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Authy
Twilio's free authenticator app with encrypted cloud backup, mobile only since the desktop clients were withdrawn in 2024.
As of 30 August 2026, Authy is free to use. A TOTP authenticator whose encrypted backup and multi-device sync made two-factor authentication survivable for non-technical users. Softwr lists it under Cybersecurity.
Overview
What Authy does
Authy is a two-factor authentication application published by Twilio. It generates time-based one-time passwords for any service supporting the standard, and its distinguishing behaviour is that it backs up the underlying secrets to Twilio's cloud, encrypted with a password the user chooses, and synchronises them across that user's registered devices. It is free, requires a phone number to register, and is available on iOS and Android. Twilio discontinued the Windows, macOS and Linux desktop applications in early 2024, with those apps ceasing to work later that year, and has also retired the Authy developer API in favour of Twilio Verify. What made Authy worth choosing was recovery. For most of the last decade, losing a phone with a bare authenticator app meant losing access to every account it held, and the recovery process was a support ticket per service, each with its own identity checks. Authy's encrypted backup meant a new phone plus a backup password restored everything, which is the difference between two-factor authentication being something an ordinary person will keep using and something they abandon after the first lost handset. That convenience is why it spread beyond technical users, and it is also the design decision that concentrates the risk: the seeds exist in someone else's cloud, protected by a password most users set once and never think about again. The user is an individual or a small team, and the price is zero, so the question is not value but dependency. The trade-offs are concrete. There is no export function, so leaving means disabling and re-enrolling two-factor on every account by hand. The account is keyed to a phone number, which is a SIM-swap surface. And the commercial logic has gone: Authy was the consumer front end for a paid developer API that no longer exists, so it is now a free app inside a company with no revenue attached to it, which is a fact worth weighing before making it the single point of failure for your entire authentication estate.
What people use it for
- An individual who wants two-factor authentication on personal accounts and needs it to survive losing or replacing a phone
- A small team sharing access to a service account where the same tokens must be available on more than one handset
- Replacing SMS-based codes with TOTP for someone who would abandon two-factor entirely if recovery were difficult
- Consolidating tokens scattered across several apps onto one device list with recognisable names and icons
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Authy.
- There is no export function for stored TOTP secrets, so moving to a different authenticator means disabling and re-enrolling two-factor authentication on every account individually, which is the reason most users stay rather than a reason anyone should choose it.
- The Windows, macOS and Linux desktop applications were discontinued in 2024 and stopped working, so any workflow that depended on copying codes on a computer now requires a phone in hand, and users who held tokens only on a desktop client had to restore from backup or re-enrol.
- The account is keyed to a phone number, so an attacker who takes over that number through a SIM swap can begin the device registration flow, and the only remaining control is the backup password that most users set once and cannot recall.
- In 2024 an unauthenticated Twilio endpoint allowed attackers to confirm which numbers from a supplied list were registered Authy accounts, exposing around 33 million phone numbers, which disclosed no codes but handed phishers a validated list of people known to use two-factor authentication.
- It is a free consumer application inside a company that has already retired the paid Authy developer API it once supported, so it carries no revenue of its own, and users should treat its continued existence as a business decision rather than a roadmap commitment.
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Authy
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- AuthyvsBitdefender Total Security
Bitdefender Total Security: The world's #1 rated antivirus
- AuthyvsLastPass
LastPass: Simplify online life with LastPass password manager
- AuthyvsNorton 360
Norton 360: Powerful protection against evolving threats
Capabilities
Features
Encrypted cloud backup
TOTP secrets backed up to Twilio's cloud encrypted with a user-chosen password that Twilio does not hold
Multi-device sync
The same set of tokens available on several registered devices belonging to the same user
Standard TOTP
Works with any service supporting the standard six-digit time-based one-time password scheme
Offline code generation
Codes are generated on the device and work without network connectivity once tokens are added
App lock
PIN or biometric requirement before the token list can be viewed
Multi-device toggle
Ability to disable further device registrations so the account cannot be extended to a new handset
Token organisation
Custom names and recognisable icons for accounts, which matters once the list runs to dozens of entries
Free with no account tier
No paid version, no seat count and no upsell inside the consumer application
Device management
View and remove registered devices from within the app
Phone-number registration
Enrolment and recovery keyed to a mobile number rather than an email address or a password
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
Is Authy still supported?
The mobile apps for iOS and Android are still available and functional. The desktop applications were withdrawn in 2024 and the Authy developer API has been retired in favour of Twilio Verify, so the surrounding product has been shrinking.
Can I export my tokens?
No. There is no export of the underlying secrets, by design. Migrating to another authenticator means going to each service, disabling two-factor authentication and setting it up again with the new app.
What happened to the desktop app?
Twilio announced its discontinuation in March 2024 and the applications stopped working later that year. There is no replacement desktop client; the mobile apps are the product now.
Is multi-device sync safe to leave on?
It is the feature most worth understanding. Leaving new device registration enabled means anyone who controls your phone number can attempt to add a device. The usual advice is to turn the multi-device setting off once your devices are registered and turn it on only when you need to add one.
What if I lose my phone and forget the backup password?
The secrets are encrypted with that password and Twilio does not hold it, so they cannot be recovered. You would fall back to each individual service's account recovery process, which is exactly the situation the backup was meant to avoid.
Keep looking
Where to go from Authy
- Authy alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Authy pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Authy badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Cybersecurity softwareThe full category
- Best Cybersecurity softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Cybersecurity software for
Compare Authy with
- LastPass
- 1Password
- Bitdefender Total Security
- Norton 360
- Google Authenticator
- Cisco Duo
- Entrust Identity as a Service
- RoboForm
- ExpressVPN
- Authelia
- Stytch
- WorkOS
- Splunk Enterprise Security
- Sticky Password
- Surfshark
- Tanium
- Teleport
- Stytch
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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Authy, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Authy
Authy alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
Authy pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare Authy
Put it head to head with anything we hold
Authy badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
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