Sticky Password and Enpass are two leading password managers that offer one-time purchase options. Passkeys have the potential to eliminate the need for passwords, but there are plenty of online accounts that lack passkey support.
The bottom line is you still need a great password manager to streamline account access, protect your logins from hackers, and simplify sharing accounts with family and friends.
Tiers and pricing
The price isn’t the only detail that matters when choosing a password manager but a single payment option is hard to beat. Sticky Password’s lifetime plan sells for as low as $40, which is less than an annual subscription to Dashlane. Of course, Dashlane includes a premium VPN to help offset the expense.
Still, Sticky Password’s one-time payment option is among the best deals you’ll find. An annual subscription to Sticky Password costs $20 and includes all features.
Sticky Password also offers a free version but it only works on one device, removing one of the most compelling reasons to use a password manager — cross-platform syncing.
The single-purchase price of Enpass is $80, double the cost of Sticky Password. If you spread that $40 difference over several years, it becomes insignificant. The real question is which password manager is best for you.
In an odd reversal, an annual Enpass subscription is $10, half the price of Sticky Password. If a low subscription price sounds intriguing, the popular open-source password manager Bitwarden also costs $10 annually.
A free, full-featured version of Enpass runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux computers. The free mobile version is too limited to offer much value since it only holds 25 passwords.
If you don’t want to pay anything, there are better free password managers.
Features
When I reviewed Sticky Password, I tested it’s offline, on-device mode. My logins and secure notes were never uploaded, keeping them safe from potential server breaches.
Enpass also offers an offline mode that stores an encrypted vault on your computer or phone. Like Sticky Password, logins are easy to sync over local Wi-Fi so nothing is uploaded.
If you like the convenience of real-time synchronization via the cloud both services have options to do so. Sticky Password maintains its own secure servers for cloud storage of your account logins. I like that Enpass let me store passwords on my preferred cloud service, including Google Drive, iCloud, OneDrive, and more.
Autofill and password alerts work well on both. So far, Sticky Password and Enpass are closely matched, but sharing is significantly different. Enpass and Sticky Password require the recipient to install the password manager to access logins, which isn’t as convenient as the advanced sharing features of 1Password and Keeper.
Sticky Password has good basic sharing that’s easy to access from the Windows app. While I couldn’t set an expiration date, for shared items, I can visit the sharing center to revoke access at any time.
With Enpass, sharing is quite awkward. I had to create a pre-shared key, a name, and a password, before sharing the first item. The very long shared link wasn’t clickable so the recipient had to copy and paste.
Support
Sticky Password and Enpass offer email support, which takes up to 24 hours to get a reply. If you need quicker answers, both have help centers with plenty of documentation.
I found Sticky Password to be faster, responding in eight hours. However, I wrote to Enpass support over the holidays so I don’t judge the slower reply harshly.
I received good, complete answers from both but email support will always be slow compared to live chat. If you aren’t technical and feel like you might need help, consider a password manager with 24/7 live chat like Keeper.
Privacy and security
Sticky Password and Enpass have good privacy policies. Security is great overall but there are some details to consider.
Both password managers support offline use, which puts you in charge of security. You can sync logins and other data over your local Wi-Fi. If you choose cloud storage, there’s a significant difference in security.
Sticky Password offers cloud storage, and there haven’t been any reports of breaches. So far as we know, everything is secure. However, Sticky Password hasn’t had an independent audit to verify security.
Enpass has had an audit by Cure53 and enlists the aid of third-party cloud services to secure your online data. You get to pick where your logins are stored.
Which password manager is right for you?
The best password managers offer great security, reliable autofill, cross-platform syncing, and easy sharing.
Sticky Password checks all these boxes in offline mode, but its cloud storage security hasn’t been verified. That makes it a good low-cost solution when you want to keep all your logins safely stored on your own devices.
Enpass offers solid security both offline and in the cloud via third-party solutions. Sharing isn’t the best, but it works with a little more effort from the sender and recipient.
Sticky Password’s single payment option is half the price of Enpass and it offers a more complete solution with easier password sharing. Overall, I recommend Sticky Password as the best one-time purchase password manager.