In a bid to court more users, popular password manager app LastPass will no longer require its users to be subscribers of its Premium tier in order to access the service on any device be it a desktop computer’s web browser or the app on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets which has previously been the case.
Citing the need to “empower” people to take their online security seriously in the wake of major security breaches this year that have affected the likes of Yahoo and many others, LastPass is adopting a freemium model that will see those interested in paying for access to several features that will remain exclusive to paying users like added two-factor authentication options, family password sharing and priority customer support, pay just $1 per month or $12 annually.
“There is no “online” life and “offline” life – it’s just life, with technology seamlessly weaving in and out of our everyday experiences. In today’s connected world, we believe the best way to benefit from the security and convenience of LastPass is to have it on all your devices. And because security is so fundamental, we want to offer a frictionless experience that makes it easy to connect safely and use strong passwords everywhere,” reads a statement posted on the LastPass blog by founder and Vice President Joe Siegrist.
LastPass was acquired by remote access software maker LogMeIn for a reported sum of $110 million in late 2015. It has since undergone a rebrand that saw it shed its old logo for the current one. Lately, the service has had to try attracting new users against a backdrop of a wide variety of equally powerful password managers that are either free or more competitively priced than it. This new approach should put LastPass on the front seat of new user acquisition hence growth.
