SaaS Radar
Bitwarden vs 1Password: which is cheaper in 2026?
Bitwarden vs 1Password turns on seat count: Bitwarden Premium costs $19.80 a year for one user and its Families plan $47.88 for six, while 1Password charges $47.88 for one user and $71.88 for five, yet 1Password's $299.40 ten-seat pack undercuts Bitwarden Teams at $480.
What matters
- Bitwarden Premium is $19.80 a year and 1Password Individual is $47.88, both annual USD prices read off the vendors' pricing pages on 5 November 2026.
- Bitwarden Families covers six users for $47.88 a year; 1Password Families covers five for $71.88, so the gap narrows per person as the household grows.
- At exactly ten users 1Password flips the result: the Teams Starter Pack is a flat $299.40 a year while Bitwarden Teams at $4 per user per month is $480.
- 1Password's 25% first-year promotion cuts Individual to $2.99 a month ($35.88 a year) and Families to $4.49 ($53.88), for new direct annual sign-ups only.
- Bitwarden keeps a free tier and publishes AGPL-3.0 server code with self-hosting listed on Enterprise; 1Password sells a 14-day trial and lists no self-host option.
What Bitwarden and 1Password actually charge
Bitwarden is a password manager sold in two consumer tiers and two business tiers, all priced yearly in USD. 1Password sells a personal plan, a family plan, a flat-rate team pack and a per-user business plan. The figures below are the annual rates printed on each vendor's pricing page on 5 November 2026, not monthly rates multiplied by twelve.
Bitwarden's entry paid plan is Premium at $1.65 per month, billed annually at $19.80 for one account. Families is $3.99 per month, billed annually at $47.88, and covers up to six people. Teams is $4 per user per month billed annually, Enterprise $6 per user per month billed annually, and the free tier stays free with unlimited passwords and devices.
1Password's Individual plan is $3.99 per month billed yearly, or $47.88 a year. Families is $5.99 per month billed yearly, $71.88 a year, and includes five users. The Teams Starter Pack is a flat $24.95 per month billed yearly, $299.40 a year, with a ten-user minimum and room for up to twenty. Business is $8.99 per user per month billed yearly, $107.88 per user per year.
Why 1Password wins at exactly ten users
Per-seat pricing makes Bitwarden look cheaper at every size, and for one to six people it is. The exception is a ten-person team, where 1Password stops charging per seat and sells a flat pack.
Bitwarden Teams at $4 per user per month is $40 a month, $480 a year, for ten seats. 1Password's Teams Starter Pack is $24.95 a month, $299.40 a year, for ten members. That is $180.60 less over twelve months, or 37.6% below Bitwarden's ten-seat bill.
The plans are not identical. Bitwarden Teams adds event logs, directory sync and SCIM provisioning; the 1Password pack includes shared vaults, role-based permissions, its developer tooling and a support bundle. A team that needs SCIM should price that difference before switching on the strength of the headline number.
The crossover is narrow. 1Password sets a ten-user minimum for the pack, and between ten and twenty members it says extra seats are available at per-member pricing without publishing that rate. The clean, quotable comparison is therefore the ten-seat one. A team of eleven should ask for the add-on rate before assuming the pack still wins.
Above ten seats the arithmetic swings back on the business plans: Bitwarden Teams is $960 a year for twenty users, 1Password Business is $2,157.60. Business adds identity-provider integrations and Watchtower alerts, so it is not a like-for-like swap, but the gap is wide enough to re-run the numbers at every hiring milestone.
Free tier versus free trial
Bitwarden's free plan is a real tier, not a countdown. The pricing page lists it as always free with unlimited passwords and devices, and the paid Premium tier adds an integrated authenticator, file attachments, emergency access and security reports.
1Password has no free plan. Every card on its pricing page leads to a 14-day trial with no credit card required, after which the subscription starts. For a household comparing two apps side by side, that difference matters more than the $28.08 annual gap between Premium and Individual.
The features that change the decision
1Password's paid plans bundle Travel mode, which hides selected vaults when you cross a border, plus SSH key workflows, Git commit signing, a CLI and SDKs. Business adds integrations with Okta, Entra ID, OneLogin and Duo, and Watchtower alerts for compromised credentials.
Bitwarden's paid tiers add the authenticator, attachments and emergency access, while Teams adds centralized ownership, event logs, directory sync and SCIM provisioning. Enterprise adds passwordless SSO, granular access control and self-hosting.
The licensing difference is the one buyers underrate. Bitwarden publishes its server source under AGPL-3.0, with a separate Bitwarden License covering only the /bitwarden_license directory, so a security team can read the code that holds its vault. 1Password's pricing pages list no source-code or self-host option. That does not settle which product is safer, but it settles who can audit it.
Who should pick which
- One person, lowest price: Bitwarden Premium at $19.80 a year. The free tier covers most casual use.
- A household of five or six: Bitwarden Families at $47.88 covers six people, against $71.88 for five on 1Password Families.
- Exactly ten people: 1Password Teams Starter Pack at $299.40 a year beats Bitwarden Teams at $480.
- Twenty people or more: Bitwarden Teams at $4 per user per month is the cheaper seat, at $960 a year for twenty users. Buy 1Password Business only if its identity-provider integrations earn the difference.
- A regulated team that must audit or host the code: Bitwarden Enterprise, where self-hosting and SSO are listed plan features.
What to watch at renewal
1Password's 25% discount is a first-year promotion for new customers who subscribe directly through 1Password.com with annual billing. It is not available through Google Play, the App Store or other third-party stores. After twelve months Individual returns to $3.99 a month and Families to $5.99, so a $35.88 first year becomes $47.88.
Both vendors quote annual prices. Bitwarden's pricing page states that the figures shown are in USD, based on an annual subscription and excluding taxes. If you need monthly billing, treat the marketing card as a starting point and confirm the effective rate at checkout.
At a glance
| Plan | Bitwarden | 1Password |
|---|---|---|
| One user, annual | $19.80 (Premium) | $47.88 (Individual) |
| Family, annual | $47.88 for up to 6 users | $71.88 for up to 5 users |
| Ten users, annual | $480 (Teams at $4/user/mo) | $299.40 (Teams Starter Pack, flat) |
| Business, per user | $4 Teams / $6 Enterprise per month | $8.99 Business per month |
| Free option | Free tier, unlimited passwords and devices | 14-day trial only |
| Source code | AGPL-3.0 server code, public repository | No public source offer listed |
| Self-hosting | Listed on Enterprise | Not listed |
FAQ
Is Bitwarden cheaper than 1Password?
For one user and for families, yes: $19.80 against $47.88 a year, and $47.88 against $71.88 for a family. At exactly ten users, 1Password's flat $299.40 Teams Starter Pack is $180.60 cheaper than Bitwarden Teams at $480 a year.
Does 1Password have a free plan?
No. 1Password offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required, then a paid subscription. Bitwarden keeps a free tier with unlimited passwords and devices.
Can you self-host Bitwarden?
Yes, self-hosting is listed as an Enterprise plan feature, and the server source is published under AGPL-3.0 with a separate licence for the /bitwarden_license directory. 1Password lists no self-host option.
Related reading
Bitwarden pricing breakdown, privacy email aliases to pair with a password manager