1Password increases subscription prices for millions, should YOU think about switching to a cheaper option?

Instead, 1Password will instantly fill in the details after it's verified your identity with either a fingerprint or facial scan, or by inputting the master password — the one password that you need to remember, hence the name — to unlock the vault. It can also be used for passkeys, which ditch the need for traditional passwords entirely.

Unlike writing out your passwords in a notebook, the encrypted 1Password vault is available anywhere and any time – so you can autofill your passwords on Mac, Windows, and Linux PCs, iPhones and iPads, and Android phones and tablets. 1Password even has an Apple Watch app for quickly grabbing multi-factor authentication (MFA) codes, Wi-Fi passwords, and more.

If you need to let someone access an account, 1Password can create a time-limited expiring link for short-term password sharing with anyone – even people who don’t yet use 1Password.

In the background, 1Password is always checking for data breaches or password leaks on the Dark Web, warning you as soon as one of your passwords is shared so you can quickly make a change. And since all of your online accounts rely on a different combination of email address and passwords, you don't need to worry about cybercriminals piggybacking off a single data breach to access all of your accounts.

How does 1Password price compare to the competition?

In an email to subscribers about the price rise, 1Password wrote:

Since 2005, 1Password has been on a mission to make security simple, reliable, and accessible for everyone. As the way people work and live online has evolved, so has 1Password.

More recently, we’ve invested significantly in new features that make 1Password even more powerful and effortless to use, helping protect what matters most to you, including:

• Automatic saving of logins and payment details
• Enhanced Watchtower alerts
• Faster, more secure device setup
• AI-powered item naming
• Expanded recovery options
• Proactive phishing prevention

If your subscription renews before March 27, you'll dodge the higher rates for another monthly or annual subscription cycle at least. 1Password has confirmed that only renewals taking place on or after that date will see the new price.

If the new cost is a little too much for you, it could be a good time to switch to a rival service. However, it can be a serious headache to switch between password managers. By their very nature, these apps hold a lot of sensitive information on you, accumulated in the vault over months or years.

All those carefully organised passwords, payment cards, secure notes, and software keys are sitting there, making a switch to another service feel rather daunting.

However, most of these services offer the ability to securely import passwords from another app.

There's no shortage of competition for 1Password, with dedicated password managers like LastPass and Dashlane offering a similar service across Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Android.

These services also boast Dark Web monitoring to check on the health of your passwords, encrypted storage for secure notes, secure sharing with friends and family, two-factor authentication, and a comprehensive history of your passwords.

Apple launched its own standalone Passwords app in late 2024, with login details securely generated and stored as part of your monthly iCloud storage allowance. Google also has its own service, dubbed Password Manager, that offers the same experience. If you're already paying for iCloud or Google Drive storage to back up photos, messages, and other data, these password managers offer an affordable way to securely store your login details.

However, these applications are missing some of the more advanced features that you'll find in dedicated password managers, like Dark Web monitoring and the ability to securely store software licences, for example.

If you're already subscribed to one of the best VPN deals, chances are, this secure application will bundle a password manager as part of your existing package. It can be one of the most affordable ways to secure one of these apps.

ExpressVPN recently decided to break out its password manager, dubbed ExpressKeys, from the core VPN app into a standalone app on iPhone and Android. According to the developers, this will enable a faster roll-out of new functionality to ExpressKeys — keeping pace with the likes of Dashlane, LastPass, and 1Password.

As it stands, the app boasts a slew of helpful capabilities, like a built-in password generator, seamless autofill, and automatic syncing across devices to keep everything up to date. All sensitive information is protected using zero-knowledge encryption, meaning only you can access the data.

ExpressKeys will spotlight weak or reused passwords, check for exposed credentials on the Dark Web, or any of your personal information shared in data breaches — so you can immediately take action.

Biometrics can be used to unlock the ExpressKeys app, like Face ID on iPhone or a fingerprint scanner on Android, so you won't even need to remember a password to access the vault of login details. Reusing the same login across multiple accounts is one of the worst things you can do for your online security, since it only takes one of these accounts to end up in the wrong hands and everything could be exposed.

And with breaches on the rise, like the recent leak of 149 million passwords to the Dark Web, it's not worth the risk.

ExpressKeys can also function as an authenticator, creating one-time codes to provide an extra layer of protection for accounts requiring two-factor authentication (2FA). If you were one of the millions who relied on Microsoft Authenticator to store passwords and generate one-time codes before the functionality was shuttered last year, the latest launch from ExpressVPN could be the ideal replacement.

If you're new to ExpressKeys, you can import passwords, credit or debit cards, and other data from rival password managers to make switching straightforward.