1Password Review – Is It Reliable and Secure?

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Our 1Password review will explain how this password manager works, how its features compare to other tools, and whether its security and encryption are up to today’s standards.

We’ve all been there – reusing passwords or jotting them down in a notebook. The first is incredibly dangerous, while the second is seriously inconvenient. And then you keep forgetting complex passwords, forcing you to keep resetting them, forming a vicious cycle.

A password manager like 1Password is a natural solution to this. It stores all your passwords in one place accessible from all your devices. This lets you bump up the password complexity by a few notches, increasing your security and giving you peace of mind.

But is 1Password the best choice for storing your passwords? After using it for several years and combing through its documentation, we can answer that question and help you make an informed decision.

1Password Pros and Cons

With over three years of experience with 1Password and extensive research on its capabilities, we’ll show you what we liked and didn’t like about it.

What Is 1Password?

1Password is a password manager that stores your account credentials in an encrypted vault you can access from any device.

Password managers are a necessary step in personal (and business) security. They not only store passwords but allow you to create complex passwords to better protect your accounts.

The best password managers, like 1Password, also store things like software licenses, PDF files, crypto keys, and documents. This streamlines much of your digital life, adding convenience to your routine.

1Password was launched in 2006 by AgileBits Inc., a Canadian Software company. Over the years, it has received several awards, such as:

Is 1Password Safe?

Unlike password managers like LastPass and Keeper, 1Password has never been breached. There have been attempts, but 1Password’s security proved superior. Several independent studies also found a few security ‘glitches’ (too minor to be called flaws) over the years.

Even better, these studies happened because 1Password sponsored them through a bug bounty reward program. So far, they’ve paid over $103,000 to Bugcrowd researchers for detecting bugs in their encryption.

1Password is also constantly trying to find blind spots in its own security, which is unusual but reflects its commitment to security. Here’s what it does:

However, there’s more to be said about 1Password’s approach to user safety. Let’s explore these aspects below.

Audits

1Password requested over 20 penetration tests on its products and services between October 2020 and the summer of 2023.

The password manager also has a SOC 2 type 2 certification. The Service Organization Control ensures that 1Password manages customer data securely. It also certified two main aspects:

Lastly, 1Password has undergone an Onica security audit. It found that the company implemented security best practices at all levels of its platform.

Privacy

1Password takes its users’ privacy very seriously. This isn’t just their claim – the aforementioned audits testify to the company’s ethical stance on data collection and usage.

Here’s a review of their data policies.

We reiterate that 1Password cannot access or decrypt your encrypted data, such as stored passwords, metadata, and other items in your vaults. It also never receives copies of encrypted or unencrypted data of this type.

Authentication & Encryption

Authentication and encryption are distinct concepts, but 1Password weaves them together to secure the password manager. Here are the overall principles behind 1Password’s security:

After reading 1Password’s whitepaper, we concluded their encryption level borders on paranoia, and this is the highest compliment a security system could receive.

Rather than relying on traditional authentication, 1Password takes a radical approach and cloaks everything in several layers of encryption.

They built the system to meet seven requirements.

The solution they found is 2-Secret Key Derivation (2SKD), by which the access key to your account consists of a combination of your account password and the Secret Key. The result is a 256-bit string of randomized data or 32 characters.

This 32-character password locks your 1Password account. We did the math, and it would take 3 septendecillion years (3 followed by 54 zeros) to guarantee a brute-force crack.

The Secret Key is the secret juice that powers 1Password, which is why many privacy enthusiasts prefer this password manager over others.

So, how secure is 1Password? Based on our findings, it’s very secure.

Passage by 1Password

In November 2022, the passwordless technology firm Passage joined the 1Password family. The new service, Passage by 1Password, offers B2B passwordless authentication services.

You might have heard about passkeys in recent years – that’s the idea behind Passage. Instead of passwords, Passage uses passkeys to authenticate your identity.

Passkeys have five distinct advantages compared to traditional passwords:

1Password lets you store and synchronize passkeys on the cloud to use across all your devices. With Passage, 1Password has significantly improved its security offering.

Key 1Password Features – What Can It Do?

To help you make an educated decision about 1Password, we’ll go through its most important features, explain how they work, and showcase their use cases and benefits.

Watchtower

The Watchtower automatically scans your passwords locally and assigns a score that reveals how secure your data is.

It scans for reused and weak passwords and any passkey opportunities you’re not using. We especially liked the visual representation of the overall password strength.

With all the problematic categories outlined there, you can quickly address 1Password security issues and increase account security.

Something we found particularly useful in the Watchtower feature is the ability to sort by multiple problematic categories.

This feature alone can boost your overall security tremendously by flagging problems with your data security – weak passwords, unsecured websites, missing 2FA, or compromised websites.

Travel Mode

Travel Mode lets you remove vaults unmarked as ‘Safe for Travel’ from your devices, making them inaccessible during an inspection.

To access this option, visit the 1Password website and go to ‘My Profile’ → ‘Travel Mode.’ Once you turn it on, all your unmarked vaults will disappear from your device.

To mark vaults as ‘Safe for Travel,’ find your vaults on the main page, click the cog icon, and select ‘Safe for Travel.’

We found that marked vaults are accessible even when Travel Mode is on. This option helps you stay safe when traveling abroad, avoiding risky inspections on your devices and mitigating device theft risks.

Privacy Virtual Cards

Our testing found that 1Password seamlessly integrates with Privacy.com, a company that offers virtual card services for online payments. You can save these virtual cards in your 1Password vaults.

However, we noticed you’ll need a separate Privacy.com account and subscription, as 1Password doesn’t offer this integration for free.

Once you integrate 1Password with Privacy.com, you can create a Privacy card on the fly and store it in your 1Password account.

You don’t have to remember the card information; you can state whether the card is for single-use or multiple-use. Unfortunately, Privacy.com is only for US users, as they haven’t extended their services worldwide yet.

Auto-Cleared Clipboard

An underestimated 1Password security feature is automatically clearing the clipboard of data copied from the password manager.

This will not always clear your clipboard – only when you copy something from 1Password. So, you’re safe copying information from other sources; it won’t disappear.

However, we didn’t like that you can’t customize the period to clear the clipboard. The only option is 90 seconds, which may not be enough for some people.

Clipboard information may be compromised if someone has access to your device in your absence, and this option solves that.

Password Generator

1Password lets you create custom passwords for all your accounts. The maximum character count is 100, and you can use numbers and symbols for increased complexity.

The passwords are all generated locally and randomly, making them unique.

You can also select from three types of passwords – random characters, memorable passphrases, or PIN codes.

We also liked that 1Password’s password generator is more advanced than that of LastPass. It offers options to use full words or break them up, choose separators (like hyphens, periods, or commas), and capitalize words.

Keyboard Shortcuts

The 1Password desktop app lets you customize shortcuts to open and lock the password manager. We think it’s a seriously underappreciated feature that you can’t live without once trying it.

We have it set up so that 1Password boots when pressing the CTRL + SHIFT + X shortcut. However, this does not automatically log you into the app. You still need to enter your credentials.

Pressing CTRL + SHIFT + V will lock the app, mitigating unauthorized access risks on your devices. And best of all, you can customize these shortcuts to whatever feels familiar.

Auto-Lock

1Password lets you auto-lock the app if it remains idle for a specified period. The default time is one minute, but you can select periods of up to 8 hours.

We have ours set at the lowest period. While this is slightly inconvenient, the increased security more than makes up for it.

However, you may have a different workflow and access 1Password more frequently. In that case, select a longer auto-lock period.

In fact, the mobile app lets you set the auto-lock period to ‘immediately.’ This means 1Password will lock itself once you exit or jump to another app.

However, we found that if you enable biometric authentication, getting back into 1Password is a 1-second process.

Password Sharing

With Password Sharing, you can share any password through a private link, and most importantly, you can set it to be a one-time view.

Copy the link and send it to the other person. Depending on the period you selected, they may have access to the login info for up to a month or one time only.

The process is identical on Android devices and iPhones; you get the same options as on the desktop app.

We were pleased with how useful it is when working with external collaborators or as part of a team – you can share a password for the duration of the collaboration or as a one-time-only invitation.

Auto Form Filling

1Password allows auto form filling on all devices (computers and mobile phones), but you need the browser extension on a computer or Mac.

The extension currently works on Chrome, Firefox, Brave, Edge, and Safari. Once you install it and enable all permissions, you’ll notice the 1Password symbol next to the login boxes on websites.

Click the suggestion box, and 1Password will autofill your username and password in the appropriate fields.

If you don’t see the 1Password symbol, it’s highly likely you’re on a scam site trying to phish your credentials. 1Password always records the URLs of the websites for which you create accounts.

The autofill feature detects the URL of the website and compares it to the one in its database. If they’re different, the feature stops working, helping you avoid phishing attacks entirely.

The 1Password icon will appear above the keyboard on mobile devices when you select a text field.

What we liked about 1Password autofill on mobile is if you set the auto-lock to ‘immediately,’ it asks you to authenticate every time you want to autofill a field. With biometric authentication enabled (fingerprint), this process takes between 0.5 and 1 second.

For this reason, we found that autofill on mobile is ‘more secure’ than the desktop extension.

Multiple Vaults

1Password lets you create as many vaults as you need, where ‘vaults’ are digital spaces in your account where you can save your passwords.

You can create vaults from the desktop app, browser, or mobile app. And you can share them with other members of your account if it’s a family or business account.

You can manage vault access by printing and copying items, transferring them between vaults, and permanently deleting items.

We liked how you can edit vault permissions from the app or the desktop platform, allowing or disallowing access to vaults to any account member.

Masked Emails

1Password lets you create random email addresses when you sign up for online services. The ‘Masked Email’ feature comes from Fastmail, with which 1Password collaborates.

Remember that you need a Fastmail account and subscription to use this integration. Use this link for a 25% discount for Fastmail, courtesy of 1Password. Fastmail also has a 30-day free trial if you want to try it out first.

Once integrated with Fastmail, 1Password will let you create new, random email addresses and store them in your vault. This way, you’ll keep track of all the email addresses you create.

We also liked how the autofill function accepts Fastmail email addresses natively. So, you’ll have both privacy and convenience at your fingertips with this integration.

Security Key 2FA

1Password is compatible with security keys like those from Yubico, which can make your account virtually impregnable to external threats.

After adding your security key, 1Password will ask for it whenever you access the password manager from a new device or browser. We found that clearing the browser cache will have the same effect.

Just be careful about being locked out of your account if you lose your security key. We recommend having a spare one or enabling the ‘Authenticator App’ 2FA.

Security keys (or hardware keys) are the golden standard of 2-factor authentication – virtually impossible to crack and bypass if they’re the only 2FA method active.

You can even use them to implement a double-blind password for your 1Password master password (it’s what we use and recommend).

1Password Pricing – Is It Affordable?

At $2.99/month for the Individual Plan, 1Password isn’t the most affordable password manager out there.

Here’s a price comparison of 1Password’s individual plan vs other password managers:

Unlike other password managers (Roboform and Bitwarden), 1Password doesn’t have a free plan but it does have a 14-day free trial.

Let’s explore 1Password’s subscription plans, cancellation, and refund policies below.

Free Trial

1Password offers a 14-day free trial for all its plans, which gives you access to all associated features. If you cancel during the free trial, you won’t be charged when it ends.

It’s great for trying out their services and determining if 1Password is the password manager for you.

Refund & Cancellation

You may also cancel your subscription at any time, but you are not entitled to a refund on the remainder of a yearly subscription.

You will only receive a refund for any prepaid amounts if 1Password’s services stop working for at least five days.

Bitwarden, Roboform, and NordPass have a 30-day money-back guarantee, while LastPass and Keeper have no money-back guarantees.

Individual Plan

The Individual plan costs $2.99/month with annual billing, and you get most 1Password features (like password generator and auto form filling).

There’s also no device limit, so you can use the password managers on all your devices. You have no limit on the number of passwords you create, but there’s a 1 GB storage limit for securing files (like PDFs and documents).

This plan is ideal for people who want to transition from jotting down passwords in a notebook to having all their accounts on a unified platform.

The added password uniqueness and complexity will significantly improve your online security, giving you peace of mind.

Family Plan

The 1Password family pricing is $4.99/month with annual billing. Up to five family members are free, and you can add more for $1/month/user if you wish.

This is what you get:

The cost of 1Password’s Family plan is in the middle of the pack – 20% cheaper than Keeper and 20% more expensive than Roboform.

This makes 1Password’s Family plan an affordable password-managing solution for most families. The customer support team also offers reliable assistance with all necessary steps for the less tech-savvy family members.

Team Starter Pack

It has all the features of the Family plan plus domain breach reports for identifying threats.

There doesn’t seem to be any other differences between the Team Starter Pack and the Family plan in terms of features offered.

Plus, if you get the Family plan (with five default users) and pay an extra $1/month/user, you end up paying $9.99/month for ten users/month instead of $19.95/month with the Team plan (50% cheaper).

This plan is geared toward small businesses and start-ups that want to improve their security processes and streamline account management.

It’s also much cheaper than similar plans on other password managers – Roboform is 67% more expensive, and Bitwarden is two times more expensive. Keeper is priced similarly, while NordPass is 8% more expensive.

Business Plan

The Business plan has no user limit and costs $7.99/month/user. You also get significantly more features, such as:

1Password’s Business plan is aimed at medium-to-large-scale businesses that must implement tighter security procedures and streamline their activities. It’s not cheap, though – $862.92/year for nine users (you get one by default).

Moreover, Business plan subscribers benefit from 1Password Insights, which are actionable recommendations on team usage, password health issues, and potential breaches.

Considering that 1Password is trusted by over 100,000 businesses worldwide (such as IBM, GitLab, and Slack), their insights should be worth it.

There are other alternatives to 1Password, though – here are the best password managers for business. These may help you make a more informed decision.

Enterprise Plan

1Password’s Enterprise plan is a continuation of the Business plan. If you have over 75 users/account, you may apply for it. You’ll receive dedicated support, wall-to-wall adoption, an onboarding engineer, a dedicated account manager, and tailor-made setup training.

This plan doesn’t have a fixed price, though – you can request a quote based on the number of users and extra features you need.

We believe this plan is well-suited for large-scale businesses with a growing infrastructure and workforce. Such companies need extra workflow delegation, and the 1Password Enterprise plan offers just that.

1Password Interface – Is It Easy to Use?

This password manager works on desktop computers, Android and iOS phones, Mac devices, and Linux distributions. It requires at least Windows 10, iOS 16.4, macOS Catalina 10.15, and Android 9 (Pie).

It also supports six Linux distributions:

1Password’s browser extension supports Chrome 103+, Firefox 68+, Edge 103+, Brave 1.41.99+, and Safari 16+.

Desktop Ease of Use

1Password’s desktop app offers an intuitive experience with straightforward options and clearly visible features. It also performs seamlessly, and we’ve had no issues with it so far (like lag, errors, or crashes).

Your profile information is pinned in the top-left corner and will always be there. You can add personal documents like an ID or passport photo, birth certificate, or sensitive documents.

To learn how to get started with 1Password, click the question mark in the top-right corner and select ‘Getting Started.’

The learning resources are very well done, clearly explained, and show how to use the password manager across all systems.

Android Ease of Use

1Password’s Android app has proven to be a robust daily driver, bringing seamless password managing and access to all core features in an intuitive package.

The mobile app is as robust as the desktop version, with the same features and settings to customize. It also has 4.6 stars on Google Play.

This significantly boosts personal security for almost zero convenience loss (with biometrics enabled). We recommend using it to mitigate unauthorized access in the case of device loss or theft.

Moreover, the autofill feature works 100% of the time with no delays or glitches, and the app is very responsive. It registers all taps immediately, and so far, it’s been working great.

By the way, did you know that Android has its own password manager? Read this guide to find out more.

Browser Extension

1Password’s Chrome extension is a mixed bag of positives and negatives. It has 2.7 stars with 1,700 ratings on the Chrome Web Store.

Many users complain that the extension keeps crashing, while others have no issues and are perfectly content with it.

We used the Firefox extension, which is currently in beta. With 3.8 stars, 1Password seems to work better on Firefox.

Similar to the Android and Desktop apps, the browser auto-fill feature works excellently across a variety of websites.

But this doesn’t negate the fact that many users find the extensions problematic. It remains to be seen if 1Password will fix this in the future.

1Password Web Platform

1Password’s web platform may not have great looks, but it does its job splendidly. Again, no delays or crashes for as long as we’ve used it.

On top of everything you get with the desktop and mobile apps, the platform lets you see your billing options, integrate with other tools like Privacy.com and FastMail, and use developer tools.

Recently, 1Password announced it was completely redesigning the vault view. It wants to bring the design from the desktop app to the website, which is a nice touch.

Currently, the redesign is in early access, so you can’t do anything on it. It’s also locked to dark mode, which we assume many people will prefer.

1Password – What Are the Alternatives?

You need to make an educated decision about your personal security, so below, we’ve summarized the top five password managers to help you decide on the right one.

1Password stands out from its competitors through its multi-layered encryption system, the 2SKD mechanism that combines your master password and the Secret Key.

No one knows your secret key, not even 1Password. It’s always stored locally, and account authentication doesn’t expose it to the cloud.

But if you want a more in-depth look at 1Password alternatives, you may want to read some of our other guides:

1Password Reviews – What Are People Saying?

We understand the importance of objectivity in reviews, so we looked at what people are saying about 1Password to find commonalities and pain points.

Users commonly praise 1Password’s ease of use and intuitive interface, as well as its storage capabilities. The ability to store documents, API keys, and sensitive information is one of the most useful features, especially for organizations.

We found the learning resources and step-by-step guides particularly helpful, especially for individuals who aren’t tech-savvy.

Our experience with customer support was also positive, following the trend we noticed in the user reviews.

We inquired about several vulnerability reports and security studies conducted on 1Password’s systems. The reply arrived in two business days, which is a fair response time in our experience.

Even when users faced problems, 1Password offered immediate assistance and solved the problems quickly.

Currently, 1Password has 1,336 reviews on G2 with an average rating of 4.6 and 11,652 reviews on Trustpilot, averaging 4.7. Overall, most users are satisfied with the password manager, which also reflects our long-term experience with it.

But if you’re looking for alternatives, you might want to check our guide on the best password manager for Windows.

How to Use 1Password – A Step-By-Step Guide

Let’s show you how to use 1Password after buying a subscription and installing the apps.

1. Select the Free Trial Option

Visit 1Password’s homepage, select ‘Get started,’ and then choose the free trial option for any of the subscription plans.

2. Create an Account

Enter your name and email address and select ‘Next.’

1Password will email you a confirmation code. Enter that in the next window.

Next, create your account password by entering it in the text boxes, and click ‘Next’ when you’re done.

3. Select a Payment Method

Select a payment method and fill in your credit card information. You won’t pay for the subscription now, as you benefit from a 14-day free trial.

You can cancel at any time before the free trial ends.

4. Save Your Secret Key

This is the most important step – saving your Secret Key and account PDF file.

1Password will create your secret key locally on the device from which you create your account. The secret key is an integral part of your account – do not lose it, share it, or misplace it.

You will not be able to reset your password or access your account on other devices without the Secret Key.

Your Secret Key is also stored in the 1Password manager app under ‘1Password Account.’

5. Install the Apps

Once you access your 1Password account, select ‘Get the Apps’ at the top to install the desktop and mobile apps.

Select your operating system to start downloading the app.

Once you install the apps, log into your account (with your email address, password, and secret key).

6. Create a New Entry

Open the desktop 1Password app and select ‘+ New Item’ in the top-right corner. Then, select ‘Login,’ as this is the default entry for accounts.

Enter the name of the new entry (like an online account) at the top, then fill in your username (like an email address) and select ‘Create a New Password.’

This will open the password generator (step 4). Set the type of password you want to use, the length, and any special characters.

Select ‘Use’ to enter that password into the field. Don’t forget to click ‘Save’ at the bottom to save the entry.

7. Edit an Entry

To edit an entry, left-click on the entry and select ‘Edit’ in the top-right corner.

You’ll enter editing mode, which lets you modify the details (like username and password). Don’t forget to select ‘Save’ in the top-right corner to save the changes.

8. Create a New Vault

To create a new vault, select the + icon next to the ‘Vaults’ option in your 1Password app.

Give it a name, select ‘Create’ in the bottom-right corner, and you’re done. You can create new entries in the new vault or move already-existing entries from old vaults.

Why You Can Trust Our 1Password Review

We always test the products we review to offer an unbiased perspective. We also supplement our experience with user reviews to keep our guides balanced.

We’ve used 1Password daily for the past two years, tested its performance across multiple operating systems, and compared it to other password managers like Keeper and Roboform.

We’re passionate about the privacy and security industry, which means we conduct exhaustive research and never settle for the superficial.

Having tested some of the best password managers, we know the common pain points, which features are likely to break, and how to assess the quality standards.

1Password Review – The Verdict

We’re users just like you, so here’s what impressed us about 1Password:

1Password stands out as a top-tier password management solution for individuals, families, small teams and large-scale businesses alike.

Overall, ‘it just works’ seems like a fitting description for our experience with 1Password. It does what it’s supposed to do, and it does it well.

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