1Password vs Proton Pass

1Password is a password manager for individuals, families and businesses, made by AgileBits, a company founded in 2005 in Toronto, Canada. It is known for a strong security track record, polished apps on every major platform and a design that makes good password habits easy for non-technical people.

1Password stores passwords, passkeys, credit cards, secure notes, documents, SSH keys and software licenses in encrypted vaults that can be shared with family members or colleagues. Data is protected by end-to-end encryption that combines your account password with a locally generated Secret Key. Watchtower flags weak, reused and breached credentials and sites that support passkeys or two-factor authentication, and Travel Mode hides selected vaults when crossing borders. For businesses, plans add SSO with Okta, Microsoft Entra ID and Google Workspace, admin policies, activity reporting, provisioning and free Families accounts for employees. Developer tools include a CLI, an SSH agent, Git commit signing and Secrets Automation for infrastructure. Extended Access Management, built partly on the 2024 acquisition of Kolide, adds device trust and discovery of unmanaged apps.

1Password fits households and companies that want strong security with excellent usability. There is no free plan, only a trial. Bitwarden is the leading open-source alternative with a free tier, Proton Pass suits privacy-focused users, and Dashlane and Keeper compete in the business market.

Proton Pass is an open-source, end-to-end encrypted password manager made by Proton, the Geneva-based company behind Proton Mail, Proton VPN and Proton Drive. Launched in 2023, it applies Proton's privacy-first approach to credentials: data is encrypted on your device, the code is open source and independently audited, and the company operates under Swiss privacy law.

Pass stores passwords, passkeys, credit cards, secure notes and identity details, with apps for iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux and browser extensions for autofill. Its standout feature is hide-my-email aliases, inherited from Proton's 2022 acquisition of SimpleLogin: when you sign up for a website, Pass can create a unique email alias that forwards to your real inbox, so leaks and spam can be cut off per service. Paid plans add unlimited aliases, a built-in two-factor authenticator, vault sharing and monitoring for weak or breached passwords, and Proton Pass for Business adds team vaults, policies and admin controls. The free plan is generous, with unlimited logins and devices and a limited number of aliases, and Pass is also included in Proton's bundles such as Proton Unlimited.

Proton Pass suits privacy-conscious individuals, existing Proton users and small teams who want encryption and email privacy in one tool. It is younger than its rivals, so enterprise integrations, SSO provisioning and some autofill edge cases are less mature. Bitwarden is the open-source alternative with the longest track record and self-hosting, 1Password leads for polished team and enterprise features.