A Microsoft Authenticator alternative for everything that is not work
Microsoft Authenticator does two jobs: it approves sign-ins to Microsoft and work accounts, and it generates ordinary two-factor codes for everything else. Otter only does the second, on purpose.
What Microsoft Authenticator does well
- One-tap sign-in approvals, and passwordless sign-in, for Microsoft accounts and work accounts.
- Many employers require it for their own accounts, and it applies their policies.
- Cloud backup brings your accounts back on a new phone: through iCloud on iPhone, and on Android through a Microsoft account, which Microsoft is replacing with Google One backup from January 2027.
What Otter does differently
- Just codes: no sign-in approvals, no work accounts to manage, nothing else to set up.
- No account and no cloud backup. Your keys stay on your phone, and the backup is a file you hold, encrypted with your passphrase.
- The same backup file restores on an iPhone or on an Android phone. A Microsoft Authenticator backup cannot move between the two, so changing platform means starting again.
- No network. The Android app does not even hold the internet permission.
At a glance
| Otter | Microsoft Authenticator | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, no ads, no in-app purchase | Free |
| Platforms | iPhone and Android | iPhone and Android |
| Account needed | None | For cloud backup: iCloud on iPhone. On Android, a Microsoft account, then Google One from January 2027 |
| Where copies of your keys live | On your phone, and in backup files you export yourself | In iCloud, or on Android in your Microsoft account (in Google One from January 2027), when backup is on |
| Export to a file you keep | Yes, encrypted with a passphrase you choose | No |
| Network use | None. The Android app does not even hold the internet permission | Needed for sign-in approvals and for backup |
What this page says about other apps was checked in October 2026. Apps change: if something here is out of date, write to otter@foohx.com and it will be corrected.
Which one to choose
If your employer asks you to use Microsoft Authenticator for a work account, keep it for that: Otter cannot approve those sign-ins. For your personal accounts (email, bank, social networks, games), Otter keeps the codes on your phone with no account behind them. Plenty of people use both.
Moving your accounts to Otter
Microsoft Authenticator cannot export its accounts, so each personal account is moved from the service itself: sign in, open its two-factor settings, set up a new authenticator and scan the QR code with Otter. Leave work accounts where your employer put them.
Moving your two-factor accounts to another app, step by step
Try Otter
Free on iPhone and Android. No account to create and nothing to sync: install it, scan your first QR code, and the code is on your screen.