The best, secure two-factor authenticator (2FA) apps of 2026 compared, and why Authy is not on the list anymore

In 2026, the best 2FA apps are Ente Auth, Proton Auth and Bitwarden Auth, which are all free and open source (anyone can see exactly how the program works), and even had their infrastructure validated by multiple independent 3rd parties.

The former king, Authy, did not do any of that. It is dropping in market share, and even platforms like Twitch now advise against it.

Core security and usability app metrics

When you trust an app with being the final gatekeeper to your accounts, you want to make sure it can be audited, runs on your different systems, protects access to itself and can export your data to not lock you in after you decided to use it.

We picked the most used 2FA apps as of the time of writing, and tried all of them:

Ente Auth and Proton Auth have the widest platform support - which is especially important when you're not just having a phone.

All platforms besides Authy are open source, meaning everyone can look at the full source code to ensure it is not doing anything behind the users back or having a backdoor, or even perform full security audits.

With Authy there is no such guarantee at all, which disqualifies it to be trusted.

Winner: Ente, Proton

3rd-Party cryptographic audit status

Speaking about open source being the only kind of software that can be trusted:

Don't take it from us or the app developers - here is how these apps do independent, 3rd party audits to ensure their products are safe and proof maturity:

• Ente Auth: Audited by Cure53, Symbolic Software, and Fallible.
• Bitwarden Auth: Audited by Unit 42 (Palo Alto Networks) and ETH Zurich (cryptography).
• Proton Auth: Shares the enterprise architecture of the Proton ecosystem, which undergoes rigorous, regular audits. Most recently, Recurity Labs conducted a comprehensive audit of Proton's password and authentication infrastructure, finding the overarching security posture to be "well above average" with no encryption bypasses identified.
• 2FAS: Relies entirely on open-source community scrutiny and lacks published, commissioned cryptographic audits from major corporate security firms.
• Authy: Completely proprietary (closed-source). Twilio does not publish independent cryptographic audits of the Authy client.

Ente, Bitwarden and Proton perform audits by reputable institutions. 2FAS is entirely relying on the community, which can work but lacks the official nod from a credible auditor.

Authy being closed source can not be independently audited.

Tie: Ente, Bitwarden, Proton

Organizational Advocacy

After establishing the foundations and security principles, let's have a look not at their overall reputation and acceptance, but who is actively supporting and recommending them:

• Proton Auth: Proton was literally founded by CERN and MIT scientists, meaning their tools are heavily embedded in and advocated for by the global scientific and academic privacy communities.
• Ente Auth: Explicitly recommended by CERN as an open-source 2FA alternative. CERN founded Proton but still recommends Ente for IT departments because it does not require a signup. To me, acting like this drastically increases my trust in Proton.
• Bitwarden: The standard recommendation by enterprise IT departments and cybersecurity professionals globally.
• 2FAS: Heavily endorsed by privacy watchdogs like PrivacyGuides, though it lacks direct institutional backing from research bodies.
• Authy: Years ago being the highest recommendation, it is now facing active anti-advocacy. Universities and tech platforms like Twitch have published official guidance urging users to migrate away due to its desktop app shutdown and repeated data breaches.

Tie: Ente, Bitwarden, Proton

Scandals & Controversies

• Proton Auth (Clean): No major scandals or data breaches. A 2026 Recurity Labs (no typo) audit did find a medium-severity memory management issue (traces of data left in memory after a user signs out on Android), but Proton immediately patched this and resolved it during the re-audit phase. Their reputation for transparency remains highly intact.
• Ente Auth (Clean): No data breaches or company scandals.
• Bitwarden Auth (Clean): Unblemished record regarding the authenticator and core vault encryption.
• 2FAS (Clean): Zero company scandals. (A completely unrelated malware app named "2FA Authenticator" appeared on the Play Store in 2022, but this had no connection to the official 2FAS team).
• Authy (Severe): Suffered a massive API breach in 2024 exposing 33 million phone numbers, a 2022 social engineering breach that allowed attackers to intercept 2FA codes, and the abrupt, widely criticized cancellation of all desktop applications in early 2024, leaving users trapped due to their refusal to support data exports for migrating to another app.

Other noteworthy details

• Ente Auth: Whilst the folks at CERN founded Proton, in their internal IT guidelines they recommend Ente. The reason behind this is that Ente does not require an account creation, which is an absolute killer feature looking at it from an IT management scenario.
• Bitwarden Auth: Supports account-less usage as well, but you will be locked in to your phone.
• 2FAS: It is the only app in this list that stores your data in your iCloud or Google Drive - all other solutions store them with zero-knowledge and secure in their own data centers.

Prices of the compared 2FA apps

They are all free. :)

Our recommendation for a secure 2FA app

If you just need it on your phone, Ente, Proton and Bitwarden are close in the ranking, you can not go wrong with any of these.

If you also have a notebook, tablet or PC, Ente or Proton are your choice.

Proton, however, opens access to Proton Unlimited, which combines a password manager, secure cloud storage, a zero-log VPN, secure emails and more in one, single ecosystem:

Why the Proton bundles are your best bet for privacy and security

Without complete bundles like those from Proton, instead of enjoying complete security and privacy, you’d cherry-pick solutions and end up paying multiple services a higher bill for less protection. A unified, encrypted ecosystem like the Proton Bundle effortlessly secures your passwords, emails, cloud storage, and internet connection in

Better Online PrivacyBOP Authors

How to switch to a new 2FA app if the old one like Authy does not support exporting

You will need to migrate manually, here's the safe & clean method:

• Do not delete Authy yet.
• Install the new 2FA app of your choice.
• Log into each of your online accounts one by one.
• Go to their Security settings, temporarily disable 2FA, and re-enable it.
• When the website displays a new setup QR code, scan it using your new 2FA app.
• Make sure to save the website’s provided "Emergency Recovery Codes" in a secure text file, written down and locked away or at least stored in your password manager (not truly recommended) during this reset process.