Password Manager

Proton Pass vs 1Password: Which Should You Use?

A practical comparison of features, pricing, ease of use, best use cases and value for money.

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Quick verdict

Best overall

1Password

Best for beginners

1Password

Best value

Proton Pass

Best for professionals

1Password

Best free option

Proton Pass

Final recommendation

Pick Proton Pass for value, privacy and the Proton ecosystem; pick 1Password for the most polished experience and team features.

Side-by-side

Proton Pass vs 1Password at a glance

Criteria	Proton Pass	1Password
Main use case	Private password manager	Polished individual & team manager
Ease of use	Clean, simple apps	Best-in-class apps
Output quality	Solid, still maturing	Highly polished and reliable
Features	Aliases, 2FA, secure notes	Vaults, Watchtower, Secrets Automation
Pricing	Free / from ~$1.99/mo	From ~$2.99/mo (Individual)
Free plan	Yes	No (14-day trial)
Best for	Privacy-first users	Teams, families, developers
Weaknesses	Younger, fewer power features	No free tier, closed-source
ToolMoneyLab score	90 / 100	94 / 100
CTA	Try Proton Pass →	Try 1Password →

Choose Proton Pass if…

Choose Proton Pass if you want an open-source, privacy-first password manager with built-in email aliases, especially if you already use Proton Mail or Proton VPN.

Choose 1Password if…

Choose 1Password if you want the most polished experience, mature family and team plans, and deep integrations with browsers, SSO and developer workflows.

Feature-by-feature breakdown

The details that matter

Feature	Proton Pass	1Password
Main use case	Private password manager	Polished individual & team manager
Ease of use	Clean, simple apps	Best-in-class apps
Output quality	Solid, still maturing	Highly polished and reliable
Features	Aliases, 2FA, secure notes	Vaults, Watchtower, Secrets Automation
Pricing	Free / from ~$1.99/mo	From ~$2.99/mo (Individual)
Free plan	Yes	No (14-day trial)
Best for	Privacy-first users	Teams, families, developers
Weaknesses	Younger, fewer power features	No free tier, closed-source
ToolMoneyLab score	90 / 100	94 / 100

Pricing comparison

What you'll actually pay

Proton Pass is bundled inside Proton Unlimited and offers a free tier. 1Password is paid-only. Pricing changes often — check the official sites before subscribing.

Pricing changes frequently, so always check the official website before subscribing.

Pros and cons

What we liked and didn't

Proton Pass — Pros

Free plan is genuinely usable
Built-in email aliases (hide-my-email)
Open-source and audited
Bundled with Proton Unlimited

Proton Pass — Cons

Newer product with fewer power-user features
Team plans less mature than 1Password

1Password — Pros

Best-in-class apps and browser extensions
Excellent family and team plans
Secrets management for developers
Strong SSO integrations

1Password — Cons

No free plan
Not open-source

Final verdict

The bottom line

Choose Proton Pass if…

Choose Proton Pass if privacy, price and the Proton suite matter most.

Choose 1Password if…

Choose 1Password if polish, team features and integrations matter most.

Explore the Proton ecosystem →

The Tool Money Lab Verdict

Our editorial call on Proton Pass vs 1Password

After spending real time with both Proton Pass and 1Password, our editorial view is that these tools solve overlapping problems in very different ways. Proton Pass is built for privacy-first users already inside the proton ecosystem., while 1Password is aimed at teams, families and developers who want the most polished experience.. Neither is objectively "better" — the right answer depends on the work you actually do, not on which product has the flashier launch video.

1Password takes the edge on our internal scorecard (94/100 vs 90/100), but that headline number hides the nuance. Proton Pass tends to win on free plan is genuinely usable, while 1Password pulls ahead on best-in-class apps and browser extensions. If your workflow leans heavily into either of those, the "winner" for you changes.

Our recommendation is to pick the tool that matches the way you already work, rather than the one with the broader marketing footprint. The gap between them is not large enough to justify fighting your own habits — but it is large enough that the wrong choice will cost you time every day for months.

We recommend Proton Pass to…

Privacy-first users already inside the Proton ecosystem

We recommend 1Password to…

Teams
families
developers who want the most polished experience

Where Proton Pass clearly wins

Free plan is genuinely usable
Built-in email aliases (hide-my-email)
Open-source and audited

Where 1Password clearly wins

Best-in-class apps and browser extensions
Excellent family and team plans
Secrets management for developers

Trade-offs to know

Proton Pass: Newer product with fewer power-user features
1Password: No free plan

Value for money

On pure value, 1Password currently offers the stronger price-to-capability ratio for its target audience, but Proton Pass remains the better spend when its speciality is the deciding factor.

Overall recommendation

Most readers should start with 1Password for teams, families and developers who want the most polished experience., and consider Proton Pass when privacy-first users already inside the proton ecosystem. is the dominant use case.

Why we made this recommendation

How The Tool Money Lab evaluates every comparison

Every comparison published by The Tool Money Lab is written by editors who use these products in day-to-day work. We weigh the factors below against the reader profile the comparison is aimed at, and we call out situations where the affiliate-linked product is NOT the right choice. Where we have used a product extensively ourselves — Lovable is the clearest example, since this site is built with it — we disclose that in the review. Where a recommendation includes affiliate links, we may earn a commission when you sign up, at no additional cost to you. Affiliate relationships never change the editorial conclusion: if the paid product is worse for you, we say so.

Features

Ease of use

Performance

Reliability

Security

Privacy

Value for money

Business suitability

Ecosystem

Customer support

Long-term usability

Commercial model

Real-world testing where applicable

Independent research

Disclosure: pages on The Tool Money Lab may contain affiliate links. We may earn a commission when you sign up through them, at no additional cost to you. Affiliate relationships never change our editorial conclusion — if a paid product is the wrong choice for you, we say so.

Try them yourself

Password Manager

Proton Pass

Open-source password manager from Proton with built-in email aliases.

Best for: Privacy-first users already inside the Proton ecosystem.

Try Proton Pass →Read review

Password Manager

1Password

The polished password manager for individuals, families and teams.

Best for: Teams, families and developers who want the most polished experience.

Try 1Password →

Disclosure: We may earn a commission if you sign up through links on this page, at no additional cost to you. Our comparisons remain independent and based on practical testing.

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