Dashlane Password Manager Review

Dashlane - Ryve Blog

How much is Dashlane?

Dashlane offers a free subscription, which is well worth testing out.  However, be aware that it will only store a maximum of 50 passwords and it can only be accessed on a single device.  Dashlane’s paid plan costs $3.33 USD per month (which is just under $5 AUD per month), making it one of the most expensive password management systems on offer. 

They also offer a business plan which costs $4 USD per month.  This package includes an admin console for user and policy management, and allows secure password sharing within groups.  For accounts of over 50 users, your company will also benefit from your own customer success manager.

Secure Password Management

Dashlane uses 256-bit AES encryption to store all passwords, which is an industry standard.  This type of encryption has never been cracked and while it is theoretically possible it would take billions of years with current computing power.  It currently has no breaches on record, which can’t be said for all password management systems.

Like most other password management systems, Dashlane is never sent your master password and it is not stored on any Dashlane servers or stored locally, ensuring your account is kept secure.  The downside of this is there’s no way to recover your account if you forget it. 

Security monitoring service

In Dashlane’s admin screen it will provide with you an overall security rating based on your passwords in use, and prompt you to update passwords which are weak, old or duplicated.

Dashline also offers a security breach feature.  It scans the dark web using your credentials and if your information becomes compromised it will prompt you to change them.  Another great feature of Dashline is it provides the option to automatically update passwords after a specified period of time.  This is a feature which is lacking in other password management systems.  

Dashlane  Security Summary - Ryve Blog

Password importation

One of the best features of Dashlane is that it offers to import all your passwords upon installation.  It supports password importation from Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome.

Categorisation of passwords

Dashlane allows you to put your passwords into categories but it requires you to manually edit each entry individually, which can be time prohibitive.

Supports two-factor authentication

Dashlane also supports multiple 2 factor-authentication tools, including Authy, Google Authenticator, Free OTP, WinAuth and YubiKey.  This allows you to implement a higher level of security for more sensitive information.

Dashlane allows storage of more than just passwords

Dashlane also supports storage for personal info, credit cards, PayPal accounts, IDs, notes and receipts.  This data can also be encrypted and set to an emergency contact in the event that something should happen to you.

Auto-fill passwords and remote access across different devices

Like many other password management application Dashlane allows you to auto-fill your password within the browser.  Whenever you arrive at a page with a login screen most password management systems will display a small logo to the side of the login box.  You can then select the accounts associated with that login and select auto-fill.

Dashlane takes this a step further, allowing you to skip this process entirely and request which websites you would like to be automatically logged into.  This is a fantastic feature, however at the time of writing it has its glitches.  Sometimes Dashlane has trouble detecting which field should receive which information.  It also has issues when there is more than one credential for a given website, as Dashlane may automatically login to the wrong one on your behalf.

Like many of the other password management systems Dashlane has applications for both iPhone and Android, allowing users to remotely access passwords on their devices.  Dashlane’s auto-fill feature is also compatible on iPhone, iPad and Android-based phones, making remote login fast and secure.

Dashlane Phone App - Ryve Blog

Password management tools for business owners

Dashlane offers an admin console to business users, which shows how many active users there are in the account.  It also provides information about the passwords in use within the organisation and their overall security score.  For each user it will show which passwords are safe, weak, reused, or compromised.

 It’s group sharing feature allows users to efficiently and securely share multiple passwords and secure notes with other users.  To improve security across the businesses Dashlane also allows you to limit the other users ability to share, edit or passwords which have been shared.  

Despite these positives, Dashlane’s administration console is lacking compared to other password management systems, which provide much more detailed and more easily accessed information on how passwords are being used and shared within the organisation.

Automatic password updating

One of the most useful features of Dashlane is the ability to automatically update passwords on your behalf.  Dashlane will login to the accounts you use, generate a strong, unique password and change it automatically, across multiple websites.  This is an incredible feature, particularly when an employee has left the organisation and the logins they had access to require updating.  The time savings in this instance are significant.

Conclusions

Dashlane is largely targeted at the personal user and offers some great features, particularly the option to automatically change passwords at bulk.    It is a great option for small teams, but for larger scale businesses it’s admin console is not as fully featured as other password management systems on the market, and it might not provide the level of security information required by larger scale businesses.

It’s also one of the most expensive password management systems on the market so we recommend having a look at 1Password, LastPass and PassPortal before deciding which system you want to subscribe to.