LogMeOnce review: The passwordless password manager

Password managers relieve users of the burden of remembering all their passwords except one—the master password. As the key that unlocks access to all your other passwords, it is a single point of failure. Forget it and you’re up the proverbial creeks. LogMeOnce solves this problem by not requiring a master password (though it’s still an option if you want to use it) and using biometric, numeric PIN, and photo logins to provide access to your password vault.

Other than this unique passwordless access, LogMeOnce operates similarly to other password managers. It allows you to store and synchronize passwords, credit cards, secure notes, and sensitive files across your devices and secures it all with end-to-end encryption. It includes a strong-password generator that creates passwords of up to 128 random letters, numbers, and special characters. And it audits the strength of your existing passwords, alerting you to any that are too simple or overly used so you can improve the security of your login credentials.

Note: This review is part of our best password managers roundup. Go there for details about competing products and how we tested them.

How it works

To start using LogMeOnce, you just have to register an account on the website. During the process, you’ll create a master password and set a security question. Then LogMeOnce prompts you to install the extension for the browser you’re using and to either import your login credentials from another password manager or add them directly. Once these are entered, LogMeOnce displays a password strength rating for each, expressed as a percentage, and a separate rating for your password strength overall.

Michael Ansaldo/IDG

At this point, you’ll have to log out to set up passwordless access. When you next enter your username, LogMeOnce asks how you’d like to log in and offers options for photo login, facial recognition, fingerprint authentication, numeric PIN, or master password. If you select one of the first four options, you’ll have to download the LogMeOnce mobile app on your phone and authenticate it to connect it to your account. The PIN and biometric options work as you’d expect, while the photo login captures a selfie from your computer’s webcam, sends it to your phone, and asks you to confirm that it’s you. You can choose any method each time you log in.

Design and features

LogMeOnce uses an intuitive tab-and-tile web interface. The main dashboard displays icons for every major feature, and you just click on one to launch it. The password vault, where you’ll likely spend most of your time, lays out all your passwords as click-to-launch tiles. The default view presents all your saved websites, but you can sort them by category (arts, business, favorites, etc.) using a row of tabs at the top of the page.

The browser extension is also well-designed, providing quick links to your website credentials, notes, and credit card and ID information. You can also generate and securely share passwords and manage LogMeOnce’s settings from here.

Michael Ansaldo/IDG

Capture and replay worked seamlessly in my testing. When I logged into a saved website, LogMeOnce surfaced the relevant credential record and auto-filled the login when I clicked on it. Each time I accessed a site that didn’t currently have a credential record in my LogMeOnce vault, the tool gave me the option to add it. Password generation and note sharing also worked well in my tests.

The plans

LogMeOnce offers three personal plans. The Premium tier is free but ad-supported and provides unlimited passwords, autofill, and device syncing plus 1MB of encrypted storage. It limits how many credit cards and secure notes you can save (three of each) and how many passwords you can share (five). The Professional plan costs $2.50 per month and allows you to save unlimited credit cards, share 50 passwords and 50 secure notes, bumps encrypted storage up to 1GB, and adds emergency access to your data for a trusted friend or family member. For $3.25 a month, the Ultimate plan offers 10GB of encrypted storage, unlimited secure sharing, a customizable dashboard, and other additional features. There’s also a Family plan for $4.99 a month that covers up to six people, removes all limits, and provides a family manager tool. Both the Ultimate and Family plans come with a free 7-day trial.

Bottom line

With its passwordless login and automatic two-factor authentication, LogMeOnce offers arguably the most convenient password manager experience we’ve tried. But it doesn’t come at the expense of good security; the LogMeOnce password manager’s features compare favorably with our top picks and you can even add on features such as dark web monitoring and cyberthreat monitoring to extend your online protection. That should put it on the shortlist for most users.

• LogMeOnce password manager

  The LogMeOnce password manager offers a good balance of flexibility and security that will satisfy most users.

  Pros

  • No need to remember a complex master password
  • Robust security features
  • Easy-to-use web interface

  Cons

  • Paid plans required to share more than a few passwords and files
  • Number of features can be overhwelming

Michael Ansaldo is a veteran consumer and small-business technology journalist. He contributes regularly to TechHive and writes the Max Productivity column for PCWorld.