Keeper is an all-around password manager that offers a variety of authentication options and an intuitive user interface.

In this article, we walk you through how to set up Keeper, how to use it and how you can maximize its capabilities for your organization.

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Keeper step-by-step instructions

1. Choosing a Keeper subscription

Keeper has two subscription types: Personal & Family and Organizations. The Personal & Family options are the more consumer-facing subscriptions, while the Organizations tier is designed for small to large businesses.

In our hands-on review, Keeper received a rating of 4.4 stars out of 5. Check out the full Keeper review here.

Keeper’s Personal or Unlimited plan is priced at $2.92 per month that comes with one user vault. The Family plan is $6.25 per month for five user vaults.

The Organizations plans are divided into Business Starter, Business and Enterprise. Keeper Business Starter covers small teams of up to ten people, while Keeper Business is meant for small to medium sized businesses—with the two plans starting at $2 per user, per month, and $3.75 per user, per month, respectively.

Keeper Enterprise is tailored towards larger companies and includes more business-focused features. You can contact Keeper for a quote on Enterprise pricing.

Keeper offers a generous 30-day free trial for Keeper Personal, and a 14-day trial for Keeper Business; neither requires credit card or payment information to access.

I highly recommend picking the plan best suited for you or your business and trying out their free trial. This lets you experience Keeper’s password management without paying for a premium subscription. Keeper has a free version, but it’s very limited and is only available on the mobile application.

2. Setting up the web app and browser extension

To get access to one of Keeper’s free trials, click the “Try It Free” button at the top of Keeper’s Pricing page and select your plan of choice. For the sake of this guide, we’re going to try out Keeper Personal.

Keeper will ask you to provide an email address. Once you’ve provided one, you’ll be redirected to Keeper’s web application. From there, it’ll ask you to input your email address and create a Master Password.

Your master password is technically the only password you’ll have to make on your own. It unlocks your Keeper vaults, which are where all your data and credentials are going to be stored.

Because it’s your main gateway to all your passwords, it’s crucial that you make sure to remember your master password. Keeper will send you a verification code through your email and ask you to input it on their app.

Once you input the code, you’ll now be able to access Keeper’s full web vault!

3. Using Keeper

When you first encounter Keeper’s web vault, it’ll offer you a few tutorials on how to import passwords, install the browser extension and set up account recovery.

Of the three tutorials, go through the browser extension guide first. This will allow you to have Keeper’s extension ready on your browser at all times and will make your password management experience more seamless.

If you’re using Chrome, you can download Keeper Password Manager on the Chrome Web Store. Now that you have both Keeper’s web app and its browser extension installed, you’re ready to start saving and managing your passwords.

To show you how to save your first login, I’ll demonstrate the process by creating a new Goodreads account. Upon navigating to Goodreads’ account creation page, you will see that a Keeper logo will appear on the password field. Clicking on it will show Keeper’s password generator.

Keeper’s password generator automatically creates a random password for every new login you have. Through the generator, you can configure how many characters you want a password to have and whether you want it to have numbers, letters, symbols or a combination of the three. At default, Keeper’s password manager generates a 20-character password with a maximum of 100 characters.

After you’ve input your new account details, Keeper’s browser extension will ask you to save the new login to your Keeper vault.

Once you click “OK,” you’ve officially saved your very first login in Keeper. Before moving forward, there are two things I recommend you do:

• Set up two-factor authentication (2FA) to give your account an additional layer of protection. Toggling this on will have Keeper require you to provide an additional code or token to access your vault.

To access the 2FA menu, just go to the Keeper web vault → click your email on the upper right → Settings → Security → Two-Factor Authentication.

• Designate trusted contacts for emergencies so that loved ones can access your vault in the event you’re in an emergency and one of your credentials is needed.

To select a trusted contact, go to the Keeper web vault → click your email on the upper right → Account → Emergency Access.

If you have any problems using Keeper, you can visit their support page and access live chat 24/7. You can also send an email if you have a less urgent issue or utilize the guides available on the support page.

Best ways to use Keeper for your business

Keeper comes with the core features we expect of a password manager—such as password generation, an encrypted vault and emergency access. Aside from these, it also offers convenient features that can positively impact your business’ daily workflow.

Sharing passwords across teams

While many password managers offer password sharing, Keeper has a unique One-Time Share feature that lets users share a password and limit access to only one device. This means that only the original recipient of the password can access it—preventing unwanted sharing of credentials to third parties.

This can be a valuable tool for businesses that regularly work with freelancers or contractors and want a secure way to share login information. One-Time Share also allows sharing of records without requiring the recipient to create a Keeper account.

Monitoring overall password health

You can also use Keeper to assess the health of all your passwords through its Security Audit feature. Security Audit assesses the strength of each password and checks if it’s reused, weak and how long it’s been since it was last changed.

This is a great way to monitor the overall health of you and your team’s account credentials and make sure there are no accounts that are at-risk of being hacked.

Quickly auto fill regularly used logins

KeeperFill is Keeper’s primary autofill extension that allows users to quickly fill in saved logins in their regularly used apps. While many password managers offer autofill, KeeperFill stands out for its fast and reliable performance in replaying logins.

This is useful for businesses that use multiple online services or apps on a daily basis and don’t want to get bogged down by manually logging in.

How to ensure you’re maximizing Keeper capabilities

Out of the box, Keeper offers heightened security in protecting your passwords. However, there are a few steps you can take to fully maximize Keeper’s features.

• Download Keeper’s desktop application so that you can have a more organized way to view your vaults and logins. Having the desktop Keeper app will be useful for users who store a ton of login information and don’t want their browser to slow down.
• Check out Keeper’s paid add-ons like BreachWatch and KeeperChat. BreachWatch is Keeper’s take on dark web scanning, while KeeperChat is an encrypted messaging service that works seamlessly with the Keeper Password Manager.
• Maximize Keeper discounts as they offer lower prices for the military, first responders, medical personnel and students. In particular, Keeper offers a 50% discount for students and a 30% discount for military and medical personnel.

Recommended alternative password managers

If Keeper isn’t a fit for you or your business, I recommend you give one of these password managers a try.

For people who want an all-around security solution, NordPass is a prime option. Users can purchase a bundle that includes Nord Security’s popular NordVPN service and the NordPass password manager. This ensures that you have a secured, encrypted internet connection and password protection as well.

Another option to consider is 1Password. 1Password is a great solution for frequent travelers as it comes with a unique Travel Mode feature. Travel Mode automatically removes passwords that you deem as not “safe for travel,” protecting your password from prying eyes when passing through immigration and customs.

If you’re a manager who wants to keep track of shared credentials, Zoho Vault should be on your list. It has a real-time audits feature that lets users monitor every action carried out in an organization’s vault. This includes password requests, time stamps and even user IP addresses.