1Password vs. Bitwarden: Which Password Manager Fits a Small Business?
Both lock down shared logins for your team. Bitwarden costs less and has a real free plan; 1Password costs more and is just adding tools for AI agents.
A password manager stores every login your team uses in an encrypted vault and fills them in for you. 1Password and Bitwarden both do this on all major devices. The big difference is price and polish: Bitwarden is cheaper and open to self-hosting, while 1Password charges more per user.
One new wrinkle: on October 22, 2026, TechCrunch reported that 1Password launched 1Password for Agents, which lets you approve an AI agent's login without the agent seeing your password. Bitwarden lists agentic AI as a solution area on its site, but we did not find a comparable launch.
| At a glance | 1Password | Bitwarden |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | No, 14-day free trial | Yes, always free for individuals |
| Individual plan | $3.99 a month billed yearly ($2.99 promotional for new customers' first year) | Premium $1.65 a month, billed yearly at $19.80 |
| Family plan | $5.99 a month billed yearly for up to 5 users ($4.49 promotional) | $3.99 a month billed yearly for up to 6 users |
| Small team plan | Teams Starter Pack, $24.95 a month for 10 members | Teams, $4 per user a month, billed yearly |
| Larger business plan | Business, $8.99 per user a month, billed yearly | Enterprise, $6 per user a month, billed yearly |
| Self-hosting | Not listed on its business pricing page | Yes, on Enterprise |
| AI agent logins | 1Password for Agents, launched Oct 22, 2026 | Not found on its pricing page |
1Password
- Teams Starter Pack covers 10 people for a flat price
- Business plan integrates with Okta, Entra ID, OneLogin and Duo
- Business plan adds Watchtower alerts and role-based vault sharing
- Launched 1Password for Agents on October 22, 2026
- Higher per-user price than Bitwarden
- No permanent free plan; the pricing page lists a 14-day trial
- Starter Pack is limited to 20 users
Bitwarden
- Always-free personal plan with unlimited devices and passwords
- Teams plan is $4 per user a month billed annually
- Self-hosting is available on the Enterprise plan
- Premium for individuals is $19.80 billed yearly
- Several features sit in the higher Enterprise tier
- Interface is more utilitarian than 1Password's
- Agent login tools are not part of the pricing page
For most small businesses, Bitwarden is the better value: you can start free, and its Teams plan costs less than half of 1Password Business per user. Pick 1Password if your team values a polished app, wants its identity-provider integrations or flat-price Starter Pack for up to 10 people, or plans to let AI agents log in through its new agent tool. Either way, turn on two-step login for the vault itself.
Prices and features checked October 23, 2026 from each company's own site. They change often, so confirm before you buy. We are not paid by either company.
- 1Password Business pricing (1Password)
- 1Password personal pricing (1Password)
- Bitwarden pricing (Bitwarden)
- Bitwarden business pricing (Bitwarden)
- 1Password launches a way for AI agents to log in on your behalf without seeing your password (TechCrunch)
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