Review: Passfindr from Secure Web Computing LLC

When it comes to securing our information online, we may spend the rest of our lives trying to find a perfect solution that is unable to be hacked and does not involve memorizing hundreds of nonsensical passwords. Many of us (I hope) have come a long way from using our pet’s names or children’s birthdays as the sole password for all of our online accounts, but as web security methods become more secure, criminals and hackers will continue to evolve and breach our valuable online information.

Some of us are diligent enough to use unique and complicated passwords for our digital accounts while using two-factor authentication; others keep their passwords in a spreadsheet or stored in their browser; and others still may use one of the many password management tools available online, including LastPass, Zoho Vault, and LogMeOnce.

Passfindr, created by Milton, Georgia-based Secure Web Computing LLC, bills itself as “the complete tool for bookmarking, password management, file/folder indexing and searching, and text encryption.” The web application, was released at the end of August, promises a secure, fast, and versatile solution that does not require the installation of additional software or browser extensions.

At first glance, Passfindr appears to expand on the basic bookmarking function of web browsers, allowing users to include tags, recurring reminders, and a full description field using a WYSIWYG editor. Unlike a web browser, bookmarks in Passfindr are stored within the application and password-protected; but since Passfindr is web-based, users can access their account on any browser and any device, offering some portability to your saved bookmarks.

The most notable feature of Passfindr is the ability to encrypt the description field contents of your bookmarks using an additional password. All users have to do is enter some text—the username and password for a particular site seems to be the intent—then fill in the Master Password field to encrypt and decrypt the bookmark description. Given that a user account on Passfindr can contain login details for many websites, adding the encryption using this additional password ostensibly provides a second level of protection (unless, of course, you use the same password for everything, which we can’t stress enough is a bad idea).

The bookmark description field is versatile and accepts formatted text and multimedia. Included in this field’s toolbar is a random password generator: while this functionality can be found on other web platforms and within certain browsers, we found this feature convenient, nonetheless.

While creating bookmarks and encrypting their content is easy to do in Passfindr, locating saved bookmarks is a little less intuitive. The search bar on top of the application appears to be the most direct way to find bookmarks, but it feels a bit more laborious than a clickable dropdown menu or some other graphical interface.

As promised by the developer, Passfindr performs speedily, and after getting familiar with the application, we were able to jump between bookmarks and other functions effortlessly. The web-only platform means there are no files or extensions to install, and users can get started on any browser and any screen right away.

Passfindr offers a single-user subscription to the application for $2 per month and a multi-user “family” account for $4 per month; both packages cost about the same as other password management tools. Users can try a demo of the application at https://passfindr.com/.

Editor’s note: this review had incorrectly stated that the Location field of Passfindr bookmarks could only accept web addresses and has been updated accordingly.