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LastPass was breached. 1Password costs $36/year. Chrome locks you into Google. Apple locks you into Apple. Here's an honest comparison of every password generator in 2026 — what each actually does well, where each falls short, and when a simple browser tool is all you need.
| Feature | LastPass | 1Password | Chrome | Bitwarden | Apple Keychain | Browser Tool (Ours) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (1 device) / $3/mo | $3/month | ✓ Free | ✓ Free / $10/yr | ✓ Free | ✓ Free |
| Account required | ✗ Yes | ✗ Yes | ✗ Google account | ✗ Yes | ✗ Apple ID | ✓ No account |
| Install required | ✗ Extension/app | ✗ Extension/app | ✗ Must use Chrome | ✗ Extension/app | ✗ Apple devices only | ✓ No install |
| Generator quality | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good — crypto-secure |
| Passphrase option | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes (iOS 16+) | ✗ No — random strings only |
| Password storage | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes (Google) | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes (iCloud) | ✗ No — generates only |
| Auto-fill | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ In Chrome | ✓ Yes | ✓ On Apple | ✗ No |
| Cross-platform | ✓ All platforms | ✓ All platforms | ✗ Chrome only | ✓ All platforms | ✗ Apple only | ✓ Any browser |
| Open source | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | N/A |
| Security audit | ~Breached 2022-23 | ✓ Regular audits | ~Google internal | ✓ Regular third-party | ~Apple internal | N/A — no data to breach |
| Breach history | ✗ Major (2022-23) | ✓ Clean record | ✓ Clean record | ✓ Clean record | ✓ Clean record | ✓ No data stored |
In 2022-2023, LastPass suffered a series of breaches:
If you're still on LastPass: export your vault, import into Bitwarden, change passwords on critical accounts (banking, email, primary social media).
1Password is genuinely excellent:
The honest trade-off: everything 1Password does, Bitwarden does for free (or $10/year). 1Password's advantage is polish, not features. If you value design and are willing to pay, it's worth it. If you want function over form, Bitwarden wins.
Chrome's password generator is good — it creates strong passwords and auto-fills them. The problems:
If you use Chrome on every device and trust Google with your passwords, it works. For everyone else, a cross-platform manager is better.
| Your Situation | Best Choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Want free + cross-platform manager | Bitwarden | Free, open source, works everywhere |
| Want best UX + willing to pay | 1Password ($3/mo) | Best design, Watchtower, travel mode |
| Need one password right now | Browser password generator | No install, no account, instant |
| All-Apple household | Apple Keychain | Already built in, passkeys support |
| All-Chrome, all-Google | Chrome built-in | Already there, auto-fills in Chrome |
| Currently on LastPass | Switch to Bitwarden NOW | Breached, export + import takes 5 min |
| Maximum privacy, offline | KeePass | No cloud, local database only |
If you need password management — storing, syncing, and auto-filling hundreds of unique passwords — use Bitwarden (free) or 1Password (paid). No browser tool replaces a manager.
If you need password generation — one strong password, right now, without installing anything — a browser-based generator is the fastest, most private option. No account, no ecosystem lock-in, no data stored anywhere.
Generate a secure password — no account, no install, no ecosystem lock-in.
Open Password Generator
Jennifer spent a decade as an executive assistant and office manager handling every type of business document imaginable. She writes about PDF tools and document workflows for professionals who need reliable solutions without enterprise pricing.
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