1Password vs Bitwarden for Business: Price, Sharing, Recovery

1Password vs Bitwarden at a glance

If you are still deciding whether you need a password manager at all, or comparing more options, start with our password manager guide for small businesses. This page goes head to head on two.

Price: what a 10-person team pays per year

Both vendors publish US dollar prices on their pricing pages: 1Password business pricing and Bitwarden business pricing. Bitwarden notes taxes are not included.

For a team of exactly 10, 1Password's Teams Starter Pack is the cheapest option on paper. It caps at 20 users, so a growing team will move to Business later. Compare like for like: the features you need may only sit on Business or Enterprise.

Account recovery: the difference most teams miss

Sooner or later someone forgets their master password. What happens next differs.

• 1Password: its recovery guide says team administrators, owners and members of a custom group with the Recover Accounts permission can restore access for a team member. The person signs in again on their devices. 1Password advises having at least two people who can recover accounts.
• Bitwarden: its account recovery page says admin account recovery is available for Enterprise organisations. An admin resets the member's master password or two-step login, and Bitwarden emails the member a recovery link. Members must be enrolled first.

Sharing, SSO, passkeys and travel mode compared

Day-to-day use is similar: browser extensions, mobile apps, autofill and shared folders. The differences are in how sharing is organised and what sits on which tier.

Travel Mode removes all vaults not marked safe for travel from your devices until it is turned off, according to 1Password's Travel Mode guide. It suits staff who cross borders with work devices.

Security model. Both encrypt data end to end. 1Password adds a Secret Key to your password when deriving keys. Bitwarden is open source, so its code can be inspected publicly. Both publish independent security audits.

Which suits which team

If you choose Bitwarden and recovery matters, budget for Enterprise at US$6, which is still cheaper than 1Password Business. If you choose 1Password and need SSO with Microsoft Entra ID or Google, budget for Business.

Rolling out either one: the steps that matter

The product choice matters less than the rollout. A password manager nobody uses protects nothing.

1. 1

   Start the 14-day trial with two or three people

   Both offer business trials. Test the browser extension, mobile app and sharing with real logins.

2. 2

   Create shared vaults or collections by team

   For example Finance, Marketing and Admin. Put company logins there, never in personal vaults.

3. 3

   Set up recovery before anyone needs it

   Name at least two admins who can recover accounts on 1Password, or enrol members in account recovery on Bitwarden Enterprise.

4. 4

   Turn on MFA for the password manager itself

   The vault holds every key. Protect it with an authenticator app or passkey, as in our MFA set-up guide.

5. 5

   Add it to your leaver process

   Remove access on the last day and change any shared passwords the person used. Our employee offboarding checklist covers the full list.

Do it yourself or get help?

Both tools are easy to buy and try. The work is in structuring vaults, importing passwords from browsers and spreadsheets, setting recovery and getting every staff member to actually use it.

Our Password Manager Rollout (S$290) sets up a 1Password or Bitwarden business account in your name, builds shared vaults by team, moves shared passwords in from your spreadsheet, onboards up to 10 users and leaves you a leaver checklist and a short staff guide. Licence fees are paid to the vendor directly.