Lifetime cost of 1Password

[Deleted User]

I'm currently a standalone license user, and with the upcoming changes in 1Password 8, specifically in it dropping support for standalone licenses, I have been looking at potentially switching to a subscription. However, I did some quick math, and was really dismayed by how much 1Password would end up costing over its lifetime.

I have been using 1Password for close to 10 years, and over those 10 years I have purchased a number of upgrades. I would say I have probably spent $200 or so on 1Password over these past 10 years for myself and my significant other. However, if I switch to a monthly subscription, my costs will sky rocket. Currently, a family membership license is $5/month. If we extrapolate that over the next 10 years, it will cost me $600 to continue to use 1Password! And that assumes AgileBits never raises the price of their subscription.

Even more jaw dropping/eye opening is if we extrapolate this out over my lifetime. I am currently in my late 30 years. Let's say I (and my partner) continue to use 1Password for the next 40 years (hopefully that's a conservative estimate ;) ), the lifetime cost comes to $2400! And again, that assumes AgileBits never raises its prices.

I'm honestly wondering how the developers can justify this? I know AgileBits needs to maintain its servers, pay its staff, and continually update their software to fix bugs and add features, but $2400 over a lifetime for a password manager seems completely absurd to me.

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1Password Version: 7.8
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: macOS 11

ag_ana

Hi @Ragnorok!

Even more jaw dropping/eye opening is if we extrapolate this out over my lifetime. I am currently in my late 30 years. Let's say I (and my partner) continue to use 1Password for the next 40 years (hopefully that's a conservative estimate ;) ), the lifetime cost comes to $2400! And again, that assumes AgileBits never raises its prices.

You should note that the $5 Families account allow 5 people to use 1Password, so in reality you are only going to pay $480 over the next 40 years, less than you would have paid on license upgrades over the same time.

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wookie

While I'm not a fan of subscriptions I think this needs to be put into perspective. Let's say you're a coffee-drinker (I'm not) and you buy a coffee a day at $2 ... say 300 times/year, that's 600*40 => 24000 ... I assume that's OK with most coffee drinking people but it sounds crazy to me.

So while I don't like subscriptions (for this kind of service) I don't think the price is crazy considering staffing, servers, etc, etc. I would say that $200 for 10 years is too little money to keep a company like 1Password in business.

Well, that's my opinion. I'll now go back to debating if I should upgrade to v8 or not (the subscription cost isn't an issue to me, I use 1Password so many times each day that it's worth it).

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danco

@Ragnorok I don't disagree with your figures. But you say

I also struggle with justifying having to continually pay to continue to access my passwords.

You may well know, but others reading the thread may not know, that even if you stop subscribing you can still access your passwords. You can't add or edit them, and they will be harder to use, but they are still available.

wookie

And I assume you can export them, and there are other apps that can read the pif-file (at least you can export in v7)

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wookie

@Ragnorok I agree, for me it's not a fair comparison :) I don't drink coffee so that would be $24000 thrown away :)

ag_ana

One other thing to note is that a 1Password Membership offers you more features than a standalone license offered:

About 1Password membership

A lot of these are ongoing features that hopefully will add value if you use 1Password :+1:

@Ragnorok:

As other members of the community already pointed out to you, you can always access your data even if you stop paying. Alternatively, you can always export your data if you wish:

How to export data from 1Password

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ag_ana

@Ragnorok:

I certainly understand. Ultimately, only you can decide whether the features or the 1Password service is valuable enough to you to continue using it. My hope is that you still can get enough value out of 1Password to continue using it, and perhaps even add the new features into your workflow over time, to make it even more useful to you :+1:

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ag_ana

@Ragnorok:

I know what you mean, but I don't think I can answer it for you and I cannot speak for the product and design teams: similar to the discussion about the additional features in 1Password Membership, only you can choose whether you get value out of a service, or if you trust it. What I can say is that since you are still using 1Password as of right now, to keep an eye out on its development and see if that is something that you can see yourself enjoying in the future as well, and make an informed decision.

And as I mentioned before, if the concern is access to your data, you can always export it and keep a copy safe if you prefer :+1:

ajahn

Hi @Ragnorok.

I went through this several years ago. I too have been using 1Password since 2010. I still have a 1P 6 single-user license. I got my wife a copy, and later as my kids got older, I got them single-user copies. We all use Dropbox to sync our MacBooks and iPhones. My wife and I share a Dropbox 1Password folder so we can share items. I've been looking at the "Family Membership" which will make things much easier, and with 4 of us in the family, it is, even more, cost-effective. I still haven't pulled the trigger, but I'm super close to making the switch any day now.

How can I be certain that AB won't just decide to close up shop one day, leaving all of its user in the lurch?

I think the best chance AB has to stay in business and be able to continue to add new features is to be able to count on a continual payment stream.

I really don't think I could live without 1P. On my iPhone, I have v7 (you get that for free on your mobile device if you have a license). I like that you can now select passwords when logging in to applications or websites on your phone. A few years ago, when I was trying to decide, I too felt strongly about paying a monthly fee in perpetuity. Fast forward to today, I already pay $5 a month for AppleTV, and monthly fees for extra iCloud storage, Netflix, Crash Plan backups, etc. It seems to be the way of the world. There are things that I refuse to subscribe to, but I'm starting to think that 1P Family might be ok. Their support is fantastic and I really wish to support them.

Also, I use a PC at work and would love to get the Windows version and use the extension in my Chrome browser on my work computer. That would be included in the subscription.

Good luck with your decision. I was told that there is currently a discount off the first 3 years if you upgrade.

ag_ana

Thank you for your feedback as well :+1: :)

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ajahn

I’m also still quite bitter about the removal of the share sheet extension, and the absolutely baffling refusal to add it back in despite the large number of users equally upset about its removal.

I am not familiar with the share sheet extension. Seems weird that they would remove a popular feature. To be honest, I hate subscription software. I'm still using Photoshop CS3. Sadly a 32 bit app that won't work with newer versions of macOS. I don't use it enough to justify $10 a month. But compared to $5 for all 4 of us, I can learn to live with it.

chinajon

I have decided that any company that forces a subscription plan on me will be terminated. I like 1Password. I hate the subscription business model. I liked Photoshop and Acrobat very much. Goodbye Adobe.

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mia

I am a very happy user of iOS 15 & 1PW 8 and think it will eventually be an improvement for AgileBits and their users. Not a fan of electron, but AB has somehow gotten to work and work really well. I love the standardized interface and look forward to a very rapid development cycle.

With that said, I agree with @Ragnorok that these points really need to be addressed at the top level of AgileBits. They shouldn't forcibly take away features that were given and relied on by users in the past. This move really made me pause as it really is user hostile and the only reason (other than the one in Jeff's explanation post) is to move people to 1PW 8. I think that's not the best or fair way to do it. What you need to do MAKE 1Password 8 the best darn product of its class; continue to innovate and make those with local vaults feel so compelled to upgrade that they decide to go that route. That will build a far better base of users than the current method in my opinion.

With that said, even with 1PW 8, I am missing the share sheet functionality of having password files in non-safari apples. Hopefully that's on the development pipeline in the future, but I don't see how it would be possible without a share sheet.

kakapo

Love 1pw and has been using the standalone license for years. But moving into a subscription, I dont know. While 3$ a month is not terrible, but as @Ragnorok already pointed out, it does accumulate over time to a cost I have to ask myself if it's really worth it. Right now im not convinced and will continue to use the standalone license until it either falls apart, find a subscription worth it or find other alternatives.
Sad I will probably miss out on 1pw 8, but it is what it is.

tonyt

Posted this in the lounge, then found this thread…
I am afraid I agree. Have used 1P for years but now its sprouting features I shall never use and I am being forced to pay an annual fee to use them!
All I ever wanted was an app that let me sync my own passwords between two devices and auto fill on web pages. 1P used to do that with a primary vault and one off payment for the app, less upgrades. Sadly no longer!
Good bye 1P and hello BitWarden!!!
Maybe 1P dev team should consider a bare bones version for the many like me that don't need or want to use, or pay for, all the bells and whistles. i suspect you will loose many like me who just want things simple and straight forward.

bueny

I'm also going to change to Enpass. I've already logged in to this forum via Enpass :>

David_FR06

1 year feedback of 1Password

I have been using 1Password for 1 year now. For 36 EUR/year (I live in Europe), meaning 2 coffees per month (so small amount I can forget it), it's very convenient, but for me , the main point with 1P is the mental relief provided. No more headaches, clicking on "I forgot my password", no more soon-forgotten brilliant new password...all best practices of security are handled effortless by 1P. Each new account created comes with no mental cost... for a cost of 2 coffees per month.
I would hardly quit 1Password now.
Thanks
David from France.