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LastPass's free plan will make you choose between your computer and your phone
You'll have to pay for access on both starting March 16th.
You'll once again have to pay for LastPass if you intend to use it across all your devices. As of March 16th, the company is limiting LastPass Free to one device type. You can use it across all your computers or all your mobile devices, but not both at the same time. Your first login on or after that date will determine your choice of platform, although you'll have three chances to switch device types if you have second thoughts.
LastPass stressed that you won't lose access to anything stored in your vault, but added that email support will be limited to Premium and Families members from May 17th onward.
Not surprisingly, the company is discounting Premium subscriptions to $2.25 per month ($27 per year) versus their normal $3 to encourage upgrades.
A LassPass spokesperson provided us with the following statement about the changes: This change is part of our increased focus on delivering future Premium product improvements as the security landscape continues to evolve in this new era of remote work. Over the coming months and years, users will continue to see additional value and new features added to LastPass Premium, in addition to what’s included today - a security dashboard, dark web monitoring, secure password and item sharing, a save and fill experience across devices, and dedicated personal support.
This update also brings our Free solution in line with other leading password managers who have more limitations on their free offerings. Our free version will continue to provide secure and unlimited password storage and sync across your device type of choice (all your mobile phones and tablets, or all computers). Please note that all devices sync automatically, so users will never lose access to anything stored in their Vault or be locked out of their account due to these changes, regardless of whether they use computers or mobile devices to access LastPass.
Going beyond the statement, it appears to be a simple matter of boosting subscription numbers. While there were incentives to use paid accounts before, such as encrypted file storage and dark web monitoring, it was relatively easy to get by with free service. This gives you a clear motivation upgrade, if only by limiting something you might have taken for granted.
Update, 1:00PM ET: Added statement from LastPass.
