The trade
Convenience is copies.
Nearly every convenience feature works the same way: make another copy, somewhere more reachable. Sync copies to a server. Backup copies to another account. Autofill keeps a copy warm in memory on every device you own.
None of that is malicious, and for the hundreds of ordinary logins in your life it is the right answer. We use password managers too.
But copies accumulate in places you stop tracking, and a secret is only as protected as its most careless copy. For a handful of things, fewer copies is worth more than easier access.
What each convenience actually buys and spends.
Cloud sync
- You gain
- The same vault on every device, instantly.
- You spend
- A copy on infrastructure you do not control, reachable from anywhere.
Autofill
- You gain
- No typing, fewer mistakes.
- You spend
- An unlocked vault sitting in memory most of the day.
Account recovery
- You gain
- A way back in when you forget.
- You spend
- A second door, and whoever can walk through it can too.
Shared folders
- You gain
- Easy handover to family or a team.
- You spend
- Access lists you must maintain, on a platform that maintains them for you.
Use both.
Differently.A password manager for the everyday. Cards for the few secrets whose loss you would still feel in a year.