Home / Lockbox vs Bitwarden
Lockbox vs Bitwarden
Bitwarden is a fully open-source password manager with a generous free tier and optional premium at $1.65/month. Lockbox is a one-time purchase at $7.99 that stores everything locally on your device and includes a built-in authenticator and encrypted photo vault. Both use strong encryption.
Pricing
Lockbox
$7.99
one-time, forever
Free tier: 3 items
Then $7.99 for unlimited. No subscription.
Bitwarden
$1.65
per month ($19.80/year)
Free tier: unlimited items, unlimited devices.
Premium adds 2FA, file attachments, reports.
3-year total cost
$7.99Lockbox
Free or ~$59Bitwarden
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Lockbox | Bitwarden |
|---|
| Pricing model | One-time purchase | Free or subscription |
| Free tier | 3 items | Unlimited items, unlimited devices |
| Storage location | On-device (local) | Cloud |
| Encryption | AES-256-GCM | AES-256-CBC |
| 2FA authenticator | Built-in (TOTP), included | Premium only ($1.65/mo) |
| Photo vault | Yes (encrypted) | No |
| File storage | 100MB per file, on-device | 1GB total, Premium only |
| Secure sharing | Whisper (zero-knowledge, self-destruct) | Bitwarden Send |
| Open source | Crypto layer open for audit | Fully open source |
| Biometric unlock | Yes | Yes |
| Cross-platform sync | Not yet | Yes |
| Self-hosting | No (local storage) | Yes |
Security
Lockbox
- AES-256-GCM encryption (per-item envelope encryption)
- PBKDF2-SHA256 with 600,000 iterations (native)
- HKDF-SHA512 sub-key derivation
- Data stored locally on-device only
- Screenshot and screen recording blocked
- Zero-knowledge Whisper sharing
- Root/jailbreak detection
Bitwarden
- AES-256-CBC encryption
- PBKDF2-SHA256 with 600,000 iterations (default) or Argon2id
- Data stored on Bitwarden cloud or self-hosted server
- Fully open source (client and server)
- SOC 2 and SOC 3 audited
- Third-party security audits published publicly
Who should choose Bitwarden
- You want a completely free password manager with unlimited items
- You value fully open-source software (client and server)
- You want to self-host your password vault
- You need cloud sync across many devices today
- You want browser extensions for every major browser
- You need family or organization sharing features
Who should choose Lockbox
- You want to pay once and own it forever (no subscription, no free-tier limits on features)
- You prefer your data stored on your device, not in the cloud
- You want a built-in TOTP authenticator without paying extra
- You need a private, encrypted photo vault
- You want AES-256-GCM (authenticated encryption) rather than AES-256-CBC
- You want screenshot and screen recording protection
Prices verified April 2026 from bitwarden.com/pricing. Prices may vary by region. Bitwarden is a trademark of Bitwarden, Inc. This page is not affiliated with Bitwarden, Inc.