Password manager whose Premium plan includes Hotspot Shield VPN at no extra cost. Best suited to households that will use the bundled VPN.
Dashlane has leaned on bundled perks for some time. Premium shows that strategy most clearly, with Hotspot Shield VPN included at no extra cost. That is unusual among password managers and a draw for households that would otherwise pay for both tools separately.
The vault uses AES-256 with Argon2d key derivation under a patented zero-knowledge architecture, so credentials are encrypted on the device before they sync. Dashlane was caught up in the 2022 Zendesk and HubSpot vendor incidents. Independent reporting confirmed that encrypted password vaults and master passwords were never accessed, so the zero-knowledge model held.
The day-to-day features work well for households and small teams. AI-powered scam protection runs alongside real-time phishing alerts, which warn when autofill is about to fill a fake Dashlane page or another risky destination. Capterra's 276 verified business reviewers rate Dashlane 4.5 out of 5.
They cite autofill on common sites, password sharing for teams and quick deployment as everyday strengths. The Friends & Family plan covers up to ten accounts at $89.88 a year, which undercuts per-seat pricing for larger households. On Friends & Family, the bundled Hotspot Shield VPN is restricted to the plan administrator.
The other nine seats get no VPN at all, a limitation Dashlane does not market prominently. Dark-web monitoring is capped at five email addresses and watches passwords only. It does not scan credit-card numbers.
Support is the weakest area in independent reviews: there is no phone support, email replies are slow and live chat is limited to paid plans. Capterra's reviewers also report autofill misfires on rarer sites, overlapping pop-ups that hide input fields and aggressive date-field auto-completion. Price weakens the value case.
Premium costs around $4.99 a month, well above budget rivals like NordPass at roughly $1.59 a month. G2 reviewers mention that gap repeatedly when the VPN and dark-web extras go unused. Dashlane says it audits regularly, but it has not published third-party audit reports.
Rivals like NordPass and 1Password publish Cure53 findings, so that is a transparency gap. Dashlane makes most sense for households that will use the VPN. For everyone else the value is harder to justify.
Encryption standard for stored passwords
Monitors for compromised passwords
Support for 2FA/MFA security
Support for fingerprint and face recognition
Regular third-party security audits
Notifications when accounts are compromised
Provider cannot access your master password
Offers a free tier with basic features
Available support channels
Built-in strong password generator
Ability to securely share passwords with others
Grant emergency access to trusted contacts
Checks for weak or reused passwords
Store encrypted notes and documents
Auto-fills credit cards and personal info
Granular control over shared items
Access passwords without internet
Store encrypted files and documents
Temporarily remove sensitive data
Are apps open source?
Syncs passwords across all devices
Supported web browsers
Passwords have had a good run and a terrible one. They’re hard to remember. Sites make you add symbols and numbers until the password looks like ancient runes. Then it leaks in a data breach anyway.
Emma Rodriguez
A password manager is usually a smarter choice than browser autofill, especially if you care about your accounts and your money.
Emma Rodriguez
Passwords sent by text or email, or left on sticky notes, are about as safe as a house key taped to the front door. It might work for now, but one day it won’t.
Emma Rodriguez
Paid password manager with a local Secret Key and Travel Mode. Suits households, as its Families plan covers five members and five guests.
Password manager built on XChaCha20 encryption and audited twice by Cure53. Its Family plan suits households that want strong security at a low price.
Advanced password manager built around powerful form filling, with secure sharing and comprehensive security features.
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