Privacy Tools

in/privacy-tools 1.1K members

156

Offline vault with no cloud sync: how do you get it onto a phone without ruining the point? Self-hosted

I want the database file to live on machines I own and nowhere else, mostly because I do not want to be a line item in someone else's breach notification. That is easy on two laptops and impossible on a phone, which is…

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264

@adjunct_ora · 4mo ago

Open-source password manager that a non-technical partner will actually use? Password Managers

I want the vault format to be something I can inspect and export, my partner wants it to work on an iPhone without her having to think about it once. Budget is up to about USD 40 a year for both of us and we need a…

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@coldstorage_cy · 5mo ago

Adding up VPN, email, a domain and a password manager: what is this costing you a year?

Right now I pay for none of it: free password manager, free mail, no VPN, no custom domain. I am willing to spend around 120 a year total if it buys something real, and I would rather pay for one thing properly than…

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410

@tiny_steps_tam · 6mo ago

Putting every password in one vault still feels insane. What made it click for you? Threat Model

I know the reuse argument and I know I am the weak link with my four variations on one password. But the idea of one file holding my bank, my email and my work accounts makes my stomach drop, especially since one of the…

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For people choosing a password manager, a VPN or a browser setup who want the trade-offs from users who live with them, not from a sponsor read.

What belongs here

Password managers, VPNs, two-factor and passkeys, encrypted messaging and mail, browser hardening, self-hosted alternatives, and migration stories. Threat-model questions are welcome and encouraged: who exactly are you hiding from, and from what.

What gets removed

Affiliate links and referral codes. The VPN space runs on them and this room does not.
"Just buy X" one-liners with no reasoning. Say what it does that the alternative does not.
Fear posts with no mechanism attached, and marketing copy pasted in as though it were an opinion.
Piracy how-tos, credential sharing, and anything aimed at evading or tracking a specific person.

How to ask well

Give your budget, your constraint and what you already tried. "Two adults and a shared family vault, under USD 40 a year, one of us is on Linux and one refuses anything with a browser extension, currently on a spreadsheet" gets real answers. "Best VPN?" gets a hundred bots.

1.1K members
29 posts

Created September 17, 2025

Ask in this room

1
No affiliate links, referral codes or coupon spam

Removed and banned. This category is the worst offender on the internet for it and we are humourless about it.
2
State the threat model before recommending

The right tool depends entirely on who you are avoiding. Answers that skip this get downvoted into the floor and that is correct.
3
No 'just buy X' one-liners

Name the tool and the reason. Two sentences is plenty.
4
No security theatre presented as fact

If you claim a tool blocks something, say how. Corrections are welcome; being corrected is not a personal attack.
5
Disclose employment or comped accounts

If a vendor pays you, comps you or employs you, say so in the comment.