Switch from Authy to FactorCat in 5 minutes
Authy served its purpose, but it hasn’t kept up. The desktop app is gone. The mobile app hasn’t seen meaningful updates. And the 2022 data breach left a lot of people looking for alternatives.
If you’re one of them, here’s how to switch to FactorCat in about 5 minutes. For a full feature comparison, see FactorCat vs Authy.
What you’ll get
After migrating, your 2FA workflow changes from this:
- Open Authy on your phone
- Find the right account
- Copy the 6-digit code
- Switch to your browser
- Paste it before it expires
To this:
- Your browser detects the MFA field
- Your phone gets a push notification
- Tap approve — code fills in automatically
Same security. Way less friction.
Before you start
You’ll need:
- Your phone with Authy installed (you’ll read codes from it during migration)
- The FactorCat app installed on your phone (download here)
- The FactorCat browser extension installed in your browser
- About 5 minutes per account you’re migrating
Step 1: Install FactorCat
Download the mobile app and create your account. This takes about 30 seconds.
Download for your platform and sign in with the same account on the mobile app and browser extension.
Step 2: Re-enroll your accounts
Authy doesn’t support exporting tokens directly. The most reliable approach is to re-enroll each account:
- Log in to the service you want to migrate (e.g., GitHub, Google, AWS)
- Go to Security Settings and find the 2FA/MFA section
- Disable 2FA (you’ll need your current Authy code for this)
- Re-enable 2FA — the site will show a new QR code
- Scan with FactorCat instead of Authy
Repeat for each account. Start with your most-used accounts — you’ll notice the difference immediately.
Step 3: Verify each migration
After scanning, FactorCat will show the account in your vault. Test the approve flow:
- Log out of the service
- Log back in — the MFA prompt should appear
- Your phone should get a push notification from FactorCat
- Tap approve — the code fills in automatically
If it works, that account is migrated. Move on to the next one.
Step 4: Remove from Authy
Once you’ve verified an account works in FactorCat, you can remove it from Authy. This is optional — having it in both apps doesn’t cause issues, but keeping Authy around defeats the purpose of switching.
How long does this take?
Most people have 5-15 accounts with 2FA enabled. At about 2 minutes per account (including the login, disable, re-enable, scan cycle), that’s 10-30 minutes total.
Start with the accounts you log into most often. You can migrate the rest over the following days.
Why FactorCat over other alternatives?
| Feature | Authy | FactorCat |
|---|---|---|
| Push approve | No | Yes |
| Browser auto-fill | No | Yes |
| Multiple vault types | No | Cloud + Locked |
| Factor sharing | No | Yes (free) |
| Desktop app | Discontinued | Chrome extension |
| Pricing | Free | Free (50 factors) |
The biggest difference isn’t a feature — it’s the workflow. FactorCat eliminates the “open app, find code, copy, paste” loop entirely.
Ready to switch?
Download FactorCat and migrate your first account. The whole process takes about 2 minutes, and you’ll feel the difference on your very next login.