NordVPN Black Friday Banner

LastPass password manager review

LastPass is a robust password manager whose biggest flaw is the ickiness related to a late-2022 data breach.

LastPass Password manager
LastPass
4 out of 5 stars
4
Features
Vault, Sync, Autofill and Password Generator
Security
AES-256 data encryption
Nathan Lawrence
Feb 16, 2023
Icon Time To Read5 min read
Quick verdict: Is LastPass worth it?
LastPass is a well-priced and robust password manager. Unlike the competition, prices are offered in Australian dollars, plus it’s incredibly easy to use. The biggest issue LastPass has is a late-2022 data breach, involving stolen user data, which makes it tricky to recommend when other competitors haven’t had the same issue.
pro
Pros
pro Great free version
pro Affordable pricing, charged in AUD
pro Extremely user-friendly
con
Cons
con Massive recent data breach
con Older free version was better
con Sometimes offers incorrect credentials

I’ve had a LastPass subscription for the last few years and have found it to be a faithful password manager that’s incredibly easy to use. The black-hatted elephant in the room, though, is the too-fresh data breach that was confirmed at the end of 2022. So, then, the underlying review question becomes: is there enough good stuff to keep existing customers and coax privacy-focused new sign-ups over to the LastPass breached side?

LastPass Password Manager review

How much do LastPass plans cost in Australia?

An affordable password manager offered in Australian dollars.

There are a couple of unfortunate hiccups when it comes to pricing for password managers. The first is that they tend to charge in US dollars. And the other is that prices are displayed in terms of monthly costs but charged annually. LastPass bucks the trend by charging in Australian dollars but still unfortunately succumbs to the annual-charging zeitgeist.

The ickier part of that is, just like 1Password, LastPass doesn’t offer a money-back guarantee, meaning you’re up for the cost of a full year whether you like it or not. Still, LastPass does have a viable free version which, while not as fully featured as it used to be, is a good place to test its password-managing waters. If you do end up paying, it’s $54 a year for individual users with LastPass Premium or $72 a year or up to six users on the LastPass Families subscription.

Compare password managers

How does LastPass compare?
Best for
Password manager
Free version
Money-back guarantee
Max users
Best feature
Annual families price
View plans
Best overall
Dashlane reviewDashlane
proYes
pro30 days
10 (Dashlane Family & Friends)Easy to useUS$89.99 (US$7.49 monthly)
Best cheap
Bitwarden LogoBitwarden
proYes
pro30 days
6 (Bitwarden Families)Incredibly cheapUS$39.96
Best security
1Password logo1Password
conNo
conNo
5 users (1Password Families)Travel ModeUS$59.88
Best multi-year
NordpassNordPass
proYes
pro30 days
6 (NordPass Family)Two-year plansUS$71.88
Best free
Google Password Manager
proTotally free
conN/A
1 (Google account)Chrome integrationN/A
Best password generator
LastPass Password managerLastPass
proYes
conNo
6 (LastPass Families)Dark web monitoringAU$72

How easy is LastPass to use?

Simple to use and better with each update.

LastPass rolled out a well-time update just before I started this review, which addressed one of my biggest gripes. Password managers are at their best where they’re most useful: for website credentials. This means LastPass and other password managers tend to be most useful as Chrome browser extensions (or whatever other browser you use). While this is where LastPass excels, it also used to offer its one-click credentials prompt beneath the eye icon that shows your password.

That’s not the case after the most recent update, which means no games of trying to find the pixel around the eye icon that lets you actually get to LastPass. Nor is there any need to give up entirely and use multiple clicks via the browser extension. Google Chrome is the most popular browser in the world, and I’ve been using the LastPass Chrome extension for years.

Like all password managers, all of your precious credentials are hidden behind a single master password. Instead of having to remember one password, you just remember one. I tend to use LastPass reactively for sites that need credentials, rarely opting to manually search in the odd instances when a credentials recommendation is off or for a non-browser login portal.

I dread going back to the dark days of life without a password manager

Whenever I create a new account somewhere in Chrome, LastPass pops up for a single-click way to add that password to my vault. Better still, a right-click anywhere in Chrome opens the LastPass password generator for secure password creation with easy-to-tweak parameters. Most of the time you won’t have to change a thing and can copy/paste the secure password to your new account. If that doesn’t work, there are straightforward solutions to extend the password length or add/remove in uppercase, lowercase, numbers and symbols.

I’m so reliant on LastPass autofill these days that I dread going back to the dark days of doing life without a password manager (even if Google Password Manager is free). Everything syncs between the LastPass Chrome extension and the Android app, the latter of which is made better by either using a PIN or biometrics to avoid the frustration of typing in your LastPass master password every time you want to use it.

Password sharing is incredibly straightforward, as is using secure document storage or the digital wallet functionality. I also appreciate the occasional emails I get from LastPass letting me know when there’s been a breach related to one of my logins, as well as the Security Dashboard for an overall security score and simple access to updating potentially compromised credentials.

Info Box

What is LastPass?

LastPass is a password manager service used by more than 33 million people around the world. It was one of the first services to offer secure cloud password management.

How secure is LastPass?

Pristine on-paper security tarnished by a recent data breach.
LastPass review (2023)

Let’s start with the good stuff. LastPass ticks all of the security boxes when it comes to encryption and authentication. It can also be used as a replacement authenticator, works with hardware keys and has phishing protection. That’s all great news, but all of that is also true of 1Password, Dashlane and, except for the active phishing protection, Bitwarden.

Then there’s the bad news. LastPass had a data leak in late 2022 that involved customer data, including sensitive vault information. According to LastPass, even though this vault information was stolen, it can’t be accessed without any affected users’ master password. If your LastPass data was caught up in this data leak, there is a chance the master password can be ‘brute force’ cracked, but that’s less likely if you have a long and secure password that uses a mix of capital letters, lower-case letters, numbers and symbols.

Data breaches are an unfortunate reality of the connected world we live in, and LastPass has taken appropriate steps to mitigate the likelihood of a breach in the future. Still, as a long-term LastPass customer, it leaves an icky feeling that I can’t get past, and I’ve already migrated to Dashlane. New customers can be heartened that such a breach will lead to stricter security measures for LastPass—and, hopefully, all other password manager services respect the indirect shot across the bow—but I’ll be following the advice to shift to a competitor.

LastPass devices and number of users

All major platforms supported.

LastPass is available on Windows, Mac, Linux and mobile devices via browser extensions, desktop software and mobile apps. The free and premium subscriptions are available for one user, but LastPass Families is available for up to six users per account. Here’s a list of the LastPass supported platforms:

  • Windows 8.1 or later
  • Two most recent major MacOS versions (64-bit)
  • Linux
  • Chrome OS
  • Google Chrome (two most recent versions)
  • Mozilla Firefox (two most recent versions)
  • Microsoft Edge (two most recent versions)
  • Safari (two most recent versions)
  • Opera (two most recent versions)
  • Android OS 9 (or newer)
  • iOS 14 (or newer); iOS 15 or newer for LastPass Authenticator app

Is LastPass worth it?

Worth considering for new customers.

LastPass is a fully featured password manager at an affordable price. On the pricing and features front, LastPass holds its own against its closest competitors. But that late-2022 data breach may loom too large to make it a viable choice in the foreseeable future. It’s certainly enough of a reason for me—a multi-year customer—to be jumping ship.

How we review password managers

We use a detailed schema to compare password managers across price, features, security and compatibility. Because password managers tend to advertise prices in a monthly breakdown but charge annually, we like a service that offers Australian pricing.

A high-scoring password manager is one that offers plenty of features. The basics are a given—namely, secure credentials storing, a password generator and autofill—but premium password managers should also offer other features like secure document storage, password sharing and a digital wallet. We also like password managers that offer a free version so users can try before they buy or some other form of trial.

Because a password manager’s job is to securely store sensitive data, we appraise security carefully, which starts with military-grade encryption. A good password manager offers end-to-end encryption, biometric authentication options and breach notifications when a user’s credentials may have been compromised. Bonus points for services that can be used as authenticators, offer breach protection, and ones that haven’t had a recent data breach.

Frequently asked questions about LastPass

Here are the most frequently asked questions about LastPass password manager.
LastPass had a notable data breach, which was reported at the end of 2022 that includes user data. Expert advice (and ours) is to use another password manager.
The biggest disadvantage of LastPass is the data breach in 2022 that involved customer data. Outside of the breach, LastPass is an otherwise wholly recommendable password manager.
LastPass has acknowledged the late-2022 breach and taken steps to mitigate the likelihood of future breaches. In terms of the basics, LastPass has military-grade encryption.
Nathan Lawrence
Written by
Nathan Lawrence has been banging out passionate tech and gaming words for more than 11 years. These days, you can find his work on outlets like IGN, STACK, Fandom, Red Bull and AusGamers. Nathan adores PC gaming and the proof of his first-person-shooter prowess is at the top of a Battlefield V scoreboard.

Related Articles

Bloodborne Pixelated
Fever Dreams: How the quest to bring Yharnam to PC took over the PS4 emulation scene
For as much acclaim as Bloodborne accrued when it launched back in 2015, it didn’t...
Shark PowerDetect Vacuum
Shark PowerDetect Vacuum review: Opposing forces
Full of juxtapositions and pet fur