KeePassium - Best password manager for iOS and macOS for free?

By Adam Samec, 24 June, 2023

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

I have found KeePassium to be probably the best password manager for iOS that uses the KeePass database technology. Specifically, I have compared it with KeePass Touch and Strongbox, finding that KeePassium is the most accessible and supports most features for free among those. In my opinion, it also beats BitWarden and 1Password either in terms of accessibility, usability, feture richness or price, though these use different technology for data syncchronization and storage than KeePass, more on that below. .

Passwords synchronization with other devices

As opposed to BitWarden or 1Password which take care of synchronization themselves, if you want to syncronize your saved passwords or other database entries in KeePassium, you have to create and place the database file to an online storage like iCloud Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox yourselvf, and access the same file from other KeePass based application, the most accessible and feature rich one on Windows is called simply KeePass which is available for free. On macOS, I have found the most accessible to be Strongbox, MacPass and KeePassium, all of which are also for free.

 KeePassium for macOS

KeePassium is available as a universal app which runs also on macOS, where the user interface is almost identical to the iOS version, but in the macOS version of KeePass, it is unfortunately not yet possible to work with file attachments using VoiceOver, and there are some other quite serious accessibility bugs, like not being able to open database with VO + spacebar but only with Left mouse button click simulation. If you are looking for a more accessible and feature rich password manager for macOS, then I would recommend Strongbox.

Comparison with paid version of KeePassium

The limitations of the free version of KeePassium is that it supports work with only one database, plus is missing some other convenience and security features the complete list of which can be found here. But these look rather marginal to me. The paid features come either with KeePassium Premium as an in-app subscription based purchase for $2.99 per month or $14.99 per year, or with KeePassium pro as a one-time lifetime purchase for $59.99.

Other opinions or questions?

How do you like KeePassium, do you have some questions or suggestions for even greater password manager?

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Comments

By Adam Samec on Saturday, June 24, 2023 - 22:01

BitWarden for iOS has some accessibility related inconveniences, mainly that browsing through entries takes three swipes for every single entry instead of just one. Also, it lacks rotor actions on items for quick actions like password, username or notes copying. The user interface just feels little bit clunky with VoiceOver when compared with KeePassium or Strongbox..

What I am missing in the free version of BitWarden is the lacking support for working with file attachments.

On the other hand, what I like on BitWarrden is that it doesn't require any setup for saved passwords synchronisation between devices.

By Adam Samec on Monday, June 26, 2023 - 16:43

I'v got a positive response from the BitWarden support stating that they will "relay this information internally to hopefully incorporate improvements in a future release".

The feedback I provided for BitWarden on iOS is the following:

  1. mainly that browsing through entries takes three finger swipes for every single entry instead of just one, since there is extra count and unlabelled button. This also makes the list of entries quite confusing.
  2. When adding or editing an entry, the "type", owner and folder fields are announced as editable text, while in fact it is a popup button with option selection near the bottom edge of the screen, which cannot be discovered easily.
  3. The fields are not properly tied with their labels. In effect, one has to guess whether a checkbox corresponds to the label before or after it.
  4. It lacks VoiceOver rotor actions /swiping up/down on the focus entry) on entries for quick actions like password, username or notes copying. The user interface just feels little bit clunky with VoiceOver when compared with KeePassium or Strongbox apps.

Anyway, even if those points were fixed, I would still prefer KeePass over BitWarden because:

  1. Working with file attachments is available only in the paid version of BitWarden, whereas KeePass based apps I mentioned allow it for free..
  2. Sharing of entries or folders with mor than one user is available only in the paid version of BitWarden, whereas KeePass for Windows enables very convenient and unlimited way of exporting and importing of selected folders or individual entries.
  3. Copying or moving of selected folders or individual entries is much easier with KeePass for Windows. when compared to BitWarden on Windows.
  4. Overall, the KeePass based apps I mentioned above have much more accessible design than BitWarden apps on each platform

However, what I like on BitWarden is the following:

  1. Possibility to access your passwords and other entries via web browser on any device.
  2. No need to deal with database files, synchronisation is done automatically for you.