this post was submitted on 13 Jun 2026
323 points (98.5% liked)

Privacy

49910 readers
866 users here now

A place to discuss privacy and freedom in the digital world.

Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.

Some Rules

Related communities

much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)

founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I have been using Bitwarden for around 7~ years. Subscription for this long too, at 10USD p/year. I will be switching due to lack of transparency, and would love to hear others thoughts on this.

The linked article goes into further detail, but here is a small summary that very much concern me / are sus:

  • that 10USD per year has gone up quietly . I just checked and I have no email telling me it's increased. It renews in like 2 months, so this is good timing for me
  • Originally Bitwarden had values as apart of the acronym "GRIT". Gratitude, Responsibility, Inclusion, and Transparency. They have changed the last two words to "Innovation, Trust"
  • There is now a new CEO, this was not announced and the only reason people outside of Bitwarden know is that someone saw this change on LinkedIn
  • The free tier momentarily disappeared from their product page for about a month (april14-may14). People were likely still able to make free accounts during this period. Bitwarden says it was a marketing mistake

The price hike is one thing, but for me the acronym change is most concerning, which is why I will be looking at another password manger (probably keepassxc)

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Lettuceeatlettuce@lemmy.ml 116 points 1 month ago (2 children)

The CEO apparently is a big private equity guy, and those bloodsucking ticks only know how to do one thing: Suck every last drop of money and goodwill from the company and its customers as quickly as possible.

Breaks my heart, I've been a massive Bitwarden advocate for years. Been happily paying for the individual paid plan. I'm now working on setting up KeyPassXC with syncthing.

[–] CorrectAlias@piefed.blahaj.zone 12 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Does KeyPassXC have passkey and TOTP support?

[–] Futurama@lemmy.zip 10 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Yes. For passkey, you need to install the browser plugin and enable support in the preferences.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] JohnHammerSky@lemmy.today 7 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Do you know if I can get KeePass working on both PC and Android in sync with Syncthing?

[–] nerdychip@hexbear.net 5 points 1 month ago

I used to do that few years ago. It worked very well. Never had any issues. I've used KeePassDX on Android and KeePassXC on Linux.

[–] dieTasse@feddit.org 5 points 1 month ago

I have been using it that way for years and it works well (for this scenario no problem). Only recently I switched from Syncthing to using mounted SMB share. I switched partly because of the Syncthing for Android maintainer switch (though I still think its safe) and because Syncthing sometimes didn't sync on my Iodé custom rom and I got tired of having to open the app to sync.

[–] iturnedintoanewt@lemmy.world 62 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Lol.. From Transparency to "Just Trust Me Bro".

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] StumblingWasabi@lemmy.today 56 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yeah, I switched to KeePass for the same reason. The only way I trust software is if they'll show me the code, and the only reason to replace "transparency" with "trust" IMHO is because they want to go closed source. Innovation also tends to just mean 'we're going to be charging you for features that used to be free '

[–] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It much work to get all the names and passwords and stuff from BW moved over to keepass?

[–] StumblingWasabi@lemmy.today 5 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Not really, just had to install KeePass on my computer and export my bitwarden passwords BW makes that easy to do) and import them to KeePass. I haven't set up the browser extension yet, as at a glance it says it doesn't work with browsers installed with flatpak and that's how I have LibreWolf installed. Setting up syncthing was also pretty straightforward.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] undu@discuss.tchncs.de 51 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It got bought by a company owned by Vista Equity partners, a private equity firm.

The loss of values happened at Citrix when it was Vought by Vista. They installed Tom Krauseasthe CEO to gut it from the inside out.

Everybody should have an exit plan ready to be able to leave bitwarden

[–] redparadise@hexbear.net 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Bitwarden got bought by private equity?

[–] Allero@lemmy.today 41 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (7 children)

If you or someone you trust happen to have a home server, just install Vaultwarden, which is the community fork of Bitwarden without any fees, shady stuff or reliance on Bitwarden infrastructure.

[–] zebidiah@lemmy.ca 33 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (3 children)

If you look real close side by side there is a subtle difference....

Suuuper easy to stand up, took me about 20 minutes to get it up and running

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (6 replies)
[–] myrmidex@belgae.social 36 points 1 month ago (8 children)

Totally agree. I've been a multi-year paying customer of bitwarden for the family, always happy with their service, especially when compared with the 1pass I use at work. But that CEO avatar picture alone gives me enough bad vibes, let alone his credentials, the acronym change, so yea I too reckon I've been putting off the switch long enough now.

I came from keepass, can't go back there, even if I now have syncthing set up everywhere. Also, how would that work for the family, you force everyone to set up their own file and hope they manage it well? Highly doubtful.

I saw aliasvault pop up too, this last week. Haven't looked into it yet, and although a great contender, it's probably too young to seriously consider.

These are the alternatives according to selfh.st/apps :

  • Vaultwarden
  • Password Pusher
  • KeePassXC
  • Passbolt
  • Infisical
  • OpenBao
  • YeetFile
  • AliasVault
  • OrigamiVault

Anyone here had some bad experiences with any of these?

[–] lime@feddit.nu 17 points 1 month ago (3 children)

vaultwarden allows you to keep using the bitwarden client i think, just with your own server. should be the most seamless for the family.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] EntropyPure@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago (5 children)

Password Pusher is no password manager, only for securely sharing information.

Running on Vaultwarden, though that still depends on the official BitWarden Clients. Works great though, and can be selfhosted on pretty small machines. Very satisfied with it.

Passbolt was not on my radar when I was in the market for a new password manager, but would be a serious consideration today.

If considering a self hosted alternative, remember that backups are your responsibility then as well.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] oats@piefed.zip 5 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Switched from keepassxc to vaultwarden a while ago (mostly due to the horrible syncing experience, and to use the same password manager as my family so I could help out better).

It's a selfhosted and open source version of the Bitwarden server, you'll use the (open source) Bitwarden clients. So its all features of Bitwarden plus full transparency

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (5 replies)
[–] atrielienz@lemmy.world 32 points 1 month ago (3 children)

This is the email I received at the begining of the year when there were multiple articles about the price increase.

I think it's important to note that you may have missed or deleted the email, or it potentially could have gone to your junk folder, but they did send out emails letting people know.

[–] Buckshot@programming.dev 14 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I got the same email with 25% discount for this year. Can't argue with lack of transparency on that and it's a bit unreasonable to expect no price increases ever

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] Fmstrat@lemmy.world 13 points 1 month ago

I will conti UE to self-host Vaultwarden and use the BitWarden clients until I feel the clients are not trustworthy or they are forked.

[–] Nukitashi@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Sure, Go for it. I've been using KeePass for a long time now and I am very satisfied with it. Aside from the security and privacy (Which you know is BEST out there), It comes with many customizations too. I used to use BitWarden but now I use KeePass.

[–] Croquette@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 month ago (2 children)
load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] overload@sopuli.xyz 11 points 1 month ago

Disappointing, but I'm still going to be running the free tier of Bitwarden for the time being. Thanks for the heads up.

[–] Libb@piefed.social 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

In the same boat as you.

I don't like how it's changing, I also don't like how the UI is changing and, sadly, as a EU citizen I can't trust it any longer since it is made in the USA.

But I'm no hurry to switch. I mean, I won't rush or worry about paying one more year subscription if I have to. I'll try alternatives as long as I have too. So far, there is

  • the Canadian 1Password and
  • the non-synced/local but free to use KeepassXC that are standing out.

Both work with Linux.

[–] helix@feddit.org 6 points 1 month ago (2 children)

non-synced/local but free to use KeepassXC

I sync it with Synching with no issues.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] BrilliantBadger@piefed.ca 11 points 1 month ago

Migrated to Keepass shortly before the price increase ( not because of it) just for the reason of wanting my vault fully offline. Seeing these changes at BW still makes me sad, was a long time paying user & truly enjoyed it

Keepass is fantastiic, my vault is pretty static so just manually copy to other device as needed. And of course, have your full backup plan in place as with all things

[–] kazerniel@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (3 children)

didn't KeepassXC go full into vibe coding?

https://lemmy.world/post/47036606/23815574

otherwise that would be the most appealing alternative to me too

[–] CrumblyLiquid@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I mean they recently posted a pretty reasonable explanation about their usage of AI (https://keepassxc.org/blog/2025-11-09-about-keepassxcs-code-quality-control/ ).

I'm not sure what the guy in your link is referring to since he didn't provide any additional context.

[–] kazerniel@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

thanks, I haven't seen this before

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] diabetic_porcupine@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago

Don’t be evil!!

[–] RiQuY@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 month ago (7 children)

I guess it's time to move on, I'll check PrivacyGuides for a better alternative while I compare by myself too.

I'm not gonna allow a quiet price hike, this is scummy and anti-consumer.

load more comments (7 replies)
[–] billwashere@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago (4 children)

I’ve asked this before but does any of this enshittification affect vaultwarden?

[–] Jason2357@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

None of the above effects vaultwarden (how could it?), but it does raise concerns about long term FLOSS-friendlyness. I got bit by the sudden price increase earlier this year and decided that is the 1 year warning to migrate to either self hosted vaultwarden or something else. I move slow, so need some time anyway.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
[–] RainbowBlite@piefed.ca 7 points 1 month ago

The price is still reasonable for me. I don't want to switch services because they might enshitrify someday.

[–] kitkat_new@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

you should get a notice no later than 2 weeks before the actual renewal

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] kittenroar@beehaw.org 6 points 1 month ago

Bitwarden was taken over by private equity just before these changes btw

[–] wuphysics87@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 month ago (5 children)

Out of a desire not to switch, I'm going to ask what I know to be a naive/dumb question: what's the worst that can happen? It's a mature gpl codebase

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] chris@links.openriver.net 4 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I’ve been very happy and impressed with Proton Pass.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] Tundra@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

https://psono.com/

although its advertised as self hosted & for companies, you can create a personal account on their server.

[–] liverstealer@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

That's cool I haven't heard of that one. I personally will be avoiding Enterprise products from now on since Bitwarden

[–] Tundra@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 month ago (3 children)

fair enough brother, Keepass + syncthing is a great alternative also

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] SocialistVibes01@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 month ago

That's it. Thank you for your service until now.

load more comments
view more: next ›