Most people keep 1Password around for one job: remembering every login so they don't have to. That's worth paying for. But it's a subscription, $3.99 a month billed yearly for one person once the first-year discount ends, and your vault lives in a 1Password account rather than in a file you hold.
PassBrew is a native Mac password manager built on KeePass. Your vault is a single .kdbx file on your own disk, and it stays compatible with KeePassXC, KeePass2Android and Strongbox. Moving over is quick: PassBrew imports a 1Password CSV export and matches the columns for you.
Small, quick, and out of the way
- A small download. PassBrew for Mac is 12.7 MB.
- Opens like a Mac app should. It's a native app, not a browser tab. Touch ID gets you back into your vault with a fingerprint.
- No account, no vendor cloud. Nothing is sent to anyone's servers. Sync the file however you already do: iCloud, Dropbox or a USB stick.
What you can do in it
- Open or start a vault. It reads KDBX 3.1 and 4.x files, with a master password, a key file or both, and creates new ones too.
- Edit without worry. Every save is atomic and keeps a .bak backup, so a crash can't corrupt your file.
- Get 2FA codes in the same place. Live one-time codes show right in your entries, so you don't need a separate authenticator app.
- Find weak passwords. Watchtower flags weak, reused and expired passwords, all checked on your Mac.
- Make strong ones. Random passwords or diceware passphrases, with a strength meter as you go.
- Keep secrets off the screen. The clipboard clears itself, and auto-lock seals the vault when you step away.
Who it's for
People who'd rather own their passwords as one encrypted file than rent a place for them. KeePass users on a Mac who want something nicer to look at. And anyone leaving 1Password, LastPass or Bitwarden who wants to bring their logins along and stop paying a password bill.
When to stick with 1Password
If you want passwords filled into websites through a browser extension, apps from the same company on your phone and your other computers, or easy sharing with family and people who don't use a password manager, 1Password does all of that. It also has Travel Mode and developer tools for SSH keys. PassBrew is a Mac app for your own file: you copy a field and paste it, and sharing means sharing the file.
What it costs
PassBrew isn't sold on its own. It comes with a getapps.cafe membership, from $1.99 a month on the annual plan, and that includes every other app on the menu too. There's a 7-day free trial, so you can open your own vault in it before paying anything.
