LastPass expands cloud password storage on tablets, PCs, and smartphones to all users for free; the feature was previously only for premium users
Context & Ripple Effects
This lands less than a year into LogMeIn's ownership: the January release that added emergency account access and new sharing was billed as the first major update since the acquisition, and now LastPass is following it by erasing its biggest paywall — the first major release since LogMeIn set the cadence, and free cross-device sync completes the pivot to scale-first growth.
The coverage arc also shows what came after: within a year LastPass doubled premium to $24/year and stripped sharing from the free tier, and by 2021 it forced free users to pick mobile or computers for unlimited access — making this 2016 giveaway the opening move in a give-then-claw-back freemium cycle.
First-order effects
- Every LastPass user can now sync passwords across tablets, PCs, and smartphones without paying, removing the primary reason the premium tier existed at the time.
Second-order effects
- With the installed base growing on a richer free tier, LastPass gains the leverage behind its 2017 repricing — doubling premium to $24/year, adding a $48/year family plan, and pulling unlimited sharing back out of free.
Third-order effects
- The pattern points to consumer security tools using an expansive free tier as a land grab, then narrowing it once switching costs are high — exactly the sequence that ended with free users locked to one device type in 2021.
The trend: Password managers are running a freemium land-grab cycle: give away cross-device access to build the base, then monetize the lock-in through price hikes and free-tier cuts.