The tech industry aggressively promotes passkeys as the ultimate login solution, with Google and Microsoft pushing passwordless authentication. While passkeys excel at preventing phishing and server-side breaches—making them ideal for corporate environments—they introduce significant risks for individual users. The primary dangers shift from credential theft to permanent account lockout, automated bans, and device loss.

Hardware keys present scaling challenges: passkeys cannot be backed up or moved between keys, requiring users to purchase 2-3 keys and enroll each for every site. Discoverable credentials face storage limits of 25-300 accounts per key. Synced passkeys from Apple and Google anchor identity to their ecosystems; an automated account ban irreversibly cuts access to all third-party passkeys. FIDO Alliance export standards remain immature compared to portable password strings.

Third-party managers like Bitwarden and KeePassXC struggle with fragmented OS integration and inconsistent autofill, especially in native apps. Cross-device scenarios—like using a colleague's computer—expose trust and portability gaps. The author argues third-party passkeys may eventually prevail, but the ecosystem is currently too immature to rely on for personal security.