mSecure Review: Quick Expert Summary
mSecure is an ordinary password manager that fails to offer any advanced features or unique capabilities. It has industry-standard security with 256-bit AES encryption, and all encryption takes place locally on your device, which is a good thing. You can also refuse to sync your vault on its cloud server if you prefer local hosting. I like the Wi-Fi sync feature too, which allows you to sync your devices only when they’re all connected to the same Wi-Fi network.
But overall, I wasn’t too impressed with mSecure. My major complaint is that its Windows version lacks auto-save and auto-fill features, leaving manual filling the only option for logging into sites and submitting online forms. While the apps for macOS and mobile offer better usability because they have auto-filling capabilities, they still lack advanced features like password breach monitoring and two-factor authentication (2FA).
Brands like 1Password offer a much better value, with useful features like live dark web monitoring, various 2FA methods, super responsive auto-filling features, and unique extras like Travel Mode. With mSecure, you get none of these features. Plus, mSecure doesn’t have a plan for families, so it can only be used by single users. It does, however, offer a generous 60-day money-back guarantee on both of its plans and a 30-day free trial that you can use to try the app without any risk.
🏅 Overall Rank | #42 out of 50 password managers |
🔐 Encryption | 256-bit AES |
🎁 Free Plan | ❌ |
💸 Pricing | $1.66 / month |
💰 Money-Back Guarantee | 60 days (+30-day free trial) |
📀 Operating Systems | Windows, Android, Mac, iOS |
mSecure Full Review
mSecure is a simple password manager that covers the basics well enough but lacks advanced features like 2FA, breach monitoring, and emergency access.
The Windows version doesn’t have browser extensions, so mSecure can’t auto-save and auto-fill your passwords. This is very inconvenient.
However, the core apps are pretty simple to use and lightweight. The password generator is also decent, and the mobile apps are responsive with convenient biometric logins.
mSecure Security Features
mSecure uses 256-bit AES encryption — a high-level encryption standard that banks also use to protect sensitive data.
It also includes multi-device syncing functionality using cloud servers or local Wi-Fi networks. And you can store your vault locally on your device if you don’t feel safe with the available syncing options.
mSecure’s password generator is one of its better features. There are two types of passwords it can generate for you: random character-based passwords and word-based passwords.
The random string passwords mSecure generates can be up to 40 characters long. The word-based passwords can be anywhere between 3 and 8 words long, with separators between each word. The words it randomly generates are quite unusual, so you can make some pretty strong word-based passwords.
Some password managers, like LastPass, can generate much longer passwords (up to 99 characters), but mSecure’s 40-character limit is still good enough to create strong passwords.
mSecure also offers a basic password auditing dashboard. It highlights passwords in your vault that are either too weak, older than 3 months, or duplicated. mSecure doesn’t support automatic password changing for any websites, so you’ll have to manually update your passwords by visiting each site.
Unfortunately, mSecure doesn’t monitor your vault for online breaches. This means that you have no way of knowing if your passwords get exposed online. In contrast, Dashlane comes with live breach monitoring — it instantly notifies you if any of your passwords are discovered in a leak.
mSecure offers a decent password sharing feature. You can share any number of password vaults with as many users as you like and assign different access levels to each user.
While mSecure’s password sharing feature gets the job done, I didn’t really enjoy using it in my testing. One major limitation is that mSecure only supports vault sharing, so you can’t share single items. While you can create separate vaults with only a single item in them, it’s not an ideal solution when you’re looking to quickly share a password with a friend or a family member.
Also, you can only share passwords with people who use mSecure, so it’s no good if the person you want to share an item with isn’t an mSecure user. With 1Password, you can share single items or a whole vault with other people even if they’re not 1Password users.
I like that mSecure supports biometric logins with fingerprint and face scan. This enables you to quickly log into your vault without having to enter your master password each time.
Unfortunately, mSecure lacks two-factor authentication (2FA) options beyond biometric login. The top password managers on the market support various 2FA methods including authenticator apps, Yubikeys, email and SMS verification, as well as biometrics.
Overall, while mSecure offers good basic security, it’s missing some important advanced security features. There’s no 2FA or breach monitoring, and its password sharing and auditing features are quite limited. My favorite password manager 1Password is more well-rounded, covering a vast range of useful features in a single easy-to-use package.
mSecure Plans & Pricing
mSecure is an affordable password manager. It offers 2 plans, and both of these are available as monthly and yearly subscriptions. Both plans offer a 60-day money-back guarantee, and there’s a 30-day premium free trial for new users which doesn’t require a credit card to sign up.
Strangely, mSecure doesn’t offer family plans — you can only get single-user plans. If you need multiple user accounts, I recommend checking out our list of the best password managers for families.
mSecure Essentials costs $1.66 / month and includes most of mSecure’s features with the exception of password sharing. The Premium plan is priced at $2.49 / month, with the only noticeable difference being that it includes password sharing.
Overall, mSecure’s pricing only works for single users and lacks the flexibility of premium password managers like 1Password and Dashlane.
mSecure Ease of Use & Setup
It’s very easy to download and install mSecure. The initial setup is quick and intuitive — it only requires you to create a master password and choose your vault sync settings. The main interface has a sleek and clean look, and I appreciate how easily accessible all options and features are. mSecure also comes with plenty of pre-built templates for common types of records, including logins, credit cards, secure notes, passports, and so on.
mSecure’s usability varies considerably between Windows and other devices, mainly due to the fact that it has no browser extensions for Windows. That means you get no auto-filling and auto-saving capabilities when using mSecure on Windows. I found the lack of auto-filling quite frustrating, and it made for a bad user experience in my testing. In order to use a saved login, you need to manually copy the username and password record from your vault and paste it into the website you’re logging in to.
However, I had a good experience using mSecure on my Mac and my phone. For Mac users, mSecure has browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari that are fully capable of auto-filling your saved logins. The Android and iOS apps also support auto-filling, but it’s not so consistent as I couldn’t get the feature to work for some sites in my testing. However, I really like that the iOS app integrates with Apple Watch, which is great for accessing sensitive information from your vault on the go.
Overall, mSecure doesn’t provide the best user experience on Windows. But it’s noticeably more user-friendly on macOS, Android, and iOS thanks to its auto-filling and auto-capturing capabilities.
mSecure Customer Support
mSecure’s customer service is fairly standard. Its knowledge base contains guides about its applications and features, and there’s an online community for inquiries and solutions. Though the community isn’t very active, it has some recent threads and discussions. The lack of live chat or phone support is not unusual, as even renowned password managers like 1Password don’t offer these channels.
Email is the only way to reach mSecure’s support team. The reps I talked to were knowledgeable, but they could improve their response time. When I tested the email support, I waited 4 days to get a response, For comparison, top password manager companies usually reply within a day, though, it’s fair to point out that they typically have more support members on their team.
Is mSecure Any Good in 2024?
mSecure is an average password manager without any unique features. It has industry-standard security, a decent password generator, and pretty basic password sharing and password auditing features.
Modern password managers offer a lot more features at similar price points. The password auditing features are a lot more advanced in Dashlane and 1Password, and they top it off with powerful extras like live breach monitoring. Plus, it’s really disappointing that mSecure doesn’t support 2FA options like TOTP codes and YubiKeys.
Windows users might feel let down by mSecure, as it doesn’t provide browser extensions for Windows — this restricts auto-fill and auto-save functionalities. Although the apps are user-friendly and well-organized, they lack the ability to generate new passwords inside your browser. Nevertheless, mSecure’s functionality is enhanced on mobile and macOS, as it provides auto-fill features that aren’t available in the Windows version.
Overall, mSecure is a basic password manager that has just the bare essentials. It doesn’t have any standout feature that would make it preferable over other options on the market, and it even lacks important security features like 2FA. You’ll get much better value for your money if you opt for a premium solution like 1Password or Dashlane for your password management needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a free version of mSecure?
No, mSecure is a premium-only password manager. However, you can get a 30-day free trial which lets you access all premium mSecure features.
Despite being a premium-only password manager, mSecure is fairly basic in terms of its features. There are some alternatives like Dashlane and 1Password that offer free trials with lots of advanced features — 2FA, breach monitoring, emergency access, comprehensive password auditing, and more.
How secure is mSecure app?
mSecure uses industry-standard 256-bit AES encryption to secure passwords. All encryption takes place locally on your device, which makes your account and your saved information very secure from potential threats.
Unfortunately, mSecure doesn’t offer 2FA to add extra layers of security to your account. This means that if your master password is correctly guessed by a hacker, you can potentially lose all of your data and your passwords can get exposed.
While the core mSecure app is pretty secure, it doesn’t offer advanced security for risks that can be averted by 2FA. If you want the best security for your password database, I recommend 1Password instead.
Does mSecure generate passwords?
Yes, mSecure can generate fairly strong passwords for you. The password generator allows you to choose the length and the type of character you’d like to include in your password. mSecure can also generate word-based passwords, which can have up to 8 very unusual words that are difficult to guess.
One problem with mSecure’s password generator is that it’s only accessible from its main apps. That means you can’t generate passwords within your browser window while you’re changing a password or creating a new account on a website.
But my favorite password manager — 1Password — works great from browsers, allowing you to quickly generate new passwords on the go.