Just as LastPass broke down the free level of its popular password manager, Dropbox went in with a free version of its own password app, but there’s a bit of a catch.
Dropbox today announced that passwords will soon be free for all its users, whether it’s on the free basic plan or one of its premium individual or business level. Beginning in April, every Dropbox user can access a limited version of passwords that will securely store up to 50 referrers. The catch here, of course, is that most people probably have more than 50 passwords for different accounts, and that a password manager should be ideal for everyone to use.
The similarity with passwords is that if the complicated harder to remember – this is where the password manager comes in handy – not used in all your accounts, users may tend to reuse or create minor variations of easily memorable passwords that make it easier for bad actors to access more as one of their accounts. While any free password management is definitely an attractive offer, Dropbox may not be the best option for someone who is concerned about good security hygiene in all their accounts.
Dropbox introduced Passwords last year, but at the time it was limited to Dropbox Plus and Dropbox Professional, as well as the service’s business levels. Dropbox Plus costs $ 12 per month, which includes 2 TB of cloud storage as well as the standard password reset. The Professional plan increases to $ 20 per month, but has additional storage and advanced file recovery support, among others.
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LastPass, meanwhile, announced last month some changes to the free level that will drastically change the way people is can use the product. As of today, the LastPass free plan will only support unrestricted access on computers or mobile devices – not both. Existing users will need to select an active device type to move forward, though they have three chances to change their preferred device.
The company also offers email support for free accounts, which are now offered only according to Premium and Families plans. These plans cost $ 3 and $ 4 per month, respectively (and are billed annually), but the company offers discounted rates of $ 2.25 and $ 3 to existing free users for a limited time. In other words, it effectively forces them to upgrade if they want to continue using the service as before.
To be clear, there are many free programs for password managers. For example, Apple, Google, and others offer their own password management tools for their browsers. Dropbox is now an option, even if it is very limited.