If you want a capable password manager without paying, Bitwarden and Proton Pass both offer free plans with unlimited devices. If you are paying, the cheapest confirmed individual plan is Bitwarden Premium at $19.80 a year, while 1Password and Proton Pass Plus both cost $35.88 for the first year. Families get up to six users from Bitwarden and Proton Pass, five from 1Password, and ten members from Dashlane, whose prices we could not confirm.
This is a documentary comparison based on the providers’ official pages. We have not bought, installed or audited any of these products, so nothing here is a verdict on security or ease of use. Security statements below are the providers’ own claims.
Why a password manager, and what it does not fix
A password manager stores a unique, random password for every account and fills it in for you, so one leaked password does not unlock everything else. It does not stop you from typing a password into a convincing fake page, and it cannot help if malware already controls your device. And if you lose access to it, you lose access to everything, so recovery planning matters as much as the choice of app. Our guide to unique passwords and a recoverable password manager covers the habits; this page covers the offers.
Individual plans side by side
Prices and plan details were checked on the providers’ official pages on 5 November 2026. Figures are in USD as displayed by each site. Bitwarden states that taxes are not included. Prices vary by country, currency, taxes and promotions, so confirm the final amount at checkout.
| Item | 1Password Individual | Bitwarden Premium | Proton Pass Plus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Displayed price | $2.99/month, first 12 months (promotional) | $1.65/month | $2.99/month |
| First-year cost | $35.88 (2.99 × 12, our arithmetic) | $19.80 billed annually | $35.88 billed every 12 months |
| Price shown struck through | $3.99/month | None | $4.99/month, with a “40% off” badge |
| Renewal price | Not confirmed | No separate renewal price shown; prices may change at the end of a term | “Then-current price” at renewal |
| Free plan | None found | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | 14 days, no credit card required | Not shown for Premium | None for consumer plans |
| Refunds | No money-back guarantee; case-by-case | 30-day refund policy | 30-day money-back guarantee |
| Storage | 1GB | 5 GB personal (expandable) | 10 GB file attachments |
1Password’s $2.99 comes from a promotion: an additional 25% off the first 12 months for new customers who subscribe directly on 1password.com with annual billing, not through Google Play, the Apple App Store or other stores. No end date was shown, so it may end at any time. The struck-through $3.99 is the pre-promotion price, but 1Password’s terms do not say explicitly that you renew at that price. If you did, a year would cost $47.88 (3.99 × 12); treat that as an estimate, not a quote.
Proton shows percentage-off badges next to struck-through prices without saying whether those are monthly-billing prices or renewal prices. Its terms say renewal happens at the price valid at the time. Bitwarden shows no introductory price at all, so its displayed price is the simplest to plan around. For a closer look at these two, read Bitwarden vs 1Password, or check the current offer on 1Password.
Free plans and their limits
Bitwarden’s free plan, which it describes as “always free”, covers one user on unlimited devices with unlimited passwords, notes, cards and identities, a password generator and Bitwarden Send. Sharing is limited to one other user through a free organization with up to two collections. Have a look at Bitwarden if sharing with one partner is all you need.
The Proton Free plan for Pass needs no credit card and gives unlimited logins, notes and credit cards on unlimited devices, passkey support, weak and reused password alerts, 1 GB of storage, two vaults, sharing with two others and ten hide-my-email aliases. Proton’s terms allow a free account to be deleted after 24 consecutive months of inactivity. You can compare it with paid tiers on Proton Pass.
We found no free plan on 1Password’s pricing pages, and Dashlane’s personal pricing page lists only Premium and Friends & Family.
Family plans
Bitwarden Families costs $3.99 a month, billed annually at $47.88, for up to six premium accounts with unlimited sharing and collections, plus 5 GB personal and 5 GB family storage. Proton Pass Family is $4.99 a month, billed at $59.88 every 12 months, for six Pass Plus accounts, a family admin panel and 50 GB of storage. 1Password Families is $4.49 a month for the first year under the same promotion, or $53.88 (4.49 × 12, our arithmetic), for five users, with a struck-through $5.99. Renewal at that price is not confirmed; if it applied, a year would be $71.88.
Per person, assuming every seat is used: Bitwarden works out at $7.98 a year ($47.88 ÷ 6), Proton Pass at $9.98 ($59.88 ÷ 6) and 1Password at $10.78 in the first year ($53.88 ÷ 5).
Small-team plans
Business prices are per user per month, billed annually unless noted. For a five-person team, the confirmed figures give these yearly totals:
- Proton Pass Essentials: $1.99 per user, minimum three users, so $119.40 (5 × 23.88).
- Bitwarden Teams: $4 per user, so $240 (5 × 48, our arithmetic). Monthly billing exists, but its price was not confirmed.
- 1Password Teams Starter Pack: $24.95 a month for a 10-member base, billed annually, so $299.40 (24.95 × 12) whether you use five seats or ten. It can grow to 20 users with extra seats at $4.99 each per month.
- Proton Pass Professional: $4.99 per user, minimum three users, so $299.40 (5 × 59.88), adding SSO, SCIM, activity logs and policies.
- 1Password Business: $8.99 per user, $107.88 per user per year, so $539.40, adding identity-provider integrations such as Okta and Entra ID.
Bitwarden Enterprise is $6 per user per month and includes a free Families plan for every user. Business trials are 14 days at Bitwarden, Proton and 1Password. If you are setting up shared access for staff, our guide to secure remote work for a small team explains how to structure it.
NordPass and Dashlane: what we could confirm
NordPass’s pricing page, read in a browser on 5 November 2026, lists a Free plan, Premium for one user and Family for six user accounts, with a 30-day money-back guarantee on the personal plans; the Free plan includes a 30-day trial of Premium and, unlike Premium, does not list access across several devices. Its prices did not load on the page we read and were not shown in US dollars, so we do not quote them. Check NordPass at checkout before comparing it on price.
Dashlane’s pages loaded, but every price appeared as a placeholder, so its prices were not confirmed in USD on 5 November 2026. Its plan structure was readable. Premium covers one member on unlimited devices with unlimited password storage and sharing, a VPN Dashlane calls privacy-first, phishing protection and breach alerts, plus a 14-day free trial. Friends & Family covers ten members with private accounts, with the VPN for the plan manager only and no trial shown. Dashlane shows a 30-day money-back guarantee, and its terms give a full refund on annual subscriptions requested within 30 days, while monthly subscriptions are not refundable. Its terms also promise notice at least 30 days before renewal. You can see the current price on Dashlane.
Trials, refunds and renewals
The refund rules differ more than the prices. Bitwarden offers a 30-day refund policy on all paid services. Proton gives a full refund if you cancel within 30 days of your initial purchase, once per user, and app store purchases follow the store’s own policy. 1Password displays no money-back guarantee; its terms say refund requests may be considered case by case, and business fees are generally non-refundable. Instead, it offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. If you do add billing details, the trial converts to a paid plan automatically unless you cancel.
All of these subscriptions renew automatically. Bitwarden and Proton say prices can change at renewal, and 1Password’s terms allow fee changes with reasonable notice.
What the providers say about security
1Password says it encrypts everything in your vault end to end, adds a Secret Key alongside your account password and has been independently audited. Bitwarden describes zero-knowledge encryption, open-source code and built-in phishing protection. Proton says Pass uses the same zero-knowledge, end-to-end encryption as its other services and that data is protected by Swiss privacy law. Dashlane mentions a U.S.-patented security architecture. These are the providers’ statements, not our findings. Pair any of them with passkeys and security keys where your accounts support them.
How to decide
Choose Bitwarden Free or Proton Free if you want to start at no cost: Proton allows sharing with two people and includes email aliases, while Bitwarden shares with one. Choose Bitwarden Premium or Families if the lowest confirmed annual price and a 30-day refund policy matter most. Proton Pass Plus suits people who want unlimited aliases, 10 GB of attachments and an authenticator in one plan. 1Password suits people who want a full 14-day trial without a card and accept that there is no money-back guarantee and no confirmed renewal price. For larger families, Dashlane’s ten-member plan is the only one of this size here, but check its price first.
Before you commit, settle how you will get back in if you forget your master password or lose your phone. Our account recovery plan walks through it.
- Count the people who need their own vault: five (1Password Families), six (Bitwarden, Proton) or ten (Dashlane).
- Try the free plan or trial before paying.
- Compare the first-year price with the likely renewal price, and note what is not confirmed.
- Check the refund rule: 30 days at Bitwarden and Proton, case by case at 1Password.
- Buy directly if you want 1Password’s first-year discount; app store purchases do not qualify.
- Confirm the final price, taxes and currency at checkout.
- Write down your recovery method before you import your passwords.
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