I am looking into password managers, as number of my accounts are increasing. Currently I am weighing two options:
- Host Vaultwarden on a VPS, or
- Use the free bitwarden service.
I want to know how they are in practical aspects.
While I am fine self-hosting many services, password managers seem to be one of the most critical services that should not admit downtime. I surely cannot keep it up, as I need to update it time to time.
On the other hand, using bitwarden might require some level of trust. How much should I trust the company to use the free service? How do I know if my passwords would be safe, not being exposed to the wide net?
I want to gauge pros and cons, are there aspects I missed? How are your opinions on this? If you are self-hosting vaultwarden, how do you manage the downtime? Thanks in advance!
At the end of the day you have to trust someone (Bitwarden, Hoster, Hardware Manufacturer…). It comes down to your threat profile and what you personally accept as a risk vs. effort (or convenience). For me Bitwarden was acceptable, but I switched to self hosting Vaultwarden ca. 3 years ago. Main reasons being the advanced features (sharing some passwords with the family, setting up a tech savvy friend to take over my vault should I get hit by a bus, etc.). I did not have any relevant downtime of that service in years.