Start from your household, not the brand
Find the row that describes you. Prices are the vendors' listed USD prices on 29 October 2026; Bitwarden says its prices exclude taxes. Link type tells you how the button on this site is set up: NordPass links carry issued affiliate tracking and we may earn a commission on eligible purchases, while Bitwarden and 1Password links are ordinary vendor links. That arrangement does not change the order of this table. [1][3][4]
| Your situation | Start here | Listed cost (29 Oct 2026) | Why this row | Link type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One person, no budget for a subscription | Bitwarden Free | $0 | Every Bitwarden account lists unlimited devices, unlimited passwords, passkey management and free sharing with another user. | Ordinary vendor URL |
| One person who wants a named emergency contact | Bitwarden Premium | $19.80 a year ($1.65/mo billed annually) | Adds emergency access, the integrated authenticator, security reports and 5 GB of file attachments. | Ordinary vendor URL |
| Household of three to six that shares logins | Bitwarden Families | $47.88 a year for six premium accounts | Unlimited sharing and unlimited collections inside the family organization. | Ordinary vendor URL |
| Household that wants someone to restore a locked-out member | 1Password Families | $53.88 first year, then $71.88 a year (annual billing) | A family organizer can recover a member's account; the member keeps their data. | Ordinary vendor URL |
| You are set on NordPass | NordPass Premium or Family | Not restated: NordPass pages refused our 29 Oct 2026 fetch | Copy the live first-term total, term length and renewal price, then compare features with the rows above. | Issued affiliate tracking |
| Your current manager already works | Stay put | No new invoice | Unique passwords, every device you use, sharing and a recovery plan are already covered. | None |
Two-year cost, worked out
The monthly figure on a pricing page is a teaser; the invoice is what you pay. Year 2 below uses each vendor's regular annual rate. 1Password's first-year rates ($2.99 and $4.49 a month) apply only to new customers who subscribe directly on 1Password.com with annual billing, and are not available through Google Play, the Apple App Store or other third-party app stores. The 1Password pages showed a monthly-billing option but no monthly price in the text we read, so it is left out. [1][3][4]
| Plan | People | Year 1 | Year 2 | Two-year total | Per person per year, all seats used |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bitwarden Free | 1 (plus sharing with one other user) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Bitwarden Premium | 1 | $19.80 | $19.80 | $39.60 | $19.80 |
| 1Password Individual | 1 | $35.88 | $47.88 | $83.76 | $35.88, then $47.88 |
| Bitwarden Families | 6 | $47.88 | $47.88 | $95.76 | $7.98 |
| 1Password Families | 5 | $53.88 | $71.88 | $125.76 | $10.78, then $14.38 |
Where Bitwarden Free stops
Bitwarden's plan comparison marks emergency access, the integrated authenticator for TOTP codes, vault health reports and 5 GB of encrypted attachments as Premium features. File Sends also need Premium; Free Send is text only. [2]
Sharing is the detail people miss. Bitwarden's help page says Premium does not include organization data sharing. Two people can share through a Free organization in up to two collections; anything larger needs Families, which gives all six users premium features and unlimited sharing. So a couple can stay at $0, and a family of four is better served by Families at $47.88 than by four Premium accounts at $79.20. [1][2]
What 1Password Families buys that Bitwarden does not
1Password Families includes everything in Individual plus up to 5 family members, unlimited shared vaults and admin controls. Its distinctive feature is organizer recovery: a family organizer can recover another member's account, and that person receives a new Secret Key, creates a new account password and can access all the data they had before. Their two-factor authentication is reset and they sign in again on each device. 1Password recommends making sure at least two people can recover accounts. [3][5]
Bitwarden handles the same worry differently. A Premium user names trusted emergency contacts who can request view or takeover access after a wait time the owner sets. That suits planning for illness or death; 1Password's model suits a family member who simply forgets a password. Over two years, 1Password Families costs $30 more than Bitwarden Families on the listed prices, so the recovery model should be the reason, not the logo. [5][6]
NordPass: what we could and could not confirm today
NordPass is the only option on this site with issued affiliate tracking. On 29 October 2026 its plans page and help center returned an access error to our research tool, so this guide does not repeat NordPass prices, seat counts or feature limits from older snapshots.
If you are considering it, open the NordPass plans page yourself and write down four numbers before paying: the first-term total, how many months it covers, the renewal price and the number of users. Then check that the paid plan includes the specific feature you are buying it for. If it offers nothing you named in advance, skip it.
Who should not switch at all
Migration costs an evening and carries the risk of leaving records behind. A temporary saving rarely pays for that.
- Your browser or current vault already fills passwords on every device you use. Keep your current manager.
- You share with one other person. Bitwarden Free covers two people through a Free organization, and your current tool may already do this.
- The only reason is a first-year discount. 1Password Individual goes from $35.88 to $47.88 in year two on the listed rates.
- You have not saved a recovery code or emergency kit for the vault you already have. Fix that first; moving does not fix it.
Rehearse with ten invented records
Before importing a real vault, create ten fake logins that include a duplicate site name, a long note, a subdomain, a changed password and one shared item. Check that the fields survive import, that the browser fills them and that your phone shows them. This is a proposed acceptance exercise, not a test we performed.
Read the recovery instructions while you still have access. Do not lock yourself out of a live vault to test them, and keep the old manager until the new one works on every device.
Compare a CSV round trip using fake records — Automation Tools Compared — If the candidate supports CSV export, compare only invented evaluation records with a unique key to find changed or missing fields. Do not use real passwords, recovery codes, or a live vault export for this exercise.
What this comparison is not
We read the vendors' pricing and help pages on 29 October 2026. We have not imported a vault, measured autofill, or audited encryption in any of these products, and this is not a security ranking. Prices change; copy the live checkout total before you pay.
Questions before you decide
Is Bitwarden Free really unlimited on every device?
Bitwarden's pricing page lists unlimited devices and unlimited passwords among the core features included in every Bitwarden account, alongside passkey management and free sharing with another user (checked 29 October 2026).
Why does 1Password cost more in the second year?
The $2.99 (Individual) and $4.49 (Families) monthly rates are first-year promotions for new customers paying annually on 1Password.com. The listed regular rates are $3.99 and $5.99 a month, paid annually.
Why are there no NordPass prices here?
NordPass's plans and help pages refused our fetch on 29 October 2026. We do not repeat numbers we could not recheck, so copy the live checkout total before buying.
Is this a security ranking?
No. It compares documented cost, sharing and recovery features. We have not audited encryption or compared autofill.
Sources & verification
Product details and prices can change. Check the linked provider before buying.
- Bitwarden Password Manager pricing Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Bitwarden password manager plans Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- 1Password password manager product page Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- 1Password password manager pricing Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- 1Password: recover accounts for family or team members Accessed 29 Oct 2026
- Bitwarden: emergency access Accessed 29 Oct 2026
Sources link directly to providers. Product buttons may use separately labeled affiliate links. Read our disclosure.