Security Bite: Talk of a 1Password price increase is overblown

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After this week’s controversial decision by 1Password to raise subscription prices by an extra dollar a month — the first price increase in a decade — the tech community has been losing its mind. Many critics of X call the 33% increase unjustifiable, often citing the free Apple Passwords app as the main reason for jumping ship. While I think Passwords is a good choice for most people, there are still many ways that 1Password continues to give it a leg up.

In 2024, with the release of iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia, Apple revealed its decision to rip iCloud Keychain out of settings and build it as an independent application called Passwords to make authentication management easier for its users. At the time, many (including myself) were skeptical that it was necessary to compete with paid password managers – or if that was Apple’s intention (spoiler, it wasn’t).

But even if Apple didn’t intend to compete at the time, 1Password’s latest move has forced a comparison.

1Password is feature rich

Apple stuck to the basics with its Password app. And that’s OK! But if you’re a power user like me, you’ll find the app lacks important features, like the ability to generate custom-length passwords with special characters and custom fields. Seriously, a password app can’t do this, at least not yet.

1Password also lets you view your password history, store documents, and passports, social security numbers, software licenses, and more. It can also store credit card information and bank account numbers, two additional categories Apple passwords mean nothing. Apple’s Wallet app theoretically fills the credit card gap, but in practice, it only displays the last four digits of most cards, which isn’t much help when you really need that information right away. And for bank account and routing numbers, there is absolutely no Apple-native equivalent.

In addition, 1Password enables a security feature called Travel Mode, which allows you to temporarily erase certain vaults from your devices before crossing borders where border agents can confiscate your device or ask you to unlock your iPhone for any reason. In a situation like this, sensitive documents and personal passwords will not be available. The data will still exist in the cloud and can be added locally if it is safe. Nice niche, but neat!

Besides, data security is about binding me. Both Apple and 1Password take a local-first approach to security. Apple stores the keys in a Secure Enclave on your device, while 1Password uses a 34-character Private Key that never leaves your devices. This means that a server breach combined with a compromised master password is not enough to decrypt your data. Both rely on 256-bit AES encryption and are truly reputable.

The UI is not just a Reminders app

When you open Passwords for the first time, you’ll find that the layout is a Reminders app–with two rows of categories: All, Passkeys, Codes, Wi-Fi, Security, and Deleted. For many, this overly simplistic structure is probably fine.

However, I find the experience of using 1Password very enjoyable. It still offers a clean layout, but has the ability to organize items into vaults and categories within those vaults. The user interface is much better at having a long list of information on one page.

Better cross-platform and browser support

This is straightforward, but it’s more important than people give you credit for. Apple Passwords is, at its core, an Apple product, so it works best within its ecosystem. Windows users get a browser extension through iCloud for Windows, but it’s very clunky and very unreliable.

1Password has polished native apps for macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android (yuck), as well as well-maintained browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and Brave. I found the experience very consistent when I switched to my Windows desktop.

In summary

While Apple’s free Passwords app is a solid choice for many people, 1Password continues to justify its price tag to me, and I haven’t even touched on the new features announced this week. Between its rich feature set, such as custom password creation, document storage, dedicated templates, credit card and bank account support, Travel Mode, and good local security, as well as its high platform support, 1Password simply does things that Apple Passwords cannot do.

Apple stuck to the basics, and that’s fine, but for anyone who lives outside the Apple ecosystem or just wants more from their password manager, $47.88/year (billed at $3.99 monthly) is still hard to argue with.

I understand why many people point to Bitwarden or other hosting options as cheaper options, but price shouldn’t be the only factor when it comes to something you trust with your most sensitive data. What I will say here is that if there is one place I will not spend a penny on, it is my password manager.

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments – I’ve kept this comparison focused on Apple Passwords, but I’m curious where everyone else lives.

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