Best password managers
Read from each vendor's own page on the dates shown. Watch the qualifier column: this category leans hard on first-year promotional rates that renew higher, and the comparisons linked from each row spell out which price survives year one. Every figure below was read from the vendor's own pricing page on the date beside it. The ordering is cheapest entry price first — a basis you can check rather than a ranking you have to trust.
What “best” means on this page
“Best” is not a mood — it is whichever axis you actually care about, measured. Our record can say which tool is cheapest to start, whose free plan is real, who bills local currency and whose prices just moved; it cannot say which tool fits your work, which is what the full comparisons are for. Cheapest never means best — it means cheapest. Each verdict below names its axis, and every tool links to its own site so you can check us against the source. No vendor paid for any position.
Entry at $1/mo — the lowest published paid plan in this set. Cheap is a fact, not a verdict; the profile below says what you get for it.
site ↗pricing ↗A real free tier, and the paid step up is the cheapest standing price in the set — billed annually.
site ↗pricing ↗Showed us different money in different countries on the same day — measured, not assumed. The profiles carry the figures.
Tool by tool
NordPasssite ↗pricing ↗
Paid plans start at $1/mo (Premium); a free plan exists. The ladder we hold runs 2 paid tiers, topping out at $2/mo (Family). It bills by country — entry £1/mo to a UK reader and €1/mo in the eurozone, from our same-day reads.
Bitwardensite ↗pricing ↗
Paid plans start at $1.65/mo (Premium); no free plan is published. The ladder we hold runs 2 paid tiers, topping out at $3.99/mo (Families). The headline monthly figures collect once a year — billed annually — and the free tier is a real plan.
1Passwordsite ↗pricing ↗
Paid plans start at $2.99/mo (Individual); no free plan is published. The ladder we hold runs 2 paid tiers, topping out at $4.49/mo (Families). No free tier — a trial only — so the entry price is the price from day one.
Proton Passsite ↗pricing ↗
Paid plans start at $4.99/mo (Pass Plus); a free plan exists. The ladder we hold runs 3 paid tiers, topping out at $12.99/mo (Proton Unlimited). It bills by country — entry £3.99/mo to a UK reader and €4.99/mo in the eurozone, from our same-day reads.
Side by side
| Tool | Paid from | Free plan | Currency | Read | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NordPass | $1/mo | Yes | USD | 2026-08-29 | page |
| Bitwarden | $1.65/mo | — | USD | 2026-08-29 | page |
| 1Password | $2.99/mo | — | USD | 2026-08-29 | page |
| Proton Pass | $4.99/mo | Yes | USD | 2026-08-29 | page |
How to choose in this category
- Per-user pricing multiplies by your whole household or team — the family plan is often the honest comparison.
- Most headline figures here are annual-billed; the money leaves once a year.
- Free tiers in this category are real but capped in different places — read what each one withholds.