Free and open source alternatives to Google Authenticator - Le Alternative (2024)

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We have spoke of the importance of password manager, today we will talk about alternatives to Google Authenticator. In yesterday's article we talked about not using never password twice and not to use easily guessable passwords (such as NameSurname123). We also explained that the length of the password is much more important than its difficulty in writing and reading (it may seem absurd but CarrotsTableDogGlass it's probably better than 4qNDqm*@). Today, however, we want to talk to you alternatives to Google Authenticator.

2FA? Better to find alternatives to Google Authenticator

What is it Google Authenticator, meanwhile? Google Authenticator it's a Google service That generates a token usable for all two-factor authentication. We have already told you how important it is to activate thetwo-factor authentication. In practice it is theonly way to have one reasonable certainty that your account is not compromised. Without two-factor authentication, regardless of the password you choose and your “lifestyle”, your account is at risk of hackers.

Unfortunately Google Authenticator as you can imagine it is a proprietary software, today we will suggest software to you Open source And free. Consider that the algorithms used are the same therefore there is absolutely no less security in using a token Open source as compared to Google Authenticator.

The chosen alternatives

If you are interested in the topic, we suggest reading this in-depth article: SPID and Google Authenticator (link archive).

Aegis

Open source

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Authenticator Pro

Open source

At your suggestion we add the excellent application Authenticator Pro. It's free and Open source ¹ and offers many interesting options. In addition to supporting the classic TOTP and HOTP, it is also possible, for example, to carry out automatic backups locally with the possibility of automatic restoration.
Beautiful graphically, it is available on Play Store come on F-Droid but only through the Repositories Of IzzyOnDroid.

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FreeOTP e FreeOTP+

Open source

Other alternatives to keep your OTP codes are FreeOTP and its Fork FreeOTP+. FreeOTP is a project developed by Red Hat and FreeOTP is one of its own Fork with some interesting features such as backing up your configurations. It can be found both on F-Droid that on Play Store.

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Bitwarden

Open source
also password manager
codes saved in the cloud

In its paid version (€1 per month) allows it to be used as well as password manager also as a service token generation, complete with the possibility of automatically copying and pasting the OTP code created ². Bitwarden is also the only method Open source to have the OTP code in the cloud across multiple platforms. Attention but why keeping passwords and OTPs in one place can be a risk: for the most important accounts we recommend using them separately with one of the alternatives below.

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Ente Auth

codes saved in the cloud
Open source
soon available for iOS (currently in beta)

For some, saving the 2FA codes of various services in the cloud can be an important necessity. Body is a provider for manage your photos online which offers a zero-knowledge encrypted space. Recently, leveraging their architecture, they released a nice application for 2FA codes. In order to use it you must have an account on Ente, the same one you will use to save your photos. It is currently possible to have a free one-year plan for Ente and the developers let it be known that those who already use Ente Authenticator will be able to use it for free without problems. Ente Photos' lowest plan starts at €10 per year.

An interesting compromise to have your codes in the cloud without saving them together with your passwords or to perhaps keep a backup copy of the most important codes.

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Proton Pass

codes saved in the cloud
Open source
available for iOS

As with Bitwarden, we recommend Proton Pass only if not also used as a password manager. In the free version it allows you to manage only three credentials for two-factor authentication while they are infinite in the paid version. On desktop you can only use the del extension Browsers. Clearly everything is in the cloud and simple to use.

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Standard Notes

codes saved in the cloud
Open source
available for iOS

In the paid version (around €50 per year) Standard Notes, an excellent one alternative for Google Keep, offers the possibility of managing your 2FA in the cloud. Given the somewhat high price, it is unlikely that anyone would want to pay this amount exclusively for 2FA in the cloud, however if you are already thinking of using Standard Notes for your private documents then you could take advantage of this opportunity.

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Keepass

possibility of saving in the cloud (not by default but using the WebDAV protocol)
Open source
available for iOS

Keepass is an excellent password manager which, among other things, also allows it to be used as a tool to manage 2FA codes. The same recommendations as on Bitwarden apply, i.e. it is generally not recommended to put 2FA codes and passwords in the same place. So our advice is to use it only if you don't already use it as a password manager.

Keepass can be used with different programs, for example KeePassDX for Android, KeePassium for iOS And KeePassXC for desktop. But they are not the only ones and you can find literally dozens of them.

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2FAS

Open source
the application contains several tracers
codes saved in the cloud

The application 2FAS is Open source and it's very nice graphically, it's free (They accept donations) and synchronization of 2FA codes is possible but only and exclusively on Google Drive with a folder accessible only from the 2FAS application.

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Authy

codes saved in the cloud
available for iOS

Initially we didn't want to offer this service because, unlike the others, it is not Open source. So why not want to put up such an app Open source When are there excellent alternatives that work very well? The reason that might push you to do so is that Authy, unlike any other app, allows it to be installed on multiple devices at the same time (even Windows And macOS!) and to synchronize them all with each other. So in addition to the app on Android and iOS you can install it on your PC/Mac at home and synchronize everything. For some this could be a very positive thing and a reason to install it instead of the others alternatives to Google Authenticator Open source.

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andOTP

Open source

From June 2022 andOTP will no longer be updated, its use is therefore not recommended.

Alternatives to Google Authenticator for iOS only

Authenticator

Open source
available for iOS

After presenting you with some alternatives to Google Authenticator exclusive Android, we present you Authenticator.
This is an application that can be downloaded fromApple App Store and it is completely Open source And free. If you have a iPhone so it's probably the best choice for you, this is maybe the only one token generator Open source for Apple. We don't know of any others and this one seems to work very well too so it really doesn't make any sense to install oneproprietary app as Google Authenticator and install this on your iPhone Authenticator!

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Raivo OTP

Open source
available for iOS

Thanks to your report received via email, we are recommending this application to you Open source ³ available only for Apple. It is very interesting as it also allows you to synchronize the codes on your own iCloud thus allowing its simultaneous use on multiple platforms (iPad or macOS).

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• Tofu Authenticator, an application Open source ⁴ It is free and is only available to users with iOS. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to handle backups but it's still quick and well done. You can only find it onApp Store.

• OTP Auth, this is also an exclusive application for theApp Store. It also allows backup of all created accounts. It's free and even supports notifications on the Apple Watch! It also includes a possible in-app payment to support the developer.

1. Authenticator Pro on GitHub[↩]
2. Bitwarden Authenticator (TOTP)[↩]
3. Raivo OTP on GitHub[↩]
4. Tofu Authenticator on GitHub[↩]

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