Password and credential managementInternal research

The vault is only the start.

We match you to one platform that covers passwords, shared admin logins and the secrets in your code.

Free. No fit, no obligation.

The problem

Passwords are the smallest part of this.

A staff password manager is the sensible start, and most teams stop there. The bigger question is who and what can log in, and whether you can prove it: your people, shared admin accounts, secrets in code, and bots and AI agents now holding credentials.

Credentials are the currency of intrusions. Phishing and infostealers harvest them, then attackers reuse them, move sideways and escalate. Exploited vulnerabilities edged past them as the most common way in during 2026, but stolen credentials still turn up in about two in five breaches.

Two in fivebreaches still involve stolen or misused credentials.

Architecture

MFA protects the login. It stops there.

Three gaps a login prompt was never built to close.

  1. 01

    Stolen sessions

    Adversary-in-the-middle kits lift the session token after MFA, and infostealers harvest cookies that skip the prompt entirely.

  2. 02

    Standing admin access

    The shared domain admin password and unrotated service accounts. Attackers want these most, and MFA doesn’t control who uses them or when.

  3. 03

    Secrets and machines

    Hard-coded API keys, pipeline secrets, and machines and AI agents that authenticate with no person present. None of it sees a login prompt.

Password and credential management

Architecture is what you’re actually choosing.

Every vendor says they're secure. One question separates them: can you read my vault? A zero-knowledge platform can't, so a breach of the vendor yields only ciphertext.

It's the lesson of the LastPass breaches, and you can test it two ways. Ask vendors to prove their encryption. Then check how many of your domains and users sit in breach and infostealer data.

What you get

What good credential management gives you.

What real coverage looks like past the vault.

What to look for

What can the top platforms do?

Past the vault and autofill, these capabilities decide how much of your real risk gets covered.

  • Zero-knowledge architecture

    Your vault is encrypted and decrypted on your side, so the provider cannot read it and a breach of them yields nothing usable.

  • Privileged access management in the same platform

    Shared admin credentials brought under just-in-time elevation, session control and automatic rotation, without a heavyweight legacy project.

  • Secrets management for code and pipelines

    Secrets pulled from a vault at runtime instead of hard-coded, then rotated automatically, so a leaked repository does not hand over the keys.

  • Passkey custody

    The vault holds and manages passkeys, which are phishing-resistant by design, keeping it relevant as passwords decline.

  • Machine and AI-agent identity

    Scoped, short-lived, revocable credentials for the bots and agents that authenticate with no person present, under the same policy and audit as human logins.

  • Independent certification

    FedRAMP High and FIPS 140-3 validation separate enterprise-grade platforms from consumer-heritage tools, which matters for regulated and cyber-insured buyers.

Maturity

Most teams stop at the vault.

Credential maturity, tier by tier.

  1. Focused

    A password vault that solves credential hygiene for your people. It’s the on-ramp, and where most teams that have acted sit.

    Typical features

    • A vault for your people
    • Unique generated passwords
    • Autofill and secure sharing
    • MFA on the vault
  2. Broad

    The vault plus privileged access. Shared admin credentials brought under control, with just-in-time elevation, session control, automatic rotation and central audit.

    Typical features

    • Shared admin logins vaulted
    • Just-in-time elevation
    • Session control and recording
    • Automatic password rotation
    • Central audit of privileged access
  3. Covers AI-agent credentials too

    Comprehensive

    Everything Broad does, plus a zero-knowledge control plane over human, privileged, machine and AI-agent credentials. Begin here if code holds secrets or admins share logins.

    Everything in Broad, plus

    • Passkeys alongside passwords
    • Secrets management for code and pipelines
    • Machine and AI-agent credentials governed
    • One zero-knowledge policy engine
    • One-click removal when someone leaves

Tekspace Research

We research the password and credential management field.

Internal research

Password Management

Keeps every password, passkey and admin login in a vault only you can open.

Vendors assessed8 vendors assessed

  • 1Password
  • Bitwarden
  • CyberArk
  • Dashlane
  • Delinea
  • Keeper
  • LastPass
  • NordPass

Examples of what we test

  • Zero-knowledge encryption
  • Shared admin logins controlled
  • Passkeys and secrets vaulted

Same tests on every product. The scores publish with the benchmark.

Questions we hear most.