Get your passwords out of Bitwarden while you still can • Hacker News Board

Re: Get your passwords out of Bitwarden while you still can

#91

Post by vablings » Thu, May 21, 2026, 4:48 PM UTC

Terr_ wrote: post #41

So I have an admission here: I keep seeing HN stuff about these networked password managers and I don't quite understand the appeal. Is it because everybody else is swapping between several different computers, and you need the synchronization? I just have everything in KeepassXC, and the ciphertext is subject to the same kind of backup regime I use for other files, [edit: and also additionally] a copy kept on a USB…

I swap between my phone and my computer. Sometimes I need to get an account password on a workstation, and I can just login online rather than typing several lengthy generated passwords.

Most of the workstations I use completely block USB storage devices (but not fido2 keys!)

What would be super nice is to have USB wedge that I can just send my passwords from my phone to any computer like this https://www.inputstick.com/ (Expensive, sold out and also doesn't ship to the USA)

Re: Get your passwords out of Bitwarden while you still can

#92

Post by culi » Thu, May 21, 2026, 4:49 PM UTC

ranger207 wrote: post #61

My company just finished switching from LastPass to Bitwarden. Just in time for that to become terrible too it looks like lol

My old company switched through 4 different managers in the span of 3 months. They switched to LastPass just before all the seemingly endless breaches started. I think they were willing to weather it at first but things just got worse and worse. I think they also ended up with Bitwarden

Re: Get your passwords out of Bitwarden while you still can

#93

Post by cocoa19 » Thu, May 21, 2026, 4:50 PM UTC

9x39 wrote: post #77

Serious question - how come free is a requirement for a password manager? Everyone's gotta eat, including the maintainers of password managers. Tech has generous TC, lots of high-end laptops and phones worth thousands, AI & cloud spend, and yet the only acceptable price for secrets management is $0 it seems at times.

I’ve been a paying user for years, but the free tier change announcement is a sign of the enshittification to come.

It means the old guard is moving away and potentially starting initiatives not in the best interest of the user. In the worst case scenario they will sell my data or introduce stupid changes that risk security.

Re: Get your passwords out of Bitwarden while you still can

#94

Post by culi » Thu, May 21, 2026, 4:50 PM UTC

parliament32 wrote: post #87

bilal4hmed wrote: post #23

This is getting so tiring. What are the other options out there now?

KeePassXC has always been the one true path.

What is the option for people who want access to their passwords on their phones and don't wanna set up a complex or fragile sync regime

(I do use KeePassXC btw. I just think this is what GP's real question was)

Re: Get your passwords out of Bitwarden while you still can

#95

Post by fontain » Thu, May 21, 2026, 4:51 PM UTC

9x39 wrote: post #77

Serious question - how come free is a requirement for a password manager? Everyone's gotta eat, including the maintainers of password managers. Tech has generous TC, lots of high-end laptops and phones worth thousands, AI & cloud spend, and yet the only acceptable price for secrets management is $0 it seems at times.

Passwords are critical, losing them because you forget to pay or run out of money would be a disaster. I suspect they would still provide access in read only mode to non-paying users so it wouldn’t be a disaster if they didn’t offer a free version but I think it’s pretty easy to see why someone thinks it should always have a free offering.

Re: Get your passwords out of Bitwarden while you still can

#96

Post by NoGravitas » Thu, May 21, 2026, 4:52 PM UTC

webstrand wrote: post #89

parliament32 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My KeePassXC database auto-syncs to my Nextcloud instance. Nextcloud client on PCs, Keepass2Android on my phone, and it's the same end result as Bitwarden but without the shenanigans.

Do you have a solution for auto-merging conflicting changes? Because I think that's the real difference, editing on a laptop and on a desktop before the sync can occur, can cause data-loss (for my potentially naive use of keepassxc anyway).

Merge conflicts on NextCloud are terrible, but for a KeePass file, I don't think this comes up very much. My laptop syncs from Nextcloud whenever it's online, and my phone syncs whenever it opens or modifies the file. Nobody else is using my laptop or phone, and certainly not my keepass vault. I would probably have to go out of my way to use both my laptop and my phone offline and add/change passwords during that time in order to get a merge conflict.

Re: Get your passwords out of Bitwarden while you still can

#97

Post by MrDisposable » Thu, May 21, 2026, 4:52 PM UTC

eleventen wrote: post #17

kpozin wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- Authy - Google Authenticator

Not password managers of course, but thanks for reminding me that I should figure out how to ditch Authy. https://github.com/BrenoFariasdaSilva/Authy-iOS-MiTM is going to be my project for the afternoon.

I had to migrate from Authy because it doesn't work on Graphene OS. Migrated to Ente Auth and couldn't be happier.

Re: Get your passwords out of Bitwarden while you still can

#98

Post by culi » Thu, May 21, 2026, 4:53 PM UTC

bilal4hmed wrote: post #23

This is getting so tiring. What are the other options out there now?

https://alternativeto.net/software/bitwarden--free-password-...

Honestly after years of resistance I've finally partially embraced Apple's solution and have to admit it works great. I love that Hide My Email is integrated into it so well too

Vaultwarden looks neat:

> Lightweight, self-hosted server written in Rust, fully compatible with Bitwarden clients, implements the Bitwarden server API, supports organizations, attachments, web interface, website icon API, YubiKey, Duo, and multiple two-factor authentication options.

Re: Get your passwords out of Bitwarden while you still can

#99

Post by Terr_ » Thu, May 21, 2026, 4:53 PM UTC

culi wrote: post #88

Terr_ wrote: post #41

So I have an admission here: I keep seeing HN stuff about these networked password managers and I don't quite understand the appeal. Is it because everybody else is swapping between several different computers, and you need the synchronization? I just have everything in KeepassXC, and the ciphertext is subject to the same kind of backup regime I use for other files, [edit: and also additionally] a copy kept on a USB…

USB stick in your pocket sounds nice but what happens when you drop your keys and it cracks or you get caught in a rain storm and it gets soaked?

Someone else made it similar comment, so I clarified the phrasing of my original post. The main backup of allll my decades of digital junk is independent and happens elsewhere.

Even if I had a USB-stick of magical capacity and reliability, I wouldn't want to have to remember to connect and disconnect it constantly.

Re: Get your passwords out of Bitwarden while you still can

#100

Post by BrandoElFollito » Thu, May 21, 2026, 4:54 PM UTC

scrollop wrote: post #55

tfarias wrote: post #31

I've been recommending Bitwarden for a few years now and have also been paying a yearly sub since 2022, as I always thought 10$ was a really good value. But with all this stuff coming out, I'm holding off on recommending it anymore; at least until everything calms down and the new value proposition is fully laid out. Like other folks have said, I don't think it's yet time to migrate. That being said, it doesn't hurt…

You should try hosting it yourself in docker. Absurdly easy to do if you get an llm to do it and it works very, very well. Hope they don't alter self hosting it.

It is absurdly easy to fire off the docker container you mean.

Because you need to back up, verify backups, monitor availability, manage updates, manage MFA, and a zillion things.

Don't get me wrong, I work in hardcore, high tech IT for 30 years and I selfhost two dozen or so of services. It is far, very far from "absurdly easy" when you start .

Sure you can run a container on your pc, and hope for the best