LastPass no longer Fitting your Free Lifestyle?

If you are like me, you have been using a password manager to help remember those long and difficult passwords that keep your online life safe. LastPass was the password manager I chose and have been using for years. Its free subscription and cross-platform and device abilities are great and served me well. If you were using their free subscription then you have received their recent email. That email informed you of the upcoming change to their free subscription after March 16. Does LastPass no longer fit your free lifestyle?

Why the change?

You are probably wondering why LastPass made this change? They have offered the free subscription forever, right? Well, it turns out that the company that makes LastPass, LogMeIn, was acquired by a pair of private equity firms, Francisco Partners and Evergreen for $4.3B. Yes, that is B for billion. For more details about the acquisition, you can read this article on TechCrunch – LogMeIn agrees to be acquired by Francisco Partners and Evergreen for $4.3B. 

As Francisco Partners and Evergreen looked for the best way to achieve a return on their investment, they came to the obvious conclusion: more subscriptions provide more revenue. To increase the number of subscriptions they currently have they are looking to convert free plan users to paid plans. The conversion is being achieved by reducing the capabilities for LastPass free version users. Beginning March 16, users will be able to use the free version either on computers or on mobile devices, not both.

Is it working? 

I am sure that there are many out there that don’t want to change to a new platform. Those users will pay for a subscription, individual or family, taking advantage of the 25% discount switching before March 16th. While this may not work out completely in LogMeIn’s favour, due to users leaving the platform towards other free options, many users will make the change which will increase revenues. There will, however, be some who feel alienated. Those users will switch to one of the many alternative password managers.

So what should you do?

If you are happy with LastPass and feel that their product is worth the price of the subscription then it truly is a no-brainer. A premium individual user license with the offered discount is only $38/year plus tax. A family plan for up to 6 people is only $50/year. These are not steep prices on a good product, they are just more than the $0 you’ve been paying.

If, however, you are looking to remain with a free option, then perhaps a migration to a solution like Bitwarden is for you. Offering many of the same functions as LastPass you can make the switch following a few easy steps which will allow you to maintain that fee solution lifestyle you desire.

I am not going to spend time debating the merits of the change, LastPass is a great solution, which will continue to serve you well should you stick with it. But if you have found that LastPass no longer fits your free lifestyle, you may want to migrate to Bitwarden. These simple steps will get you there.

How to get set-up with BitWarden

Go to https://bitwarden.com/ and click on the “Get Started” link in the top right of the page just to the left of “Log In”. On the next page fill in your email address and name and create your Master Password. Make sure it is not the same as your LastPass Master Password; you have been making secure passwords forever right?! Re-enter your new Master Password and check the box to agree to the Terms of Service, after reading them of course. Click on submit to create your account.

Having now created your account login if you are not already and you’ll be at the home where you will see familiar options for Logins, Cards, Identity and Secure Notes. You can create folders and see the items in your vault. (There should be none since you just created the account).

Click on the Send Email button and then look in your inbox for an email from Bitwarden and click on the “Verify Email Address Now” button to verify your account and you are halfway through the process of moving from LastPass.

Export data from LastPass

Login to your LastPass vault and then select “Advanced Options” second from the bottom of the left navigation menu. In the sub-menu that appears choose “Export” from the “Manage Your Vault” section.

This will bring you to the Export screen where you can enter your Master Password and then click on the “Submit” button to export your data.

Your data will be displayed in your browser in CSV format, select all and then copy it and then paste it into a new file called Export.csv and save the file.

Almost there!

Now that your vault is exported and saved locally log back into Bitwarden using your browser. Click on “Tools” in the top menu and then select “Import Data” from the left menu.

Choose “LastPass (csv)” from the import format dropdown. Choose the export file that you just saved. Click “Import Data”. When the import completes you will be taken to your vault with all of your passwords organized in their folders.

You can now set up your mobile apps, browser extensions and desktop apps all available here:
https://bitwarden.com/download/

Happy passwording!