If you’ve ever created an account for an online service, you’ll already be familiar with the frustrations of dealing with passwords: they need to be long and secure, unique wherever possible and ideally come with a second factor as well. In everyday life, this can quickly mean juggling password managers, reset emails and authenticator apps.
An increasingly common response to this scenario is using a passkey instead of a password. The advantages are clear – you no longer have to remember, type or enter a password on a login page. Instead, you usually confirm the login on a device that belongs to you, often using a fingerprint, facial recognition or PIN.
This is why passkeys feel intuitive to many of us right away. They modernize the login experience and often make it easier if we use them on our own devices. Nevertheless, passkeys are not a panacea in every situation. In this article, we take a look at both the advantages and potential obstacles in day-to-day life.
What are passkeys?
The login process with a traditional password is always pretty much the same: you launch a website or app, type in your username and password, and confirm a second factor depending on the service.
A passkey changes this experience. Instead of the classic combination of username and password, you call up a digital access key stored on your device or in a designated manager.
From a technical perspective, a passkey works with a pair of keys – the private key is stored on your device or in a passkey manager, while the public key is held by the respective service. When you log in, a request is confirmed on your device using the private key. The service then uses the public key to check whether this confirmation is valid. For you, this feels as simple as unlocking your device. In the background, however, this method ensures that a traditional password cannot be intercepted or entered on a fake website.
If you’re already unlocking your smartphone or laptop with fingerprint or face ID, you can often sign in to supported accounts the same way without entering an additional password. This saves time, eliminates one of the most common points of friction in everyday life and, in many cases, increases security. You don’t have to remember a password or fumble with special characters, and you’re less likely to need a password reset.
Why are passkeys a breakthrough?
We’re all familiar with the problem of phishing, and this is where passkeys really come into their own. Fake websites that look deceptively real can be used to harvest passwords as well as other login data such as one-time codes from two-factor authentication. Passkeys work differently because they are tied to the service itself and cannot simply be used on any random or deceptively real login page. And this is why passkeys are considered significantly more resistant to phishing than traditional passwords.
There is a second, almost equally important advantage that quickly becomes relevant in everyday life. Passwords are often reused. Using the same combination for more than one account puts multiple logins at risk in the event of a single data leak. Passkeys solve this problem because a separate access key is generated for each service. A leak in one online service does not endanger other accounts or the passkey itself, because the service only stores the public key.
Who should be using passkeys today?
The greatest benefit is to people who use important accounts on their own devices. This might be your e-mail account, cloud storage, an account with payment data or your main work accounts. This is often where passwords are the weakest point in the login process. Omitting this step increases convenience while also protecting against typical attacks.
If you work primarily with your own smartphone and laptop, passkeys are often very straightforward. This is especially true if the device ecosystem is well established and the passkeys are available via the same keychain or manager. In this setup, you may barely notice the login process. Select your account, confirm on your device and you’re done.
Why the topic is relevant for many Hostpoint customers
Many of our customers not only manage a website, but also email accounts, customer logins and other central web access points. This is where the importance of a login method that combines security and practicality becomes clear. Passkeys are therefore a topic that should also be considered in relation to websites and email.
What are the limitations?
Things don’t work this smoothly in every situation. You can theoretically type in a password on any device. A passkey only works where it is stored or where you can access it via your setup. This becomes relevant if you replace or lose your device, or you need to log in using someone else’s computer. And while there are solutions to these scenarios, they’re not always elegant.
There is a key difference here between synced and device-based passkeys. Synced passkeys are made available across multiple devices via a suitable service. This is convenient, because it allows you to integrate a new smartphone or additional laptop more quickly. Device-based passkeys, on the other hand, remain on a single device. This can offer more control, but often makes it more of a hassle to switch to a new or replacement device. In practice, this difference is important because it helps determine which variant is the best fit and how simple it is to actually use passkeys.
Equally important is what happens if you lose your device or switch to a new one. A good login method has to work not only in normal cases, but also when something goes wrong. If you lose access to a device, you need a reliable way of getting back into your account. Otherwise, a convenient login process quickly becomes an unnecessary problem. This is why you need to consider passkeys not just from the perspective of security and convenience, but also storage, syncing and account recovery.
And bear in mind that not every online service is ready to move away from passwords entirely. In some cases, passkeys are an additional option, but you can still use a password and other login methods. That’s practical, because there’s a fallback. However, it also means that old vulnerabilities don’t disappear automatically just because a passkey has been set up. A weak or reused password can still be a risk. So while passkeys significantly improve the login experience, they don’t automatically eliminate all legacy account issues.
When is it worth switching?
If you mainly work on your own devices, want better security for important accounts and would like to avoid the hassle of passwords, passkeys can already be a very useful option. They often combine greater convenience with effective protection against traditional phishing. For many private users, this is a real step forward.
You should approach the switch with a little more caution if you often work on devices other than your own or if account recovery for important accounts is not properly set up. In this case, you may be better off starting with individual accounts rather than switching everything at once. This allows you to check under real-world conditions whether passkeys are genuinely more convenient, or if they’re perhaps still too cumbersome in certain areas.
Bottom line
Passkeys are not the best solution in every situation, but they solve real vulnerabilities of traditional passwords. They mitigate the weakness of passwords in many login scenarios and make phishing attacks much more difficult. Passkeys are especially effective if you regularly log in to your own devices and where storage, syncing and account recovery work together seamlessly. But once you factor in device changes, third-party computers or parallel legacy logins, you may soon notice that passkeys work best with the right setup in place.
