RoboForm Review 2021
- Extensions for all browsers
- Cross-platform product
- Plenty of features
- Offline access
- No security breach alert
- Flat design
- Overabundance of options for the non-techie user
Individuals looking for a customizable, extensive password manager will appreciate RoboForm. This is particularly true for business that will indulge the app’s comprehensive, enterprise-focused offering.
About RoboForm
RoboForm is a product of Siber Systems, a privately-held company based in Fairfax, Virginia. It was first released about 20 years ago, in the year 2000, making it a veteran product with more experience than many of its competitors. By now, and much thanks to its business plan, RoboForm serves not only private users and small companies, but also government agencies, and even Fortune 500 companies. Something worth mentioning is that RoboForm is a zero-knowledge provider, meaning your data is encrypted locally and then sent to RoboForm over a TLS/SSL channel. As a result, RoboForm doesn’t have any access to your data, including your master password. This is a huge advantage for anyone with privacy concerns, yet can be a disadvantage if you happen to forget your master password. To put it simply: make sure you don’t forget your master password.
As for the product itself and despite its inexpensive rates, it boasts an endless list of features and solid security to top it off. Its industry-standard AES-256 encryption and PBKDF2 hashing are meant to guarantee that your most private information can only be accessed by authorized users.
Usability
RoboForm can be easily set up in a few steps. First, you need to head over to RoboForm’s website, then choose between the different browser extensions. Once you’ve downloaded the appropriate one, you need to create a master password. However, this is where the tricky part begins. Note that the app doesn’t prompt you to import your information, which can be a bit annoying. To do so, head to ‘file,’ then ‘import.’ You can then import all data from a long list of browsers, apps, and products. Alternately, you can important data in a .CSV format. All imported data can be managed and sorted through the “log-ins” section.
As previously mentioned, RoboForm’s feature list is extensive, even in its non-paid version, resulting in a somewhat confusing interface, at least at first glance. The menu includes categories like logins, bookmarks, safenotes, setup form filling, password generator, and more. Nevertheless, once you’ve imported your data as instructed above, you will notice how seamlessly the app integrates into your browsing experience.
Pricing
RoboForm’s free version is more than enough for some. It offers unlimited logins, auto-fill, password audit, and password generator. However, it’s important to note that some highly-useful (and, in our opinion, some of the best) features—including secure backup, syncing across all devices, and priority support—are only available on the paid version, called “RoboForm Everywhere.” Given the flexible pricing and the rich offering, you might want to consider that upgrade. RoboForm offers a number of paid plans, for individuals ($1.99 a month), families ($3.98 a month), and businesses ($3.35 a month), all billed annually. Users can also purchase a five-year subscription, often at a discounted price
Operating system
RoboForm is a cross-platform product, meaning it’s available for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and Chrome OS. The mobile app offers all of the tabs as in the desktop app as well as automatic, multi-device sync. RoboForm also works on all major browsers and offers respective browser extensions. While the desktop experience can be cumbersome at times, RoboForm’s mobile app is rated very highly both by Android and iPhone users.
Customer support
While the free version of RoboForm offers no premium support, users can turn to the RoboForm online help center for assistance or skim through the (incredibly helpful) starter’s manual. The help center is amazingly detailed and easy to browse through. Paying members can use additional support resources, including a live chat that is available throughout the week from 9 AM to 6 PM EST, email, phone calls, social media messaging, and even callbacks concerning any support matter.
Features
RoboForm’s feature list is immense. Aside from the standard password manager features like passwords storing and bookmarks, it offers a few exciting highlights, including:
- Two-factor authentication
RoboForm touts itself as an app that supports TOTP-based authentication apps, including Microsoft Authenticator, Authy, and Google Authenticator. This really simplify things for the users and help keeping their passwords secure. - Multi-factor authentication
RoboForm offers an extra level of protection in the form of multi-factor authentication. Setting it up means a user is verified through a numerical code, fingerprint, or facial recognition. - Password Generator
RoboForm offers a handy, easy tool that instantly generates passwords that are as random as they are strong. New passwords can be generated with one click. - Auto-fill
RoboForm’s auto-fill feature is another huge timesaver. The feature allows you to automatically fill any form with information such as your name, address, phone number, email, and even credit card number. The identity feature further allows users to store multiple instances of data sets rather than a single one. - Safenotes
RoboForm’s Safenotes is a feature that allows users to save any sensitive information, from software license keys to Wi-Fi passwords, in the encrypted data center where user passwords are stored. - Secure sharing
RoboForm’s secure sharing is a cool feature that is especially handy for shared applications. It allows you to not only share a single item such as a password or a license number but also complete folders with other users. - Password Audit
RoboForm allows you to use its security center to audit your passwords and make sure you’re not using the same password on different sites, which is a strategy that exposes you to security breaches and malware. - Auto-sync across devices
RoboForm’s auto-sync feature ensures that once you change a password, login credentials, and any other data, changes will be saved across all devices that you are using.
Note that auto-fill, password audit, and password generator are available in the free version. Other features, including the two-factor authentication, safenotes, and auto-sync, are only available in the paid version, “RoboForm Everywhere,” as well as the family plan.
RoboForm for Business
Unlike some products where business and private plans are virtually identical, RoboForm’s business plan offers a lot more than its standard, private offering. In fact, RoboForm prides itself on serving government agencies and Fortune 500 companies worldwide with its business-class product. Apart from the features available in the “RoboForm Everywhere” plan, the business plan offers a few extra interesting features, including:
- Centralized employee onboarding
New users can be centrally and easily setup by an admin, even via .CSV import.
Centralized policy deployment- Company Admins can assign a license to each employee and customize policies to meet the organization’s specific needs and security standards. - Secure group sharing
Custom-defined sharing groups where users can share data like login credentials and any sensitive business information. - Advanced reporting
Reports on account access and usage. - Role-based access controls
- Dedicated tech support
Verdict
RoboForm is a solid password manager with a myriad of features, customizations, and tweaks. While the endless options this product has to offer don’t necessarily appeal to the average private user looking for simple and intuitive solutions, techies and enterprises alike will indulge them. We appreciated the variety of plans, including an excellent free version and a family plan. The business plan stands out from the competition thanks to its comprehensive, well-thought-of offering which demonstrates RoboForm’s deep understanding of enterprise needs.