When comparing KeePass vs Password Safe and Manager, the Slant community recommends KeePass for most people. In the question“What are the most secure and feature-rich password managers on the market?” KeePass is ranked 2nd while Password Safe and Manager is ranked 7th. The most important reason people chose KeePass is:
KeePass being open source means that a number of people have reviewed the code and found it to be secure.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Free and open source
KeePass being open source means that a number of people have reviewed the code and found it to be secure.
Pro Cross-platform desktop and mobile
Available for Windows, with unofficial ports for Linux, macOS, Android, and iOS.
Pro Reliable
KeePass is consistent and stable across all clients including merging conflicts between desktop and mobile apps.
Pro Powerful built-in password generator
Password generator can be adjusted to use or exclude certain characters, patterns, external algorithms and principles.
Pro Autofills passwords securely
KeePass uses a feature called AutoType that pastes passwords in browser window using a combination of virtual keystrokes and clipboard obfuscation for added security against keyloggers.
Pro Does not depend on the cloud
Unlike many other password management tools, by default the KeePass encrypted database is not stored in the cloud, but strictly locally, for added security.
Pro Can be used as a portable application
Works as a portable application that does not need to be installed and can be carried around in an external device.
Pro Extremely powerful encryption algorithm
KeePass uses AES-256 encryption for passwords which is practically unbreakable.
Pro Extensive plugin and extension support
Keepass offers a range of plugins and extensions in different categories: Integration & Transfer, Automation & Scripting, Cryptography & Key Providers, and others.
Pro Multifactor authentication
Keepass offers a combination of master password, key file and user account verification.
Pro Allows storage of attachments such as pictures, documents and all kinds of files in general
Appending attachments to individual credential entries allows things like scanning important documents (for instance a scanned document containing the login information for your internet connection), appending them to the corresponding credential entry and afterwards destroying the original paper copy.
Pro Offers multiple sync options
Since the database is stored locally it can be synced across devices using a cloud storage service like Dropbox, Google Drive or via a file sync tool like BitTorrent Sync. KeePass v2 also provides a powerful built-in synchronization mechanism that allows setting appropriate level of sync, kind of sync, and choosing between a number of sync sources (Dropbox, Drive, etc).
Pro Regular updates
On average a new point release is available every 3 months.
Pro Due to the open source nature, there are numerous apps for Android available that support KeePass
Offers large variety of apps with different features and user interfaces vastly increasing the user base by catering to almost every taste.
Pro Intuitive categorization options and search for managing entries
Entries can be categorized in folders and subfolders and quickly found using search.
Pro Built-in history that tracks changes to individual credential entries
With the built-in history you can lookup previous passwords, track changes in general and if necessary recover those. In essence you are looking at a built-in Version Control System (VCS) which operates on single entries. Browsing the history of specific entries also displays associated metadata like the date of a change.
Pro Allows useful scripting via KPScript plugin
KeePass can set global hotkeys to fill in credentials while on a sites log-in screen. Scripting can launch a site or other application and perform any necessary log-on steps securely. It requires the KPScript plugin.
Pro 100% Free
No paid version. Free for everyone.
Pro Various iOS clients available
e.g. KeePass Touch, MiniKeePass.
Pro Customizable password records
Users may define any extra fields (eg. "Surname", "Credit Card No", "Start Date", "Expiry Date" and "Security No") and their values may then be easily copy-and-pasted when required. This is a great feature not found in a lot of password-managers: they leave you to consign such additional information to the "Notes" section.
Pro Clear, concise user interface
This app has the easiest, cleanest, and clearest user interface. For reference, LastPass has progressively gotten worse and worse and is now a confusing mess, while Keepass remains very user-friendly.
Pro Works inside Android apps
There are variations in support of features, so this is dependent on the Android app being used. Keepass2Android is one that has built-in synchronization over ssh and other protocols, fingerprint support and plugins are also supported to a certain extent.
Pro Recommended by a number of European governments and the EU
KeePass is recommended by the German Federal Office for Information Security, the European Commission’s Free and Open Source Software Auditing (EU-FOSSA) project, and the French Network and Information Security Agency.
Pro Support in iOS Safari browser
Difficult passwords are mostly a PITA on a mobile keyboard.
Pro Blackberry support
Keepass has an available Blackberry app that not only makes it easy to use on the go, but will work with any files backed up in the cloud for ease of access to stored passwords used on different machines.
Pro Ability to export your passwords into xls or pdf format
Pro Offline password manager
This app does not connect to the Internet, so you dont have to worry about the app snooping or uploading your password to a server or cloud
Pro Strong encryption
The encryption which is used for protecting your data is based on the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 256bit.
Cons
Con Not particularly modern UI
Difficult to use for new users. Small font.
Con No good cross platform syncing ability
E.g. between Windows and mobile.
Con Officially supported only on Windows, Mono or Wine
While there are ports available for Linux, OSX, iOS, Windows Phone and Android, the only officially supported version of KeePass 2 is on Windows and all platforms running Mono like Linux, Mac OS X, BSD. KeePass 1 is supported on Windows and Wine.
Con Outdated website
Extremely outdated website, which deters news users.
Con iOS support for syncing (not true -> KeePass Touch)
KeePass Touch supports a whole range of cloud sync options.
iOS clients still have somewhat limited syncing options for password files - such as DropBox.
Con Balkanized app ecosystem
There are a lot of different KeePass apps made by different people depending on your platform, e.g. Firefox, iOS, etc. Quality can be inconsistent and you need to trust each different set of authors.
Con No true multi-user and logging
Does not support multiple logins (different credentials) to database.
Con No way to recover master password if forgotten
There is no backdoor in the app, so there is unfortunately no possibility to recover a password if its lost, something is corrupt or something else. Therefore the database has to be deleted.