Dashlane vs. LastPass 2023: 8 Categories, 1 Winner

If you still manage your passwords manually, you either sacrifice a great deal of your time or your security. Ideally, every online account you own should have a unique and complex password. Doing this manually is possible, but much easier with a kind of software known as password managers. These save all of your logins in a secure vault and automatically generate new passwords if needed.

Dashlane and LastPass are currently two of the most popular password managers on the market, and deciding between the two in our comprehensive review and comparison was anything but easy. To make your choice easier, we've put them head to head in this article, evaluating how they fare against one another across seven different categories. Read on to not only find out which takes the crown but also to see whether it's a knock-out or decided by points!

Dashlane and LastPass are quick and easy to set up. The first thing you'll be asked to do in either is to create a master password, after which you'll be taken through a tutorial explaining the basic features of each. You can then install extras like browser extensions and import saved logins from other apps if you so desire.

LastPass is entirely browser-based and divided between the Vault, a web interface, and a browser extension, the last of which is for autofill and provides access to other features. Some users might be disappointed about the service's lack of a desktop client, however, we didn't have any issues working entirely from the browser. This is because the extension is powerful enough to handle all day-to-day tasks.

In contrast, Dashlane is divided between a web app, desktop client, and browser extension. During our evaluation, the desktop client appeared to be on its way out, with the service planning to focus its future efforts entirely on its browser experience. We also didn't have much to complain about here, seeing as we were able to quickly locate all important features in the web dashboard, while the browser extension proved itself to be highly useful as well.

All the same, since Dashlane is in the process of discontinuing its desktop client, it still hasn't transferred all of its features over to the browser, making it necessary, on occasion, for us to navigate between the two. We're confident that in the near future, this inconvenience will be ironed out.

Both Dashlane and LastPass are quick to set up and will offer a 100% browser-based experience moving forward. Thanks to the intuitive user interfaces each possesses, we can't separate the two.

Winner: Draw

Both programs provide all of the functionality that a password manager should, including integrated password generators as well as security centers. Autofill, the backbone of any password manager, also performed reliably when using both services, supplying the correct information to web forms nearly 100% of the time.

However, both go beyond the basics, offering emergency access (the ability to designate trusted individuals who can access your most important data in the event of a crisis).

You can also automatically change selected passwords in both without having to log in to the sites or services in question. Take note though: This only works for major websites, such as Facebook (LastPass) or Netflix (Dashlane).

Dashlane goes the figurative extra mile, offering up an integrated VPN. As such, it remains slightly ahead of LastPass, even though both services offer a nearly identical package of features.

Winner: Dashlane

Both LastPass and Dashlane provide the highest degree of security imaginable. Each stores passwords using AES 256, which is considered to be the toughest publicly available encryption standard, and both developers adhere to the zero-Knowledge principle, meaning that your user data isn't stored anywhere on their servers. Even if a data leak occurs, hackers won't be able to gain access to your master password. Moreover, LastPass and Dashlane support two-factor authentication.

The two also offer users the ability to regain access to their account even if they've forgotten their master password. With Dashlane, this is only possible via the biometric features on a smartphone, while LastPass sends a recovery code via SMS or email. As such, LastPass provides cybercriminals with a few more means of gaining unauthorized access to your data.

Compounding this, security experts have, now and again, uncovered weaknesses with LastPass. Tavis Ormandy, a white hat hacker, identified security gaps in LastPass's browser extension. To its credit, on both occasions, LastPass dealt ⇱ with these immediately ⇱.

All things considered, when it comes to security, Dashlane is somewhat better positioned.

Winner: Dashlane

Similarly, both Dashlane and LastPass offer highly intuitive Android and iOS apps patterned after their desktop counterparts. These and can be logged into via fingerprint or facial recognition (so long as your device supports it) meaning that you won't have to tap in your master password each time you want to log in.

Autofill is particularly important for smartphone users since manually entering passwords or banking data when on the go can be extremely tedious. During our assessment, both programs offered reliable autofill.

One nice feature of LastPass's mobile app is that it comes with an integrated browser. As a trade-off, Dashlane's design is slightly more appealing, with the result being a more attractive app. Overall though, both impressed us equally.

Winner: Draw

We'll come right out and say it: Dashlane's support is better than LastPass's. In addition to the classic email contact form, you can also take advantage of a very convenient live chat to get in touch with the service's help desk. While assessing, we only had to wait a few seconds for a staffer to reach out to us, and they answered our questions competently and quickly.

And the support ticket we filed? We received a competent answer from Dashlane within two hours.

LastPass not only lacks a live chat, but you'll have to do quite a bit of digging to find the email contact form (we located it at the bottom of an FAQ page). The message is clear: Users are supposed to fix issues on their own before involving the company's support staff. Understandable given that the service can be used for free, but still, we can't award it any points.

Our query (which was sent in German) was answered unsatisfactorily (in English) after 28 hours.

As such, Dashlane clearly offers better support.

Winner: Dashlane

Both programs operate on the freemium business model, offering paid premium packages alongside free versions which have certain limitations. LastPass definitely steals the show here: While Dashlane limits free use of its app to one device and a maximum of 50 username/password combinations, LastPass gives away the figurative store, not limiting data sets at all.

Unfortunately, LastPass's once supreme free version has lost a bit of its appeal. In 2021, cross-device syncing was limited to a single device type, meaning that you can either use the service on your computer or your smartphone, but not both. Should these limitations be of no consequence to you, then LastPass's free version easily trounces that of Dashlane.

At the same time, Dashlane's paid subscriptions are priced more competitively. As such, we can't declare a clear winner.

Winner: Draw

A detailed overview of pricing for both services is provided below:

Dashlane scores somewhat higher than LastPass, particularly on Trustpilot. The most common complaints among LastPass users seem to relate to bugs, synchronization issues, and customer support, the last of which doesn't really surprise us. Based on the reviews we gathered (as of the time of writing, more than 217,167), LastPass only scored "average" while Dashlane (158,082) achieved "very good" marks.

Winner: Dashlane

After seven rounds, Dashlane wins four with the remaining three ties. As such, Dashlane leaves the ring as the triumphant winner. In the past, LastPass was able to claim the price category owing to its extremely generous free version, however, the developer (LogMeIn), clamped down on this in 2021.

Overall, Dashlane is just as good, if not better than LastPass. It comes with more features, provides better customer service, has fewer security gaps, and is considerably more popular amongst its users. All the same, with the exception of customer ratings, there isn't all too much separating the two.

Our advice? You're in good hands with either and should select the service that best meets your needs, especially since any password manager is better than no password manager.

To read our full reviews for 10 other leading password managers, check out our comprehensive assessments and comparison.