This post is part of a series on moving off American software.
A password manager is the one account that guards all the others, so the company running it matters more than most. 1Password and LastPass are both American. LastPass in particular has had security incidents that made people reconsider — and regardless of where you land on that history, the switch is easier than most people assume, because European options are mature.
Here are seven, and they come in genuinely different shapes: some are built for personal use, some lean toward business, one drops the master password entirely, and one never stores your passwords at all.
Proton Pass
Proton Pass is a password manager from Switzerland. It is open-source and independently audited, and it is end-to-end encrypted using the same encryption as the other Proton services. Feature-wise it covers the essentials: generating secure passwords, autofilling on all devices, password sharing via password vaults, and encrypted note-taking. It doubles as an identity management service, meaning it can provide email aliases to hide your real address from unwanted parties. There are apps for iOS and Android and browser add-ons for all major browsers, plus a free plan. For most people, this is the default starting point.
Passbolt
Passbolt is an open-source password manager from Luxembourg. It offers clients for Android and iOS and add-ons for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Brave. The listing here is short on extras — no big marketing claims to relay — but if open source is your deciding factor, it is a legitimate option alongside Proton Pass.
pCloud Pass
pCloud Pass is a password manager from Switzerland. It stores passwords encrypted, can share them between devices, and fills in login forms with a single click. It also has a free plan. If you want the simplest possible description of a password manager done by a Swiss company, this is it.
heylogin
heylogin, from Germany, takes a different approach: it works without a master password. Instead of typing anything, you confirm logins with your phone or a FIDO2 security key. Login requests are simply approved on a login device. The company pitches this as easy enough for people without technical knowledge, and the mechanism genuinely removes the weakest element of most setups — a master password someone can guess, phish, or reuse. There is a free plan.
Hypervault
Hypervault is a password manager from Belgium. The listing is brief: they offer a browser add-on for Chrome. There is not much more to report from the source material, so consider this one a name to investigate rather than a recommendation — we would rather say that than pad it out.
Password Depot
Password Depot is a business password manager from Germany, and its distinguishing feature is that you decide where and how sensitive information is stored: locally on the user's device, on a company-wide server, on USB sticks, or any combination of those. Interaction with whichever storage you choose happens through smartphone apps and a web interface. For organizations with compliance requirements about where data may live, that flexibility is the whole point.
MindYourPass
MindYourPass, developed in the Netherlands, uses a vaultless architecture: account passwords are calculated locally when needed rather than stored in a vault. Passwords are computed on each authorized device, so they are never synchronized between devices — there is simply no vault to steal. It is free for personal use and works on an unlimited number of devices, for both personal and business use.
Choosing between them
- Everyday personal use: Proton Pass or pCloud Pass
- Open source: Proton Pass or Passbolt
- No master password: heylogin
- Business with storage control: Password Depot
- Vaultless architecture: MindYourPass
Switching is mostly export-and-import; the harder part is updating the handful of logins that do not autofill on the first try. Pick one, move a week's worth of logins, and you will know quickly whether it fits.
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