1Password has a rich set of features and if you are in need of those extra features, this may be the password manager for you.
I must be honest, out of all of the password managers I have tried, I prefered 1Password the least. It still has some interesting unique features and for some people I’m sure this would be their number one choice due to its rich set of features. It offers two factor authentication, automatic lock on your vault after a given amount of time, it saves usernames, passwords, card details and addresses (just as you’d expect). However it also saves other useful things like software license details, wifi passwords, database details (the techy kind), driving licences, memberships, documents, secure notes and a whole lot more. So in terms of categorisation and specialist items, 1Password probably has the most options. Like LastPass and some of its other competitors, 1Password also has a data breach report and password strength indication centre. Again, this is a really great feature for you to be able to know when a password, email address etc has been leaked. An advantage 1Password has over LastPass is that you can access the vault directly from the browser extension (unlike LastPass).
1Password is based in Canada. Canada doesn’t have the best privacy practices however 1Password also encrypts most of your user data so that shouldn’t really matter too much (not even 1Password can open your vaults).
If you are a porn user or someone who has certain activities you’d like to hide, 1Password also has another useful feature which is that you can create separate vaults within your account. This means that you can disable some vaults within the application or make them available only when you want. This is especially useful in the case of not wanting someone looking over your shoulder to see dodgy websites or activities you don’t want to share.
Now for the downsides. Firstly the way 1Password saves your login details isn’t ideal. With many password managers, you can save your user account details after logging into a website (via unobtrusive popups). This is very useful because even if the username and password are on different pages the password manager will still be able to save everything (for example Live email has separate pages). With 1Password it can only save your login details before you log in (after you fill out the login form). This wastes time as far as I’m concerned and makes 1Password a little less user friendly than other options. Secondly, 1Password is a paid service and doesn’t have any free option. So while you can use it in trial mode for free, there is no actual free option for those of you with less money. The other thing some people may not appreciate is that for the gender box in addresses, you only have the option to select male or female (no other). Another thing that really bugged me about 1Password was that in the vault, important buttons like save and edit are in areas that I don’t find helpful, like the far bottom left of the screen which makes it difficult to see and it takes longer to roll the mouse to it to select. This is a minor gripe but when there are so many options, the least 1Password could do is make their user interface the best available (considering its a paid service it should be). Overall the user interface of LastPass and Keeper is much better. Bitwarden shares the same button placement problems as 1Password.
1Password takes unnecessary permissions when you install its browser extension in my opinion. Be aware of that if you choose to use this service and read their privacy policy thoroughly.
Pros
- Unique feature: Different vaults for different purposes
- The most different formats to store data in
- User friendly
- Icon shows in login forms
- Pop-up box to auto-fill forms
- Data breach and password health centre
Cons
- Only a paid service (free trial available)
- Passwords need to be saved before you log into a website rather than after
- User interface not as good as rivals
Score: 7 / 10
Reviewer: Adam Rouge
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