NordPass Review

NordPass password manager is a new name in the cybersecurity industry, but it comes from the creators of a well-known NordVPN service. But is it worthy to stand next to other Tefincom products? Should it already be included in our list of best password managers? Read our NordPass review to find out.

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NordPass overview

What can you do with NordPass?

Generally speaking, there are seven main things that you can do with NordPass:

1. Keep passwords in one secure place
2. Access them when you need to
3. Simplify your online life with auto-filled forms
4. Generate strong passwords on the spot
5. Share passwords securely with friends and family
6. Save secure notes for your eyes only
7. Store Credit Cards for quick online checkouts

Not all of these options are available on every app or browser extension. Therefore, I recommend taking some time to go through this NordPass password manager review to learn more.

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Security and privacy

NordPass is a new password manager, so it’s evident that its safety hasn’t been put to trial by fire yet. However, we can already say there are certain cases when this provider doesn’t hesitate to walk that extra mile. Overall, I can say that NordPass offers solid security and privacy that matches or even surpasses the competition.

Encryption

NordPass password manager is safe, and here’s why. For starters, NordPass uses zero-knowledge architecture, meaning your data is encrypted before reaching their servers.Moreover, AES-256 encryption is an industry standard that’s more than enough to keep your data safe. However, NordPass offers even more robust protection by implementing XChaCha20 and Argon 2 for key derivation, separating itself from the pack. This encryption is easier to implement and more complicated to screw up – that’s why I’m glad to see that NordPass is taking a step further towards ultimate password protection.

2FA and biometric authentication

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is another NordPass safety feature that has become an industry standard. When using 2FA, you add another layer by requesting something you have (e.g., a device with an authenticator app) and something you know (e.g., a Master Password). Only time will tell if the same method applies to family planning practices.Additionally, NordPass comes with biometric authentication support, allowing you to replace your master password with a fingerprint on either Android or iOS devices. As this method gains popularity among mobile users for unlocking their phones, accessing your online accounts with one touch might also be a good idea.Alternatively, you can use Face ID on your iOS or Google Pixel 4 device, but I cannot recommend it as this technology poses numerous security concerns.

Privacy-friendly jurisdiction

While this might not be important to the majority of password manager users, it’s still good to know that your provider is situated in a privacy-friendly country. NordPass is registered in Panama and does not have data retention laws. Even more, it’s far from the all-seeing Fourteen Eyes alliance members, meaning even political activists and journalists should feel safe using this password manager.

Offline Functionality – a new feature for enhanced accessibility

One of the standout new features of NordPass is its offline functionality, allowing users to access their vaults without an internet connection. Previously, most password managers required an online connection to view or manage stored passwords. With NordPass, however, the password vault is stored securely on the user’s device, allowing seamless access even offline. This is a recently introduced feature catering to users who need access to their passwords when traveling, in areas with limited connectivity, or when the internet is unavailable. Whether on a plane or in a remote location, NordPass ensures that your credentials are always within reach without compromising security.

VPN Integration – a new benefit for NordVPN Users

As part of the NordSec ecosystem, NordPass provides a unique benefit for users who also use NordVPN. While the VPN integration may not be brand new, it’s a recently emphasized feature that adds extra value to users using NordVPN. The integration streamlines the experience for those who prioritize privacy and security across multiple platforms. With both NordPass and NordVPN, users enjoy enhanced encryption, seamless password management, and an overall more secure online experience. This integration is ideal for those seeking a comprehensive suite of privacy tools that work together, providing additional protection for your data while browsing and managing passwords.

Data Breach Monitoring – new Dark Web protection

Dark web monitoring, a newly added feature to NordPass, is essential for users who are increasingly concerned about their personal security. By continuously scanning the dark web for potential data breaches, NordPass now provides real-time alerts if your passwords are found in any leaks. This feature helps users avoid identity theft and cyber-attacks by giving them immediate action steps if their information is compromised. NordPass is one of the few password managers that provide such dark web monitoring, ensuring that your passwords are stored securely and protected against emerging threats that may surface outside of typical password vaults.

Family and Business Plans – new Multi-User Solutions

NordPass has expanded its offerings with new family and business plans designed to cater to users who require multi-user management. These recently introduced plans make sharing passwords securely across teams or family members easier. The family plan allows up to 6 users to benefit from NordPass’ premium features. In contrast, the business plan provides advanced tools for team password management, such as shared folders and centralized billing. This addition to the NordPass product lineup makes it a more attractive option for users who need collaborative password management, whether in a professional setting or among close family members.

Independent Security Audits – bew transparency measures

While security audits have always been an essential aspect of NordPass' security model, recently conducted independent security audits have been a significant step forward in ensuring user trust and transparency. These audits, conducted by third-party security firms, confirm that NordPass adheres to the highest encryption and data protection standards. By undergoing regular audits, NordPass can provide users with verified security practices to keep all stored data safe. This new focus on transparency builds user confidence and reinforces NordPass' commitment to offering a trustworthy and secure service.

Extra security features

A password generator and password strength checker will help you avoid weak links in your password pool. NordPass will automatically generate strong, unique passwords for you, which is much safer than trying to come up with something on your own. Besides, you can create passwords while offline – they aren’t saved on any server.

The great news is that in March 2020, NordPass finally fulfilled the wish of many – password generators were added to the mobile apps.Moreover, NordPass backs up and syncs your data, so you may never lose it. This means that even if your computer or phone breaks down, you can still access all your accounts easily using your Master Password. And thanks to the synchronization, your NordPass vault will have all your data ready 24/7, wherever you may be.

Apps and ease of use

NordPass has apps for the following platforms:

• Windows
• macOS
• Linux
• Android
• iOS

There are also browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and Edge. Apple users will notice the lack of Safari support, even though there’s already an app for iOS and macOS. Since password import from Safari is also impossible, migrating to another browser can be tricky for those with dozens of accounts.

Desktop apps

The NordPass desktop app is a bit odd in terms of user experience. For starters, it doesn’t work without a browser extension, offering only a link to your account where you can change the password and download mobile apps and extensions. Secondly, the main screen is dedicated to marketing as if you haven’t already got this password manager, not to mention being a premium subscriber.

Pressing a cheeseburger menu at the top right will give you even more information about the NordPass website. However, when you click at the top right, you get close, bringing you to the password manager.

The little icon with the NordPass logo is what you want to click next. Upon doing so, you’ll reach your vault and password generator, which works offline. Choosing Settings will open your browser extension, which will allow you to make the most of NordPass.

Browser extensions

NordPass initially supported Brave and Vivaldi browsers, with plans to add password import. Later, it decided to ditch them altogether and focus on mainstream browsers.But even speaking of these, there’s no Safari support and no password import from it, which will definitely be frowned upon by Apple aficionados until NordPass fixes this. This means that even if you decide to switch from Safari to Chrome, Opera, or Firefox – you’ll have to start all over again. That’s not so bad unless you have dozens of active accounts, as most people do.

Mobile apps

As one would expect, NordPass password manager has apps for both Android and iOS. The apps are neatly designed and intuitive, allowing you to start immediately. Nevertheless, there are some usability issues that I’ll discuss in more detail below.Another thing that needs to be mentioned right away is that NordPass for iOS lacks a few features compared to the Android version. This wouldn’t be a big deal if NordPass itself had more options to toggle. But now, the lack of a Safari extension, combined with a slim iOS mobile app, will make Apple fans think twice before committing.

How to use NordPass password manager

Using NordPass is easy, even if you might end up at some confusing crossroads, which hopefully will be taken care of in the upcoming major update. For this part of the review, I base my experience mainly on using the Android app and comparing it to the iOS version. Most of what’s written here also fits the browser extensions.

Getting started with NordPass

After a successful login, my Android experience started with a suggestion to enable Autofill, which has to be done on the OS level.

Afterward, I was welcomed by a user-friendly Home screen. Here, you can search your vault, check all five different categories (Logins, Secure Notes, Credit Cards, Shared, and Trash), and see the recently used entries and their complete alphabetical list. Also, there are three big buttons at the bottom of the screen—one for Home, one for adding one of the three types of data, and one for Settings.

Clicking the three dots on the right of the entry opens a menu with all possible actions, such as copying usernames or passwords.

What I liked about the Logins was the option to Launch the Site and let Autofill do the rest. What I enjoyed a bit less was that only Login and Secure Notes could be shared between users.

Those who like to rummage through the trash will find the NordPass Trash bin full of come-up. It’s perfectly functional, allowing you to copy your info and launch the site to log in. Some might use it as an extra category to sort their secrecies.

Speaking of secrecies, adding a Secure Note allows you to choose a title and the note. It also allows using your camera for OCR input. Upon testing, NordPass did pretty well with printed and pretty bad with hand-written all-caps text. Sadly, if you want to edit your Secure Note, you can no longer use the OCR feature, which is probably for the best.

Adding a Credit Card is as easy as reaching your credit limit. Naturally, copying all the fields back and forth would be inefficient, so Autofill gladly takes over once again. Unfortunately, my test NordVPN purchase left the first name, last name, expiration month, and CVV fields empty. Also, contrary to Secure Notes, you can actually use OCR input to scan your credit card – it works pretty well with numbers and the Latin alphabet.

What some users might miss in NordPass is the so-called “Identities,” where you can add personal details, such as addresses, phone numbers, or social media screen names. There’s also no way to organize your entries into folders.

Sharing your NordPass secrets

Sharing a password is possible by sending an email. What I liked is a precautionary measure against sending passwords to yourself. When I entered the email address I used to create the NordPass account, I was notified that I already had access to it.

After adding that trustworthy person, you can make him the owner or revoke the access if he lets you down. But for anything like this to happen, that person must create a NordPass account first. I learned this only after checking my second email, which is great from the marketing perspective but not from the users'.

Also, making someone a new owner of your password doesn’t automatically share it with that person, meaning she’ll get a meaningless email without a “Get NordPass” call-to-action stating that now she has something somewhere. Revoking Access doesn’t trigger any emails to the now password-less person, which is kind of cool in an evil way, letting him find out for himself.

One option that’s lacking in NordPass at the moment is password inheritance. It means that if you die, you’ll be talking all these passwords and secure notes to the grave.

Settings and extra features

NordPass Settings are scarce, which comes from its relatively short feature list.

You can Lock NordPass using your Master Password, which you can also conveniently change here. Autolock lets you choose the time limit, after which the app requests your master password again – this ranges from “on app close” to “never.” Naturally, choosing the latter is ill-advised, even when using Two-Factor Authentication – you can also turn it off and on again here.

Losing your master password is not the end of the world – there’s a chance to get a New Recovery Code, although that, for some reason, requires you to enter the same master password that you’ve lost.

The last option is toggling the use of a Fingerprint for unlocking your vault. That’s recommended, as a biometric login is safer than using a password. After all, there’s a higher chance of losing your password than your thumb unless you’re in organized crime.

The browser extension adds an import-export function and Never Saved URLs, listing all the websites you omitted from using Autofill.

At the beginning of April 2020, NordPass added an anticipated Folders feature. From now on, users can separate their work and personal passwords by dividing them into different folders. You will find Folders in the menu bar on the left.

Using NordPass app for iOS

Starting is just like with Android—you enable Autofill in your iOS settings. The first difference is the Home screen, which lacks the sharing option. That is because there is no sharing on iOS.

Furthermore, Secure Notes and Credit Cards don’t have the OCR feature. While I’m not missing the former, it was pretty convenient for the latter.

When trying to buy the same NordVPN, I didn’t get the Autofill option to use one of my cards. This means that the iOS version of NordPass has a limited Autofill—it’s probably easier to remove the card than to manually switch between the screens and copy-paste each line.

Other differences lie in the app design, which is as intuitive as the Android version, although it has room for improvement. For example, the Trash bin’s Restoring and Deleting Permanently is close enough to allow touching the wrong part and facing the consequences. To sum up, NordPass is an Android-first service, but that’s no exception to the rule that applies to others as well.

Importing and exporting with NordPass

NordPass import and export are possible only when using the browser extension. There are many import options, though a few names will be sorely missed. NordPass allows importing to Chrome, Firefox, and Opera but ditches Edge and, of course, Safari.

When it comes to the competitors, most of the big names and some less popular ones, such as BitWarden or TrueKey, are here. I missed some password managers from our best-of list, namely Enpass and Norton Password Manager.

In such cases, .csv is your only hope. However, you should organize it properly, which can be done by using the NordPass import template. And when it comes to exporting, .csv is also the only option at the moment.

NordPass pricing

NordPass offers plans for individuals, families, and businesses. Therefore, the cost of the subscription might vary. Here are NordPass plans and their prices:

• Free version (one simultaneous connection, no password sharing)
• Annual – $1.99/month ($23.88 for a year)
• Bi-annual – $1.43/month ($35.76 for 2 years)
• Family annual – $3.69/month ($44.28 for a year)
• Family bi-annual – $2.68/month ($66.96 for 2 years)
• Business annual – $3.99/month ($47.88 for a year)
• Business bi-annual – $3.59/month ($86.16 for 2 years)

Premium plans provide six simultaneous connections—the same as LastPass and one more than 1Password.

Compared to the competition, NordPass prices are reasonable, given that long-term clients get significant discounts, and all premium plans come with six simultaneous devices.

Additionally, the Family plan covers 6 user accounts so that you can share them with your household. As for a Business subscription, the price might vary depending on how many users will use it. Business owners can also benefit from another Nord Security tool—NordStellar. A new cyber threat management tool monitors four threat branches: data breach, dark web, account takeover (ATO), and session hijacking monitoring. It can help businesses reduce potential threats and protect their data.

You can pay with credit cards, Amazon Pay, or cryptocurrencies. That’s a nice selection, given that LastPass, RememBear, and several other password managers only accept credit cards. Finally, all plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Free vs premium

However, most users will likely be happy with the free version until more features are exclusive to the premium NordPass. Unless you need more than one simultaneous connection and cannot live without sharing your secrets with others, going with the free version is entirely acceptable. Also, you will be able to receive the passwords shared by premium users and have as many entries as you like.

Customer support

Settings have a link to NordPass Help Center, but only on mobile apps. Here, you can search the knowledge base or submit a request. Sadly, there’s no live chat, not even for the premium clients.

I tested the responsiveness of NordPass customer support by sending a general question about resetting your lost 2FA authentication method. It took about 8 hours to get a reply during working days. That’s not when you use the word “swift,” but the answer was worth the wait – I got everything that I wanted and then some.

It turns out there’s no way to reset your 2FA but completely wipe out your vault, which means that it’s as essential as your master password. It also means there’s no point in restoring your account unless you want to use the same email address for your Second Reincarnation.

NordPass video review

Bottom line

Is there anything missing in NordPass? Well, some competitors, like 1Password, provide file storage, while LastPass has automatic password changes. It’s up to the users to decide how valuable these features are to them. Despite its shortcomings, NordPass is clearly one of the best password managers available today.

To sum up, I’m happy with the NordPass password manager and see it rising to the very top in the future. At the same time, I recommend trying it out (it’s free) to grab a long-term plan before the prices go up. Finally, if you have already gotten your hands on NordPass, I encourage you to share your impressions in the comments below.