Best Password Manager Extensions for Firefox of 2024
Our cybersecurity experts found the top three password managers taking your privacy as seriously as Firefox.
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Last Updated on Nov 08, 2024
- Offers a usable, lifetime free version
- Premium subscriptions with premium features start at only $1.29
- Advanced encryption using XChaCha20 coupled with a zero-knowledge architecture
- Watchtower feature monitors overall password security
- Two-step login requires both account password and a 30+ character secret key
- Keyboard shortcuts on Windows for easy access to features
- Supports and advocates for more secure passwordless login
- Free version that can store up to 25 passwords and credentials
- Includes a VPN and dark web monitoring
With over 360 million people using Firefox across the world, we wanted to help them by figuring out which password manager extension is the best one.1 We know that Firefox is known for its privacy, and that’s why a lot of users choose to use Firefox, so all of the password managers here make the privacy of your passwords their top priority.
But keeping your passwords private is the bare minimum of the password managers we recommend. They also need an easy-to-use extension, additional features to protect us online and they can’t cost too much either. That’s why NordPass is our top pick. But besides NordPass, we also recommend Dashlane and 1Password. See their strengths and weaknesses as Firefox password managers in this guide.
Comparison of the Best Firefox Password Managers
| System |
NordPass
|
Dashlane
|
1Password
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
| Ratings | 9.5/10 | 8.9/10 | 9.2/10 |
| Browser extensions | Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Microsoft Edge, Safari, Brave | Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Microsoft Edge, Safari | Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Safari, Brave |
| Firefox extension rating | 3.7 stars | 4.3 stars | 3.9 stars |
| Passwordless login | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Encryption protocol | XChaCha20 | AES-256 | AES-256 |
| Pricing | Premium plans start at $1.29 per month | Premium plans start at $4.99 per month | Premium plans start at $2.99 per month |
| Read Review | NordPass Review | Dashlane Review | 1Password Review |
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1. NordPass - Best Data Protections
Product Specs
App Store rating 4.7 Stars Supported platforms iOS, macOS, Windows, Android, Linux Encryption standard XChaCha20 Cross-device login Yes Data breach scans Yes Passwordless login Yes Lifetime free plan Yes, for one user Pricing Premium plans start at $1.29 per month
Why Choose the NordPass Firefox Extension?
After our cybersecurity experts analyzed NordPass, we concluded they offer better data protection than any other password manager. That means you can know it’s safe when you input a password or secure note into their platform. Even if NordPass suffered a data breach, your information would remain secure. We’ll go into the details of how they do that later when we deep dive into their security. The important part, though, is that if you use Firefox for the privacy they give you, you’ll appreciate NordPass for the same reasons.
After installing the NordPass extension, we added it to Firefox to start managing our passwords. What We Like
- Uses the strongest encryption algorithm available
- Third-party audited security architecture
- Affordable premium plans start at $1.29 per month.
- Quality cross-platform support
What We Don’t Like
- Renewal prices are higher than initial prices.
- Periodically logged out of the Firefox extension
- Trying paid plan features requires a yearlong commitment.
- Weak password detection requires a paid plan.
Firefox Extension
When testing out the Firefox extension for NordPass, we liked the initial onboarding process. After installing the extension and adding it to Firefox, we were immediately directed to the NordPass site, so we could create an account. We were never prompted to input our credit card, and there was never an attempt to upsell us. Two major pluses in our book and why it made our list of the best free password managers.
NordPass helped us import our passwords to set up our Firefox extension. Instead of trying to upsell us, NordPass helped us set up our first password. We set up our Gmail account first to test out how it worked as an extension. So we added our account and password to NordPass and then signed out of Google. When we signed back in, all we had to do was click our account and then hit the log in pop-up from the NordPass extension. It filled our password for us, which means we no longer need to remember our Gmail password and can use a stronger password.
Pro Tip: When using a password manager, we always recommend pairing it with a random password generator. That way you can use the different and secure passwords on each of your accounts without needing to remember tons of random characters.
Pricing
The default plan when you install the NordPass extension on Firefox is the lifetime free plan. That gives you access to the full password management suite of capabilities. We could import as many passwords as we wanted and autofill those passwords when logging into our accounts. Even though NordPass didn’t present us with the option to upgrade while signing up, we could at any time through the banner at the bottom of our account.
Here are the options we had for upgrading our NordPass account compared to the free plan:
Features Free Premium Family User accounts 1 1 6 Unlimited passwords Yes Yes Yes Autosave and autofill Yes Yes Yes Passwordless login Yes Yes Yes Multifactor authentication Yes Yes Yes Persistent login across devices No Yes Yes Password strength assessment No Yes Yes Email masking No Yes Yes 1-year price with three free months Free $25.35 ($1.69 per month) with a renewal price of $44.85 $44.28 ($3.69 per month) with a renewal price of $71.88 2-year price with three free months Free $34.83 ($1.29 per month) with a renewal price of $80.73 $66.96 ($2.79 per month) with a renewal price of $143.76 >> Learn About: NordPass’ Plans and Pricing
Security
NordPass has two big advantages over the competition when it comes to security. First, there’s their encryption protocol. They use XChaCha20 instead of AES-256, which is what most other password managers use. XChaCha20 encrypts data bit by bit instead of in blocks. That means someone trying to break through the encryption needs to break through every bit of data instead of breaking through once to get into the entire block.
Secondly, they use a zero-knowledge security architecture. A zero-knowledge security architecture means the provider doesn’t know the information that you store on their databases. They do this by never decrypting your data on their end, so they can only see your encrypted data. This keeps your data protected even in the event of a data breach. And best of all, these practices were audited by a third-party firm to ensure they can’t read your data.
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2. Dashlane - Best Firefox Extension
Product Specs
App Store rating 4.6 stars Supported platforms iOS, macOS, Windows, Android Encryption standard AES-256 Cross-device login No Data breach scans Yes Passwordless login Yes Lifetime free plan Yes Pricing Premium plans start at $4.99 per month
Why Choose the Dashlane Firefox Extension?
Dashlane is a unique password manager. They’re a web-first password manager, which means they don’t have a desktop application for Windows or Linux. Instead, you need to download the Dashlane extension on each of the browsers you use. That means they put a big priority on the quality of their Firefox extension, unlike most providers which prioritize their desktop apps. As a result, Dashlane is one of the easiest to use if you only use one browser.
We added Dashlane to our Firefox browser to get a first-person perspective of using Dashlane’s Firefox extension. What We Like
- Web-first password manager means a quality Firefox extension.
- Premium plan includes a VPN.
- Up to 10 accounts supported on the Family plan
- The renewal price is the same as the introductory price.
What We Don’t Like
- Expensive premium plans start at $4.99 per month.
- The free plan only stores up to 25 passwords.
- Security protocols haven’t been audited by a third party.
- Family plans only include the VPN for the admin.
Firefox Extension
Installing Dashlane on Firefox was just as easy as NordPass. Although, we liked the options they gave us for securing our account. Instead of a main master password, we could also opt for a six-digit PIN that allows us to sign in on known devices. We could set a different PIN for each device we used too. That gave us a bit of extra security when using the PIN instead of a secure master password.
Dashlane lets us secure our account with a master password or a device-specific PIN. Instead of manually adding our passwords like we did with NordPass, Dashlane works in the background to find which passwords we should add. As we browse the internet on Firefox, Dashlane automatically adds our passwords to its platform. That means we never needed to go through all of our accounts and import them like we did with NordPass. This is why we think Dashlane is easier to use than NordPass on Firefox, although we still prefer NordPass’ security.
FYI: Importing passwords is also an option, especially if you already have hundreds saved in Firefox’s free password manager. The passwords exported from Firefox will be stored in a .csv, which most third-party password managers accept.
Pricing
For the free plan you start off with after adding the Firefox extension, we liked NordPass’ free tier better. With Dashlane, we could only store up to 25 passwords. That might seem like a lot, but once you add up all of your streaming accounts, social media accounts, marketplace accounts and online banking accounts, those 25 passwords get eaten up quickly. We still appreciated the option of a lifetime free plan though.
That said, Dashlane’s premium plans cost a pretty penny. But for a good reason — they come with a VPN called HotSpot Shield.
Did You Know? We’ve tested HotSpot Shield, and it ended up being one of our favorite VPNs on the market. But, Dashlane isn’t the only password manager you can get bundled with a VPN. You can do the same with NordPass, except you need to buy it through the NordVPN website instead of the NordPass site. After testing NordVPN, it ended up being our No. 1 VPN.
Here’s an overview of Dashlane’s pricing with a comparison of features to its free plan:
Features Free Premium Friends & Family User accounts 1 1 10 Number of passwords Up to 25 Unlimited Unlimited Devices supported One Unlimited Unlimited Password generator Yes Yes Yes Passwordless login Yes Yes Yes Multifactor authentication Yes Yes Yes Data breach monitoring No Yes Yes Phishing alerts No Yes Yes Live support No Yes Yes VPN access No Yes Yes, for the admin Annual pricing Free $59.88 ($4.99 per month) $89.88 ($7.49 per month) Security
As for security, Dashlane is not quite as good as NordPass, but they still offer enough security for our cybersecurity experts to trust them with our passwords. That’s because they use AES-256 encryption to protect our data, the same encryption protocol the U.S. government uses to keep classified data secure.2 If it’s good enough for classified data, it’s good enough for our passwords.
That said, Dashlane hasn’t subjected itself to a third-party security audit yet like NordPass and 1Password have. We see that as another drawback, but they still use a zero-knowledge security architecture, so we should still get those same protections.
>> Learn About: Dashlane vs. 1Password Comparison
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3. 1Password - Best Transparency
Product Specs
App store rating 3.5 stars Supported platforms iOS, macOS, Windows, Android, Linux Encryption standard AES-256 Cross-device login No Data breach scans Yes Passwordless login Yes Lifetime free plan No, only a 14-day free trial Pricing Premium plans start at $2.99 per month
Why Choose the 1Password Firefox Extension?
If you like to read reports to ensure your digital security, 1Password has you covered. They publish the results of their third-party security audits. We read through them, and we’ll go over them later since it’s not the only reason to choose 1Password. The other aspect we like a lot about 1Password is the admin control in their Families plan. It lets you limit logins to any account from any device in the plan. That works as a great parental control.
We added 1Password to our Firefox browser, so we could test its full capabilities. What We Like
- Customizable admin settings that work as parental controls
- Month-to-month no-contract premium plans
- Published third-party security audits
- Convenient travel vault to hide passwords at border crossings
What We Don’t Like
- No lifetime free plan
- The Families plan only includes five accounts.
- Expensive without many extra capabilities
- It asks us to log back in frequently.
Firefox Extension
The Firefox extension for 1Password worked well when we tested it. We were annoyed, however, that we had to put in our credit card to get it up and running, unlike NordPass and Dashlane. After we put our credit card in, the extension ran as we expected it to.
Here’s what 1Password looked like for us when we used the Firefox extension. It worked in the background allowing us to input passwords with the click of a button. Sure, we had to log back in to 1Password every so often, but the overall experience was good.
FYI: 1Password’s Watchtower feature is not available in their browser extensions. That’s why we recommend downloading the desktop app too. The desktop app gives you access to data breach alerts and warns you about your potentially vulnerable passwords.
Pricing
There’s no getting around 1Password’s lack of a lifetime free plan. When we download a browser extension, the last thing we want to do is pull out our credit cards. But, 1Password made us. That said, they offered a month-to-month plan, so we didn’t have to pay for at least a year upfront like with NordPass and Dashlane’s premium plans. They also offer a 14-day free trial to test out 1Password’s full suite of features.
>> Learn More: NordPass vs. 1Password Comparison
Here’s an overview of 1Password’s pricing:
Features Individual Families Unlimited passwords Yes Yes User accounts 1 5 Passwordless login Yes Yes Multifactor authentication Yes Yes Data breach monitoring Yes Yes Password generator Yes Yes Autosave passwords No No Monthly price $3.99 $6.95 Annual price $35.88 ($2.99 per month) $59.88 ($4.99 per month) Security
The main selling point for 1Password’s security is their publicly published third-party security audits. In the last penetration test, 1Password’s most significant vulnerability was on their Windows app. So if you’re using the browser extension, you’ll be safe. In fact, none of the five vulnerabilities found in the last penetration text applied to their Firefox extension. As such, using it on Firefox is one of the most secure ways to use 1Password.
Now, five vulnerabilities might sound bad. And we won’t try to tell you it’s a perfect score. But if it was only given a pass or fail grade, we’d consider these results a passed test. Why are we telling you this? Well, most companies that subject themselves to third-party cybersecurity audits do not publish the reports and instead only tell you if they passed the test. The transparency that 1Password offers makes us feel more confident that they’ll address every vulnerability found.
Pro Tip: If you’re a Windows user, don’t fret. 1Password is still one of the best Windows password managers, and you don’t need the app to use it. Simply add the 1Password browser extension to the browsers you use and manage your account from the web app.
Should I Use the Desktop App or Firefox Extension for My Password Manager?
We recommend using both the desktop app and Firefox extension if your password manager offers both. The Firefox extension makes using a password manager more convenient since it opens up with your Firefox browser. Extensions tend to use fewer computing resources too, so the Firefox extension can work better on old computers.
Some password managers limit features to the desktop app. Those are usually the more advanced features, like security breach alerts. And since the app opens in a new window instead of just a pop-up, like browser extensions do, it’s often easier to manage your account and your saved files and passwords from the app.
Is It Worth Using a Third-Party Password Manager?
There’s a built-in password manager on Firefox. And it’s free. So, you might be wondering why you wouldn’t just use the one built into Firefox. We’ve used it in a pinch before we installed a third-party password manager. But we realized it had a few key drawbacks that third-party password managers resolve.
Here’s why it’s worth using a third-party password manager over the one built into Firefox:
- Cross-platform support: When you save your passwords on a third-party password manager, you can use them on any platform, even your mobile phones. With Firefox’s built-in password manager, you can only access your passwords while using Firefox.
- Free plans are available: Just because you choose to use a third-party password manager doesn’t mean you need to take out your credit card. NordPass, for instance, offers a lifetime free plan that you can store unlimited passwords with.
- More secure: Third-party password managers put all of their efforts into, well, their password managers. Firefox needs to keep up with their web browser as well. By focusing entirely on their password manager, they can offer better security with many getting their security protocols audited by third parties.
How We Chose the Best Firefox Password Managers
We’re big advocates of Firefox. For one, we think it’s good to have competition with web browsers. And for two, we appreciate Firefox’s emphasis on security and privacy. So, when we were tasked with figuring out the best Firefox password managers, we installed them on our Firefox browser, which is what we already use on a day-to-day basis.
FYI: Even if you only use Firefox as your browser, we still recommend a third-party password manager. They let you save your logins for apps as well as websites. Third-party password managers tend to offer stronger security as well.
Our team was already familiar with Firefox’s built-in password manager, but it doesn’t quite cut it because when we switch over to our Android phone and go back to a Chrome browser, none of our passwords transfer over. We started with our favorite password manager, NordPass, and then went down the list of available password managers from reputable companies with Firefox extensions. Each time, we wrote down our thoughts and gave them a score out of 10. Then, we picked the top three that fit different user preferences.
Final Thoughts: Which Password Manager Is Right for You?
We think it’s always worthwhile using a third-party password manager instead of the built-in password manager for Firefox. It’s just a matter of which one is right for you. If you’re looking for one that’s free, we recommend NordPass. Their free plan lets you store as many passwords as you want, and they offer the best security out of any password manager we’ve tried.
Sometimes you don’t have the time to import all of your passwords. In that case, we recommend Dashlane. It works in the background to gather your passwords as you sign into your accounts with the Firefox extension running. Of course, it asks you if you want to save the password each time, so you don’t need to save every password if you don’t want to.
As for 1Password, we recommend it when you’re signing up for the Families plan with your kids. Their admin panel can act as parental controls since you can control which accounts your kids can log in to. We also like their transparency with how they publish the results of all of their security audits.
FAQ
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What’s the best password manager Firefox extension?
For a Firefox extension, we like NordPass the best. Since it has a free lifetime plan, you can add the extension to Firefox and get started right away without pulling out your wallet. It also offers the best security for your passwords.
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Do I need to pay for a password manager on Firefox?
No, you do not need to pay for a password manager on Firefox. It has a free built-in password manager, and there are plenty of third-party password managers with free plans, like NordPass and Dashlane.
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Is the built-in Firefox password manager safe to use?
Yes, the built-in Firefox password manager is safe to use, but we still recommend a third-party password manager, so you can sync your saved passwords across devices and browsers.
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Will the passwords I save on Firefox transfer to my other devices?
No, the passwords you save with Firefox’s password manager will not transfer to your other devices unless you sign in to the same Mozilla account and use the Firefox browser on all of your devices. It also won’t work with third-party apps. Instead, we recommend using NordPass since it’s free, secure and works cross-platform.
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Do Firefox extension password managers slow down my browser?
Your Firefox browser should still run just as smoothly with a password manager as it does without one. These password manager extensions are designed to be lightweight, so they don’t take up too many resources.
NordPass. (2024). People have around 170 passwords on average, study shows.
globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/05/21/2885556/0/en/People-have-around-170-passwords-on-average-study-shows.htmlEnterprise Apps Today. (2023). Firefox Statistics – Market Share, Trends and Usage Stats To Look Forward In Years To Come.
enterpriseappstoday.com/stats/firefox-statistics.html