For most people and families on a budget, Bitwarden is the better pick. Its free plan never expires, Premium costs $19.80 a year, and one Families plan covers six people for $47.88 a year. Choose 1Password if you want a family organizer who can get a locked-out relative back in, Travel Mode for border crossings, or autofill inside Mac apps, and you're comfortable paying $47.88 a year for one person or $71.88 for a family once the first-year discount ends.
Both apps run on Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, Android and the major browsers, both store passkeys, and both encrypt your vault so the company can't read it. What should decide it for you is price, how each one handles a forgotten password, how sharing works, and what happens if you stop paying.
What you'll pay each year
Bitwarden bills its personal plans once a year and has no monthly option. 1Password lets you pay monthly or yearly, and a current promotion gives new customers who pay yearly a lower price for the first 12 months. Here is what each plan costs over its first two years.
US prices as of September 2026
| Plan | People | Year one | Year two |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitwarden Free | 1 | $0 | $0 |
| Bitwarden Premium | 1 | $19.80 | $19.80 |
| Bitwarden Families | Up to 6 | $47.88 | $47.88 |
| 1Password Individual, billed yearly | 1 | $35.88 | $47.88 |
| 1Password Families, billed yearly | 5 | $53.88 | $71.88 |
| 1Password Individual, $4.99 a month | 1 | $59.88 | $59.88 |
| 1Password Families, $7.99 a month | 5 | $95.88 | $95.88 |
The 1Password discount applies only to new customers who subscribe directly on 1Password.com with yearly billing, and App Store or Google Play subscriptions don't qualify. 1Password has no free plan, only a 14-day free trial of either plan. Bitwarden's prices exclude sales tax, and its Families plan also starts with a free trial. You can confirm today's rates on Bitwarden's plans and pricing page and 1Password's personal pricing page.
Headcount matters too. Bitwarden Families tops out at six people. 1Password Families includes five people plus five guests, and each extra full member adds a prorated charge to your bill.
How far the free plan goes
Bitwarden Free is a full password manager, not a trial. You get unlimited passwords and passkeys on unlimited devices, the password and username generator, and free sharing with one other person through a two-person organization with up to two shared collections. It's also the first pick in our roundup of the best free password managers.
Premium adds the tools most people end up wanting:
- Two-factor codes: Bitwarden generates the six-digit verification codes for sites where you've turned on two-step login.
- Vault health reports: Bitwarden flags weak, reused and exposed passwords, plus accounts that offer two-step login you haven't turned on.
- Emergency access: a trusted person can request entry to your vault if something happens to you.
- Encrypted file attachments: 5 GB of storage for things like a scan of your passport.
- Extra options: Yubico OTP and Duo for two-step login, and file sharing through Bitwarden Send.
One breach check stays free. The Data Breach report, which uses the Have I Been Pwned service to find your details in known breaches, works on every Bitwarden account.
1Password doesn't split its features this way. Every plan includes Watchtower, which warns you about weak, reused and compromised passwords and breached websites, along with storing and filling two-factor codes, Travel Mode, and sharing items with people who don't use 1Password. Your only real decision is one seat or a family.
Two ways of keeping your vault private
Both services encrypt your vault so that only you can unlock it, and neither company can read what's inside. Each adds a different safeguard on top.
Bitwarden's source code is public on GitHub, where anyone can review it, and the company brings in outside firms such as Cure53 for regular security audits and penetration testing. You can also run the Bitwarden server on your own hardware. Self-hosting gives you full control, but you take on the server, updates, backups and security certificates, so it suits tech-savvy users more than a typical household.
1Password pairs your account password with a Secret Key, a 34-character code created on your own device when you sign up. The two are combined into the key that encrypts your vault. Because the Secret Key carries 128 bits of randomness, someone attacking 1Password's servers couldn't decrypt your data without it, even with your password in hand.
You normally type the Secret Key only when you sign in on a new device, since your apps remember it. 1Password keeps no copy and can't recover it, so store the Emergency Kit you get at sign-up somewhere safe.
Sharing logins around the house
Bitwarden Families gives all six members their own Premium account and unlimited shared collections. When you move a login into a shared collection, the family organization owns it and collection permissions decide who sees it. Your personal folders never share anything, so the streaming logins can be shared while your email password stays yours.
1Password Families starts each member with a Private vault and a Shared vault the whole family can open. You can add vaults for just some people, such as one for you and your partner that holds bank details the kids don't need. Guests get one vault at a time and no private vault of their own, which suits a babysitter who needs the Wi-Fi password and the alarm code.
For a couple, Bitwarden's free two-person organization may be all you need. A household of five or six pays $47.88 a year with Bitwarden, compared with $71.88 a year for 1Password Families at the regular rate, and 1Password charges extra for a sixth full member.
When a family member gets locked out
Recovery is 1Password's strongest argument for families. If someone forgets their account password or loses their Secret Key, a family organizer signs in to 1Password.com, selects People, picks the person and chooses Begin Recovery. The member follows an emailed link, gets a new Secret Key and creates a new password, then the organizer confirms. Everything in their vault is still there, though their two-factor login is reset.
Make at least two adults organizers so each can help the other. An Individual plan has no organizer, so create a recovery code in advance. Using it requires access to your email, and your two-factor login stays on.
Bitwarden can't reset a forgotten master password, and its Families plan has no organizer reset. What it offers instead is emergency access, which you set up ahead of time on Premium or Families. You name a trusted contact, who can use a free account, and choose View or Takeover access with a wait time of at least one day. If they request access and you don't deny it before the wait ends, they get in, and Takeover lets them set a new master password.
Bitwarden also has a few self-service fallbacks, such as an emailed master password hint or approving the login from another device where you're already signed in. If none of them work, the account has to be deleted and started over, so set up emergency access for older parents on day one.
Travel Mode and Mac app autofill
- 1.Before a trip, mark the vaults you want to bring as Safe for Travel.
- 2.Turn on Travel Mode under Manage Account at 1Password.com.
- 3.Open and unlock 1Password on each device while you're online.
Travel Mode comes with every 1Password plan. Once it's on, every vault not marked safe disappears from the apps, the browser extension and 1Password.com until you switch it off.
There's one gap to close. The browser extension can still sign you in to 1Password.com, so anyone who can unlock 1Password in your browser can open your account and turn Travel Mode off. That's why 1Password tells you to remove the extension from every browser you're traveling with and reinstall it when you're home. You can follow each step in 1Password's Travel Mode instructions.
On a Mac, 1Password's Universal Autofill fills usernames and passwords in regular Mac apps as well as on websites. It needs Accessibility permission, which you grant under System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility.
If you stop paying
When Bitwarden Premium lapses, your account drops back to the free plan and keeps working. You can still save, edit and autofill logins on every device. Bitwarden stops generating two-factor codes, though the setup keys stay in your vault, and your attachments remain but can't be downloaded until you renew. Two-step login through Yubico OTP or Duo also stops, while an authenticator app or email code still works.
A lapsed Families plan works differently. The family organization is disabled, so only its owners keep access to shared items, while each member's personal vault carries on under the free plan.
A lapsed 1Password account is frozen, which makes it effectively read-only. You can view your items, copy passwords and export your data, but you can't add or edit items, invite anyone or fill logins in your browser until you subscribe again. Nothing is deleted as long as you keep the account, but it stops working as a day-to-day password manager.
Which one to choose
Pick Bitwarden if you want the most protection for the least money. The free plan covers many single users, $19.80 a year adds two-factor codes, health reports and emergency access, and $47.88 covers a family of six. Personal vaults also keep working on the free plan if you ever stop paying, though a lapsed Families plan cuts other members off from shared items until you renew. Download Bitwarden and start on the free plan.
Pick 1Password if your household includes people likely to forget a password and you want an organizer who can get them back in, or if Travel Mode or Mac app autofill solves a real problem for you. It costs more every year and freezes if you cancel, but Watchtower, two-factor codes and Travel Mode come with every plan. Start the 14-day trial and download 1Password on each device. Whichever you choose, follow our guide to setting up a password manager to create the account, turn on two-step login and import your saved passwords.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my employer pay for my family plan?
It might. Companies on Bitwarden Enterprise can sponsor a six-person Families plan for their members, and you pay nothing while you stay on your employer's Bitwarden account. People on a 1Password Business team get a complimentary Families membership, and the business can't access or manage the family account.
Can I share a password with someone who uses neither app?
Yes. Bitwarden Send shares encrypted text with anyone for free, and file Sends need Premium. 1Password can send anyone a link to a copy of an item, and if you change the item later, you share a new link.
How hard is it to switch from Bitwarden to 1Password later?
1Password imports a password-protected encrypted export from Bitwarden, bringing across logins, cards, identities and secure notes. Passkeys and items in shared collections don't come across that way, so plan to move those separately.
Is Bitwarden's free plan secure enough on its own?
Yes. Free accounts get the same zero-knowledge encryption as paid ones and can protect the login with an authenticator app, a hardware security key or email codes. Paying adds conveniences and safety nets rather than stronger encryption.
