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For a free email-based alternative to Have I Been Pwned (HIBP), start with Mozilla Monitor. Its free tier checks email addresses and can monitor verified addresses for new breach records, but Mozilla’s official pages disagree about how many addresses are included. If you want alerts linked to logins saved in Firefox, Firefox Password Manager is a narrower option; if you use Bitwarden, its free individual-vault Data Breach report offers another way to check. Neither Mozilla Monitor nor Bitwarden necessarily provides an independent breach database: both document using HIBP data.
Which free alternative fits what you want to check?
| Option | What it checks | Lookup or monitoring | Free access | Data source and privacy details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mozilla Monitor | Email addresses | Checks known breaches and can monitor verified addresses for new records | A free tier is documented, but Mozilla’s pages conflict on the number of included addresses; see below. | Mozilla says it uses HIBP’s database. Mozilla’s service terms say neither service guarantees complete or timely public breach records. |
| Firefox Password Manager | Logins saved in Firefox | Alerts when a known website breach occurred after the password was saved; also checks reuse among saved credentials | Mozilla documents the feature in Firefox; the source does not give a separate price or plan limit. | Mozilla says checks happen locally and saved passwords or login information are not sent to Mozilla. This is not a general email-address lookup. |
| Bitwarden individual-vault Data Breach report | The master password when an account is created | A report, rather than general email monitoring | Bitwarden says this report is free for all users. | Uses HIBP. Bitwarden says it sends the first five digits of the master-password hash for comparison and never exposes the master password itself. |
| Have I Been Pwned | Email address, for the site’s exposure check | Direct lookup | Current free limits were not established in the reviewed official source. | The HIBP homepage is the baseline lookup; its current privacy implementation was not established here. |
Mozilla Monitor: closest match for email checks
Monitor is the most direct free email-based alternative in this comparison. Mozilla describes it as a breach-notification service that checks submitted addresses against known breaches, alerts users when a new breach includes them, and provides manual steps to address the exposure. It does not resolve a breach on your behalf. Mozilla’s terms describe the service as free and available worldwide in partnership with HIBP.
Why there is no reliable address cap to quote
Mozilla’s support article says users can scan up to 20 email addresses for free, while its current “How it works” page says all subscribers can monitor five email addresses for free. The pages do not explain the difference. Treat Monitor as having a free tier, but check the current account interface before relying on a particular number of addresses.
Because Mozilla says Monitor uses HIBP’s database, it is a different service and workflow, not proof of a second, independent breach-data source.
#1 Best Overall
Firefox Password Manager: alerts for saved browser logins
Firefox’s breach feature answers a different question from an email lookup. Mozilla says Firefox compares the date of a known website breach with the date a password was saved. It alerts you when the breach occurred after that saved-password date. Firefox also checks whether credentials saved in the browser are reused.
Mozilla says these checks happen locally and that saved passwords or login information are not sent to Mozilla. This feature is useful for reviewing credentials saved in Firefox, but it does not search any email address you enter against a general breach list.
Bitwarden: a free breach report in an individual vault
Bitwarden’s individual-vault Data Breach report checks compromised data in known breaches using HIBP. Bitwarden says the report is free for all users and can be run on the master password when an account is created. For comparison, Bitwarden says most of its other vault-health reports are premium features: exposed-password, reused-password, weak-password, unsecured-website, and inactive-two-factor-authentication reports.
Bitwarden says it sends the first five digits of the master-password hash for comparison; the master password itself is never exposed by Bitwarden. Since this report also uses HIBP, it offers a vault-based way to check, not an independent database cross-check.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What a clean result does—and does not—tell you
If a service finds nothing, read the result as “not found in the records checked,” not “never breached.” Mozilla’s terms say Mozilla Monitor and HIBP do not guarantee complete or timely records of all public breaches. A breach may be missing from the records or added after a delay, so a negative result cannot establish that an address or password was never exposed.
Also distinguish a provider’s interface from its underlying data. Mozilla Monitor and Bitwarden both document using HIBP data, so checking through one of them does not necessarily amount to verifying the result against a separate breach database.
Quick Recap
How to choose
- Want an email lookup with ongoing alerts? Try Mozilla Monitor, and confirm its current free address limit in your account.
- Want to review passwords saved in Firefox? Use Firefox’s saved-login breach and reuse checks; they are tied to those browser credentials.
- Want a breach report within an individual password vault? Bitwarden’s Data Breach report is free, but its documented source is HIBP.
- Want a direct lookup? Use HIBP itself; the reviewed official homepage confirms an email exposure check, but does not establish current free limits or privacy details.
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