1Password review: how secure is it?

1Password is one of the best password managers on the market for several reasons. It excels in cross-platform functionality, ease of use, good prices, and, most importantly, robust security.

It uses industry-leading encryption technology for your vault, biometric authentication, applies a zero-knowledge architecture, and secures each user account with a 34-character security code. We also liked its Travel Mode feature that builds an extra layer of protection for your most sensitive credentials while crossing borders. All this comes at one of the most affordable prices on the market..

However, despite all the impressive things, our tests revealed somewhat clumsy autofill feature. And we missed the password inheritance feature.

Overall, 1Password is a powerful password manager. It doesn’t have a free version nor a money-back guarantee but offers a 14-day free trial to try the service risk-free. Continue reading our in-depth 1Password review and explore the key findings from our tests. Here, we overview its security measures, applications, pricing, and more in detail.

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1Password – pros and cons

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Is 1Password actually secure?

1Password ensures unbreakable security for your credentials in and outside your password vault. Due to the applied AES-256 encryption cipher, a Secret Key made of 34 symbols and stored on your device only, multi-factor authentication, and more robust security measures, this password manager guarantees end-to-end protection.

• Encryption. Advanced AES-256 encryption and a Secret Key of 34 mixed characters scramble your stored data into numerous pieces and make it impossible to read them to anyone.
• Passage by 1Password. This is a recently-added feature that allows you to use passkeys instead of passwords, ensuring much stronger security. It provides you with a simple way to access all of your accounts using biometrics, be it Touch ID or Windows Hello.
• Authentication. Not only a secret code and encryption are protecting the vault from unauthorized access to your passwords. With 1Password, you must create a unique Master Password for an entrance, and you can also enable a U2F key-based MFA that supports YubiKey, Titan, and more.
• Privacy. After thorough research, we learned that 1Password's zero-knowledge policy leaves sensitive information unknown even to the company itself. However, if there’s a demand, the company would cooperate with law enforcement and may share user’s personally identifiable information with them. On the other hand, 1Passwordnd Secure Remote Password (SRP) protocol prevents hackers from intercepting Master Password, Secret Key, and other transmitted data.
• Audits. 1Password password manager maintains recent penetration tests by ISE and security audits by Onica, with past pentests and security assessments completed by AppSec Consulting, nVisium, and CloudNative. Additionally, the company has a private bug bounty program from Bugcrowd, with 387 unique researchers looking for bugs.

Overall, 1Password designed every feature to make sure only you have access to the passwords and financial, as well as other personal information kept in your account. You get full control of your security, and multiple security features protect it from cybercriminals attacks.

1Password features

Seemingly simple password manager – 1Password – surprises us by offering a list of rarely seen features among reputable password management tools. Apart from essential security features, this provider provides you with extras that noticeably strengthen your online safety and improve your online experience overall.

Below, we will dig in deeper within each 1Password feature, overviewing its purpose, functionality, and showing you how it works.

Watchtower

Watchtower is a suite of security tools that comes with every 1Password membership. At a glance, Watchtower can alert you to any weaknesses in your security ecosystem, including passwords that need to be changed or strengthened, compromised logins, and security updates from websites you store credentials for.

Every vault has a Watchtower item in the left-hand column which you can use to view the status of items within the vault. Watchtower can check the security status of individual websites.

During our tests, we found this feature quite similar to what you would get with NordPass. However, the latter has two separate features for monitoring passwords and data breaches, while 1Password offers all these functionalities in one convenient dashboard.

Travel Mode

Vaults also help keep your data safe when you travel. If some data is not secure across national borders, you can activate “travel mode” for family members and team members who will be traveling internationally.

Storing “travel-safe” information in separate vaults enabled for travel mode will ensure uninterrupted access to that data, while protecting non-travel-safe data by removing the vaults when you cross borders.

Every 1Password account includes Travel Mode. You can toggle it from the “My Profile” account window.

On your “My Profile” page, a “Travel Mode” button is in the lower left.

Once Travel Mode is on, you will need to specify which of your vaults are travel-safe. To identify a vault as safe to access in Travel Mode, go to your home screen and click the “Settings” icon shaped like a gear on the vault you want to set to travel mode.

Once in the settings screen for that vault, set the vault to “Safe for Travel” using the toggle button.

Privacy cards

Reliable financial protection has been in high demand for a while now. Consequently, 1Password has implemented the Privacy cards feature to its suite. With it, you can safely autofill your virtual credit card information while shopping online or on any other occasion.

Each Privacy card is tied to a different merchant, meaning you would need to create a separate card for different accounts. And for each credit card you can set the limit of your spending.

Similarly, NordPass allows saving and auto-filling credit card information using OCR scanning. But unlike 1Password, it doesn’t connect your cards with separate merchants, making it more comfortable to shop online.

Moreover, these virtual 1Password cards are only available for US residents that are also at the age of 18 and older.

Auto-cleared Clipboard

Copying and pasting indeed saves heaps of time for each of us, whether it’s your login information or some personal information for the form. However, it can happen that you paste sensitive data to unsecure fields and leave it unprotected. To avoid dangerous consequences in this situation, 1Password offers you an Auto-cleared Clipboard feature.

By enabling this feature in your 1Password app settings, all the information that’s been copied is erased once the 90 seconds pass. This way, you avoid accidentally pasting important information into inappropriate fields.

Other password management features

Aside from unique security features, 1Password also boasts a selection of crucial-considered password management features. Without them, the provider wouldn’t be as reliable as it is now.

Here’s what we found:

• Password generator. Just like all robust providers should, 1Password has it too and helps you create complex passwords for any type of account. With it, you can build passwords that consist of 100 different symbols, characters, and numbers.
• Password sharing. Secure password sharing opportunity is getting more important daily. Therefore, 1Password received bonus points for already having it. And after our testing, we found that we could effectively share our sensitive data with 1Password users and non-users.
• Auto-filling. Without this, a password manager is hardly worth your attention. But while 1Password does autofill your credentials for you, we learned that it may become complicated occasionally. Yet, we liked that it also auto-fills forms and does not fill in the information to bogus websites without your consent.
• Multiple vaults. 1Password seeks to make security comfortable and provides you with an opportunity to break down your account into different vaults. Meaning, you can build separate vaults for business, personal life, and more. This feature reminded us of NordPass’s folders, and even their performance was alike.

Before deciding to get 1Password, it’s no less important to learn whether the password manager is compatible with your devices and is overall easy to use.

1Password works on all widely-used smart devices: macOS, Windows, and Linux, as well as Android and iOS. The password manager is also perfectly compatible with various browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave, and Safari.

Of course, each password manager version functions differently and comes differently regarding features. Hence, we will overview each 1Password version separately, taking a look at the set of features and ease of use.

1Password desktop app

First of all, 1Password for Linux works via the command line, which is no surprise for this OS user. But the future is promising with more and more software developers, like NordPass, offering graphic Linux apps. Meanwhile, Windows and Mac users receive a simple but attractive GUI.

To test the desktop version, we used the 1Password Family plan, as it unlocks nearly all possible app sections, such as Kids, Parents, and more. What it means for you is that with the Individual or Business plans, you unlock a bit different left-side menu bar.

But no matter the subscription you are on, all users receive the same core features:

• Watchtower
• Multiple Vaults
• Password generator
• Privacy Cards

However, note that Travel Mode can be managed through a browser or a mobile device only.

1Password mobile apps

1Password offers mobile apps for the iOS and Android operating systems. The app will give you quick access to all of your passwords, letting you quickly copy and paste all the required information.

The 1Password mobile app is very easy to set up whether you do have a 1Password account already or not. If you do, all you need to do is to scan the QR code in the Emergency Kit PDF that you received once you created an account.

Overall, both iOS and Android applications are very similar. Within the very beginning, we liked how highly customizable they are – we could easily add or remove preferred sections from the home page. Or you may even pin desired items to the app home page for quick but secure access.

Not only the customization level is alike, but the set of features is too. The only differences are that Apple users receive the Handoff feature, allowing them to view an item on one device and pick it up on another. And you can also connect your Apple Watch to 1Password via iPhone to access various credentials on the run, except documents.

1Password browser extensions

1Password also includes a browser extension available on Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave, and Safari browsers. It's a pretty powerful solution, letting you access just about any of the features available on the full product.

Once the extension is added to your browser of choice, logged in, and activated, it becomes easy to both add and access data to 1Password. For instance, it is armed to drag and drop data stored in your vault to the relevant fields.

Moreover, 1Password’s browser version is one of the most feature-rich options among password managers. That said, you’re allowed to use all features found on the desktop app and even more. Here’s what differs:

• More import options – other password managers, various browsers, CSV files.
• Travel Mode – allows you to mask certain credentials for the time you are traveling.
• Lock – when you use a browser version, you can easily lock 1Password.

And again, 1Password comes unusual, forcing users to jump from one app to another; as for adding a new item, you would be transferred from a browser extension to a desktop app.

How to download and install 1Password

1. Head to 1Password website and choose the subscription plan
2. Create a new account
3. Fill in the payment details
4. Download the application for your device
5. Launch the downloaded file and continue with the installation process
6. Open the app, sign in to your account, and import your passwords

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1Password plans and pricing

Overall, the logic here is rather simple – the base 1Password account includes all the main features you'd expect from your password manager. Unlimited passwords for unlimited devices, and all of the main security perks should be enough for just about anyone. But how it differs plan by plan? Let’s see that right below:

• 1Password Individual. This subscription plan is most suitable for single users. The plan provides you with a single account for unlimited devices and passwords, giving you access to all main 1Password features. The prices start at $2.99/month.
• 1Password Families. A dedicated subscription plan for families and households, coming with 5 separate accounts for unlimited devices. Here, you get all Individual plan features, plus Account Recovery and Shared Vaults with family. The prices start at $4.99/month
• 1Password Teams. If you’re running a small business, 1Password Teams is an option for you. A subscription works for 10 persons separately. It also provides you with extra features, such as Admin Permission Control. The pricing starts from $19.95/month
• 1Password Business. To protect all-size companies, you should choose 1Password Business. The subscription is scalable and offers dedicated features for advanced business protection, such as customizable policies or Family accounts for each employee. The pricing starts from $7.99/month.

We have also put all the details into a comparison table:

Get the best 1Password deal

What’s also important to know is that 1Password doesn’t provide you with a regular money-back guarantee or a free version. Instead, you get a 14-day free trial to test out the fullest 1Password version, and then you can choose the subscription you need.

Video review

If you prefer visual information or you simply wish to learn more details about how this password manager works, you can also check our 1Password video review.

Customer support

1Password maintains an extensive FAQ and searchable user forum, which can be used to find answers to common questions. It covers most of the main issues – and offers a lot of professional troubleshooting in the form of extensive how-to guides.

For more complicated questions, 1Password maintains support channels by email, Twitter, and forum response.

To test, we contacted the support by email with the question if it is possible to expand the number of family members to more than 5, and it took only 8 minutes for 1password support to answer us. That was very fast compared to our previous experiences with other services (not necessarily that of the password managers), which took a few hours or even days to get an answer by email.

On the downside, there are no phone or chat support options available in the event of hard-to-resolve issues. VIP support is available for business plans or higher, but for most users, a relatively fast but not instantaneous email support architecture is the best option for now.

1Password review summary

If you’re looking for an easy-to-use and reliable password manager, then 1Password is a great option. It strongly focuses on providing you with both instant and lasting protection. You receive features that allow you to share passwords via generated links as well as continuously monitor your data in a security dashboard.

Not to mention all the essential security layers, such as advanced AES-256 encryption, multi-factor authentication, 34-symbol Security Key, and a passwordless login using Passkeys.

Of course, 1Password also has gaps to fill up. For example, its autofill feature could use an improvement, and it doesn’t have a free version, which would be a great way to test the service. But, as for now, you can use a 30-day money-back guarantee and try the premium service risk-free.

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