I’ve seen way too many people still relying on a single "strong" master password and thinking they’re untouchable. Honestly, with how fast things move now, that’s just the bare minimum. If you’re looking to actually lock things down this year, you need to be looking at how managers handle passkeys and emergency recovery rather than just how many devices they sync to.

Passkeys are the big shift right now. If the manager you’re looking at doesn’t have native support to store and sync them, it’s basically already obsolete. It’s way smoother to just biometric your way into an account than typing out a 30 character string every time. You also have to think about what happens if you actually get locked out. Look for something that has a legitimate emergency access feature where a trusted contact can request access after a waiting period. Without that, you’re one forgotten phrase away from losing everything forever.

For those of you sharing subs or household accounts, check the sharing protocols. Some make it a total pain to move credentials between vaults, while others let you set up shared folders that update in real time. 

Bitwarden is usually the go-to for transparency because it’s open source, which matters if you care about the tech stack. 1Password is probably the most polished if you want passkey integration that actually feels seamless across mobile and desktop.

Don't just buy whatever has the most YouTube ads. Look for local encryption standards and whether they’ve had recent independent audits. A flashy UI doesn't mean anything if their recovery process is non-existent.

Your master password isn't enough anymore and here is how to actually secure your accounts