The Most Frustrating Password Manager (According to Google Reviews)
When choosing a password manager, user experience plays a huge role in satisfaction. We analyzed the frustration levels reported by users over the past two years, determining which password managers cause the most headaches. The data reflects the percentage of reviews mentioning frustration, offering an unbiased look at how each solution performs from the users’ perspective.
We ranked the following password managers based on how often users mentioned keywords such as ‘frustrating,’ ‘frustration,’ and ‘frustrate.’ Each review was carefully examined to ensure the frustration was genuinely negative and not referring to other password managers or unrelated experiences.
Password Manager Frustration Percentages
The following table breaks down the percentage of user reviews that mentioned some form of frustration for each password manager.
Password Manager Breakdown
1Password
- Frustration Percentage: 3.23%
- Example Review:
“Extremely frustrating to use. Barely works. And works when I don’t need it to. The app often misinterprets my actions, prompting me to save tasks, notes, and contacts as passwords. This happens every time I update or add something to apps like Google Tasks, interrupting my workflow. The app works when I don’t need it to and is more of a hindrance than a help. I wish there was an option to disable this intrusive feature.”
– User on August 17, 2024
Syncing issues seem to be a major source of frustration for 1Password users, particularly with their mobile and desktop interfaces.
LastPass
- Frustration Percentage: 2.32%
- Example Review:
“DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY. Ridiculously anal and frustrating to use. Is it good for creating and storing passwords? Sure. Just like every other password manager app. The main problem I have with it is the shared folder. Hey geniuses, if someone trusts you enough to create a shared folder, let alone share a password with you, it shouldn’t practically take an act of Congress or a midnight meetup with the devil at your local crossroads to be able to actually USE said password.
– User on September 17, 2024
LastPass has frustrated users with its frequent updates and perceived drop in quality over time. Users report difficulty in navigating new features and security protocols.
NordPass
- Frustration Percentage: 1.73%
- Example Review:
“If you don’t use app “enough”, it logouts you. Extremely frustrating! Locally stored encrypted passwords should not enforce login that often.”
– User on May 21, 2024
NordPass users often mention problems with browser extensions and difficulty setting up the service, which can be frustrating when you rely on seamless password access.
Roboform
- Frustration Percentage: 1.63%
- Example Review:
“This used to be my favorite program however now it lags and it’s so slow that it’s just frustrating. To be honest, I’m looking for new alternatives. it’s got me by this far and I even used it for work when I did tech support but now I’m looking for a new program because I get tired of the lag and the loading time. it hinders my ability to be efficient.”
– User on August 16, 2024
Autofill malfunctions seem to be a recurring issue with Roboform, which can severely hamper user experience.
Zoho Vault
- Frustration Percentage: 1.47%
- Example Review:
“After resetting my master password three times I decided I’d had enough. I log in and then get asked for a master password. I then enter that password only to be told that it’s an invalid password. Extremely frustrating.”
– User on February 18, 2024
Zoho Vault’s feature-heavy interface is a double-edged sword, offering lots of options but also confusing users who expect something more streamlined.
Dashlane
- Frustration Percentage: 1.26%
- Example Review:
“had this when it was free and then they changed it to a paid feature and can’t easily access all my passwords anymore. can’t copy or edit them. So frustrating.”
– User on August 6, 2024
Many users are frustrated with Dashlane’s free version limitations and the persistent push to upgrade, combined with perceived slower performance.
Bitwarden
- Frustration Percentage: 1.18%
- Example Review:
“everything worked fine. Then the passwords entered on the desktop no longer appeared on the mobile app. Hit the sync vault on mobile, shows everything up to date but passwords still don’t appear. Update the app and now it won’t even start. Nothing more frustrating than breaking something that works due to a remote update that I don’t even want.”
– User on August 20, 2024
Bitwarden receives generally favorable reviews, but browser extension stability is a source of frustration for some users.
Keeper
- Frustration Percentage: 1.13%
- Example Review:
“Works as well as a piece of paper. Not any better. Stores passwords and some other data, but auto fills them about 50% of the time on mobile (no, i dont have it misconfigured. I know which sites are supposed to autofill). Lots of other bugs that are incredibly frustrating. I moved to this from lastpass. I already tried another one since this one is so bad but that was about the same experience. Wont be renewing this Reply to developer: i did and you did not help.”
– User on August 16, 2024
Keeper users mention occasional app freezing, which, though rare, can be incredibly inconvenient when you need quick access to passwords.
Proton Pass
- Frustration Percentage: 0.73%
- Example Review:
“I’ve had an issue with the Proton app where my saved passwords disappear unexpectedly. This has happened twice, requiring me to reinstall the app to recover them. It’s frustrating for a security-focused app, as it undermines trust and provides no warning or explanation. I hope the developers fix this soon to maintain user trust and ensure reliable password management.”
– User on September 23, 2024
Proton Pass generally satisfies users, but the steep learning curve when setting up advanced features leads to occasional frustration.
Sticky Password
- Frustration Percentage: 0.46%
- Example Review:
“Frustrating for phone. How was I supposed to import my passwords to set up my new phone? Database files are not something I usually have. It sounded good until I started it up. I am uninstalling and looking for something more practical.”
– User on July 24, 2023
Sticky Password users seem to experience the least frustration overall, with only occasional syncing issues being mentioned.
Conclusion
Choosing a password manager often comes down to personal preference, but this study highlights the importance of user experience. While some managers like Sticky Password and Proton Pass seem to minimize user frustration, others like 1Password and LastPass have room for improvement. Whether due to syncing issues, slow performance, or difficult interfaces, user frustration is something every provider should consider.
Which password manager do you use, and have you experienced any similar frustrations?
Disclaimer:
This analysis is purely a count of the reviews that explicitly mention frustration. It does not factor in why the frustration occurred or provide opinions on the functionality of these services. Some frustrations may be due to user error, miscommunication, or unique circumstances. This is a raw tally of the number of users who expressed dissatisfaction in any way.
Methodology:
In October 2024, we analyzed ~15,000 Google Reviews over the last two years on the top password managers.
We focused our analysis on direct keyword mentions of frustrated customers. Those keywords are “frustrating,” “frustration,” and “frustrate.”
To ensure we focused on keywords used in a negative context (in other words, to avoid “This manager is great after getting frustrated with other solutions”), we analyzed each individual frustrating response.
We calculated the frustration percentages by stacking the number of frustrating reviews against the review total.
