Perhaps capitalizing on LastPass' recent self-inflicted debacle, Dropbox will offer a limited version of its password manager for free users starting next month

"In early April, we will be rolling out Dropbox Passwords to all Dropbox users," a post on Dropbox's official blog said today (March 16)

"Right now, you can try out a limited version of Passwords with your free Dropbox Basic plan

How limited? You can store up to 50 credential sets of usernames and passwords, and you can sync new or changed passwords across three devices (computers, tablets, and smartphones) According to Dropbox, you can "access" your password list "from anywhere" with " access"

Not a bad deal for those who already have a free Dropbox account (the standard data storage limit is 2GB) and don't have many online accounts Says The Verge, "Grandparents come to mind"

But users who frequently use online services - most of whom are reading this news - are likely to have 50 or more online accounts

If so, upgrading to one of Dropbox's paid plans will get you an unlimited version of Dropbox Password Manager, although it is not cheap the Dropbox Personal Plus plan costs $12 per month or $120 per year for 2 TB of sync storage

Most paid password managers are much cheaper than that: LastPass and 1Password are $36 each per year, and Keeper is $1 less ($8 for Tom's Guide readers) list, and all three can sync all your passwords across all your devices

Until today (March 16), the free version of LastPass offered the same unlimited universal syncing However, that did not last long

LastPass is returning to its previous policy of limiting free users to one "type" of device - PCs, Macs, Windows tablets, and Linux boxes on one side, and smartphones, iPads, and Android tablets on the other It is probably coincidental that Dropbox announced its own free plan on the same day that LastPass's free plan became more restrictive

LastPass's announcement of the end of its free lunch was met with predictable online outrage Many people assumed that LastPass was discontinuing the free service altogether Some online pundits strangely recommended switching to 1Password

If you still want a password manager that does everything for nothing, I recommend Bitwarden, which syncs everything everywhere, even in the free tier, or Norton Password Manager, which is completely free For now