iCloud Keychain review: How good is Apple’s built-in password manager?

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Part of iCloud: Free on 5GB plan

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Password managers have become very popular recently, with the ability of an app to remember all your login details and fill them in automatically being an absolute godsend. But Apple products come with a password manager baked into the operating system - iCloud Keychain. So, how does it stand up to some of the competition and is it safe to stick with Apple’s free offering rather than shelling out for another subscription service?

Software & Features

• Built into macOS, iOS and iPadOS
• Auto-fills passwords
• No dedicated app

iCloud Keychain is a bit different to other popular password managers like Dashlane and 1Password, as it doesn’t have a standalone app on the iPhone, iPad or a desktop app on Mac. Instead, it’s part of the operating system itself, and therefore can be found in the iCloud section of Settings/System Settings.

While an app would improve the experience somewhat, iCloud Keychain still has a good selection of the standard tools found on other password managers (read our round-up of the Best Password Managers for Mac and iPhone). You can store login details for your various accounts, credit card details for payments, Wi-Fi passwords, and it syncs your data for Mail, Contacts, Calendar, and Messages so that your iPhone, iPad and Mac all stay up to date with each other.

If you’re committed to the Apple universe, then iCloud Keychain can quietly manage all your secure data in the background. On the Mac you can create passwords, edit them, and be warned if any have appeared in security breaches or have been reused too many times to remain safe.

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

Martyn Casserly

As with most password managers, iCloud Keychain can help you create complex passwords to replace the blend of your birthday and the name of your first pet. It’s not as advanced as some rivals, which allow you to specify the length of the passwords and whether it includes numbers, different case letters or special characters. iCloud Keychain does offer the ability to remove special characters (which is a requirement by some sites), but that’s about the extent of control you have over the new password.

On iPhone you have the ability to have the service create a random, complex password - but you have no control over the outcome. These are stored in a separate place to the iCloud section of Settings, so you’ll need to look for the Passwords option on the general Settings page.

The service does support Passkeys though, which are slowly beginning to replace passwords, so maybe that’s the better option. Also, if the site/service you’re entering the details of allows for multi-factor verification codes, then iCloud Keychain will help you set them up and store them safely on your device.

There’s no doubt that there’s an impressive selection of features and convenience with iCloud Keychain, although the interface does feel old and not very well thought out when compared to the polished offerings of Dashlane and 1Password. Also, and this is a big issue, if you want to use Windows or Android devices, then getting iCloud Keychain to work with them is not as intuitive as it is on Apple devices. There’s an iCloud Passwords app for both platforms, but at this point it feels like a token effort when compared to paid password managers.

Security & Encryption

• AES 256-bit end-to-end encryption
• Zero knowledge (Apple can’t see your passwords)
• Supports multi-factor authorization

As you’d expect with Apple, security on iCloud Keychain is very solid. The service uses AES 256-bit encryption, which is the same as you’ll find on most of the leading password manager apps. Your data is encrypted while stored on your device and during transmission across the web (to log onto sites etc.) so it should be safe from any hacker trying to gather your passwords. In fact, Apple operates a Zero-Knowledge system, so even it can’t see your passwords.

As mentioned above, there’s also support for passkeys and multi-factor authorization, all of which is protected further by the biometrics (Face ID & Touch ID) that already keep your device secure.

You don’t get the dark-web monitoring that’s a feature on several rivals, nor the VPN that comes with Dashlane, but as iCloud Keychain is free, you can always invest in the latter if you want to increase the security of your online life. Take a look at our roundups of the best VPNs for Mac and best VPNs for iPhone to see which services we recommend.

You can also read our best password manager for Mac & iPhone chart to see what iCloud Keychain is up against.

Price and Availability

iCloud Keychain comes free with every iPhone, iPad and Mac, as it’s part of the operating system on all those platforms. Support for Passkeys is a new feature though and requires iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS 13, tvOS 16, or later.

If you want to take full advantage of the iCloud service, you’ll want to sign up to one of the premium plans that give you more storage as well as access to iCloud Private Relay and Hide My Email. You can read about the iCloud storage plans to see what’s on offer.

Should I use iCloud Keychain?

If you use only Apple products, and intend to do so in the years ahead, then iCloud Keychain is quite a tempting service. It features good security, lives on the operating system of your devices, and seamlessly integrates with how you use your iPhone, iPad or Mac.

It doesn’t have the polish or expanded options of some of the paid password managers, but if you want something simple, easy to use and which will mean you never have to remember more than one password (your Apple ID), then it’s certainly worth trying out. In fact, you probably already are and don’t know. That’s how easy it is to use.