This Is the Best Alternative to Authy Two-Factor Authentication
Still looking for an alternative to Authy, the two-factor authenticator that used to have a desktop app? Ente Auth , an open source application, may be what you are looking for.
Authy, if you don’t know, is a two-factor authentication app that we recommended years ago —mainly because it offered a desktop app. But Authy shut down the desktop app in March 2024. And that’s not all. Twilio, the company that owns Authy, had some security issues in 2022 that led to problems for Authy users. All this means that many people have been looking for a good two-factor authentication app with a desktop client – ideally an open source one.
Personally, “replace Authy” has been on my to-do list for over a year now. No more: Ente Auth is now such an alternative.
The application is free, open source and offers clients for both mobile devices and desktops. By default, Ente Auth prompts you to set up a username and password, which is necessary if you want to sync your codes across devices. However, if you don’t like it from a security point of view, you can use the app on one device without any account.
I like a few features here that I haven’t seen in other apps. My favorite: The screen shows both the current login code and the next login code, which is ideal when there are 10 seconds left and you know you won’t finish entering the current code in time. Another thing I like is that you can set the desktop app to open a search box when you launch the app, which means you can quickly find the app you’re trying to open without touching your mouse. You can even use the arrow keys to navigate to the code and the enter key to copy it. The app is full of little things like this that show that they are thinking about the user.
If there’s one problem for former Authy users, it’s the migration process, although that’s more Authy’s fault than Ente’s. Ente offers migration tips, but the most basic ones stopped working when Authy shut down its desktop app (the only method that still works requires a rooted Android phone). Essentially, you will have to log into each account and manually change the 2FA applications, as we already said when we explained how to switch from one 2FA application to another . It’s a daunting prospect, especially if you have dozens of apps to migrate, but if you want to leave Authy, this is the only way.
That being said, I think this step is worth it. To me, Ente Auth does everything Authy does, but still offers a desktop client. I recommend it if you are still looking for an alternative.