You already use Proton Pass. You trust the Proton brand, your passwords are stored, and you've got a few email aliases set up. So why would you need anything else?
Here's the honest answer: a password manager protects your credentials after you create them. It doesn't stop you from handing them to a fake login page. It doesn't shield your payment card when a merchant gets breached. And it doesn't block a phishing site before you click.
That's the gap this comparison is really about.
What Each App Actually Does
Proton Pass is a password manager with email alias support. It stores your passwords behind end-to-end encryption, autofills login forms, and lets you generate hide-my-email aliases to keep your real address out of signups. It's a solid, privacy-respecting tool from a company with a strong track record.
Ivy by IronVest is a full privacy protection app. It stores passwords too, but it also masks your email, phone number, and payment card. Its AI threat detection blocks malicious sites in real time, before you click. Biometric authentication replaces your master password entirely. One app covers what most people currently patch together with 3 or 4 separate tools.
The overlap is real. The gap is bigger.
Password Management: Where They Overlap
Both apps store passwords with strong encryption. Both offer autofill across devices. Both use zero-knowledge architecture, meaning neither company can read your data.
If password storage is all you need, Proton Pass does the job well. Ivy handles it too, with unlimited passwords included on every plan and biometric authentication as the master key instead of a password you have to remember and protect.
The biometric angle matters. With Ivy, your face or fingerprint unlocks everything. There's no master password to phish, forget, or reuse.
Email Aliases: Similar Feature, Very Different Scope
Proton Pass generates hide-my-email aliases. You use a fake address for a signup, and real emails forward to your inbox. That's genuinely useful.
Ivy does the same thing, but the alias is one piece of a larger identity layer. When you sign up for something with Ivy, you can use:
- A masked email that forwards to your real inbox
- A masked phone number for SMS verification
- A virtual payment card with a spending limit you set
Proton Pass covers the email piece. Ivy covers the whole identity. That matters when a service asks for your phone number and card details alongside your email.
What Proton Pass Doesn't Cover
This is the core of the comparison. Proton Pass is excellent at what it does. It just doesn't do several things that Ivy does.
Real-time phishing protection. Ivy's AI detects malicious sites and blocks them before you land on the page. Proton Pass has no equivalent. If you click a convincing phishing link, your password manager won't stop you from typing your credentials into a fake login form.
Virtual payment cards. Ivy generates virtual cards for online shopping. You set the spending limit, use the card once or keep it for a recurring subscription, and cancel it instantly if something looks wrong. Proton Pass has no virtual card feature.
Masked phone numbers. Many signups require a phone number now. Ivy gives you a masked number that forwards calls and texts without exposing your real one. Proton Pass doesn't offer this.
AI threat detection with sub-1-second response time. Ivy's 99.9% detection rate operates as a browser-level layer that works before you interact with a threat. That's proactive protection. Password managers are reactive by design.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Proton Pass | Ivy by IronVest |
|---|---|---|
| Password storage | Yes | Yes (unlimited) |
| Email aliases | Yes | Yes (up to unlimited) |
| Masked phone numbers | No | Yes |
| Virtual payment cards | No | Yes |
| AI phishing protection | No | Yes (99.9% detection rate) |
| Biometric authentication | No | Yes (on-device) |
| Zero-knowledge encryption | Yes | Yes (AES-256) |
| SOC 2 Type II certified | No | Yes |
| Cross-device sync | Yes | Yes |
Who Should Use Proton Pass
Proton Pass is a good fit if:
- You primarily want a well-designed password manager with email alias support
- You're already in the Proton ecosystem (Mail, VPN, Drive) and want everything under one brand
- Password storage and basic alias generation cover your needs
It's a strong product. The Proton brand has earned its reputation.
Who Should Use Ivy
Ivy is the better fit if:
- You shop online regularly and want your real card details out of merchant databases
- You've received breach notifications or phishing attempts and want protection that acts before damage happens
- You're tired of managing separate tools for passwords, email privacy, and payment security
- You want one app to replace the stack
If you've ever thought "I wish my password manager could also protect my card and block sketchy sites," that's exactly what Ivy is built for.
Pricing
Proton Pass offers a free tier and a paid plan at around $47.88/year (Proton Pass Plus as of 2026).
Ivy Pro costs $39/year and includes 50 masked emails, 35 one-time-funded virtual cards, 1 masked phone number, unlimited passwords, biometric auth, AI phishing protection, and cross-device sync.
Ivy Ultimate costs $99/year and adds unlimited masked emails, unlimited reloadable virtual cards, an advanced AI assistant, priority support, family sharing, and early feature access.
Ivy requires no credit card to sign up and comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee. ACH funding for virtual cards is fee-free.
One prevented fraud incident typically costs far more than a year of either subscription. But only one of these apps is positioned to prevent that incident from happening in the first place.
FAQs
Can I use Ivy alongside Proton Pass? Yes. Some people run both during a transition period. That said, Ivy includes full password management, so most people find they no longer need a separate password manager once they switch.
Does Ivy actually replace a password manager? Yes. Ivy stores unlimited passwords with AES-256 encryption, autofills across devices, and uses biometric authentication as the master key. It handles everything a standalone password manager does, plus the rest.
Is Proton Pass more private than Ivy? Both use zero-knowledge encryption, meaning neither company can access your data. Ivy is also SOC 2 Type II certified and GDPR compliant, with biometrics stored on-device only. The privacy architecture is comparable at the core.
What makes Ivy's phishing protection different from browser warnings? Ivy's AI threat detection operates with a 99.9% detection rate and sub-1-second response time, blocking malicious sites before you reach them. Browser warnings are reactive and rely on known blocklists. Ivy's AI layer catches threats that haven't been catalogued yet.
Does Ivy work on all my devices? Yes. Ivy is available as a browser extension and as iOS and Android apps, with cross-platform sync across all your devices.
What happens if a virtual card gets compromised? You cancel it instantly through the app and generate a new one. Your real card details were never exposed to the merchant, so there's nothing to clean up on the bank side.
Is there a free trial for Ivy? Ivy offers a 14-day money-back guarantee with no credit card required to sign up. You can start without any financial commitment.
The Bottom Line
Proton Pass is a trustworthy password manager. If that's all you need, it does the job.
But if you want protection that covers your identity, your payment cards, and the threats you haven't seen yet, a password manager alone isn't enough. Ivy fills every gap that Proton Pass leaves open, and it does it in a single app at a price that's hard to argue with.
Learn more at getivy.ai.