KeePassXC and LastPass both show up on every "best password manager for teams" list, and they sit in genuinely different parts of the market. KeePassXC is free, local-first, open-source vault file format — provably zero-knowledge, but with no native sync, SSO, SCIM or audit log. LastPass, by contrast, is mature product with full enterprise breadth but real trust damage from the late-2022 vault-backup breach.
This comparison is written for the people actually making the call: founders, IT leads and ops folk at startups, agencies and small teams. No affiliate rankings, no "best of" filler — just the trade-offs that matter once more than one person touches the vault.
Quick verdict
Pick KeePassXC if tech-savvy or air-gapped teams comfortable owning the sync layer. Free and provably zero-knowledge — but you wear the sync, mobile and access-control layers yourself.
Pick LastPass if teams already on lastpass who've accepted the post-breach model. Competent product, real brand damage from the 2022 breach.
Both are zero-knowledge and both have a defensible recent security story. The choice is almost never about cryptography — it's about collaboration model, governance, and how much per seat per month you want to spend.
Team pricing at a glance
| Feature | KeePassXC | LastPass |
|---|---|---|
| Smallest team planAll prices USD, billed annually unless noted. Verify on vendor sites before buying. | Free (GPL-3.0) | Teams: from ~$4/user/mo |
| Next tier for growing teams | Free — no paid tiers | Business: from ~$7/user/mo |
| Free tier available | Yes (1 device type only) | |
| SSO (SAML / OIDC) | Business / add-on | |
| SCIM provisioning | Business and above |
Collaboration model
| Feature | KeePassXC | LastPass |
|---|---|---|
| Shared vaults / collections | File-level only (.kdbx on shared storage) | |
| Per-item permissions | ||
| External / one-time secure share | Limited | |
| Group-based sharing | Via KeeShare or multiple .kdbx files | |
| Activity / audit log |
Security & transparency
| Feature | KeePassXC | LastPass |
|---|---|---|
| Zero-knowledge end-to-end encryption | ||
| Cipher | AES-256 / Twofish / ChaCha20 | AES-256-CBC |
| Key derivation | Argon2id (default) or AES-KDF | PBKDF2-SHA256 (iterations raised post-2022) |
| Open-source clients | ||
| Self-hosting option | Local-first by design | |
| Published independent audit | ANSSI CSPN (2025), BSI/mgm (2024–25 for KeePass), Molotnikov (2023) | |
| Publicly disclosed vault breach | No vault breach; KeePassXC NOT affected by CVE-2023-32784 (KeePass2) | Yes — Aug & Nov 2022 (encrypted vault backups exfiltrated) |
Pricing for teams: where the real difference is
KeePassXC is free under GPL-3.0. There is no SaaS, no per-seat cost, and no vendor invoice — the trade-off is that you absorb the operational cost of sync, mobile clients and access control.
LastPass sits in the ~$4/user/mo Teams range and ~$7/user/mo Business range, with SSO bundled on Business or sold as an add-on. Plan structure has shifted more than once — confirm before buying.
For a fast-growing team, the slope matters as much as the starting price. Model it at the size you actually expect to be in 12 months — not the size you are today.
How teams actually share credentials
KeePassXC. Sharing means putting a .kdbx file on shared storage (Nextcloud, SMB, Syncthing, Dropbox) and accepting that everyone with the master key sees everything. KeeShare lets you sync a subset of groups, but there's no per-user RBAC and no audit log.
LastPass. Shared folders with per-user/per-item permissions, RBAC and policy controls — solid feature breadth, plainer one-time external sharing than 1Password or Bitwarden.
The everyday question is: when a contractor joins on Monday and leaves on Friday, how much work is it to give them access to exactly the credentials they need, watch what they touched, and revoke cleanly? That's where the daylight between these two shows up.
Security architecture
KeePassXC. Encrypts databases with AES-256, Twofish or ChaCha20, with Argon2id as the default KDF and tunable parameters. ANSSI CSPN-certified in 2025 and unaffected by CVE-2023-32784 (which hit mainline KeePass 2.x). There's no server to breach because there is no server.
LastPass. LastPass uses AES-256-CBC with PBKDF2-SHA256; default iteration counts were raised after the 2022 incident in which encrypted vault backups were exfiltrated. The cipher held, but a vault leaving the vendor's environment remains the headline trust concern.
If you're forced to choose on cryptography alone, modern AEAD ciphers (AES-GCM, XChaCha20-Poly1305) paired with a memory-hard KDF (Argon2id) are the bar. Both vendors are inside that range; the harder differences are open-source posture, audit history, and whether you can self-host.
Admin & governance for teams
Both products support some flavour of role-based access, forgotten-password recovery, and audit logging on the right tier. Where they diverge is on the boring-but-critical stuff: SSO, SCIM provisioning, and whether group policies can keep up with how your team actually grows.
SSO tier: KeePassXC — not available; LastPass — Business / add-on. SCIM tier: KeePassXC — not available; LastPass — Business and above.
If Okta, Entra ID or Google Workspace SSO is non-negotiable from day one, factor the tier price into the per-seat number — it's often the thing that flips the cheaper-on-paper option into the more expensive real-world bill.
KeePassXC
Pros
- Free forever, GPL-3.0, no vendor lock-in
- ANSSI CSPN-certified in 2025 (KeePassXC 2.7.9)
- Argon2id by default with tunable hardness
- Air-gap capable; nothing leaves your network unless you put it there
Cons
- No built-in sync, audit log, SSO, SCIM or per-user permissions
- Mobile apps are third-party (KeePassium, Strongbox, KeePassDX, KeePass2Android)
- Concurrent writes over shared storage can lose data
- Offboarding requires rotating the master password and redistributing the key
LastPass
Pros
- Mature browser extension and form-fill
- Established enterprise feature set (SSO, directory sync, policies)
- Familiar to many users already
- Improved security posture post-2022 (raised KDF iterations, infra changes)
Cons
- 2022 breach exfiltrated encrypted customer vault backups — trust cost is real
- Free tier limited to one device type
- Closed source — auditability depends on third-party reports
- No self-hosting option
A third option worth considering
KeePassXC vs LastPass is really a debate about how much collaboration you're willing to give up to get the trust model you want. One side is a managed SaaS with shared vaults; the other is a local file you sync yourself. Pwdly is built for the team in the middle — people who want real per-project sharing without running a sync script or paying for a heavy enterprise plan to get it.
- Per-project vaults. Most teams don't share "everything with everyone" — they share by client, repo or product. Pwdly makes that the primary unit, not an afterthought folder.
- $2/user/month, flat. No seat-count cliff, no SSO upsell on the cheapest paid plan. See the full pricing.
- XChaCha20-Poly1305 + Argon2id under the hood. The cipher explainer walks through why those defaults matter.
- Trade-offs we own. No breach monitoring (we literally can't read your data), no self-hosting yet, no browser extension on day one. The security page has the honest list.
If your team has outgrown a shared KDBX but isn't ready to hand credentials to a vendor without a clear story, Pwdly is the in-between worth trialling.
Frequently asked questions
Is KeePassXC or LastPass better for a small team?
KeePassXC fits best when tech-savvy or air-gapped teams comfortable owning the sync layer, while LastPass is the stronger choice when teams already on lastpass who've accepted the post-breach model. Model both at the seat count you expect in 12 months — the cheaper option at 5 seats isn't always the cheaper option at 25.
Which has stronger encryption — KeePassXC or LastPass?
KeePassXC uses AES-256 / Twofish / ChaCha20 with Argon2id (default) or AES-KDF. LastPass uses AES-256-CBC with PBKDF2-SHA256 (iterations raised post-2022). Both are zero-knowledge. In practice the cipher choice is rarely the differentiator — KDF (Argon2id vs PBKDF2), open-source clients, and audit history matter more.
Does either support SSO and SCIM on the cheapest team plan?
KeePassXC: SSO not available, SCIM not available. LastPass: SSO Business / add-on, SCIM Business and above. If SSO is non-negotiable, price it on the tier that includes it, not the entry tier.
Has either vendor had a vault breach?
KeePassXC: No vault breach; KeePassXC NOT affected by CVE-2023-32784 (KeePass2). LastPass: Yes — Aug & Nov 2022 (encrypted vault backups exfiltrated). A clean record isn't a guarantee, but a known prior incident materially raises the cost of trust.
Keep comparing
- 1Password vs BitwardenTeam-focused, vendor-neutral breakdown.
- LastPass vs BitwardenTeam-focused, vendor-neutral breakdown.
- 1Password vs DashlaneTeam-focused, vendor-neutral breakdown.
- 1Password vs LastPassTeam-focused, vendor-neutral breakdown.
- Bitwarden vs DashlaneTeam-focused, vendor-neutral breakdown.
- Dashlane vs LastPassTeam-focused, vendor-neutral breakdown.
Also worth a read: The XChaCha20-Poly1305 explainer, our security model, and the free password generator.
Sources & further reading
- KeePassXC — Homepage
- KeePassXC — Independent audits
- ANSSI CSPN certificate for KeePassXC 2.7.9 (2025)
- CVE-2023-32784 (KeePass2 — KeePassXC unaffected)
- KeePassXC — KeeShare
- LastPass — Pricing
- LastPass — Incident disclosures (Aug & Nov 2022)
- LastPass — PBKDF2 iteration update
Worth fact-checking
- Vendor pricing for both KeePassXC and LastPass has changed more than once in the past 24 months — verify on the official site before purchasing.
- SSO / SCIM tier inclusion can change between plans; confirm with vendor sales for your exact seat count.
Last updated May 2026. Vendor pricing and features change frequently — always confirm on the official site before purchasing. Pwdly is not affiliated with 1Password, Bitwarden, LastPass, or Dashlane.