Password managers · verified 2026-07

1Password vs Bitwarden

In the blue corner

The polished password manager, growing into enterprise access management

In the orange corner

Open-source passwords: a real free tier and the lowest paid price

Polish versus principles: 1Password's best-in-class apps and enterprise ambitions against Bitwarden's open source, real free tier and unbeatable price. Both had controversial 2026 price increases — the gap between them stayed exactly as wide.

Skip to the verdict ↓

Round-by-round scorecard

Rounds won: 3 – 3

Each round goes to one side or is called even — a filled half means that tool takes the round. How we score

1PasswordBitwarden

Round 1 — PriceBitwarden takes it
Bitwarden Premium is $19.80/year vs 1Password's $47.88 after both tools' 2026 increases — a 2.4× gap that repeats on family plans.
Round 2 — Free tierBitwarden takes it
Bitwarden's free plan has unlimited passwords on unlimited devices; 1Password offers only a 14-day trial.
Round 3 — Polish & ease of use1Password takes it
1Password's apps, autofill and onboarding are consistently rated the smoothest in the category — the pick for non-technical households.
Round 4 — Trust modelBitwarden takes it
Bitwarden is open source, independently audited and self-hostable; 1Password is closed-source and cloud-only.
Round 5 — Security extras1Password takes it
The Secret Key dual-encryption model and Travel Mode (hiding vaults at border crossings) have no Bitwarden equivalent — and offline vaults stay fully editable.
Round 6 — Business platform1Password takes it
1Password's Extended Access Management (device trust, shadow-IT governance) goes far beyond Bitwarden's password-manager lane.

Pricing, side by side

All prices are per user, per month, in USD — “billed yearly” shows the monthly equivalent of annual billing. Checked July 2026.

1Password

No free tier — 14-day trial on all plans.

Plan	Billed yearly	Billed monthly
Individual$47.88/yr after the March 2026 increase	$3.99/mo	—
Families5 members, $71.88/yr post-increase	$5.99/mo	—
Teams StarterFlat, up to 10 members	—	$24.95/mo
BusinessPer user	$8.99/mo	—

Bitwarden

Free: unlimited passwords on unlimited devices, all platforms, sharing with 1 other user. No TOTP or attachments.

Plan	Billed yearly	Billed monthly
Free	Free	Free
Premium$19.80/year (annual only) — after the Jan 2026 increase	$1.65/mo	—
Families6 users, $47.88/yr	$3.99/mo	—
EnterprisePer user; SSO, self-host	$6/mo	—

Where each one wins — and hurts

1Password

Best-in-class UX and autofill polish — the default recommendation for non-technical households
Secret Key dual-encryption model plus Travel Mode (hides vaults at border crossings)
Full offline vault access with editing — stronger offline story than Bitwarden's read-only mode
Enterprise trajectory: device trust (Kolide) and shadow-IT governance (Trelica) in one platform

No free tier, and now the priciest mainstream option after the March 2026 increase (+33%)
Closed source with no self-hosting — you must trust 1Password's cloud
The 2026 price hike triggered visible backlash and 'switch to Apple Passwords' commentary

Bitwarden

Open source and independently audited, with optional full self-hosting — a unique trust story
The only mainstream free tier with no device or password caps
Cheapest paid tier in the category even after doubling: $19.80/yr vs 1Password's $47.88
Jan 2026 Premium upgrades: vault health alerts, phishing blocker, 5 GB storage

Utilitarian UI and occasionally less reliable autofill than 1Password, per most 2025-26 reviews
The Jan 2026 price rise (~2× from $9.99/yr) was poorly communicated and dented its value halo
Offline access is read-only — you can't edit your vault without a connection

The decision

Choose 1Password if…

You want the smoothest experience for a family or a company and you'll pay for it. 1Password's polish reduces the real security risk that matters most: people bypassing the password manager because it's annoying.

Try 1Password

Choose Bitwarden if…

You value open source, want a genuinely free option, or refuse to pay $48/year for what $20 does. Bitwarden covers 95% of what most people need — and it's the only one you can host yourself.

Try Bitwarden

How we make money: some outbound links on this page may be affiliate links, meaning we may earn a commission if you sign up — at no cost to you. Commissions never decide a round or a verdict; our scoring method is documented in the methodology.

Frequently asked

›Is Bitwarden's free plan enough?

For most individuals, yes: unlimited passwords, unlimited devices, all platforms, and sharing with one other person. You give up the integrated authenticator (TOTP), file attachments and emergency access — the main reasons people pay the $19.80/year for Premium.

›Why did both get more expensive in 2026?

Bitwarden roughly doubled Premium in January 2026 ($9.99 → $19.80/year, its first increase in a decade); 1Password raised Individual ~33% ($35.88 → $47.88/year) effective March 2026. Both hikes drew backlash — and the relative price gap between them stayed about the same.

›Which is more secure?

Both use strong zero-knowledge encryption and publish independent audits. 1Password adds the Secret Key (a second factor baked into encryption), while Bitwarden's open-source code is publicly auditable and self-hostable. Security researchers find both robust; the honest answer is that either beats reusing passwords by a thousand miles.

›Can I switch between them?

Easily — both import each other's exports (CSV/1pux/JSON) in minutes. Passkeys generally don't transfer and need re-registering, so switch before accumulating dozens of them.

Sources

Facts verified against both vendors' own pricing pages plus secondary sources. Spotted something stale? Tell us and we'll fix it.

Not convinced by either? 1Password alternatives · Bitwarden alternatives