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Proton Pass vs Bitwarden With SimpleLogin

Proton Pass is the simpler choice when you want passwords and SimpleLogin-based email aliases in one account. Bitwarden with SimpleLogin is the more separate design: Bitwarden stores the login, while SimpleLogin creates and forwards the alias. Both can generate a different email address and password for every site.

The important choice is not the logo. Decide whether the password vault and alias service should share one account, whether you need self-hosting, and whether your aliases must survive a later provider change.

What an alias changes

A forwarded alias sits between a website and the real mailbox. The website receives the alias. The alias provider receives mail for that address and forwards it to the mailbox. Replies can use a reverse alias so the real address remains hidden from the website or sender.

This prevents the website from receiving the primary mailbox address. It does not hide the forwarding relationship from the alias provider or the destination mailbox provider. A unique alias still has value because one leaked address does not identify every other account using the same inbox.

Use Proton Pass when one account is the point

Proton Pass can create a hide-my-email alias while saving a login. Proton documents that these aliases use SimpleLogin infrastructure. Existing SimpleLogin aliases can be synchronized into Proton Pass, and a Proton account can be linked to SimpleLogin.

This removes API-key setup and keeps the alias beside the password. It also joins more recovery to the Proton account. Store Proton recovery material offline and test the account recovery path before moving important logins.

Use Bitwarden when separation is the point

Bitwarden's username generator connects to several alias services. With SimpleLogin, Bitwarden uses an API key to request a new alias and places it in the username field. The password vault and forwarding service remain separate systems.

Separation gives you more provider choices and a smaller effect when one account is unavailable. It also adds one more credential and one more recovery path. Name the API key, give it only the access required by the integration, and revoke it when the integration is removed.

Set up one alias per account

1. Secure the password-manager account with a unique master password or passkey and a separate second factor.
2. Secure the alias-provider account and save its recovery codes offline.
3. Choose a custom domain if long-term alias portability matters.
4. Create an alias from the password manager when registering the next account.
5. Generate a unique password in the same login entry.
6. Save the website name, alias, password, recovery method, and creation date together.
7. Confirm that a message sent to the alias reaches the intended mailbox.
8. Reply through the alias and confirm that the recipient does not receive the primary address.

Proton Pass setup

1. Install Proton Pass from the official Proton page or supported app store.
2. Open a new login and choose Hide my email for the username.
3. Review the alias prefix, domain, and forwarding mailbox.
4. Generate the site password and save the login.
5. Send a test message to the alias before relying on it for recovery.
6. Open Settings and test an encrypted export. Store the export passphrase separately.

Proton says SimpleLogin synchronization is permanent once enabled. Review existing aliases and forwarding mailboxes before turning it on.

Bitwarden and SimpleLogin setup

1. Create a named API key in SimpleLogin.
2. Open Bitwarden's username generator and select Forwarded email alias.
3. Select SimpleLogin and paste the API key.
4. Set the self-hosted server URL if the SimpleLogin account does not use the public service.
5. Generate the alias and save it as the username for the site login.
6. Generate the password, save the entry, and test mail delivery.
7. Export an encrypted Bitwarden backup and confirm that the file can be opened with the chosen recovery method.

Custom domain or provider domain

A custom domain improves control, not anonymity by itself. Registration, payment, DNS, and a distinctive domain can connect the aliases. Use it when portability matters and keep the domain account protected by credentials that do not depend on the same mailbox.

Test the exit path

• Export the password vault in an encrypted format and restore a sample in an offline test.
• List aliases that use a provider-owned domain and cannot move.
• Confirm that custom-domain DNS can be changed from an independently recoverable registrar account.
• Record which account receives password-manager and alias-provider recovery messages.
• Keep emergency recovery codes outside the password vault they unlock.

For mailbox encryption, jurisdiction, and signup differences, see the private email provider comparison. For moving an existing Google identity, use the de-Google migration checklist before changing hundreds of account addresses.

Sources

• Proton: hide-my-email aliases in Proton Pass
• Proton: export Proton Pass data
• Bitwarden: forwarded email alias generator
• Bitwarden: export vault data
• SimpleLogin: replies and reverse aliases
• Proton: link SimpleLogin and Proton accounts

Reviewed 5 August 2026. Cunicula receives no funding from the services named here.