Bitwarden vs 1Password: plans, security model and self-hosting compared (2026)

Choosing a password manager for yourself, your family or a small company usually comes down to two names: Bitwarden and 1Password. Both store logins, passkeys and secure notes behind end-to-end encryption, both run on the major desktop and mobile platforms, and both sell business plans with admin controls. The differences are in price, in how each product is deployed, and in which extras come in which tier.

This comparison is based on the vendors' own pricing pages and documentation, checked on 7 October 2026. We did not run hands-on benchmarks, penetration tests or long-term usability trials, so treat it as a structured reading of what each vendor publishes, not a lab test. Prices are in US dollars, exclude taxes and can change; always confirm on the vendor's site before you buy.

By the end you will know what each plan costs today, where the two products genuinely differ, and which one is the more natural fit for an individual, a family, a small team or a company that wants to host its own vault.

Pricing at a glance (October 2026)

The table below lists the self-serve plans each vendor shows on its pricing pages. Both vendors quote business prices per user per month with annual billing.

Plan type	Bitwarden	1Password
Free	Free account with core password management, passkey management and sharing with one other user	No free plan listed; 14-day free trial on paid plans
Individual	Premium: $1.65 per month, billed annually at $19.80	Individual: $3.99 per month regular price, shown at $2.99 during a current promotion, billed yearly
Family	Families: $3.99 per month for up to 6 users, billed annually at $47.88	Families: $5.99 per month regular price for up to 5 family members, shown at $4.49 during a promotion
Small team	Teams: $4 per user per month, billed annually	Teams Starter Pack: $24.95 per month billed annually ($299.40 per year) for up to 10 members, with up to 10 more seats at per-member pricing
Business	Enterprise: $6 per user per month, billed annually	Business: $8.99 per user per month billed annually ($107.88 per user per year)
Large organisations	Enterprise plan above; sales contact available	Enterprise Password Manager and other enterprise products priced by quote

On list price alone, Bitwarden is cheaper at every tier we compared. For a ten-person team paying annually, Bitwarden Teams works out to $40 per month and Bitwarden Enterprise to $60 per month, while the 1Password Teams Starter Pack is a flat $24.95 per month for up to ten members and 1Password Business is $89.90 per month. The 1Password Teams Starter Pack is therefore the cheapest of the four options for a team of exactly ten, but it stops at 20 users and lacks the identity-provider integrations of 1Password Business.

What you get on personal and family plans

Bitwarden

Bitwarden lists a set of core features in every account, including the free one: unlimited devices and passwords, zero-knowledge encryption, passkey management, a username and password generator, email alias integration, encrypted export, Bitwarden Send for encrypted sharing, and sharing with one other user. Bitwarden also lists "open source security" among those core features.

Premium adds an integrated authenticator for six-digit TOTP codes, 5 GB of encrypted file attachments (expandable for a fee), emergency access, security reports, and two-step login options that include up to 10 hardware security keys, Yubico OTP and Duo. Families turns that into six premium accounts with unlimited sharing, unlimited collections and an extra 5 GB for family items.

1Password

1Password does not list a free tier. Its Individual plan includes password generation, autosave and autofill, secure item sharing with people who do not use 1Password, security alerts and 1 GB of storage per user. Families adds up to five family members, unlimited shared vaults and simple admin controls. Both plans start with a 14-day trial that, according to the page, does not require a credit card.

Security model and deployment

Both products use end-to-end encryption, so the vendor stores encrypted data it cannot read. The way each adds protection beyond the master password differs.

• 1Password describes AES 256-bit end-to-end encryption, a Secret Key that is combined with your account password (it calls this Two-Key Derivation), and the Secure Remote Password (SRP) protocol for authentication. Its business page also lists SOC 2 Type II certification and independent third-party audits.
• Bitwarden supports two-step login with methods that include hardware security keys on paid plans. Its business pricing and help centre describe the option to run the Bitwarden server on your own infrastructure, with documentation for installing it on Linux.

Self-hosting is the clearest structural difference. Bitwarden's pricing pages list "Flexibility to self-host" on its Enterprise plan and describe self-host options for running the server application on your own network. 1Password's pricing pages that we checked list only its cloud service; we found no self-hosted option on them. If a regulator, a customer contract or internal policy requires that the vault server sit on infrastructure you control, Bitwarden is the one that offers it.

Self-hosting is not free of cost, though. You become responsible for patching, backups, TLS certificates and uptime. For most small teams the vendor-hosted cloud service of either product is the lower-risk choice.

Business features compared

Capability	Bitwarden Teams / Enterprise	1Password Teams Starter Pack / Business
Shared credentials	Yes, on both	Yes, on both
Event or activity logs	Event logs on Teams	Activity and usage reports; event streaming to SIEM tools listed on Business
Directory sync and provisioning	Directory sync and SCIM listed on Teams	Provisioning with Entra ID (Azure AD), Google Workspace, Okta, OneLogin, Rippling and JumpCloud listed on Business
Single sign-on	Passwordless SSO integration on Enterprise	SSO unlock and identity-provider integrations on Business
Policies	Enterprise policies on Enterprise	Custom policies and vault permissions on Business
Guest accounts	Not listed on the pricing page	5 guests on Teams Starter Pack, 20 on Business
Free family plan for staff	Free Families plan for all users on Enterprise	Free Families plan for every user, listed in the comparison table
Self-hosting	Enterprise	Not listed

Developers should also note 1Password's developer tooling: the Business page lists SSH key signing, Git commit signing, a CLI, SDKs and integrations with IDEs, CI/CD and infrastructure-as-code tools. Bitwarden sells a separate Secrets Manager product for developer and DevOps secrets, which sits outside the password manager plans compared here.

Day-to-day use and migration

For most people the deciding factor is not encryption detail but whether the product fits their daily routine. Both vendors offer browser extensions, desktop apps and mobile apps. 1Password's business page lists apps for macOS, iOS, watchOS, Windows, Android and Linux, and browser extensions for Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox and Brave. Bitwarden lists browser, mobile and desktop apps with unlimited devices on every account, including free.

Moving between the two is a normal task rather than a project. Export from the old manager, import into the new one, then check a sample of entries by hand. Pay particular attention to items that do not always convert cleanly: one-time-password seeds, file attachments, custom fields and passkeys. Delete the unencrypted export file securely once the import is confirmed, because it holds every password in plain text.

For teams, the harder part is people, not data. Plan a short rollout: admins first, then one department, then everyone. Give staff a deadline for moving shared logins out of spreadsheets and chat messages, and switch on the reports each product offers (Bitwarden's security reports, 1Password's Watchtower alerts on Business) to find reused or weak passwords after the move.

Who should pick which

Choose Bitwarden if

• You want a capable free plan, or the lowest paid price for an individual or a family of up to six.
• Your organisation must self-host the vault server.
• You need SCIM provisioning and directory sync at the lower Teams price point.

Choose 1Password if

• You prefer a fully vendor-hosted service and value the Secret Key design as a second factor built into account sign-in.
• You want guest accounts for contractors or clients, or event streaming into an existing SIEM.
• Your developers will use its SSH agent, commit signing and CLI as part of daily work.
• You are a team of up to 20 and the flat Teams Starter Pack price suits you.

Evaluation checklist before you commit

Whichever product you shortlist, run a short, structured trial rather than relying on comparison articles, including this one.

1. List the platforms and browsers your people actually use, and confirm each is supported on the vendor's download page.
2. Import a copy of an existing vault export into a trial account and check that folders, notes, TOTP seeds and passkeys come across.
3. Turn on two-step login for every admin, ideally with a hardware security key, and test the recovery process before you need it.
4. Connect your identity provider (Okta, Entra ID or Google Workspace) in the trial and test onboarding and offboarding a user.
5. Decide who can create shared vaults or collections and write that rule down.
6. Check where data is stored. 1Password's pricing page notes that data is stored in the region of the currency you choose (USD, CAD or EUR); confirm residency options with either vendor if you have legal requirements.
7. Price your real head count for three years, including promotional prices that expire.

Summary

Bitwarden is the lower-cost option at every tier we compared and the only one of the two that offers self-hosting. 1Password costs more but bundles guest accounts, a Secret Key in its sign-in design, broad identity-provider provisioning on Business and strong developer tooling. For an individual or family on a budget, Bitwarden's free and Premium plans are hard to argue with. For a company that wants a hosted service with polished admin and developer features, 1Password Business is a reasonable spend. Use the checklist above during the free trials, and confirm current prices on the vendors' pages on the day you buy.