1Password Review 2024: A Powerful Lockbox for Your Data

1Password is a user-friendly service and its advanced features, like Travel Mode and a privacy policy that promises your data is your own, really impressed us. It also comes with all the standard password manager features, like autofill and a password generator, that worked seamlessly during our testing.

Its competitive starting price of $2.99/mo (billed annually) is on par with the competition. There are a few drawbacks, like no free version and lacking customer support. These may not be deal breakers for us, but you should check our 1Password review out to decide for yourself.

At a glance

Price	$2.99-$4.99/mo
Free version	No
Number of users	1 - 5
Compatibility	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
Browser extensions	Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, Brave
Password sharing	Yes
Encryption	AES-GCM-256
Password generator	Yes
Password strength report	Yes
Autofill	Yes
Digital legacy	Yes
Cloud storage	Yes
Details	Get 1Password

We last tested 1Password on November 4, 2024.

Our experience

We started by testing 1Password with the Chrome extension. Once the browser extension was installed and running, 1Password took us through a tutorial.

From there, we got to do the best part of testing a product: trying to break it. As practice, we went to the Barnes & Noble website to register for an account. The password generator populated along with our saved identity information. 

The password generator previously didn't pop up on The New York Times site but it worked during this retest and on several other sites.

The dashboard is easy to navigate, and the customizable options (like creating separate vaults to organize your passwords) are nice for keeping track of all your accounts. 

There are also countless options for the types of information you can store and autofill. You can save your standard usernames and passwords but also passports, crypto wallets, reward program accounts, and more. 

Overall, 1Password provided a good, worthwhile experience.  

How much does 1Password cost?

1Password's price ranges from $2.99-$4.99/mo. There's an individual plan and a family plan for up to 5 users.

Unfortunately, there's no free version and no option to pay monthly. So note that the prices for these plans are charged on an annual basis. 

Plan	Individual	Families
Price	$2.99/mo (billed annually)	$4.99/mo (billed annually)
# of users	1	5
Password vault
Autofill
Password generator
Two-factor authentication
Data breach alerts
Digital legacy
Details	View Plan	View Plan

As far as pricing is concerned, 1Password is on par with competitors:

• RoboForm from $0.99/mo
• NordPass from $1.29/mo (billed every two years)
• LastPass from $1.50/mo (billed annually)
• Keeper from $1.45/mo (billed annually)

Pricing aside, if you consider that LastPass was involved in yet another breach, 1Password is easily a better option. Plus, all the other tested password managers — NordPass, RoboForm, and Keeper — have never experienced a data breach or hack as well. 

But the difference shouldn’t come down to price when choosing between password managers, as they all tend to be about the same. The extra features are the clincher. For example, Travel Mode is exclusive to 1Password, which may be a feature that's important to you.

1Password features

Password managers secure your login information, but that’s not all they should do. Several features, like a password generator and autofill capabilities, should come standard on most password managers. 

1Password offers these, as well as other useful features like digital legacy and Travel Mode. Even its Watchtower feature covers more than competitors because it detects where your hacked information lives online.

Unlike a lot of competitors, 1Password was relatively easy to use as we tested the product. Everything was straightforward and well-presented (including the tutorial when we first logged in). 

Password sharing

1Password has a simple process for sharing passwords. All we had to do was open an item in our vault and select the three dots on the top-right corner to find the share button. 

1Password also lets you customize how you share the password. We liked that we had options to determine how long to keep the link active or make the link available to specific email addresses. So if you want to share your Netflix password with your parents across the country, you can send them a link while keeping the login for your other accounts private.

You can also easily share passwords between different profiles with a 1Password family plan. All you need to do is click the three dots on the top-right corner and select Move.

Password generator

Password generators attached to password managers feel like a life hack we didn’t know we needed. 1Password makes using a password generator a breeze. 

When you need a new, secure password, you only need to put your cursor in the box where the password typically goes. If your 1Password extension is working properly, it should populate a password option for you and save it to your private vault. 

We tested this out both by creating items directly in our vault and by going to account registration pages. 1Password always worked without issues.

You can also go to its password generator site, which will just give you a random password based on a few simple parameters, even if you aren’t a customer.

Autofill

Once you enter credentials like email, password, address, and credit card information, you don’t have to worry about typing them out again. 1Password will allow you to save this information so you can autofill forms online. 

We went over to Amazon to test out the autofill. Our Amazon accounts immediately appeared once we opened the sign in page. 

This isn’t just for convenience. Autofill options like this can thwart keyloggers. Keyloggers are people who hack your computer, usually through public Wi-Fi, and watch what you type.

Password strength report

Watchtower is a built-in feature to the 1Password dashboard that checks your passwords to ensure they’re strong, not reused anywhere, and not part of a breach. If it does find compromising data, 1Password and Watchtower will help you change your passwords for those sites. 

Compared to our previous testing, we noticed that Watchtower also points out accounts that could use passkeys instead of alternatives and accounts with two-factor authentication available. 

You can generate new, stronger passwords for these webpages using the built-in password generator. It’s also a visual reminder to update your privacy settings on older accounts, especially if they’re involved in a hack or data breach.

Digital legacy

Planning for what to do with your digital information after your passing is a unique, 21st-century problem that not many people consider. 1Password’s solution to this is the Emergency Kit feature. 

Emergency Kit populates a PDF with your 1Password secret key and provides space to write down your master password for its service. It then suggests you save a PDF copy somewhere safe, like your cloud storage, print out a copy to keep in your lockbox or safe, and give a printed copy to a trusted family member or friend. In the event of your passing, someone will be able to access everything from your email to your bank accounts.

Travel Mode

Each personal vault you create in 1Password is automatically removed from your device when you cross country lines. Unless you deem the vault travel-safe, 1Password will keep your data private when traveling. 

This is a handy feature that helps prevent theft in the event your devices are stolen or confiscated. Simply use the toggle bar to confirm which vaults are safe.

1Password privacy policy

We love a good privacy policy, and that’s exactly what we got with 1Password. The parent company, AgileBits, is very committed to transparency. First, the document is in plain language anyone can understand. It’s organized with bold headlines, numbers, bullet points, and everything needed to make the legal document digestible.

In addition, the privacy policy outlines exactly what data is collected and how it’s used. Your information is not rented or sold to third parties. If 1Password does have to share something with third parties, it’s spelled out for you ahead of time. There’s even a clause for how sales mergers or acquisitions are handled regarding your data. 

1Password third-party audits

1Password proudly participates in third-party security audits and makes the results easily accessible on its website. The last audit was in summer 2024. 

The report includes a lot of information, but the executive summary states that no high-severity issues were found during the test. There was one medium-severity issue and two low-severity issues.

This is to say that nothing is infallible, and there’s always a chance someone could hack your account. Luckily, 1Password understands the importance of third-party testing. This means it has an unbiased view of its product and can begin working on either a patch or a coding change to make everything safer.

Is 1Password safe to use?

By all accounts, yes, 1Password is very safe to use. Between the transparent privacy policy, third-party security audits, and internal security, this product has a great reputation! Unlike competitors like LastPass, 1Password has never been hacked. 1Password even assures users that it’s taken measures to keep their data safe if a breach ever occurs.

We dug a little deeper and discovered that researchers at the University of York tricked 1Password into revealing a password in 2020. However, the data within the vaults were in an encrypted language, so hackers couldn’t decode it. This is due to the AES-256-GCM encryption used by 1Password.

Two-factor authentication

Two-factor authentication (2FA) isn’t active the first time you log in to your 1Password account. There’s an easy but involved process for setting up 2FA. You’ll need either a physical security key device or an authenticator app. 

We chose to go with the Google Authenticator app. This is how we turned on 2FA when testing:

1. Select the dropdown menu in the upper-left corner.
2. Click Manage Your Account.
3. Locate More Actions.
4. Click the ellipsis (three dots) beside More Actions.
5. Select Manage Two-Factor Authentication.
6. Click Authenticator App.
7. Open your authenticator app.
8. Use the camera to scan the QR code provided or enter the secret code provided.
9. Click Next on your 1Password screen.
10. Enter the authentication code provided by the authenticator app in the space provided on your screen.

Now, 2FA should be active in your account. If you’re new to how passwordless authentication works, this might be a bit of a change. But it’s worth activating because it keeps your accounts safer.

1Password customer service

Customer support with 1Password might be the service’s only feature that’s really lacking. Despite listing 24/7 support, 1Password only offers email, online guides, and community forums. There's a chatbot, but no live agent chat. 

We started by asking the chatbot a simple question about using the emergency kit. There was definitely enough data provided by the bot, but we do wish there was a way to directly contact support without waiting for an email response or having to post in the community. 

1Password compatibility

1Password offers a decent list of computer apps, mobile apps, and browser extensions. These are the most popular options, and the Linux integration surprised us. 

Here’s a complete list of compatibility.

Apps and operating systems:

• Windows
• MacOS
• Linux
• iOS
• Android

Web browsers:

• Google Chrome
• Safari
• Mozilla Firefox
• Microsoft Edge
• Brave
• CLI

Top alternatives

1Password is a good password management solution, but it's not the only service we like. If you’re in the market for one of the best password managers, we’ve researched and tested the following recommendations:

1Password FAQs

Bottom line: Is 1Password good?

Yes, 1Password is a good choice for a password manager. It has strong security features, regularly participates in third-party audits, offers plenty of additional advanced features, and has never been involved in any security breaches. 

1Password is flexible depending on your needs, which is also a nice touch. You can personalize your private vault just for you or begin to build out your family accounts.

Unfortunately, 1Password doesn't have a free version and its customer support options are subpar. See how 1Password compares to our top password managers: 

• 1Password vs. NordPass
• 1Password vs. Dashlane
• 1Password vs. Roboform