What is a password manager?
A password manager gives every account its own strong password so that one breach cannot cascade into ten. Most store passwords in an encrypted vault; some recompute them on demand from a master key. Either way, the goal is the same: remove the human habit of reusing one memorable password everywhere.
- Topic
- Passwords
- Reading time
- 1 min
- Reviewed
On this page
Why reuse is the problem worth solving
Credential-stuffing attacks take email-and-password pairs from one breach and replay them against other services. Reuse is what turns a leak at a forum you forgot about into a compromised email account. Your email account can then reset everything else.
The two architectures
Vaulted managers (1Password, Bitwarden, Dashlane, Keeper) encrypt and sync stored credentials. Deterministic managers (MoolKey, LessPass, Spectre) recompute generated credentials from a Master Key instead of storing a generated credential list. Vaults offer autofill and recovery; deterministic tools trade those conveniences for a smaller stored-secret surface.
Sources
These primary references support the terminology and current security guidance used in this definition.
