If you’re searching for a password management solution that’ll allow you to sync all your passwords across different devices, including desktop and mobile apps, unite them into a single encrypted vault, and throw in a couple of top-tier features as well, you have come to the right place.
In this 1Password review, we will explore the many advantages (and a few disadvantages) of this quality password manager. Besides being a password management tool, 1Password can also serve as a virtual strongbox for all your sensitive data such as credit card details, highly sensitive personal information, and top-secret documents. It also comes with an intuitive, user-friendly dashboard and a pocket-friendly price tag to boot.
| Website | 1password.com |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS |
| Browser extensions | Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Brave, and Edge |
| Free version | 14 day trial |
| Encryption | AES 256-bit |
| Support | |
| Price | From $2.99/mo. |
| Deal | 14-day free trial > |
1Password feature summary
Here’s a summary of the full set of 1Password features:
- Supported platforms include Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, web, and all major browsers
- Secure Password Generation and Sharing
- Secure Notes
- Form and Payment Autofill
- 2FA and Passkey Support
- Travel Mode
- Password Import/Export
- Data is encrypted on your device
- Data encrypted in transit and at rest with AES-256, PBKDF2, SRP
- 1GB encrypted file storage
- Synchronizes across all your devices and browsers
- Supports alternate sync strategies
- Reports & Analysis
- Security Alerts
- Breach and Compromise Monitoring
About the company
1Password, developed by AgileBits in Ontario, Canada, was originally launched in 2006 as a Mac-only application. Since then, it has expanded to support all major operating systems, browsers, and mobile devices.
However, being based in Canada, a member of the Five Eyes Alliance, raises privacy concerns due to potential data sharing with international intelligence agencies. Privacy advocates often caution against using services from these countries.
1Password Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
I examined the 1Password Terms of Service as of September 12, 2024, and found no issues. The Privacy Policy, dated July 29, 2024, is clear and complies with Canadian privacy laws and GDPR for EU users. AgileBits has minimized data collection, categorizing it into Service Data, Secure Data, and optional Diagnostic Data, ensuring privacy protection.
Service data
Service data is the type of data AgileBits needs to make 1Password function. It's kept confidential, and it's normally visible to the AgileBits staff only. Service Data includes (but is not limited to):
- Server Logs
- Billing Information
- Client IP Addresses
- The Number of Vaults You Have
- The Number of Items in Vaults
- Company or Family Name
- Email Addresses
- Your Profile Name
- Any Image You Upload as Part of Your Profile (Optional)
Secure data
Secure Data refers to the information you store in 1Password, such as passwords and notes. This data is encrypted and decrypted on your device, ensuring that 1Password never sees your Master Password, making it impossible for them to access your data. Encryption is done using AES-GCM-256, and the Password-Based Key Derivation Function 2 (PBKDF2) enhances security against brute-force attacks, making decryption nearly impossible.
Your Secure Data can be stored in the United States, Canada, or the European Union, depending on the 1Password domain you use. Regardless of location, your Secure Data remains robustly encrypted, ensuring that even if handed over to authorities, decryption is virtually impossible without the proper credentials.
Diagnostic data
As the name suggests, 1Password support may sometimes request this type of optional data to diagnose problems. The important thing here is that it never includes Secure Data, and they will never request your Master Password or Secret Key.
1Password security audits and other third-party tests
On its Security Audits page, 1Password showcases its extensive testing as a secure password manager, including links to more than two dozen third-party security audits and other tests. This extensive testing makes us comfortable recommending their products despite being under Canadian jurisdiction. AgileBits deserves kudos for the number and variety of third-party audits they have conducted so far.
1Password apps
While 1Password started as a Macintosh-only product, it now offers comprehensive mobile apps and covers all the major operating systems and browsers. This includes macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android, as well as browser extensions for Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, and Brave.
1Password hands-on testing
I installed 1Password for Windows on my test machine for this review.
Installing 1Password
To install 1Password for Windows, start by creating an account on their website. You'll need to provide a valid email address and a credit card to begin the free 14-day trial.
During installation, 1Password generates your Secret Key and Emergency Kit. AgileBits assures that the Secret Key is generated on your device and remains unseen by them. This key, along with your password, adds an extra layer of security when signing in from new devices.
Since AgileBits doesn't have access to your Secret Key, it's crucial to safeguard it yourself. The Emergency Kit helps by storing all necessary account information. Ensure you download and securely store this kit, perhaps even printing a copy for added security.
Be sure to download the kit, and store the file in a safe place. You might even want to go so far as to print it and stash a copy in your strongbox or other secure physical location.
Once you get set up, you can download the various apps from the site, and get the browser extensions or 1Password X from the relevant app store.
Adding passwords and other data to 1Password
Once you have your account set up and the 1Password apps and extensions you want are installed, you’ll want to get your passwords and other data into 1Password. This is one place where 1Password has improved significantly since our last full review. It now supports a much wider range of places it can import from. The following image shows the current places you can import from:
Additionally, 1Password offers password sharing, allowing users to securely share login information with others through temporary links with various expiration options.
Manually adding passwords and data
Using the desktop app, adding data is easy. Select the New Item option and 1Password will display a list of the types of items it supports (see below). Select a type and it will display a form you can use to enter all the relevant information.
Select the type of data you want to add and you'll see a form appear where you can enter your data.
Letting 1Password capture a password itself
As you would expect from a password manager, if you install the 1Password browser extension, it can capture and store your login credentials. However, 1Password does things slightly differently. Most password managers wait for you to log into a site, then ask you if you want them to store the login credentials you used.
1Password doesn't wait for you to log in successfully. Instead, as you can see in the following image, it offers to save your login credentials as you enter them:
Working with your secure passwords
Open 1Password. You can do this with either the desktop apps or the browser extensions, which look like this:
To work with a password (or other data) in 1Password, begin typing the name of the item you want into the Search box at the top of the window. If you would rather see a list of all the items you have stored here, you’ll need to do that with the Desktop app. I find this kind of clumsy, although I’m sure it wouldn’t take long to get used to it.
1Password has a perfectly functional password generator. While it lacks some of the customization options that other products have, I like its ability to generate PINs (numerals only) as well as easy to speak, type, and remember passwords like blatant-quay-pandemic-hopper. You can generate passwords directly in the browser extensions, while in the desktop app, you do so as part of creating a password item. Using a password manager like 1Password is crucial for creating and storing highly secure passwords.
One of the nicest features of 1Password is the Watchtower, which is available in the desktop apps. It will help you ensure that your passwords are secure. To see it, log in to 1Password.com, select a vault, then select Watchtower in the menu on the left side of the window. 1Password generates a Watchtower report, which will look something like this:
It shows you which passwords have problems, and tells you how to fix the problem. Unlike some of its competitors, 1Password won’t change your problem passwords for you (see our Dashlane review for example). However, it quickly identifies problem passwords, which you can fix with the password generator.
1Password's password generator
1Password has a perfectly functional password generator. While it lacks some of the customization options that other products have, I like its ability to generate PIN numbers (numerals only) as well as easy to speak, type, and remember passwords like: blatant-quay-pandemic-hopper.
Putting 1Password to work
Once you are done with all the preliminaries, you are ready to see 1Password in action. Whenever you visit a web page that 1Password has data for, it will display the 1Password icon in any of the date fields it “knows.” Click on the icon to fill all the relevant fields.
If you have more than one password for this page (for example with multiple email accounts) 1Password will display a list of available credentials. Select one of the options and 1Password will fill in the appropriate fields.
Additional 1Password features
Now that we’ve touched on 1Password’s core features, let’s talk about some of the additional features you might find interesting or even important.
Travel Mode
Travel mode is a strong feature of 1Password. You can tell 1Password which of your vaults is safe for travel. Once you activate Travel Mode, all vaults that are not safe for travel get deleted from your device. This ensures that if your devices are inspected while you travel, that inspection will only find the data that you designated as safe.
For the complete rundown on Travel Mode, visit this 1Password support page.
Sharing passwords
1Password supports sharing, both with other 1Password users and with outsiders. You share passwords and other data safely by sending them a link.
You can control who can access the password, how long the password will be accessible using the link, and even set the link to only be viewed once by each recipient.
User Management
The Family plan (and all multi-user business plans) allows you to view and manage the users who are part of your plan.
Secure file storage: 1 GB+
The Personal and Family plans each feature 1 GB of secure file storage per user. The Business plans include at least 5 GB of secure file storage per user.
365-day item history
1Password keeps a history of all changes (even emptying the trash) you make to your account for 365 days. This makes it possible to view and restore previous versions of items.
1Password Support
Providing high-quality customer support is expensive. Perhaps that’s the tradeoff with 1Password. You don’t get a free version of the product. Instead, you get a paid version with quality support. Trustpilot is full of 1Password reviews that praise the support AgileBits provides for their product, which is something we don't see often.
You can contact 1Password Support by email, Twitter, or through their community forums. There is no telephone support nor live chat, but you should be able to get help through these channels quickly.
Aside from the tens of thousands of topics (with hundreds of thousands of replies) in the forums, the 1Password Support page has many articles covering numerous subjects. Put it all together, and 1Password Customer Support is definitely a strong point of the product/service.
How secure and private is 1Password?
1Password has a lot of positives. But is your data secure and private if you use 1Password?
1Password security
1Password goes above and beyond when it comes to security. As with other top password managers, your data is encrypted using the AES-256 algorithm, with keys generated from your Master Password. But 1Password includes your 128-bit Secret Key with the Master Password in the encryption, adding a lot of entropy to the process (which makes hacking into your account by brute force much harder).
What all this means in plain English is that your data is about as secure as can be when you store it in 1Password.
1Password privacy
How private your data is with 1Password requires more of a conversation. 1Password does collect some personal data, and they may have to share it with third parties and governments. All this is explained in the Privacy Policy we have covered above.
Since 1Password isn't Open Source software (unlike competitors such as Proton Pass and Bitwarden), we have to take their word for it as to what data they collect and what they do with it. But as of today, I've seen no reason to doubt them on this. Besides, the extensive amount of third-party testing they have done seems to back up their claims nicely.
Lastly, remember that all data stored in 1Password is heavily encrypted, above and beyond the norm. AgileBits states that they never see your Master Password or your Secret Key. This means that they have no way to decode your data. This ensures the privacy of your data, even if some government agency forces AgileBits to hand over your (encrypted) data files.
1Password plans and pricing
1Password has different pricing options for different types of users.
The 1Password Personal plan costs $2.99 per month, billed annually. That works out to $35.88 per year, after your 14-day trial.
The 1Password Family plan supports up to five family members for only $4.99 per month, billed annually ($59.88). For this price, you get everything in the single-user version, a management console for the family, the ability to recover locked family member accounts, and more.
Got a big family? You can invite additional members to join the plan for $1 per person per month.
There are also Teams plans, Business plans, and Enterprise plans, which you can learn more about on the 1Password website.
See all 1Password prices here >
1Password review conclusion
1Password can sync your passwords and sensitive data across all your devices while carrying out the everyday tasks of a password management tool. It’s a simple-to-use, feature-rich solution with a kind and knowledgeable customer support staff and a price tag that won’t break the bank.
We are particularly pleased with 1Password’s Travel Mode which deletes vaults on your devices that are deemed to be unsafe for travel. It’s a must-have for those who travel frequently and a useful feature other password managers should implement into their solutions.
If you’re still wondering how 1Password can benefit your business, here are some of its highlights:
- Supports all major operating systems and most of the popular browsers
- Offers multiple plans covering everything from a single user to enterprise-level businesses
- Features especially strong encryption to keep your data safe and secure
- Has a competent support team that gets praised by users
- Travel Mode enables you to shield your sensitive data from intrusive border inspections
- The Watchtower feature will check the strength of your passwords and notify you about any security breaches in which your data has been compromised.
As with everything in life, there are some notable drawbacks with 1Password and they include:
- The lack of a free plan
- Different formats (desktop, mobile, browser extension) come with different capabilities, which could confuse users
- The user interface has a slight learning curve
- No telephone or live chat support
- Is based in one of the Five Eyes (FVEY) countries which is bad news for your data privacy
Even with a great deal of information, making the right decision can be difficult.
Fortunately, 1Password offers a 14-day free trial for everyone, which means you can try everything out for yourself without spending a dime. To do this, click the button below:
And if you want to check some of 1Password’s competitors first, here is the full list of our password manager content:
- Bitwarden Review
- LastPass Review
- KeePass Review
- NordPass Review
- Dashlane Review
- Best Password Managers
- How to Create Strong Passwords
1Password FAQ
Here are some of the most frequently asked questions related to 1Password:
Can I trust 1Password?
The short answer is yes. When we take into account the company’s track record and the wide range of security-related features it provides, we can safely say that 1Password is a password manager you can trust. Your password and other sensitive data are shielded with one of the strongest encryptions out there (256-bit AES), a “zero-knowledge” policy, and two-factor authentication (2FA).
How many people use 1Password?
According to the data on the official site, over 15 million users across the world are putting their trust in 1Password as we write.
Has 1Password ever been hacked?
While many password managers have been hacked over the years, 1Password is not one of them. It’s been a part of the security industry for over 15 years and all this time 1Password has never fallen victim to cybercriminals.
What happens with my data if 1Password gets hacked?
Even if 1Password gets hacked and your sensitive data stolen, there is practically no chance that cybercriminals could decrypt it. Three things are needed to decrypt your data: your account password, your Secret Key, and the encrypted data itself. You’re the only one who knows your account password, your Secret Key is generated locally during setup, and all your data is encrypted/decrypted on your device. So, even if a cybercriminal mastermind would somehow manage to steal your account password, they wouldn’t be able to get inside your vaults and grab what’s in it.
What is a Secret Key and where is it stored?
Your Secret Key is your unique combination of 34 letters and numbers, separated by dashes. It serves as an additional layer of protection on top of your account password. It’s created and stored on all devices you've used to sign in to your 1Password account, as well as in your Emergency Kit.
This 1Password review was last updated on October 29, 2024.
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