Password Safe and Manager

Review by eFreeware

If you keep your logins in a notes app or a browser because every password manager you look at wants an account first, Password Safe and Manager is built for you. The app keeps an encrypted vault on your phone and asks for one master password to open it. Nothing about that requires a sign-up, and the developer says no servers of his own are involved.

That framing is the whole pitch. You get a place for passwords, passkeys, PINs and two-factor codes, with autofill to put them into apps and browsers. It has been on Google Play since 2012 and now sits above a million installs with a 4.6 average from close to 59,000 ratings, which suggests a settled, well-used tool rather than a novelty.

What I like about the approach is how little it asks of you before it becomes useful. Install it, set a master password, and the vault exists. Sync is available but optional, and it runs through storage you already control rather than a company account.

The vault stays on your phone

Your master password stays on the device and is never sent anywhere. The vault is encrypted on the phone with AES-256, and the developer describes the setup as zero-knowledge: he does not hold the key and cannot decrypt what you store. The vault is encrypted with SQLCipher 4, using AES-256 and HMAC-SHA512, with keys derived by PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA512 over 256,000 iterations and a random salt.

The practical consequence is that there is no account to create and no developer-run server holding a copy of your data. If you turn sync on, it is opt-in and off by default, and it uses your own Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive or pCloud space. The developer says the file is encrypted before it leaves the phone, so the cloud provider stores something it cannot read either.

This is the part that will decide whether the app suits you. A vault that lives on one device and syncs through your own storage is a different proposition from a hosted service that can reset your access. You alone know the master password, and losing it means it cannot be recovered.

Two-factor codes and passkeys in the same place

The feature the developer leads with is the built-in authenticator. Rather than keeping a separate app for one-time codes, you store the TOTP secrets beside the logins they belong to. The app generates those codes offline, scans QR codes to set them up, and after signing you in, autofill can place the code on your clipboard.

Passkeys are supported too. You can create, store and use them alongside older-style logins, so a site that has moved to passwordless sign-in does not force you into a second tool. Keeping both kinds of credential in one vault is the sensible arrangement, and it is the reason I would look at this app rather than a plain password keeper.

The remaining free tools cover daily use: generate unique passwords, fill logins in apps and browsers, clear the clipboard on its own, back up and restore encrypted data, import and export CSV files, check password strength with usage stats, plus favorites, generator widgets and a Wear OS app. None of it is exotic, but together it covers what most people actually do with a password manager.

Moving your existing logins across

Moving over is done with a guided import, and the range of sources it accepts is wider than most: Bitwarden, KeePass .kdbx files, 1Password, Enpass, SafeInCloud, Chrome, Google Password Manager, iCloud Keychain, or a plain CSV. Each entry can also hold a category, extra fields and 2FA codes.

That matters more than it sounds. The main reason people abandon a password manager is the chore of re-entering everything by hand, and a guided import path from the major rivals removes most of that friction. If your current setup exports a CSV, you have a route in.

Export works in the other direction as well. You can get your data out to CSV, Excel or PDF, back it up locally, or carry an encrypted file to a new phone. The aim is to avoid vendor lock-in, and the import and export options back that up.

What the free version covers and what Pro adds

The app is free to download and there are no ads, though in-app purchases are present. The free tier is not a demo: the generator, autofill, clipboard clearing, encrypted backup, CSV import and export, strength statistics, favorites, widgets and the Wear OS app are all included.

Pro adds a set of conveniences rather than the core function. Attachments and images on entries, custom fields you can reorder and reuse, archiving, multiple categories per entry, per-entry password history, bulk category assignment, Excel import and export, PDF export and printing, auto-logout after inactivity or screen-off, extra themes and self-destruct after failed attempts round out the upgrade.

The split is reasonable. If you want a local vault with autofill and codes, the free version does the job. If you want the vault to follow you between devices, or you would rather open it with your fingerprint than type the master password each time, that is what the purchase is for.

What the app asks of you

Two requirements deserve attention before you commit. The first is the master password. Only you hold it, and it cannot be recovered if lost. There is no server holding a copy of the vault. That is the price of the design, and it means the password you choose needs to be one you will not forget.

The second is backups. The developer advises regular encrypted backups, and the app provides the tools for them. If the phone is lost, damaged or wiped, the backup file is what stands between you and a fresh start on every account. Setting up a backup routine early is the single most useful habit with a vault like this.

On the sync side, note that cloud sync is optional and, if you use it, it depends on a Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive or pCloud account you already have. The app itself works fully offline without any of that. The Pro features are unlocked through in-app purchases.

Getting the most from it

The order I would suggest is straightforward. Install the app, choose a strong master password you can recall without writing it down, and set up an encrypted backup before you add anything important. Then run the import for whatever you use now, so the vault starts populated rather than half-empty.

Once your logins are in, turn on autofill and let it do the work in apps and browsers. Add your two-factor secrets as you go, so the codes sit next to the accounts they belong to instead of in a separate authenticator. If you have passkeys, create or store them in the same entries.

The organizational tools are worth using early. Custom categories and favorites keep a growing vault navigable, and the strength indicator and usage statistics give you a reason to fix the weak, reused passwords you have been carrying for years. If you do enable sync, remember that it runs through your own storage, so the security of that account matters as well.

Recent updates have added a Windows version, OneDrive and pCloud as sync providers, a black theme, and more import options, with the developer confirming the app still works fully offline when sync is not used. The project is active.

A vault for people who want to hold the key

Password Safe and Manager is for anyone who wants their credentials encrypted on hardware they control, with no account to sign up for and no company holding a copy. The combination of an offline AES-256 vault, built-in two-factor codes, passkeys and autofill covers the core of what a password manager needs to do, and the import options make leaving another manager a realistic afternoon's work rather than a project.

The trade-offs are real but they follow from the design. You are responsible for the master password and for your own backups, and the more convenient extras sit behind in-app purchases. If that division of responsibility appeals to you, this is a well-established app with a large user base and a long track record.

For my part, the offline-first stance is the reason to pick it. If you would rather trust your own phone and your own cloud storage than someone else's servers, Password Safe and Manager is a sound choice.

What's new

• PasswordSafe is now also available for Windows! • Added OneDrive and pCloud as optional sync provider • Added Black Theme • Added option to import data from other apps • The app continues to follow a zero-knowledge approach and works fully offline if you do not use sync