These password manager statistics are drawn from primary sources published in 2024, 2025 and 2026: the annual Security.org Password Manager Industry Report, the Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, the LastPass Psychology of Passwords study, NordPass, the FIDO Alliance, Microsoft, Have I Been Pwned and NIST. Every figure is attributed inline so journalists, researchers and AI assistants can cite the original.

They answer five questions: who actually uses a password manager, whether managers reduce real-world harm, how big the market has become, who leads it, and why the majority still go without. Where a number depends on methodology, the source and year are stated so you can verify it.

Key Statistics at a Glance

Adoption: Who Uses a Password Manager

Adoption is rising steadily but is still a minority behaviour. The figures below come from the Security.org Password Manager Industry Report, an annual survey of more than 1,000 U.S. adults.

1. 36% of U.S. adults use a password manager — an estimated 94 million people, up from 34% the year before. (Security.org, 2024)
2. Adoption has climbed steadily: just 21% used one in 2022, so usage has grown by more than half in two years. (Security.org)
3. 90% of users install their manager on a laptop or desktop, up sharply from 77% a year earlier. (Security.org, 2024)
4. 83% install it on a mobile phone and 36% on a tablet, and 77% use it across multiple devices. (Security.org, 2024)
5. 90% of password manager users say they feel safe using it. (Security.org, 2024)
6. Users are loyal: only 8% switched providers in the past year. (Security.org, 2024)

How People Manage Passwords Without One

Most people still guard their accounts with memory, browsers and paper. The chart below shows how U.S. adults actually store passwords — the behaviours a password manager is designed to replace.

Memorise them51%

Password manager36%

Save in browser34%

Digital notes26%

Written on paper25%

Reuse across accounts18%

Passkeys10%

Data visualisation: a horizontal bar chart of password-management methods among U.S. adults. Memorisation still leads at 51% — higher than password-manager use (36%) — while browser storage (34%), digital notes (26%) and paper (25%) remain common. Passkeys, the emerging passwordless standard, sit at just 10%. Percentages sum to more than 100 because people use multiple methods.

7. 51% of adults still rely on memory to manage passwords — up from 41% a year earlier. (Security.org, 2024)
8. 34% save passwords in their web browser, up from 27%, despite weaker protection than a dedicated vault. (Security.org, 2024)
9. 26% keep passwords in digital notes such as a phone notes app or spreadsheet. (Security.org, 2024)
10. 25% write passwords down on paper — down from 30% the previous year. (Security.org, 2024)
11. 18% admit to reusing the same passwords across accounts, improved from 21%. (Security.org, 2024)
12. Only 10% use passkeys, the phishing-resistant replacement for passwords. (Security.org, 2024)

Do Password Managers Actually Work?

The strongest case for a password manager is measured harm reduction, not theory. These figures pair Security.org's victimisation data with breach statistics from the 2025 Verizon DBIR, Microsoft and Have I Been Pwned.

13. Password manager users are far less likely to be victimised: 17% suffered identity or credential theft in the past year, versus 32% of non-users — nearly double the risk without one. (Security.org, 2024)
14. 29% of all U.S. adults had credentials stolen in the past year. (Security.org, 2024)
15. Stolen credentials were the initial access vector in 22% of breaches — the single most common entry point. (Verizon DBIR, 2025)
16. 88% of basic web-application attacks involved stolen credentials. (Verizon DBIR, 2025)
17. More than 99.9% of accounts that are compromised have no MFA enabled, the second factor a manager makes easy to add. (Microsoft)
18. Roughly 2 billion breached email addresses are now indexed in credential-stuffing data — the raw material managers defend against. (Have I Been Pwned, 2025)

Market Size and Growth

Password management has become a substantial software category, though estimates vary by methodology. Figures below are quoted as published by each research firm.

19. The password manager market is projected to grow from $3.75 billion in 2025 to $4.57 billion in 2026, a compound annual growth rate of about 21.9%. (Research and Markets, 2026)
20. Independent estimates of 2026 market size range from roughly $2.4 billion to $3.8 billion, reflecting different scopes and definitions. (Mordor Intelligence; Fortune Business Insights; Straits Research, 2026)
21. Longer term, the market is forecast to reach about $27 billion by 2035 at a double-digit growth rate. (Precedence Research, 2026)
22. The wider shift to passwordless is accelerating: more than 15 billion online accounts can now use passkeys, roughly double the year before. (FIDO Alliance, 2025)
23. Over 1 billion people have activated at least one passkey, a feature bundled into most modern password managers. (FIDO Alliance, 2025)

Who Leads the Market

Built-in tools from the platform giants dominate by user count, while dedicated managers compete on features and cross-platform support.

24. Google Password Manager leads with 32% of users, driven by Chrome and Android defaults. (Security.org, 2024)
25. Apple's iCloud Keychain / Passwords app holds 23%. (Security.org, 2024)
26. Together, Google and Apple control more than 55% of the market through their built-in tools. (Security.org, 2024)
27. Among dedicated managers, LastPass holds 11%, Bitwarden 10% and 1Password 5% of users. (Security.org, 2024)

Pricing: Free vs Paid

Most users pay nothing, a share that keeps rising as free tiers and platform-bundled managers improve.

28. 79% of password manager users pay nothing at all — up sharply from 63% a year earlier. (Security.org, 2024)
29. 7% pay $1–$20 a year and 4% pay $21–$40 a year for a premium manager. (Security.org, 2024)
30. Among people who use a manager, roughly 20% deliberately choose a free product. (PasswordManager.com, 2025)

Why People Still Don't Use One

The biggest obstacle is not price but perception. Most non-users are open to a manager, yet trust and understanding lag behind.

31. More than 75% of non-users say they are open to adopting a password manager given the right mix of usability, security and price. (Security.org, 2024)
32. Among non-users, 37% say they simply "don't need one" — the top stated reason. (Security.org, 2024)
33. 23% doubt that password managers are secure. (Security.org, 2024)
34. 16% don't understand how they work. (Security.org, 2024)
35. Only 9% cite cost as their reason for avoiding one. (Security.org, 2024)
36. Trust remains the deepest barrier: 65% of U.S. respondents say they don't trust password managers. (PasswordManager.com, 2025)
37. 34% fear the password manager itself could be hacked, exposing everything at once. (PasswordManager.com, 2025)
38. That fear is generational: 37.4% of people over 55 fear a manager being hacked, versus just 14% of 18–34-year-olds. (PasswordManager.com, 2025)

The Behaviour Gap That Makes Managers Necessary

Password managers exist because human memory and willpower fail predictably. The LastPass Psychology of Passwords study and NordPass quantify the gap between what people know and what they do.

39. 91% of people know that reusing passwords is insecure — yet do it anyway. (LastPass, Psychology of Passwords)
40. 62% always or mostly reuse the same password or a variation across accounts. (LastPass)
41. Only 12% use a different password for every account — the behaviour a manager makes effortless. (LastPass)
42. The confidence gap is stark: 75% are highly confident in managing their passwords, yet nearly two-thirds still reuse. (LastPass)
43. Education alone barely helps: after cybersecurity training, only 25% started using a password manager. (LastPass)
44. "123456" is again the world's most common password, topping the list in six of the past seven years. (NordPass, 2025)
45. 78% of the world's most common passwords can be cracked in under one second — the weak, memorised passwords managers replace. (NordPass, 2025)

What NIST and Microsoft Recommend

Modern guidance from NIST Special Publication 800-63B and Microsoft aligns with how password managers work: long unique secrets, breach screening and a second factor.

46. NIST recommends a minimum length of 8 characters with support for at least 64, and screening new passwords against known-breached lists — both trivial with a manager. (NIST SP 800-63B)
47. NIST advises against forced periodic password changes and mandatory composition rules, and recommends permitting paste so password managers work smoothly. (NIST SP 800-63B)
48. Microsoft finds that phishing-resistant MFA blocks more than 99% of identity attacks — the layer a manager pairs with unique passwords. (Microsoft)

What These Numbers Mean

Read together, the 48 statistics tell one story. Adoption is rising but still trails the behaviours that cause breaches: 51% memorise, 34% trust the browser, and 18% openly reuse. The payoff for switching is measurable — manager users are victimised at 17% versus 32% — yet 65% still don't trust the tool. The fix the data keeps validating is the same one a password generator and a manager deliver together: a unique, high-entropy password on every account, plus a second factor — ideally a passkey. For the wider picture, see our roundups of password security statistics and password attack statistics.

Frequently Asked Questions

What percentage of people use a password manager in 2026?

About 36% of U.S. adults — roughly 94 million people — use a password manager, up from 34% the previous year and just 21% in 2022, according to the Security.org Password Manager Industry Report. Memorisation (51%) and browser storage (34%) are still more common overall.

Do password managers actually reduce identity theft?

Yes. Security.org found that 17% of password manager users experienced identity or credential theft in the past year, versus 32% of people who don't use one — nearly double the risk without a manager. Managers cut the reuse and weak-password habits behind most credential-stuffing attacks.

How big is the password manager market?

Estimates vary by firm, but the market is projected at roughly $4.57 billion in 2026 (up from $3.75 billion in 2025) at about a 21.9% annual growth rate, per Research and Markets. Other firms place 2026 value between $2.4 billion and $3.8 billion, with long-term forecasts near $27 billion by 2035.

Which password manager has the most users?

Google Password Manager leads with 32% of users, followed by Apple's iCloud Keychain at 23% — together more than 55% of the market. Among dedicated managers, LastPass (11%), Bitwarden (10%) and 1Password (5%) lead, according to Security.org.

Why don't more people use password managers?

Trust and perception, not price. Security.org found 37% of non-users say they "don't need one," 23% doubt they're secure and 16% don't understand them, while just 9% cite cost. Separately, 65% of respondents told PasswordManager.com they don't trust password managers, and 34% fear the manager itself could be hacked.

Are free password managers safe or worth paying for?

Most users pay nothing — 79% use a free product, up from 63% a year earlier — and reputable free managers use the same zero-knowledge encryption as paid tiers. Paid plans mainly add breach monitoring, secure sharing and cross-platform extras. Any well-reviewed manager beats memorising or reusing passwords.

Methodology and Sources

Every statistic on this page is attributed inline to the organisation that published it, with the year of the source. Figures are quoted as reported by each primary source and were current as of July 2026. Primary sources:

• Security.org — Password Manager Industry Report (annual U.S. survey, 2024 edition)
• Verizon — 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR)
• LastPass — Psychology of Passwords
• NordPass — Top 200 Most Common Passwords, 2025
• Microsoft — Digital Defense Report
• Have I Been Pwned / Synthient — Credential-stuffing dataset, 2025
• FIDO Alliance — Passkey adoption data, 2025
• Research and Markets, Mordor Intelligence, Fortune Business Insights, Straits Research, Precedence Research — password management market sizing, 2026
• PasswordManager.com — password manager trust survey, 2025
• NIST — Special Publication 800-63B, Digital Identity Guidelines

Note: market-size figures differ across research firms because of differing scopes and definitions; ranges are stated rather than a single point. Survey percentages are reproduced as published and are not combined across differing samples. Method percentages sum to more than 100% because respondents use multiple storage methods.