Bitwarden vs Psono: privacy compared
Bitwarden and Psono are both rated in password managers against the same 12 public criteria. Bitwarden does better on open source, independent audit and full export. Bitwarden is based in the United States (Five Eyes); Psono is based in Germany (Fourteen Eyes).
| Criterion | Bitwarden Our pick | Psono |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | Grade C C (73/100) | Grade D D (55/100) |
| Jurisdiction | United States Five Eyes | Germany Fourteen 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 | No 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 | Yes 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 | Partial 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+.
Psono. Psono scores 55 out of 100 (grade D) on the password managers criteria. It meets 5 of 11 criteria: no ads or data sales, TLS configuration, security headers, end-to-end encrypted vault and local or self-hosted option. It partly meets open source and full export. It does not meet no trackers or telemetry, independent audit, transparency report and tells users about requests. It is based in Germany: Fourteen Eyes member; EU member (GDPR). Automated tests: SSL Labs grade A+ and Mozilla HTTP Observatory grade A+.