At a Glance

Expert’s Rating

Pros

• Easy-to-use interface
• Premium options embody electronic mail masks
• Supports in style working programs and browsers
• Affordable pricing

Cons

• Free model solely lets customers log in on one system at a time
• Cumbersome course of for logging in

Our Verdict

NordCross makes managing and syncing your passwords straightforward, with new options that make it stand out amongst rivals. Its free plan feels beneficiant in present occasions, and its paid plans are priced properly under rivals. If you don’t thoughts an semi-inconvenient login course of, you’ll be hard-pressed to search out an alternate that’s as easy and inexpensive.

Best Prices Today: NordCross

For a more moderen service, NordCross is downright old-school — in the very best approach. Since we final reviewed this password supervisor from the maker of NordVPN, the panorama has modified. Paid subscriptions acquired dearer, and heavier restrictions fell upon free plans. Meanwhile, NordCross went the other route and didn’t pare again. Instead, it saved its costs low, added extra options to its premium plan, and left its free tier intact.

NordCross is obtainable as a browser extension (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, Brave, and Safari), an Android or iOS cell app, and desktop apps for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Nord favors the browser extension — while you join on a pc, that’s what you’re steered to. Only the cell apps are linked to throughout the browser interface, too. Downloading the desktop apps requires a web-based search. For this assessment, I used the desktop software program for Windows 10, the browser extension in Chrome, and the Android app.

Further studying: See our roundup of the best password managers roundup to study competing merchandise.

Nord requires a double login for its password supervisor. During setup, you first create a Nord account. Then you select a separate grasp password to safe your vault. It decrypts the login data (and different entries) saved to the password supervisor. In idea, this method makes accessing Nord providers (together with NordVPN) simpler, whereas nonetheless holding your saved credentials protected. But in follow, I discovered it cumbersome since I wasn’t utilizing NordVPN or NordLocker, the corporate’s safe cloud storage service. You can cut back this friction for those who select to make use of biometric authentication (like a fingerprint) to unlock your browser extension or cell app, however you may’t eradicate it utterly.

NordCross additionally helps two-factor authentication throughout all plans, with an authenticator app, backup codes, and {hardware} keys as your choices.

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After the signup course of, you may import passwords out of your browser or one other service into NordCross. To accomplish that, it’s essential to add a CSV file — the app not provides to routinely pull in passwords saved to your browser. Browsers and password managers will allow you to export a CSV, however you can too create your personal, as long as it follows these guidelines. On a PC, you’ll drag and drop the CSV file into the import window, after which wait. It’s a seamless course of.

No matter the platform, NordCross’ interface continues to be clear and easy, whereas nonetheless wanting trendy. On PC, the structure is break up between a left sidebar and a essential panel. The sidebar homes all app options, with account data, notifications, and settings icons and a search bar tucked up on the very high. Underneath are three sections: Categories, Folders, and Tools. The Android app is organized equally, however with a backside navigation bar.

Within Categories, you’ll discover All Items, Passwords, Passkeys, Secure Notes, Credit Cards, Personal Info, Shared Items, and Trash. For Passwords, Secure Notes, Credit Cards, and Personal Info, you may view, add, and edit objects, whereas for Passkeys, you may view and edit. To add a passkey, it’s essential to create one on a web site instantly and permit NordCross to seize it. Each entry sort is straightforward: Credit card entries comprise simply cost data, for instance — you’ll create identities with contact data individually inside Personal Info. However, NordCross has added the flexibility so as to add customized fields to password, safe observe, bank card, and private data entries since we final noticed it, which retains them from being too bare-bones.

On paid plans, you may attach files of any kind to all merchandise sorts, as much as 50MB per file and as much as 50 recordsdata per entry. The complete quantity of storage you get is 3GB.

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Shared Items reveals objects that you simply’ve shared with others (for those who’re a paid consumer), or have been shared with you (all customers). You can solely share with different NordCross customers — for those who ship an entry to an electronic mail handle not affiliated with an account, they’ll have to enroll to see it. The function isn’t nearly as good as with different password managers, since recipients can solely see a password for those who share with full modifying rights. Limited rights solely reveals the e-mail handle or consumer title, which isn’t useful. These permissions may use extra consideration from Nord; restricted rights ought to let customers see a password, however not edit them.

During each day use, NordCross behaves equally to its finest competitors. It provides to fill in saved login data (or use a saved passkey) on websites it acknowledges. For credentials you haven’t saved but, it asks to seize the main points after you enter the data. And although NordCross doesn’t all the time acknowledge each account creation web page (it typically treats signups with separate pages as varieties to autofill), when it does, it suggests email masks (a function throughout the app that creates distinctive aliases to your electronic mail handle) and passwords to make use of. When this automation works, it’s easy.

NordCross generates distinctive, complicated passwords of as much as 60 characters, which is lower than some rivals — Bitwarden can create passwords so long as 128 characters, for instance. But 60 nonetheless is greater than ample. Many websites nonetheless advocate simply 16 characters, whereas some safety consultants recommend between 20 to 32. These days, two-factor authentication or using a passkey will present extra safety than a really lengthy password.

For faster entry to your saved passwords (and different entries), you may arrange them by including them to folders. You can create as many folders as you need. I used them to group associated objects (like “Work”), which made establishing new gadgets quicker. I didn’t have to look individually for the related accounts.

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Since we final evaluated NordCross, its lineup of premium instruments have expanded, placing it on extra equal footing with extra established password managers. These are solely obtainable to clients on paid plans, like the person or household subscriptions.

Previously, the corporate supplied simply two utilities. Password Health scans for weak, reused, and previous passwords. If any are discovered, you’ll see the entry in an inventory — clicking on it takes you to that web site so you may change the password. Once you replace it to one thing safer, NordCross will seize it.

Note: Flagging passwords that haven’t been modified in awhile is an previous, outdated safety follow, meant for when individuals used ones that had been brief, simply guessed. But with NordCross or another password supervisor, you may generate lengthy, random, and distinctive character strings that shouldn’t want frequent updating. Only change them while you suspect they’ve been compromised.

The Data Breach Scanner trawls the online for any of your web site or bank card accounts caught in a breach or leak. Any outcomes that seem will checklist what data was compromised, like your password, delivery date, cellphone quantity, or IP handle, together with particulars concerning the breach. For recognized websites, you’ll additionally see a button that sends you there so you may change your password.

Two extra options be a part of the lineup. Emergency Access allows you to designate different customers that may request entry to your passwords. You can instantly grant or deny the request, however for those who don’t reply, your passwords will routinely change into obtainable for viewing to them after seven days. This function permits household, mates, and different trusted people to have the ability to conduct enterprise in your behalf for those who’re incapacitated or in any other case unavailable. When I examined this function, permissions modified immediately — each for including trusted contacts, in addition to granting and revoking entry.

Email masking creates aliases to your actual electronic mail handle (which Nord assumes is similar because the one you used to join NordCross). Any messages despatched to certainly one of these masks will get forwarded to your precise electronic mail account. You can create a complete of 200 electronic mail masks on Premium or Family plans, and as much as 30 per day. As talked about above, NordCross can recommend an electronic mail masks when signing up on a brand new web site. You may create electronic mail masks throughout the apps or the browser extension. Managing these aliases consists of turning forwarding on or off, and deleting them. For essentially the most half, this can be a nice function, however Nord may enhance on it by permitting customers to improve to the next variety of masks. Heavy web customers can simply have a number of hundred (if no more) logins.

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NordCross’ pricing tiers are considerably uncommon in 2024. For starters, its free plan stays pretty unrestricted. You can save limitless passwords and passkeys, and the information syncs throughout totally different system sorts. Other premium password managers with free tiers have slashed the variety of entries, with Dashlane having minimize to 25 in fall 2023 and Keeper forcing customers to cull to a ruthless 10 as of March 1. You’re not restricted to only one sort of system both, as LastPass does. The essential restriction is that you may be logged into just one system at a time, however you may transfer between them freely. You additionally don’t get entry to file attachments, sharing (sending passwords to others), and the Password Health, Data Breach Scanner, Emergency Access, and Email Masking options. 

To get these perks, you’ll have to pay for a Premium or Family plan. Currently, NordCross provides a particular price to new Premium customers of simply $35 for those who join two years ($1.30 per 30 days), or $26 for one yr ($1.70 per 30 days). Family plans run $67 for 2 years and $45 for one yr. For comparability, Dashlane is $60 per yr for particular person plans, Keeper is $35 per yr, and 1Password is $36 per yr. Bitwarden is the one rival password supervisor that gives extra worth, with no limits on password creation or system utilization without spending a dime customers, and a price of simply $10 per yr for its paid plan. But its interface shouldn’t be as consumer pleasant.

Overall, NordCross is intuitive, and utilizing it’s a polished, seamless expertise. Its free plan is a throwback to when firms had been extra beneficiant with options, and its paid plans now sport the sort of superior options that make them corresponding to related rivals. If you don’t thoughts the inconvenience of its double-login system, you’ll be hard-pressed to search out an alternate that gives such a easy, easy-to-use interface with such inexpensive costs.