LastPass alternative for startups

There are roughly 40-60 viable password management tools competing for attention, ranging from free-tier players like Bitwarden to enterprise-focused solutions. The common failure modes are predictable: vendors chase upmarket pricing, add features nobody asked for, get acquired and gutted, or fail to build trust after a breach. The real gap isn't in the core feature set—any modern password manager can encrypt and sync—but in the intersection of three things startups actually care about: transparent pricing with no hidden team seats, simple onboarding that takes 15 minutes not two weeks, and genuine indie credibility (not VC-backed or recently acquired). Most alternatives focus on either the consumer market (too simple for teams) or the enterprise market (too expensive and bloated). A new entrant should obsess over founder pain specifically—how do you eliminate the password sprawl problem in the first 30 days of hiring, make it frictionless to add/remove team members, and price it so a 5-person team doesn't need a finance meeting to approve it.