1Password Review 2026: Features, Pricing and 3 Years of Use

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Quick answer

1Password is a paid password manager for individuals, families and teams. It stores passwords, credit cards, passkeys and secure notes, autofills them on any device, and lets you share or revoke access in seconds. Plans start at $3.99 a month billed yearly ($2.99 in your first year right now), and Teams Starter Pack covers 10 people for $24.95 a month.

How I tested 1Password

I've used 1Password every day for more than three years, on the Teams Starter Pack for my business. I run it as a desktop app and a Chrome extension on two computers, plus the mobile app. For the video, I walked through logging in, autofilling a card, generating a new password and saving it to a shared vault. I re-checked every plan and price on 1Password's own pricing pages on October 19, 2026.

What is 1Password?

1Password is a password manager that stores everything you need to keep safe and accessible in one encrypted app. Calling it a place to save your passwords undersells it. Mine holds logins, credit cards, secure notes and the details my team needs to run the business.

Think of it as the modern version of the lockbox you would have kept at a bank years ago. More than 180,000 businesses and families trust 1Password with that job.

How 1Password's security works

1Password encrypts your data with two things: your master password and a Secret Key that is created on your device. The Secret Key never gets sent to 1Password. And that means even if someone broke into 1Password's servers, they couldn't decrypt your vault without both pieces.

That's also the reason for the name. As long as you have access to your 1Password, you have access to everything else.

Why I stopped texting passwords

I started using 1Password three or four years ago because I was sick of texting passwords to my team. Someone would need a login, then wait while I was stuck in a meeting. It was slow, and honestly, it looked unprofessional.

Before that, we used the same password for everything. You can guess how that went. The moment one tool forced a change, we had a unique password for that one tool, and it got confusing fast.

The day it paid for itself

Here's the reality if you run any kind of team: sometimes you have to let someone go. When that happened, the first thing we did was remove that person from our accounts in 1Password. I could see exactly which accounts they'd had and cut them off in one place.

At first, this felt like overkill. Then someone did try to get into my accounts after a team member left. They didn't get mass access to anything, because every password was unique and complex. And I knew exactly what they'd had access to, so fixing it was easy.

This matters even more if you hire remote team members overseas, where you may not know the person well and different laws apply.

1Password's key features

1. Shared vaults for teams and families

A vault is a group of logins you share with a specific set of people. You might have one vault for your communications team, one for HR and one for your dev team, and each person only sees the vaults you give them.

My setup has a Private vault for accounts only I need, then vaults like Admin, Content Management and Framer for different groups on my team.

The part I call magical: save a new login into a shared vault, and everyone with access to that vault has it instantly. Create an account for your video editing team, save it to their vault, and you're done. Nobody has to ask.

You also get workspaces, which let you run separate 1Password accounts side by side. I keep my own team plus a separate workspace for clients I've helped set up, so when they hire someone, I can share a single login or a whole vault in about a second.

2. Secure sharing, even with people who don't use 1Password

1Password lets you share a single login with anyone through a secure link, even if they don't have a 1Password account. You can set it to work for one view, or for a few days up to 30 days.

This is something I don't think people talk about enough. Apple's password manager locks you into its ecosystem, so sharing one login with a teammate who doesn't own an Apple device isn't easy. A lot of free tools can't do it either.

And that means no more digging through old texts to figure out whether a password is the current one or the old one.

3. Autofill with the desktop app and browser extension

1Password fills in logins and card details for you, either from a keyboard shortcut or from the browser extension. On my Mac, Command + Shift + X opens a search box where I can pull up any login, card or note. 1Password already suggests the right account for the site I'm on, which helps when you juggle several client logins for the same tool.

You can also click into a login field and pick the account from the dropdown. The first time you use it in a session, it asks for your 1Password password. After that, it's one click.

Credit cards work the same way at checkout. You can label each card so you know which is which, and a card a client gives you stays in 1Password instead of an old WhatsApp or Instagram message.

4. Password generator

When you sign up for a new account, 1Password suggests a strong, random password and saves it as you go. I have a ton of accounts on one affiliate platform, so when 1Password asks whether to update an existing item, I create a new one instead and add a note like "this is for Clearscope." Later, search finds it in seconds.

You pick which vault the new login goes into before you save. Sometimes a sign-up spans several pages and the email doesn't get captured, but you can add it right there.

All of my passwords are different and complex, and honestly, I don't know any of them. I don't need to.

5. Travel Mode

Travel Mode removes every vault from your devices except the ones you've marked safe for travel. Turn it on before you cross a border, and if customs asks to see your phone or laptop, your business credentials and client data aren't on the device at all.

I've personally never used it. But if you travel internationally with sensitive business information, this is a big deal, and it's included on every plan.

6. Watchtower

Watchtower checks your saved logins for weak, reused or compromised passwords and alerts you about breached websites. In my testing of other tools, I found 1Password's breach monitoring more complete than Dashlane's.

7. Access for the people you trust most

I've given trusted family members access to my 1Password account, so they can get into my accounts if something ever happens to me. It might sound a little morbid, but I think it's really important.

That covers my bank accounts, subscriptions, government accounts and anything tied to my LLC. You have to trust the people you choose, of course. For me, that peace of mind is worth its weight in gold.

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1Password pricing (checked October 19, 2026)

1Password has four main plans: Individual, Families, Teams Starter Pack and Business. There's no free plan, and every plan comes with a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.

Prices in USD from 1password.com/pricing. The first-year discounts are a promotion for new customers buying direct with annual billing. Confirm before you buy, since pricing changes.

What 1Password costs per year

Here's the math so you don't have to do it:

• Individual: $47.88 a year, or $35.88 for your first year on the current deal

• Families: $71.88 a year for five people, which works out to about $14 per person per year

• Teams Starter Pack, 10 people: $299.40 a year

• Teams Starter Pack, 15 people: $24.95 plus five extra seats at $4.99 is $49.90 a month, or $598.80 a year

• Business, 10 people: $89.90 a month, or $1,078.80 a year

Teams Starter Pack is what I use, and for a small business it's the sweet spot. A 10-person team saves about $780 a year compared with Business. Once you pass 20 people, Business is your only option.

Look, I'd pay $5, $10, even $20 a month for this. That's cheap compared to what it protects for me, my family and my team.

Is 1Password worth it over a free password manager?

Yes, if you share logins with a team or family, because 1Password's sharing, vaults and access controls are where free tools fall short. I actually wouldn't want to use a free tool to secure all my account information. A company that charges you has an obligation to give you a great experience.

Is a free tool fine for one person with a handful of accounts? Maybe. But if your 1Password holds your credit cards, your CRM and your team's logins, saving a dollar or two a month on it is the wrong place to cut costs.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Shared vaults that give a whole team new logins the moment you save them

• Instant access removal when someone leaves

• Secure sharing with people who don't have 1Password, for one view or up to 30 days

• Travel Mode on every plan

• Secret Key plus master password encryption

• Works on Mac, Windows, iOS and Android, with passkeys, cards, addresses and custom fields

• Teams Starter Pack is a flat, affordable price for up to 10 people

Cons:

• No free plan, and it costs more than NordPass or Bitwarden

• The first-year discounts end, so Individual goes from $2.99 to $3.99 a month

• Saving a login on multi-page sign-ups sometimes misses the email, so you add it by hand

• Your browser's built-in password manager can still pop up and get in the way until you turn it off

• Teams Starter Pack caps at 20 users

1Password alternatives

The main 1Password alternatives are Bitwarden, NordPass, Dashlane, LastPass and the managers built into Apple and Google. I've tested LastPass, Dashlane, Bitwarden and NordPass, and they're all decent options. Here's why I still pick 1Password.

A few honest takes from my testing:

• Bitwarden is great for an individual but not for businesses.

• Dashlane costs about the same as 1Password, but it has no Travel Mode, and its cross-platform experience isn't as smooth.

• NordPass is cheaper, but the two-layer security with 1Password's Secret Key is worth it to me. If I had to pick between the two, I'd pick 1Password again and again.

• LastPass suffered a breach, and for me that's an automatic no.

If you're also cleaning up your personal data online, my Incogni review covers the other half of the problem: getting your details off data broker sites. And if your team shares more than logins, here's how to share a Gmail inbox with your team.

My final take

After three years of using it daily, 1Password is the password manager I trust for running a business and managing my family's accounts. You won't lose a login again, you can grant and revoke access in seconds, and Travel Mode plus the Secret Key make it worth every penny.

If you're still using browser-saved passwords, texting logins to your team or reusing passwords across accounts, you're taking a risk you don't need to take, for a few dollars a month. And if you're adding new hires, pair it with a solid employee onboarding process so access is set up on day one.

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1Password review FAQ

Is 1Password safe to use?

1Password encrypts your vault with your master password plus a Secret Key that's created on your device and never sent to 1Password. Without both, your data can't be decrypted, even by someone who gets into 1Password's servers.

How much does 1Password cost per month?

On annual billing, 1Password costs $3.99 a month for Individual, $5.99 for Families (5 people), $24.95 for Teams Starter Pack (up to 10 users) and $8.99 per user for Business. New customers currently get Individual for $2.99 and Families for $4.49 in the first year.

Is there a free version of 1Password?

No. 1Password has no free plan, but every plan has a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.

Is 1Password better than Bitwarden?

For teams and families, I prefer 1Password for its sharing, vaults and Travel Mode. Bitwarden is a great choice for an individual who wants a free plan.

What is 1Password Travel Mode?

Travel Mode removes every vault from your devices except the ones you mark as safe for travel. It's built for crossing borders with sensitive business data, and it's included on every plan.

Can I share a 1Password login with someone who doesn't use 1Password?

Yes. You can send a secure link to anyone, set to expire after one view or after a set time of up to 30 days.