The best 1Password alternatives, compared
A business password manager is essential for securing enterprise accounts and sensitive data. While 1Password is widely used, it may not be suitable for companies that require privacy-first solutions or have tighter budgets.
Read on to learn how your business can benefit from a 1Password alternative and what to look for when choosing a corporate password manager.
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About 1Password
Headquartered in Canada, 1Password is a well-established password manager that’s popular with both individuals and teams across the globe. Its robust features include shared password vaults, support for passwordless authentication with passkeys, and secure notes storage, and has native apps across major platforms and devices.
Originally created for consumers, 1Password has since evolved to accommodate more complex organizational needs, delivering enterprise-grade capabilities such as admin roles, policy controls, integrations with SSO, and automated provisioning through SCIM. As a closed-source solution, 1Password’s backend infrastructure is not available for public verification, though they have published multiple audits performed by independent security firms.
Why consider an alternative to 1Password?
With data breaches and cyberattacks on the rise, especially for small businesses, digital security is more critical than ever. Many teams seek a password manager that delivers not just convenience but also strong privacy and security.
1Password is a widely adopted option for many businesses, but it too has several drawbacks, including:
Restrictive pricing
Smaller businesses or those with budget constraints may have difficulty justifying 1Password’s higher and inflexible costs, with annual subscriptions starting from $7.99 per user per month or $19.95 per month with a limit of 10 users. As an organization expands, the total cost can quickly escalate into thousands of dollars.
Complex onboarding and adoption
While powerful and polished, teams without extensive technical knowledge or dedicated IT support may face challenges with setting up and using 1Password. Reviews note that 1Password has a steeper learning curve compared to lightweight password managers, and onboarding can require some degree of configuration and structure. This hinders easy adoption for non-technical users and may feel more complicated than necessary for simple use cases.
Lack of transparency
1Password is a closed-source software, meaning its code isn’t publicly available for verification. This limits transparency and requires users to take the company’s word that its apps do only what they claim. Organizations that value verifiable security and independent review may prefer open-source alternatives.
Potential compliance challenges
For companies with strict data sovereignty requirements, 1Password may pose challenges due to its Canadian headquarters and reliance on AWS, a U.S. cloud provider. This especially applies for teams handling sensitive or cross-border data, as the location and ownership of this infrastructure impacts data handling and compliance. Businesses that are highly regulated or under GDPR, HIPAA, or government mandates should opt for solutions hosted in privacy-focused jurisdictions or utilize in-house infrastructure.
Limited storage capacity
Unlike many competitors, 1Password imposes a storage limit of up to 5 GB per user even for businesses, which can restrict the number of logins and attachments your employees may need to store as your company scales.
What to look for in a 1Password alternative
When evaluating alternatives to 1Password, the criteria should extend beyond just features to encompass security, ease of use, affordability, and organizational fit.
Security fundamentals like zero-knowledge and end-to-end encryption are essential, and should ideally be supported by open-source transparency and independent audits. But it's also important to consider ease of use and adoption: for example, businesses in less technical sectors may prefer a lightweight password manager that simplifies onboarding and integration with daily operations.
Another key point of consideration, especially for smaller organizations, is affordability and a scalable pricing model that ensures teams can grow without undue budget strain. Additionally, organizations with specific data sovereignty requirements should prioritize alternatives with infrastructure and jurisdiction alignment that meets their data compliance needs.
How does 1Password compare to other password managers?
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Free tier plan | Limited to one device | |||||
Protected by Swiss privacy laws | ||||||
Includes privacy ecosystem | ||||||
Operates its own servers | ||||||
Open source | ||||||
Proactive account protection (Sentinel) | ||||||
Built-in hide-my-email aliases | ||||||
Built-in 2FA | ||||||
Password health checks & breach monitoring | ||||||
Secure sharing | ||||||
External sharing (with non-users) | Limited* | |||||
SSO and SCIM integration | ||||||
Admin console & user management | ||||||
Security policies (password rules, access controls) | ||||||
End-to-end encryption |
* You can’t share individual items directly from your vault, but you can generate a temporary link for a secure note using a Bitwarden Send account.
Top business password managers
Dashlane
Dashlane features modern apps with strong cross-platform support, passkeys and passwordless logins, phishing protection, and a range of advanced administrative tools, including its proprietary intelligent credential security platform Omnix.
On the downside, Dashlane’s plans are restrictive, with no free tier and operating solely at a per-user cost and with annual-only plans, making them considerably more expensive than most competitors. Credential sharing is also largely restricted to other Dashlane users, which can cause friction in both personal and professional settings, and force users to resort to less-secure workarounds. Dashlane also isn’t fully open source, limiting transparency and verifiability.
Bitwarden
Bitwarden's strengths are centered on value and openness, with a free plan for personal use that supports password sharing and robust security features such as 2FA and biometric logins. Its affordable business pricing also includes enterprise features like SSO, SCIM support, and the ability to set organization-wide policies. Bitwarden is also fully open source, which is appealing for those that prioritize transparency and customizability or require self-hosting.
On the other hand, Bitwarden’s non-intuitive user interface and utilitarian design make ease-of-use and adoption a challenge. Sharing credentials can also be complex for non-technical users and those unfamiliar with Bitwarden’s terminology. Bitwarden also offers less flexibility for storing specialized item types with only five predefined item types — users who want other types have to create their own custom fields.
LastPass
As one of the more established password managers, LastPass boasts a wealth of password management and administrative features, including secure credential sharing and passwordless login.
However, LastPass’s history of security breaches is a significant concern for many organizations, with credentials stolen from users in 2022 being linked to a series of cyberheists as recently as January 2024. LastPass doesn’t offer built-in two-factor authentication, putting the onus of extra security on the user to download and set up a separate app. Additionally, sharing flexibility is limited only to other LastPass users, and being a closed-source product, LastPass’s proprietary code is not publicly auditable, requiring users to simply trust the security implementation.
Why Proton Pass is the leading 1Password alternative
Among 1Password alternatives, Proton Pass is affordable, sleek and easy to use, and has powerful privacy, security, and additional features that no other password manager can offer. Here are all the ways Proton Pass beats out 1Password:
Benefit from superior privacy protections
Unlike 1Password, Proton is headquartered in Switzerland, meaning your business is protected by some of the world’s strictest privacy regulations. Proton’s core infrastructure is owned and operated in-house and hosted in Switzerland or other privacy-focused jurisdictions, so all your data is safeguarded from surveillance and unauthorized access through end-to-end and zero-access encryption.
Deploy and manage effortlessly
Auto-create, store, and share unlimited logins and notes from day one. Proton Pass offers a modern, intuitive interface that makes adoption easy, and enables secure credential sharing including with external parties. Combined with a wealth of built-in business features like two-factor authentication (2FA), single sign-on (SSO), SCIM integration, enterprise policies, detailed reporting, centralized admin dashboards, and activity logs, Proton Pass is designed to ensure seamless access and strong security without added risk.
Stay ahead of threats and data breaches
Proton Pass includes advanced security features such as Dark Web Monitoring to alert you of compromised data and hide-my-email aliases to guard against phishing attempts. Our unique Proton Sentinel system uses machine learning and human analysis to detect and shut down account takeover attacks.
Trust in open source and audited apps
Like all Proton products, Proton Pass is fully open source, allowing anyone to inspect our code for complete transparency. We undergo frequent independent audits and are compliant with major regulations, including GDPR, HIPAA, CJIS, and PCI, in addition to being ISO 27001 certified and SOC 2 Type II audited. Furthermore, unlike 1Password, we are not beholden to venture capital investors. That means we always innovate for your benefit, not for profit.
Enjoy greater value at any team size
Starting at just $1.99 per user per month, Proton Pass offers a far more cost-effective solution than 1Password without compromising on features. Our scalable pricing brings enterprise-level protection to businesses of every size, all while keeping budgets in check. Each user is also entitled to up to 1 TB of cloud storage depending on the plan, which is significantly higher than 1Password’s cap of 5 GB per user.
Switch easily to Proton Pass
Already on 1Password or another password manager? No problem — easily import all your data to Proton Pass in just a few clicks.
Protection beyond passwords with Proton Business Suite
Besides a password manager, Proton offers an end-to-end encrypted suite of solutions to protect every aspect of your business’s digital operations. Our Proton Business Suite plan includes access to Proton Pass as well as all other Proton apps:
Proton Drive
Keep your files safe and collaborate on docs in real time. Store, manage, and share securely with encrypted cloud storage.
Proton Mail
Protect all your business communications and ensure every message stays private with a secure email service.
Proton Calendar
Easily organize your professional schedule and streamline meeting planning with a calendar built for privacy.
Proton VPN
Secure your business’s network traffic instantly with a powerful VPN. Safeguard sensitive data, enable safer remote work, and defend against snoops and hackers.
Trusted by teams to stay secure with ease
Elemnta, Australia
50-200 employees
“It's really the activity logs that are important for me, and the granular control. The shift to using Proton Pass has greatly benefited us.”
GILAI, Switzerland
Managing IT of 1000+ employees
"We needed a password manager that would be easy to use for the end user and easy to manage for the administrator. I didn't need to do any specific documentation, or any demo except for the provisioning of the account because it's really, really user friendly."
Novalytica AG, Switzerland
11-50 employees
"Onboarding was very easy. Everyone is using it and it works, and no one wants to go back to writing passwords by hand in a sheet or in a notebook."
Morning
350 employees
I wanted the UX to be beautiful. I think it's important that when you migrate 300 or 400 users, you should choose a solution that isn't too difficult to use or unpleasant to look at. I think it's important for commercial teams to have something user-friendly. That was the case with Proton Pass.
Ready to put privacy first?
Choose the premier password manager your team will love. Try out any plan today with a 14-day free trial.
Frequently asked questions
- What if a data breach happens on Proton Pass?
- How can I switch to Proton Pass from 1Password?