1Password vs Psono (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, 1Password grades higher than Psono: 2.8 against 2.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
1Password grades higher on ease of use. Psono grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
1Password
Password manager for individuals, families and businesses
Psono
Open-source password manager that a company runs on its own servers
Which one is for you
Pick 1Password if
- Fits if you want the same passwords and passkeys on Mac, Windows, Linux, both phones and every big browser
- Works for families of up to five sharing wifi and streaming logins, at $5.99 a month for all of them
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free password manager, since there's no free plan, only a 14-day trial
- Pricey if you only need one person's logins saved, at $3.99 a month when Bitwarden does it for nothing
- Watch out: the $2.99 and $4.49 prices are for a new customer's first year, then it's $3.99 and $5.99
- Not for you if you want someone to phone when it breaks, as reviewers got email only, days apart
- Tight if a small team needs single sign-on, which starts on Business at $8.99 a person, with Enterprise by quote
Pick Psono if
- Fits if you want to run your own team vault on your own server
- Works for small teams of up to 10 that want business features free
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you do not want to run and update a server
- Tight if you want the paid Business version, which has a 25-user minimum
- Watch out: professional support and SLAs are quoted on request, with no listed price
- Watch out: the SaaS tab of the price page could not be read, so hosted prices are not recorded
How we grade them
| 2.8GPA1PasswordGood | 2.6GPAPsonoGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$3.99 a month on yearly billing ($2.99 only in year one) is the dear end of this category, where the middle plan is $2.99 and Bitwarden Premium is $1.65 with a free plan that may be all you need. Families is $5.99 for five people, about $1.20 each. | CThe free editions are self-hosted, so a C. The Business version is $3 per user a month with a 25-user minimum, which is $75 a month for one person's floor. |
| Free plan and trial | CThere's no free plan, only 14 days on any plan, no card needed. In a category where Bitwarden, Proton Pass, Apple and Google all give you a password manager for good, two weeks is thin. | BAn open-source edition with unlimited users, and the business edition free for up to 10 users. Both are self-hosted. |
| Features | BAutofill for logins, cards and two-factor codes, passkeys, Watchtower alerts for leaked passwords, sharing by a link that expires, shared vaults and a command-line tool. That's what the category expects, and nothing here goes beyond its free rivals. | BClient-side encryption, team sharing, enterprise sign-in and a gateway for SSH, RDP and VNC. The listing shows no gap in the core job. |
| Ease of use | B4.67 from about 42,000 App Store ratings, a shade under our top mark. Reviewers who moved from version 7 to 8 found it harder, and some say autofill misses or it asks for the main password far too often. | DNo store rating on record. The free editions mean running and updating the server yourself. |
| Platforms and integrations | AMac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, Android and Apple Watch, with extensions for Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox and Brave. Business plans plug into Okta, Entra ID, OneLogin and Duo. | AWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android and an extension, with LDAP, SAML, OIDC, SSH and RDP. |
| Best for | families and teams who share logins | an open-source team vault with a free self-hosted edition |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: 1Password and Psono. How we grade
Price against what you get
1Password starts at $3.99 a month and scores 3.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Psono starts at $3 a month for each person and scores 2.7.
1Password scores higher, and starts $0.99 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other password managers on the chart, 3 score higher than 1Password for less, and 9 score higher than Psono for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- 1Password is end-to-end encrypted, according to its own site.
- Psono is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
At a glance
| 1Password | Psono | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $3.99 per month, billed annually ($2.99 in year one for new customers) | $3 per user / month, billed annually (minimum 25 users) |
| Free plan | None | Open-source edition with unlimited users, or the business edition free for up to 10 users, both self-hosted. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial on any plan | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | 1Password (AgileBits Inc.) | esaqa GmbH |
| Price read from | 1password.com | psono.com |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
1Password
- There is no free plan; a paid subscription is needed after the 14-day trial.
- Listed prices are for annual billing, and the $2.99 and $4.49 promotional rates apply only to a new customer's first year.
- Single sign-on integration starts at the Business plan, and Enterprise pricing is by quote only.
Psono
- The free editions are self-hosted, so you run and update the server yourself.
- The Business version has a 25-user minimum; its price is shown for the On Premise edition.
- Professional support and service-level agreements are quoted on request, not sold at a listed price.
- The page's SaaS tab could not be read, so hosted prices are not recorded here.
Key features
1Password
- Autofill and password generator
- Saves and fills passwords, two-factor codes, payment details and addresses in any major browser, and generates new passwords when you sign up.
- Passkeys
- Saves passkeys alongside passwords and signs in with them on sites that support passwordless login.
- Watchtower
- Flags compromised passwords and other security issues affecting the items you have saved.
- Secure sharing
- Share an item through an expiring link, even with someone who does not use 1Password, or keep shared vaults for family members and teammates.
- Secret Key encryption
- Data is protected by your account password plus a 128-bit Secret Key, and 1Password says it cannot see the passwords or data you store.
- Team controls and single sign-on
- Teams Starter Pack adds role-based permissions. Business adds sign-in through identity providers such as Okta, Entra ID, OneLogin and Duo.
Psono
- Client-side encryption
- Vault data is encrypted in the client before it is sent to the server, then stored encrypted on the server.
- Self-hosted or SaaS
- Run every component on your own servers, or use a hosted edition. The pricing section is split into On Premise and SaaS tabs.
- Open source
- The complete codebase is public, so the security design can be audited independently.
- Team sharing and enterprise sign-in
- Share entries in encrypted form. The business editions add LDAP, SAML and OIDC single sign-on, audit logging and policies.
- Gateway for SSH, RDP and VNC
- The business editions include a gateway for opening remote sessions to servers and desktops.
- Apps on every platform
- Browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari, desktop builds, Android and iOS apps, a web client and a command-line tool.
Plans
1Password
Individual$3.99
per month, billed annually
For 1 person: password generator, autofill, secure sharing and alerts for weak or compromised credentials. Promotional $2.99 in year one.
Families$5.99
per month, billed annually
Covers 5 family members with unlimited shared vaults and admin controls. New customers pay a promotional $4.49 in the first year.
Teams Starter Pack$24.95
per month for 10 members, billed annually ($299.40)
10 members included, with up to 10 more seats at $4.99 each a month. Password sharing, role-based permissions and developer tools.
Business$8.99
per user / month, billed annually ($107.88)
Everything in Teams Starter Pack, plus single sign-on with Okta, Entra ID, OneLogin and Duo, and enhanced vault sharing.
EnterpriseCustom
Quote-based plan with granular vault permissions, multi-tenant support, a developer toolkit and audit-ready activity logs.
Psono
Open Source$0
Free community edition with unlimited users, password sharing, a generator and multifactor login. You host it yourself.
Free business version$0
Full feature set, including SSO, audit logging, policies and the SSH/RDP/VNC gateway, free for up to 10 users.
Business version$3
per user / month, billed annually, min. 25 users
Everything in the free business version for larger companies, with an optional extended support package quoted on request.
Ways to pay less
1Password
- Other savings
First-year promotional pricing for new customers
When checked, new customers subscribing on 1Password.com with annual billing paid $2.99 a month for Individual (regularly $3.99) and $4.49 for Families (regularly $5.99) for the first year.
- Nonprofit
Discounts for nonprofits and journalists
The business pricing FAQ says 1Password offers discounts for eligible organizations, including nonprofits and journalists, plus volume-based pricing. No amounts are published.
- Education
Student discount through Student Beans
1Password's pricing pages link to a Student Beans page where verified students can claim a discount. The size of the discount is not stated before verification.
Psono
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, 1Password or Psono?
As of Nov 12, 2026, 1Password starts at $3.99 per month, billed annually ($2.99 in year one for new customers), and Psono starts at $3 per user / month, billed annually (minimum 25 users). One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, 1Password or Psono?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Psono has a free plan. 1Password does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do 1Password and Psono run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Psono lists a web app. Both list macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android apps and a browser extension. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.