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Ask HN: Best free password manager when you're on different machines and OSes?
2 points by mettamage on Oct 20, 2021 | hide | past | favorite | 5 comments
Hypothetical situation (disclaimer: close to my situation).

OS: Linux, Windows, OS X (all native on different laptops)

Phone: Android and iOS

Tablet: Android and iOS

I have a strong preference for not paying for a password manager as my financial situation has always been very unstable [1] and I can't guarantee subscription payment always in perpetuity for the rest of my life.

[1] Storing my tech equipment and having constant access to it is virtually a guarantee though.



I use traditional KeePass. I find it less bloated than it’s forks. I keep my database and keys in a Tresorit folder. I’ll eventually self host them, but I’ve been too busy. I have KeePassium on my iPhone. It’s free version (2 databases) works fine for me. Strongbox is the most popular option. I just didn’t love it. And I’m experimenting with IOSKeePass, which is a fork of the old MiniKeePass which was great, but was deprecated.

I’ve also played with Bitwarden. It’s an incredible service. I recommend it to anyone that seems hesitant to deal with the KeePass difficulty level. The free tier will give you everything you need and more. But for a whopping $10 a year, you get a bunch of extras including support.


KeepassXC has worked pretty well for me. You'll need something like syncthing to synchronise the database across devices though!


Oh just to add, each OS probably has several implementations of Keepass, you'll have to search for one for your respective platform. KeePassXC just happens to be the one I use on Linux and then I've got KeePassDX for my Android devices.


Bitwarden, run your own server mode


KeePassXC, and variants, synced through NextCloud




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