Swifty is an open source and offline password manager for Windows, MacOS and Linux

Ashwin
Mar 8, 2021
Updated • Mar 16, 2021
Software, Windows software
|
15

Many people are switching from LastPass, and looking for suitable alternatives. The popular choice seems to be Bitwarden, though I prefer an offline tool like KeePass. But those aren't the only options available, there are many open source programs to choose from.

Swifty is an open source and offline password manager for Windows, MacOS and Linux

Swifty is an open source and offline password manager for Windows, MacOS and Linux. The best part about offline password managers is that you can start using them right away, without registering for an account.

Swifty startup screen

When you run the program for the first time, you'll see options to setup a master password, or to import a database from an existing backup. Let's go with the new user option.

Swifty get started

The program has a pleasant interface with two panes and a sidebar. The right pane displays 2 options: to create a new entry, and to import data from Google Drive. The latter creates a Swifty folder in your Google Drive account, and syncs your database to it, and this serves as a backup solution.

Note: Swifty doesn't work with Firefox Containers. I've set account.google.com (and all other Google sites) to open in the Google container. Even though I was able to connect Swifty to Drive using Firefox, it just kept giving some error. Then I tried the URL with Microsoft Edge, and it worked perfectly.

Swifty add a login

To get started, click on the + symbol on the sidebar, and you'll see some many text fields appear on the right pane It has options to enter the website's name, URL, your email address, username, etc. Fill up the form as required, when you come to the password field, hit the generate button to create a unique, strong password. Optionally, add a tag to a login which will help you search for the specific account quickly. It also supports TOTP (time-based one time passwords)

Note: The database is encrypted using Swifty's own encryption module (AES 256 GCM)

Hit the save button and your credentials will be saved to Swifty's vault. You can access the saved logins from the 2nd tab on the sidebar. Each field has a copy button next to it, which you can use to copy the data to the clipboard, and paste it in any program that you want to.

Swifty add a secure note

Swifty clears the clipboard automatically after 1 minute, I had to use a stopwatch to see how long it took for the autodelete to happen. There's no option to change the timer. To edit a saved login, click on the pencil icon, make your changes and hit the save button.

Swifty add a credit card screen

You may also store notes and your credit card information securely, to do this, select the corresponding tab on the sidebar, and then click on the + button. Swifty will automatically lock the database when it has been idle for a certain time, to protect your information from prying eyes. I used the stopwatch again, and it takes one minute to trigger. You can't modify this behavior either.

Swifty password generator

Click on the settings button in the bottom left corner of Swifty's GUI. In addition to saving your vault to your Google Drive, you can save a local backup of the vault.swftx on your computer. You may change your database's master password from the settings, if you forget it, there is no way to recover the vault's contents. The last tab in the Settings screen lets you define the Password Generation rules, you can use it to set the default length of generated passwords, and whether to include numbers, uppercase and special characters (symbols). The program runs from the system tray, and has a tray menu that can be used to can access the vault or lock it.

Swifty vault settings

Swifty is a pretty good application, but it's not without flaws. There is no portable version available. The major drawback however, is that it does not support importing an existing database from LastPass, KeePass, Bitwarden, CSV file, etc.

There are no mobile apps or browser extensions for Swifty yet, though they are in the road-map. This means you are currently limited to the desktop programs. The fact that it doesn't have autotype (or autofill), makes it a bit tedious to use the password manager.

Swifty

For Windows

Summary
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Author Rating
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4 based on 13 votes
Software Name
Swifty
Operating System
Windows, Linux, Mac
Software Category
Security
Price
Free
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Comments

  1. KeZa said on March 20, 2021 at 10:20 pm
    Reply

    @Ashwin, what about Kaspersky Password Manager? I have the premium now for a wile and I love it. Ok, is not perfect bc I can still see some improvements but overall is a good one.

  2. owl said on March 12, 2021 at 10:37 am
    Reply

    @JD,
    > Please provide some sources and facts to support your opening statement of “people are leaving LastPass”.

    Demand for fee to use password app LastPass sparks backlash
    Pay up or face restrictions on access, say new private-equity owners.
    Mark Vandevelde, Financial Times – Mar 8, 2021 4:04 pm UTC
    https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/03/demand-for-fee-to-use-password-app-lastpass-sparks-backlash/
    Article summary:
    A popular app that promised to eliminate the burden of remembering passwords has sparked a backlash by demanding, weeks after it was acquired by two private equity firms, that users pay up or face restrictions on access to their online accounts.
    Two investment firms, Elliott Management and Francisco Partners, acquired the service as part of their $4.3 billion buyout of Internet software group LogMeIn in September last year.
    “Without the ability to sync, there’s very few users who will really be able to use [LastPass],” said Joseph Bonneau, a cryptography researcher and computer security expert at New York University. “They’re making the free version so difficult to use that most people will be forced to pay or use another solution.”
    But one free password app, BitWarden, has registered a fivefold increase in new users since LastPass announced its more restrictive policy last month,
    Among BitWarden’s new users is Rothrock, who said that in his experience, the two services were “functionally identical.”
    Some of his friends offered to cut him in on their “family pack” subscription to LastPass, but he declined.
    Reader comments for the article:
    https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/03/demand-for-fee-to-use-password-app-lastpass-sparks-backlash/?comments=1

    About LastPass:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LastPass

  3. Trey said on March 9, 2021 at 9:32 pm
    Reply

    Thankfully there are a lot of decent password manager options out there. Everyone has a different use-case. You ultimately use what works best for you in your situation. All the “this one is best” comments are always so friggin stupid.

    1. owl said on March 12, 2021 at 11:33 am
      Reply

      > All the “this one is best” comments are always so friggin stupid.

      Well, don’t make a fuss.
      “Comments” are “straightforward subjectivity” by the end users of those apps.
      It’s a “conclusion” based on the person’s knowledge and experience.
      It is only “subjective”. But it will be a “reference” material.

      According to the past “subjectivity” in this case,
      No password manager is needed, “memory in the brain is the best”
      A pen and a note are the best.
      The “vault” method via the cloud is the best.
      The vault is absolutely local is the best.
      There are different values, or favorites.

      By the way,
      I conclude that “KeePass Password Safe” is the best.
      https://www.ghacks.net/2021/02/20/migrating-from-lastpass-to-an-alternative-password-manager-keepass-vs-bitwarden-which-one-will-you-choose/#comment-4486793
      https://www.ghacks.net/2021/02/16/lastpass-free-will-be-severely-limited-on-march-16-2021/#comment-4486694
      https://www.ghacks.net/2021/02/20/migrating-from-lastpass-to-an-alternative-password-manager-keepass-vs-bitwarden-which-one-will-you-choose/#comment-4486840

  4. JD said on March 9, 2021 at 4:48 pm
    Reply

    Please provide some sources and facts to support your opening statement of “people are leaving LastPass”. I know many people who use it and have used it for years with no intention of changing, myself included.

    1. owl said on March 12, 2021 at 10:39 am
      Reply

      @JD,
      > Please provide some sources and facts to support your opening statement of “people are leaving LastPass”.

      Demand for fee to use password app LastPass sparks backlash
      Pay up or face restrictions on access, say new private-equity owners.
      Mark Vandevelde, Financial Times – Mar 8, 2021 4:04 pm UTC
      https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/03/demand-for-fee-to-use-password-app-lastpass-sparks-backlash/
      Article summary:
      A popular app that promised to eliminate the burden of remembering passwords has sparked a backlash by demanding, weeks after it was acquired by two private equity firms, that users pay up or face restrictions on access to their online accounts.
      Two investment firms, Elliott Management and Francisco Partners, acquired the service as part of their $4.3 billion buyout of Internet software group LogMeIn in September last year.
      “Without the ability to sync, there’s very few users who will really be able to use [LastPass],” said Joseph Bonneau, a cryptography researcher and computer security expert at New York University. “They’re making the free version so difficult to use that most people will be forced to pay or use another solution.”
      But one free password app, BitWarden, has registered a fivefold increase in new users since LastPass announced its more restrictive policy last month,
      Among BitWarden’s new users is Rothrock, who said that in his experience, the two services were “functionally identical.”
      Some of his friends offered to cut him in on their “family pack” subscription to LastPass, but he declined.
      Reader comments for the article:
      https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/03/demand-for-fee-to-use-password-app-lastpass-sparks-backlash/?comments=1

      About LastPass:
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LastPass

    2. Paddleless said on March 10, 2021 at 2:52 am
      Reply

      I don’t know what the numbers look like, but there’s good reason to think that people are leaving LastPass at the moment, as two pieces of news in the past 30 days or so have angered many LastPass users:
      1. LastPass announced that, as of March 16, free accounts may only be used on one device type, either desktop/laptop computers or phones/tablets.
      2. It was recently revealed that the LastPass Android app has multiple trackers built in that send data to various places other than LastPass. While LastPass insists that these other entities have no access to your private data, not all users are mollified.
      These issues have been discussed on several forums, including the LastPass forum, and a number of people have stated that they have, or plan to, switch to another password manager, with Bitwarden being in many cases the chosen replacement.
      I have (free) LastPass, and at one time it was my primary password manager. Now I mostly use KeePass, and LastPass functions as a separate backup. The above issues don’t concern me directly, as I don’t use LastPass on mobile, and don’t even have the app installed on my current phone, but if I were affected, I would certainly be checking out Bitwarden.

  5. Anon7 said on March 9, 2021 at 1:17 pm
    Reply

    Password managers are so much better than biometric based sign in options like FACE-ID or fingerprint ID.

    Big tech would you have believe that biometric sign in is good, its not, its privacy invading data collection.

    They want biometric data to improve CCTV facial recognotion.

    Lets hope the world does not go the way of china.

    Have a good day everyone.

  6. ramsam said on March 9, 2021 at 10:21 am
    Reply

    Roboform is the best.
    Now it is free for personal use with unlimited logins.
    Free for desktop version only.

  7. Paul(us) said on March 8, 2021 at 5:16 pm
    Reply

    Do I understand it correctly that https://getswifty.pro/ his database has a 3.31 x 1056 years security?
    Or are those old figures because of the faster processors nowadays the AES-256 encryptions are (Much) easier to crack?

  8. Kili Manjaro said on March 8, 2021 at 3:44 pm
    Reply

    Without mobile apps its useless, at best pc-limited tool.

    1. Mike T. said on March 8, 2021 at 11:41 pm
      Reply

      I used LastPass for years but switched to Bitwarden several months ago and never looked back. I have tried KeePass on occasion based on recommendations from sites like this, but have always found it more awkward to use than other options.

      1. Sean said on March 9, 2021 at 4:52 pm
        Reply

        Me too.

        Curious to know how good/bad is RoboForm in comparison.

  9. Randall said on March 8, 2021 at 2:32 pm
    Reply

    Electron app. No thanks. Might as well use my browser with built in password manager.

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