Updated on: December 30, 2024
LastPass vs. RoboForm: An Overview
LastPass and RoboForm are both well-known names in the password manager market that offer password storage, a password generator, browser extensions, and mobile apps for iOS and Android.
They also come with certain differences, the most important of them being their level of overall security. While LastPass has suffered several security breaches in recent years, with consequences for its users potentially extending to this day, RoboForm has never suffered an attack.
But that’s not all. I gave a detailed look at LastPass and RoboForm and their features, plans, customer support, and more, and recommend RoboForm as the winner of this comparison.
LastPass vs. RoboForm: Features
Password Import
I’m not thrilled with either brand’s password import, but maybe that’s because I’ve been spoiled by Dashlane, which offers an incredible auto-import feature. With LastPass and RoboForm, there is automatic import upon installation, but it can be tricky if you’re importing passwords from multiple places.
My main issue with Roboform is that when you import your passwords, they’re not deleted from your browser extension (unlike LastPass), which can leave you open to potential threats.
Password Generator and Security Analysis
LastPass offers a Security Challenge that analyzes your passwords and detects potential weak spots; it’s both thorough and easy to use. If your passwords are weak, it automatically suggests stronger ones.
RoboForm also has a password generator that performs security checks on both the desktop app and mobile. It tells you which passwords are weak, moderate, or strong and whether they’ve been reused or duplicated. It’s very similar to LastPass, but RoboForm allows you to avoid “ambiguous characters” and thus create passwords that are easier to remember. (However, this is not really necessary since you’re storing your passwords. I think it’s actually better to include ambiguous characters to maximize security.)
Emergency Access
Both LastPass and RoboForm offer emergency access, and this is a really helpful tool.
Emergency access grants one-time access to your passwords to one or more people in case of, well, an emergency. If you don’t access your account for a certain number of days (specified by you), an email will be sent to your emergency contact with the access info. I definitely recommend setting this feature up so that you don’t get locked out of your account or lose your data.
Two-Factor Authentication
LastPass comes with two-factor authentication (2FA) in its free version and multi-factor authentication in its paid version. The latter comes with lots of options and enabling them is easy – just click each one, set the rules, and you’re ready to go.
RoboForm also offers 2FA, but only in its paid version, which is kind of disappointing. If you do upgrade, however, the 2FA is done nicely. RoboForm integrates with 2FA applications like Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, and Authy, which means that you don’t have to switch from your already established authenticator to use RoboForm’s.
LastPass vs. RoboForm: Plans and Pricing
If you want LastPass for personal use, there are two main options: Free and Premium. The free version comes with:
- Unlimited password storage
- Access on all devices
- One-to-one sharing
- Save and fill passwords
- A password generator and Security Challenge
- Secure notes
- Multi-factor authentication and LastPass authenticator
If you upgrade to Premium, you get all of the above, plus the following:
- One-to-many sharing
- Advanced multi-factor options
- Emergency access
- Priority tech support
- LastPass for apps
- Encrypted file storage
- LastPass Authenticator (comes with cloud backup)
If you just want a basic password manager that’s easy to use and covers all your devices, the free version of LastPass is sufficient. If you want added security and backup, the Premium version is definitely worth a few dollars a month.
So what about RoboForm? What’s included in its free and paid versions?
RoboForm’s free plan is one of the best on the market. It includes:
- Unlimited logins
- Multiple device support
- Fill webforms
- Password audit
- Strong encryption
- Securely send logins
- App logins
- Manage bookmarks
Yes, the package seems rather complete, but there are two essential things missing. While you can use RoboForm on multiple devices, the free version doesn’t come with sync. Second, RoboForm’s free version doesn’t include 2FA, which is pretty basic when it comes to security. However, most top password managers impose some limitations on their free plans, so I’m not surprised by this.
If you upgrade to RoboForm’s paid version, you then sync and 2FA, along with some other great features like:
- Emergency access
- Cloud backup
- Secure shared folder
- Web access
- Priority 24/7 support
If you’re willing to upgrade, I’d recommend RoboForm over LastPass. It’s not only cheaper but also gives peace of mind thanks to the fact it has never been breached..
Family Plans
LastPass offers a Families plan, which allows 5 additional members of your family to share and access secure information (for a total of 6 users). It’s definitely a good way to keep everyone on the same page, and it’s reasonably priced at under 5 bucks. Roboform offers a similar Family plan at the same price; it can be used by up to 5 people on all of their devices.
Each brand’s family plan comes with all the features of the solo paid version, plus secure password sharing and folders.
Business Plans
LastPass offers two business plans: Teams and Enterprise, both of which come with a terrific admin dashboard, but only the latter has advanced reporting. There are also some really great additions that offer face, fingerprint and voice biometrics, in-depth reporting, and a lot more.
Roboform offers a very comprehensive Business plan, more similar to LastPass Enterprise than Teams. It comes with advanced reporting, dedicated tech support, and a really nice feature – unlimited admins. Discounts are offered based on how many years you sign up for.
Both LastPass and RoboForm business plans offer a 14-day trial, and I definitely recommend taking advantage of that before paying a lot of money up front!
As you may have noticed, in terms of features, LastPass and RoboForm have really similar personal, family, and business plans. However, RoboForm gets my vote since its premium plan is more affordable than LastPass while offering better security
LastPass vs. RoboForm: Ease of Use and Setup
You can install LastPass with just a few clicks. After you download the program and install it, LastPass automatically detects which browsers you have and will ask which extension you want to install.
Once installed, you’ll be asked to choose your master password.
Once you install the browser extension, LastPass operates quietly in the background and really only pops up if you enter a new username/password on a site. Then, it asks you if you’d like to store it, and you can create folders and choose where to put each password.
LastPass’s mobile app works well – when you first sign in, you’ll get an email confirming that it’s you who’s signing in. Once you confirm your identity, LastPass offers you the option to autofill your passwords from your account onto the app, so you can have all your passwords on your device in no time. Then, it operates quietly, much like the desktop browser extension.
RoboForm installation and setup is also relatively easy. Roboform allows imports from a large variety of browsers and password managers, including Firefox, Chrome, Safari, LastPass, 1Password, Dashlane, and more.
If you don’t want to import from your browser/other password manager, you can also import via CSV file, but that can be frustrating if you’re not very techy.
After you import, RoboForm doesn’t delete the passwords from your browser’s storage section, unlike LastPass, and that can leave your system vulnerable (so better delete them yourself!).
One thing that I do enjoy about RoboForm is that it allows you to save pages that ask for multiple contact fields, so you can fill everything out (name, address, phone number) and save it for next time. That’s a nice touch.
LastPass vs. RoboForm: Security
While the two password managers implement similar security measures, RoboForm’s appear to work better.
RoboForm and LastPass both come with zero-knowledge architecture, various 2FA options (including email and SMS one-time passwords, authenticator apps, and biometric authentication), advanced ecnryption methods, password auditing, and more.
However, RoboForm has a spotless track record, whereas LastPass has experienced multiple breaches in recent years, most notably in 2022. And while LastPass has since implemented various additional security measures, it is worrisome that the data obtained in 2022 could still potentially be exploited to commit theft.
All this gives RoboForm an edge in terms of overall security reputation.
LastPass vs. RoboForm: Customer Support
LastPass’s customer support leaves a lot to be desired. Despite the fact that Premium users are supposedly given priority support, it took them three days to respond to an email I sent! This was after I had to figure out how to contact them in the first place.
Since LastPass only offers email support (no live chat or phone), it’s really frustrating that their response time is so slow.
LastPass also has a no-refund policy, which isn’t very clear on the site and is quite disappointing as well! The one thing I will say for LastPas is that it has excellent FAQ pages.
Roboform, on the other hand, shines in the customer support arena. The support team can be reached by live chat, phone, email, a ticket system, and social media messaging. When I contacted support via the ticket system, I got an answer in less than two hours. Roboform offers refunds within 30 days of your purchase, another way in which it beats LastPass.
The site’s FAQ pages are also very well done, and you can easily search for different topics.
The Bottom Line on LastPass vs. RoboForm
RoboForm is the clear winner of this comparsion: even without taking into account its superior customer support and more affordable premium plans, its unblemished history makes it a more reliable choice of the two.
While some of its features are arguably better designed than RoboForm’s, LastPass has suffered too many breaches in recent years for me to recommend it. Even if you’re just looking for a free plan, I’d suggest going with RoboForm’s: while both password managers offer unlimited password storage, with RoboForm, you won’t have to fret about the next cyber attack endangering your credentials.