LastPass Free now syncs credentials across all of your devices

[Shawn Knight]

Password manager LastPass on Tuesday extended the ability to sync login credentials across all platforms and devices, a perk previously reserved for paying members.

LastPass founder, VP and GM Joe Siegrist said in announcing the change that by offering the service for free across all devices, they’re making it that much easier for anyone to make good password habits the norm. Having a password manager that goes everywhere you do, he said, affords a strong foundation for securing and taking control of your identity.

This is the second major change for LastPass in as many years.

LastPass launched in 2008 and as PCWorld notes, was only offered for free on the PC (mobile device usage was limited to paying members). That changed in August 2015 when LastPass expanded the reach of its free service to mobile devices. The catch, however, was that free users would be restricted to just one device type. Now, you’re free to use LastPass for free across any and all device types.

LogMeIn acquired LastPass in October 2015 for $110 million.

For those already using LastPass Free, no action will be required to start using the password manager on all your devices. Simply download the app for your browser or mobile device and sign in.

LastPass’ Premium service, priced at $1 per month, still offers features you won’t get with the free version including family password sharing with up to five others, two-factor authentication options, priority tech support and 1GB of encrypted file storage, among others.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/66905-lastpass-free-now-syncs-credentials-across-all-devices.html

 

[Kibaruk]

Uhm I do have 2step auth on the free one. Great news though!

 

[BlueDrake]

Uhm I do have 2step auth on the free one. Great news though!

I believe it's more options for 2FA available in Premium, that are not available in the free version of LastPass. It's a great general tool even on desktops though.

 

[Fabio Turati]

Yes, most forms of 2FA are also available with free accounts (for example TOTP like Google Authenticator or Authy), but you need a premium account to enable Yubikeys, fingerprint sensors, card readers, or Sesame. I think for most people the free option is more than enough.

 

[BlueDrake]

Just to point out, there's currently a humble bundle that has a 1 year premium included. Just as an FYI for anyone really curious, and various other software too.

 

[Timonius]

Maybe I'll install in on my phone now. Though I found I really didn't 'need' it on my phone in the past since I used most password protected sites at home.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

I use it on my desktop but I really don't see any necessity for it on my mobile. Maybe that's because I let Google handle that side of things for me and I very seldom use my phone for web browsing.

 

[Jamlad]

Eh, how are they making money on this now?

 

[Fabio Turati]

Eh, how are they making money on this now?

The premium version is now much less attractive, but still an option. But I think their real goal is the enterprise offer. Probably they want to lure users with the free offering, and once they are used to it and know how good their service is, they will recommend it to their companies, which will get the enterprise package. Also, LastPass clearly wants to beat the competition from 1Password, Dashlane and the like, which normally don't offer unlimited sync between devices for free.

Of course there's another possibility. One year ago the company was bought by LogMeIn, and everybody complained about this, because LogMeIn raised the price of other services by an outrageous amount, and with very short notice, so everybody was afraid they would adopt this bait-and-switch strategy for LastPass too. So this change in their pricing might just be the bait. Might be, but I doubt it. Not because I think they are "good" and won't do it... But rather because I think they lost a lot of customers with that strategy, and I am very skeptical that in the end it was worth it. So maybe they have learnt their lesson and won't try it again. MAYBE!

Another good thing is that even in the worst case (bait-and-switch) this new pricing will stay for a while, and maybe in the meantime their competitors will follow suit and decrease their price.

Let's wait and see!

 

[DelJo63]

Sync all credentials? hmm; is that always the right choice?

With five email accounts and multiple calendars, I really don't need 100% replication of my desktop onto my tablet or worse still my cellphone! OMG please, NO.

When traveling, I use a separate email (one of those 5) and a specific calendar to sync mail and events. The other stuff can wait until I get back from the trip. (This summer it was two full months)