NordPass Review: Is it safe?

When the company behind the superb NordVPN brings out a password manager, it pays to take notice – you know there's going to be some strong security pedigree powering NordPass behind the scenes.

Indeed, the firm boasts its own encryption algorithms, a zero-knowledge architecture, multi-factor authentication, and more.

Beyond that, NordPass offers secure sharing, autofill for passwords, credit cards and login details, single-click saving, and the knowledge that more than 3,500 companies trust NordPass for password security.

We'll find out if NordPass lives up to the hype – or if it's too good to be true. If you'd like more information about the best business password managers, examine our verdict on the best choices.

• Interested in NordPass? Check out the website here

NordPass: Plans and pricing

There is a free tier with NordPass, which isn't always a given with password managers. It gets you storage for an unlimited number of passwords which you can access from anywhere, but you’ll only be allowed one signed-in session at a time, so if you alternate between your phone and your computer, you’ll be kicked out each time you change device. It won't detect weak or reused passwords, and it won't scan the web for data breaches, which some competitor companies do even at this free level.

The Premium account turns all of those features on and costs $2.99 / £2.39 per month, for annual commitments. It also allows you to use trusted sharing, which grants access to trusted contacts in case of emergencies. 

The top personal tier is the Family plan, which starts at $5.99 / £4.79 per month. You'll get six accounts with this product alongside all of the features included with the Premium product. Both of these plans are also available with two-year commitments, which means you can save a bit more money if you’re willing to pay upfront.

It’s also worth mentioning that some countries, including major markets like Australia and Canada, will see pricing in USD$. Despite this, billing will still occur in local currencies.

NordPass's standard Business product starts costs $3.59 per user per month and can handle up to 250 users, so it's ideal for small and medium businesses. This time, it’s advertised in USD$ globally, but each country will pay in local currencies. You get all of the features we've mentioned before alongside a security dashboard, the option to deploy company-wide settings, and Google Workplace SSO. The business product also includes team management features, like company-wide settings deployment and real-time monitoring.

The conventional business product doesn’t come with a dedicated account manager or face-to-face onboarding. If you'd like those features, more SSO options, and user provisioning via Active Directory, you'll need the Enterprise product and you'll have to contact NordPass directly to get a quote.

In all cases, you may be able to get a bigger discount via the NordPass promo codes currently available. 

Unfortunately, Nord Security doesn’t offer bundles with its VPN service, NordVPN, which is in our eyes a missed opportunity because some other companies like Dashlane do.

NordPass: Setup

It's very easy to get started with NordPass. Download the app from the firm's website, create an account with a master password, and you're good to go. You're able to import passwords from any big-name browser and directly from a CSV file. Nordpass will also import your passwords from other password managers, including popular apps like LastPass, Remembear, and RoboForm. Indeed, ten different products are supported.

Like most of its competition, there are Windows, macOS, and Linux versions of the NordPass desktop client so you should be catered for whichever sort of user or business you are. There are iOS and Android mobile apps, too.

It also includes browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera, Safari, and Brave. The only real thing missing here is the Command Line options you'll encounter on techier software, like Bitwarden.

NordPass: Interface and performance

Everything about the NordPass interface is smooth and elegant, from the initial sign-up page to the apps you'll install as you get the software set up – it's actually one of the most polished experiences we've seen, and the same its true of other Nord Security products. Everything is built to be user-friendly and accessible, so it's a password manager that will suit users at all levels of technical know-how.

The software does a really good job of hiding itself away in the background and only popping up discreetly when needed, and we had no complaints in terms of getting our passwords synced across multiple devices (it only takes a second or two usually).

The helpful touches spread throughout were much appreciated. You can customize generated passwords by length or by turning off characters that can be misread as something else, for example). Following this theme, you can even streamline online shopping by letting NordPass input your credit card details and shipping info for a smoother checkout. It’s even possible to switch between different Nordpass accounts without compromising your security, so if you need to manage work and personal life separately, it’s easily done.

When it comes to managing your account, logging in and accessing your settings, passwords, and other stored information is very straightforward. We appreciate the clean interface that is well laid out, and easy to use.

Previously, we mentioned that it would be nice to be able to tag or otherwise sort different types of credentials, but this has now been addressed. Folders allow you to separate categories, for example social media, online shopping, and banking. 

There’s a separate area for payment details, but it would be a nice addition to see a dedicated area for IDs, such as driving licenses and passports. These are the sorts of documents that you don’t carry every day, but when booking a flight, you might unexpectedly need to call on them.

The app's extra features are just as easy to use. Look to the bottom-right of the app and you'll find a password generator, password health assessment module, and a data breach scanner, and they're all as straightforward as the app's main functions. 

NordPass: Passkeys

As more and more websites begin to add passkeys as a login option, password managers are beginning to commit to their adoption, but NordPass has actually already integrated passkey support, making it one of the first.

The desktop application, NordPass Web Vault, and Firefox and Chrome-based browser extensions are already compatible with passkeys, but Safari users will have to wait for a future release to be included. Mobile support is also coming as soon as software makers open up passkeys to third parties.

Passkeys are saved in a separate location from regular passwords, and chances are you’ll still have a vault full of passwords for a long time to come because the few websites that are adopting passkeys are just using them as secondary login methods.

Passkey login and passwordless authentication for accessing NordPass is also in the works, but details are limited at the moment.

NordPass: Security

As you would expect from a developer that also offers a VPN, NordPass has a tight security setup. For a start it deploys a zero-knowledge approach, with end-to-end encryption for your password backups and data syncing – that means not even the NordPass team can see the data that you've got saved.

The increasingly well-respected XChaCha20 encryption algorithm is used, which is also a favorite of companies like Google and Cloudflare: it goes up to 256-bit encryption and is seen (by some at least) as a more future-proof solution than the AES-256 encryption commonly used elsewhere.

Biometric security can be added where supported – FaceID or Touch ID on Apple hardware, Windows Hello on a Windows machine, or a fingerprint reader for other smartphones. Two-factor authentication is supported for your NordPass account and the accounts you're storing passwords for. You're also able to use OTP generators or USB sticks to activate multi-factor authentication for added security.

NordPass also operated a blog which it uses to publicize important security tips alongside product announcements. The most common passwords page is particularly revealing, and even some less obvious passwords are at risk of being guessed in a matter of seconds.

NordPass: Support

The customer support is fairly standard – you get round-the-clock email support, but there's no way to call directly. You can live chat to agents who work in the sales department, but they are unable to help with technical queries. 

The various online options are good though, including a very well laid out help center which should answer most basic questions.

NordPass: The competition

NordPass is one of the most prominent password managers around and, as such, it faces loads of strong competition. Apps like LastPass are good alternatives with similar feature sets and pricing structures, and you'd be well-served by either of those tools.

If you'd like something more affordable but admittedly more basic, a product like mSecure will get the job done – it doesn't have the business options or the high-end features of NordPass, but it ticks mainstream boxes and it's cheaper.

If you’re after the security associated with a company that’s also made a name for itself in the VPN world, then Dashlane or Proton Pass would be good alternatives.

NordPass: Final verdict

We're impressed with what we've seen of NordPass during our testing, and we think it's a great choice for individuals and small-to-mid-sized companies. It balances an aesthetically pleasing design with some useful features and advanced security protection, and it holds up well when you compare it against anything else on the market.

Pricing is competitive, and it's nice to see a free tier available. Negatively, it doesn't have more advanced tools like Wi-Fi syncing and Dark Web scanning, but that shouldn't put you off unless you're looking for a password manager with every possible feature.

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