Apple’s iCloud Keychain: It works, but with frustrating limitations

Ultimately, iCloud Keychain can be put to good use if you've carefully examined what it does well and doesn't do well. It works best as a complement to a complete service like 1Password or LastPass, but it just isn't convenient and robust enough to act as a standalone password manager.

You can also set up iCloud Keychain without any passcode or password. Apple states in a support document that this allows you to store passwords "only locally" on your devices, but it's clear from our tests that the system stores passwords in the cloud no matter what.