NordPass is a secure password manager from a reputable company. It's user-friendly and has a clean design. We appreciated this password manager's proprietary encryption, XChaCha, which Nord developed itself, as well as its reasonable pricing.

While we found the free version of NordPass to be a little lackluster, the paid version is definitely worth it — and it’s quite affordable. Compared to other password managers, NordPass stands out with its password-free biometric authentication as well as an option for multi-factor authentication. Overall, a quality product from a trusted name.

NordPass review at a glance

NordPass pros and cons

NordPass features

NordPass offers many of the same features as other password managers that secure your information but with the reliability of the Nord name. One standout feature is the XChaCha20 encryption used by NordPass instead of the standard AES 256-bit encryption algorithm.

Additionally, NordPass eschews two-factor authentication for multi-factor authentication as well as incorporating biometric passwordless authentication into its platform. All of this means that NordPass is a beast. Think of it like swatting a fly with a sledgehammer.

Password sharing

This is a premium feature, so you won’t be able to use it on the free plan. 

There is a free password-sharing feature that allows you to generate a secure link with the password or another note. The link is active for 24 hours should you need to share something private. Otherwise, you have the option within your portal to share a password easily from the three-dot menu beside each credential. You can share passwords with other NordPass members.

Multi-factor authentication

Everyone has the capability to turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA) whether you’re using a paid or free plan. NordPass offers three options for authentication: an authenticator app (like Google Authenticator), security keys, or backup codes. We were able to quickly create a backup code that we saved to our hard drive as a PDF.

As another added layer of security, NordPass offers biometric authentication, which means your fingerprint or FaceID can be used to unlock your account on compatible devices.

Password generator

The NordPass password generator is located within the dashboard and on the Password Generator page under the Features section of the NordPass website. It allows you to create strong and secure passwords in two ways. First, you can autofill with a newly created password when signing up for a new service. You also have the ability to generate a new password independent of a sign-up if you need it to input later.

There are customizable permissions based on character count as well as symbols, letters, and numbers that allow you to create up to a 60-character password or 10-word passphrase. A strong password is made up of a string of complex letters, numbers, and symbols, and can be the key to your account staying secure.

Autofill

The Personal Info feature in the NordPass dashboard allows you to create a personal profile that will autofill website form fields. If you’ve never used this feature before with another service, it’s really useful. 

As well as personal information, NordPass will autofill your login details in the appropriate fields for all of your saved passwords. This makes logging into your accounts easier. We found in our testing that you can even organize your profiles into categories to keep everything clutter-free.

Password health report

The password strength report is another feature only available with the Premium subscription. NordPass will scan your passwords and determine if any are weak, vulnerable, or reused, and then break down all passwords into clear categories so you can fix the issues.

There’s even a notification for passwords that are over 90 days old. While you don’t have to change every password every 90 days, especially if you have strong passwords, you should change passwords guarding sensitive data like your online banking frequently.

Digital legacy

The Emergency Access feature comes with a Premium subscription and allows you to designate trusted people to access your account in case of emergency. While this isn’t marketed as a digital legacy feature, it serves the same purpose as products that are marketed that way. 

One thing to note about this feature, though, is that you can only grant access to another NordPass user. We tried to grant access to a relative who hadn't signed up yet and got an error that said, "Cannot give Emergency Access to this account. Please try another."

Bonus features

It’s worth noting Nord’s approach to encryption, as it’s not the norm. NordPass explains that XChaCha20 encryption is faster than AES-256 to implement on platforms without AES hardware and that mobile platforms are moving toward XChaCha20. As well as this encryption type, NordPass also offers secure storage for your credit card details with all plans and a data breach scanner for Premium plans.

How much does NordPass cost?

NordPass has a simple selection of plans and pricing. While the free version has basic features like a password manager, autofill, and a password generator, the Premium plan allows you to stay logged into six devices simultaneously while also allowing for password sharing. If you need a password manager for the entire family, the Family plan costs a little more per month but allows up to six separate user accounts.

NordPass plan comparison

Our NordPass experience

The NordPass password manager was easy to download and install, and the online tutorial helped us set up our profile right away. We were able to import passwords from other browsers and password managers. This let us set up our account quickly. We found NordPass to be intuitive and easy to use.

While using the free version of NordPass, we found the prompts to upgrade to the Premium subscription annoying. Premium features are shown in the dashboard and upgrade prompts appear regularly throughout the dashboard. However, this isn’t a deal-breaker, and it’s not so obtrusive that it interrupts functionality.

You may want to change various settings, like autolock, when you first log in unless you’re prepared to enter your master password every 15 minutes. You can change the autolock feature in settings, via the gear in the menu. There you can choose the frequency with which you'd like the app to lock, from a few minutes to never.

In settings we were able to:

• Configure the autolock
• Create a NordPass account recovery code
• Change the amount of time a copied item would be cleared from the clipboard
• Toggle our crash reporting

Since we were using the free version, we didn’t have access to all the features. What we did have access to, however, was a clean, user-friendly interface with a lot of functionality. Overall, NordPass impressed us even with the limited features of the free product.

NordPass privacy policy

NordPass has an interesting approach to logs. App and critical-error logs are saved on the user’s device with no identifying information. Logs of critical errors are only shared with the NordPass API automatically (with no identifying information) if the user has enabled Crash Reporting in the app's settings. Otherwise, the only one who can view or share logs is the user.

While we’re not a fan of logs, this isn’t an egregious policy. Companies have to walk a fine line when recording issues that can help make their service better, but users don’t want their information shared. It appears that NordPass walks this line well, and we’re comfortable with the logs kept by NordPass.

NordPass third-party audits

Nord participates in both external and internal audits. The external audits are performed by a third party with whom Nord shares “access to various materials, documentation, source code, and other data NordPass operates on.” [1]

And for the internal audits, NordPass has a team constantly evaluating the product and fixing issues as they arise. NordPass received its last audit on personal plans in February 2020.[2]

Is NordPass safe to use?

Yes, NordPass is a safe password manager. Not only has NordPass never been hacked, it also uses zero-knowledge architecture for increased cybersecurity. What this means is that your data is encrypted and unable to be accessed by anyone who doesn’t have your device.

In light of the 2022 LastPass hacks, NordPass released a blog post outlining its own security measures.[3] NordPass only stores decryption keys on your device, so even if its servers are breached, the information can’t be decrypted. Additionally, metadata and secret data, both located within the NordPass servers, are individually encrypted with at least two separate encryption methods.

NordPass customer support

NordPass has a Contact Us page that lists several ways and reasons you might want to contact Nord. Not all of them are customer-service related, but there you’ll find the link to the email form for customer service as well as a link to the Help Center. There’s also a Chat with Us button.

NordPass has a 4.5-star rating on TrustPilot, with 87% of reviewers leaving a 5-star rating. While the high ratings don’t come exclusively from customer service, many of the reviews reflect praise of individual customer service representatives by name.

NordPass compatibility

NordPass works on a variety of operating systems and browsers and also offers mobile apps for both iPhones and Androids. We’ve given you a full list below.

Operating systems

You can use the NordPass desktop app on the following operating systems:

• Windows 8 32/64bit and up
• macOS 10.13 and up
• Linux: any system that supports snap 64bit
• Chrome OS currently supports Web Vault only

There’s also a NordPass mobile app for the following:

• Android 8.0 and up
• iOS 14.0 and up

Browser extensions

• Google Chrome
• Mozilla Firefox
• Opera
• Edge
• Safari
• Brave

NordPass isn’t the most expensive password manager, but it also isn’t the least expensive. Bitwarden comes in with a robust free product and a premium package under $1 a month. 1Password, on the other hand, doesn’t offer a free product and starts at around $3 a month. Based on these two other popular password managers, NordPass’ prices fall in the middle.

For the number of features you get, the NordPass Premium plan is a good deal. NordPass doesn’t have such a robust free product, but the features included in the paid plan are different (in a good way) from other password managers. Overall, the Premium plan is a good deal for the price.

NordPass FAQs

Bottom line: Is NordPass good?

Yes, NordPass is made by a trusted name and provides an excellent product. The end-to-end encryption offered by NordPass means your data is safe and protected. Since this comes on every version, including the free version of the product, you can trust you’re getting one of the best password managers on the market.

As far as features, we wish there were more offered in the free product, but we were pleased with what was included. Our ability to save profiles, credit cards, and import passwords from other storage areas was really all we needed in a password manager. 

We were also pleased with the Secure Notes feature and the free password sharer offered on the NordPass website. After exploring the dashboard and looking through NordPass, we're confident this password manager is a great choice.

5.0

Limited-time offer: 56% off + 3 extra months

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On NordPass's website

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NordPass

• Strong encryption and security
• User-friendly interface
• Free version is limited to one device at a time

Author Details

Mary James

About the Author

Mary lives in Los Angeles and has been a cybersecurity writer for over five years. With a B.S. in Liberal Arts from Clarion University and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Point Park University in Pittsburgh, her career in online security began in sales and content creation for a private cybersecurity firm.