Bitwarden vs Proton Pass: privacy compared
Bitwarden and Proton Pass are both rated in password managers against the same 12 public criteria. Bitwarden is based in the United States (Five Eyes); Proton Pass is based in Switzerland.
| Criterion | Bitwarden Our pick | Proton Pass |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | Grade C C (72/100) | Grade B B (78/100) |
| Jurisdiction | United States Five Eyes | Switzerland Outside Eyes |
| Open source Is all the source code needed to run the product public? | Yes source | Partial 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 | Partial 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 | Yes source |
| Transparency report Does the provider regularly publish how many government and legal requests it receives and how it responds? | No | Yes source |
| Tells users about requests Does the provider promise to tell users about requests for their data, unless a court forbids it? | No | Yes source |
| 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? | Partial source | Partial source |
| 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 | Partial source |
| Full export Can every item be exported in an open format? | Yes source | Yes source |
Which is more private, Bitwarden or Proton Pass?
Proton Pass scores higher on the public criteria: 78 out of 100, against 72 for Bitwarden. Bitwarden does better on open source, security headers and local or self-hosted option. Proton Pass does better on no trackers or telemetry, transparency report and tells users about requests. How scoring works
Summaries
Bitwarden. Bitwarden scores 72 out of 100 (grade C) on the password managers criteria. It meets 8 of 12 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 partly meets modern web standards. 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+, Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade A+ and Internet.nl website score 76%.
Proton Pass. Proton Pass scores 78 out of 100 (grade B) on the password managers criteria. It meets 7 of 12 criteria: no ads or data sales, independent audit, transparency report, tells users about requests, TLS configuration, end-to-end encrypted vault and full export. It partly meets open source, no trackers or telemetry, security headers, modern web standards and local or self-hosted option. It is based in Switzerland: Not in the Five, Nine or Fourteen Eyes; GDPR-style data protection law. Automated tests: SSL Labs grade A+, Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade B+ and Internet.nl website score 73%.
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