A VPN protects your connection. A password manager protects your accounts. Encrypted email protects your messages. Together, these four tools cover the three biggest weak points in everyday digital privacy — and we recommend all of them alongside a good VPN.
A VPN encrypts your internet connection — it stops your ISP, government, or anyone on the same network from seeing what you're doing online. But it does not protect your accounts if you use weak or reused passwords. It does not encrypt the emails you send. It does not stop data breaches at sites you've signed up to.
The tools below fill those gaps. Used together with a good VPN, they form a complete, practical privacy setup that covers the three most common ways personal data is compromised — weak passwords, unencrypted email, and insecure connections.
81% of data breaches involve weak or stolen passwords, according to Verizon's annual Data Breach Report. A password manager is arguably more important than a VPN for most people's day-to-day security.
A password manager generates and stores a unique, strong password for every account you have. You remember one master password — it remembers the rest. All three picks below use zero-knowledge encryption, meaning not even the company can see your passwords.
1Password has been independently audited, has never been breached, and is trusted by millions of individuals and thousands of businesses worldwide. It stores passwords, passkeys, credit cards, secure notes, and two-factor authentication codes — all encrypted locally before they ever reach 1Password's servers. The apps are polished and consistent across Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and browser extensions. The Travel Mode feature, which hides selected vaults when crossing borders, is genuinely unique. For most people it is simply the best option available.
NordPass is made by Nord Security — the same company behind NordVPN, which is independently audited and has one of the strongest privacy track records in the industry. If you already use NordVPN, NordPass is a natural companion — and bundled pricing makes the combination good value. It uses XChaCha20 encryption (a modern algorithm increasingly preferred over AES-256 for its speed and security), stores passwords and payment details, and has a clean, beginner-friendly interface. A data breach scanner is included on paid plans.
Dashlane goes further than most password managers — alongside storing passwords and payment details, it actively monitors the dark web for your email addresses and alerts you if your data appears in a breach. Its password health score gives you a clear picture of which accounts have weak or reused passwords and guides you through fixing them. Passkey support is included. For users who want a tool that does more than just store credentials — one that actively works to improve your security posture — Dashlane is the strongest choice in this category.
Standard email — Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo — is not encrypted end-to-end. The provider can read your messages, and so can anyone who gains access to their servers. Encrypted email means only you and the person you're writing to can read what's sent — not even the email provider.
Proton Mail is made by Proton AG — the same team behind Proton VPN, which our reviewer has used personally for over three years. Based in Switzerland under some of the strongest privacy laws in the world, Proton Mail encrypts every message end-to-end before it leaves your device. Proton cannot read your emails. Swiss authorities cannot compel them to hand over readable content. The apps are open source and available on all platforms. A genuinely capable free plan is available with no adverts and no data harvesting. If you send anything you would not want read by a third party, Proton Mail is the obvious upgrade from Gmail or Outlook.
A password manager secures your accounts. Encrypted email secures your messages. A VPN secures your connection. All three together cover the main ways personal data is exposed online. If you haven't chosen a VPN yet — or want to check you have the right one — our independent reviews cover 8 of the most popular services.