Dashlane review: a polished password manager at a premium price
Tool reviews. Updated 2026-09-13. About 4 minutes to read.
Dashlane is good but pricey; if you do not need the VPN, a free or cheaper password manager protects you just as well.
Dashlane is a well-designed password manager with breach alerts, passkey support and a bundled VPN. Since 16 September 2025 it has had no free plan, which makes it one of the more expensive choices for a single person.
Some links on this page are affiliate links, and we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We did not run a paid Dashlane account for this review. It is based on Dashlane's published plans and help pages, independent pricing reports and how password managers work.
Dashlane in 2026: no free plan, two personal tiers
Dashlane ended its free plan on 16 September 2025. Former free users could no longer add, edit or view their data, only export it. New users now choose between Premium for one person and Friends and Family for up to ten accounts, both billed annually.
At the time of writing, independent pricing reports listed Premium at 4.99 US dollars a month and Friends and Family at 7.49 dollars a month, billed yearly, with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Dashlane's own pricing page loads prices by region, so check it for your local price.
Prices change. Confirm the current price, the renewal price and the refund terms on Dashlane's site before paying.
What you get
The features that actually reduce risk are the unique passwords, the site-matched autofill and the breach alerts. Those are the same protections a free manager gives you. The extras, such as the VPN and file storage, are conveniences you are paying for on top.
Unlimited passwords and passkeys synced across your devices.
Password Health, which flags weak, reused and compromised passwords.
Dark web monitoring for the email addresses on your account.
Phishing alerts and autofill that only fills on the matching site.
Secure sharing of logins with other people.
1 GB of encrypted file storage.
A VPN provided by Hotspot Shield.
What Dashlane does not do
There is no free tier to fall back on if you stop paying.
On Friends and Family, the VPN is for the plan manager only. Members do not get it.
The dark web monitoring covers email-linked credentials. It does not watch your ID numbers or credit.
It does not remove your data from brokers or people-search sites.
Like any zero-knowledge manager, it cannot simply reset a forgotten master password. Set up its account recovery options on day one.
Dashlane price against the alternatives
Dashlane's case rests on its design and the bundled VPN. If you already pay for a VPN, or do not want one, you are paying extra for something you will not use.
Dashlane Premium: about 60 US dollars a year at 4.99 dollars a month billed annually.
1Password Individual: 3.99 dollars a month billed annually after its March 2026 price rise, with no free plan.
Bitwarden: a free plan with unlimited passwords on unlimited devices, and Premium at about 20 dollars a year since January 2026.
Apple Passwords, Google Password Manager and Microsoft Edge: free, and fine if you stay in one ecosystem.
How to test Dashlane before you commit
Check whether a trial is offered in your region when you sign up, and note the date it ends.
Export your passwords from your browser and import the file into Dashlane, then delete the exported file.
Log in to your bank, email and a shopping site using autofill to check it works on the sites you use most.
Try Dashlane's own export so you know you can leave with your data.
Set up account recovery and two-factor authentication before you store anything important.
Leaving Dashlane without losing passwords
Before your plan ends, export your vault to a file from Dashlane's settings.
Import that file into your new password manager straight away.
Check a few logins, including passkeys, which may need to be recreated on the new manager.
Delete the export file and empty the recycle bin, because it holds your passwords in plain text.
Cancel the Dashlane subscription and remove the browser extension.
Who should buy Dashlane, and who should not
Buy it if you want a polished app, will use the included VPN, and value phishing and breach alerts in one place.
Buy Friends and Family if you manage logins for a household and want one bill for up to ten people.
Skip it if price matters. Bitwarden's free plan or a built-in manager gives you unique passwords at no cost.
Skip it if you need the VPN for every family member, because Friends and Family only covers the manager.
Frequently asked questions
Does Dashlane still have a free version?
No. Dashlane ended its free plan on 16 September 2025. Former free users kept the ability to export their data but not to view or edit it inside Dashlane.
Can I import passwords from Chrome, LastPass or 1Password?
Yes. Export a CSV file from your current manager or browser and import it into Dashlane. Delete the exported file afterwards, because it is not encrypted.
Does Dashlane support passkeys?
Yes. Dashlane stores and syncs passkeys across your devices. When you move to another manager later, check each passkey, because not every manager can import them.
What happens to my passwords if I stop paying?
Export them before your plan ends. Dashlane's notice to former free users said accounts without a paid plan could no longer view or edit data, only export it.
Is Dashlane safe to use?
Dashlane uses zero-knowledge encryption, so your vault is encrypted with a key only you hold. No service is immune to attack, so protect the account with a long master passphrase and two-factor authentication, and keep a recent export somewhere safe offline.
Is the Dashlane VPN worth it?
It is a Hotspot Shield VPN included with Premium and for the Friends and Family plan manager. It is handy on public Wi-Fi, but a VPN does not protect your passwords or identity, so do not choose Dashlane for the VPN alone.