Today everyone juggles dozens of accounts: email, online banking, social media, shops, work. Remembering a different, strong password for each one is impossible, and that's why password managers exist. The important question isn't whether to use one, but where it stores your passwords.

What a password manager is

A password manager is software that keeps all your passwords encrypted in a vault. You remember one master password and the program remembers the rest. It also helps you create long, unique passwords for every site, which is the best defense against account theft.

Cloud password managers: convenient, but concentrated

Cloud managers store your encrypted vault on a company's servers and sync it across your devices. It's convenient, but it comes at a cost: your data sits alongside that of millions of users in the same place, which makes those servers a very attractive target. You also depend on the service being available and on its price changes.

Local password manager: your passwords on your PC

A local password manager like Vault256 stores the vault in an AES-256 encrypted file on your own Windows computer. There's no central server to attack, you don't need internet to open your passwords, and nobody else has a copy of your data.

  • Your passwords are stored on your local PC, not in someone else's cloud.
  • It works without an internet connection.
  • No plan or license ever blocks access to what you've saved.
  • You decide where and how to back up your vault.

The trade-off: backups are up to you

With a local manager, if your computer's disk fails and you have no copy, you lose the vault. The fix is simple: keep a copy of your vault file on a USB drive or another disk, and keep your recovery codes printed in a safe place.

Tip: UniqRestore, Vault256's sister software, can automatically back up your vault file with AES-256 encryption.

Which one should you choose?

If you need your passwords synced at all times between your phone and several computers, a cloud manager may fit better. If you put privacy and control first and work on a Windows PC, laptop or tablet, a local password manager like Vault256 is the most direct choice: your passwords never leave your device.