? | Yes source | Not applicable |
| Modern web standards Does the website score 90% or higher on the Internet.nl website test? | Not tested yet | Not applicable |
| 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+.
Password Safe. Password Safe scores 88 out of 100 (grade B) on the password managers criteria. It meets 6 of 7 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, end-to-end encrypted vault, local or self-hosted option and full export. It does not meet independent audit. Automated tests: Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade B.