Passkeys vs passwords: when it is worth switching
What a passkey actually is
A passkey replaces the shared secret at the heart of a password with a key pair: the site keeps a public key it cannot be tricked into leaking, and your device holds the private half, unlocked by your fingerprint, face, or device PIN. Because there is no secret to type, there is nothing for a phishing page to steal and nothing to reuse across sites.
In everyday use it feels like unlocking your phone: you approve the sign-in with the same gesture you already use. The security benefit is a side effect of that design, not an extra step you have to remember.
Where passkeys help and where they still snag
The strongest case for switching is your highest-value accounts, exactly the ones phishing targets. Passkeys sync through your platform or password manager, so a new phone is not a lockout — but that also means your trust now rests on that account, which deserves its own strong protection.
The rough edges today are coverage and portability: not every site offers passkeys, and moving them between ecosystems is still improving. A reasonable plan is to adopt passkeys where offered while keeping a strong password and second factor as a fallback, rather than deleting passwords everywhere at once.