An honest review of 1Password
I hope this is the right place to put this.
I want to preface this with the fact that I've been a long time Lastpass user. Like many Lastpass users I've been seeking a replacement password manager now that Logmein has purchased them. I wanted to write something so that it might help ex Lastpass users decide on 1Password.
One of the toughest things was forgetting how Lastpass does things vs 1Password, once you get over that things start to make sense.
Some examples of Lastpass:
- Auto fill and submit just by browsing to the page in the browser of your choice
- Standalone browser plugins with no "agent" running on the device
- Recognising that I'm changing passwords and popping up the password generator
- Lastpass icon would display in username/password text fields to identify that it knows about an existing username and password
- Built in "cloud sync", cloud being Lastpass servers, however this is a double edge sword being hacked twice now
- Cheap (currently $12/year but likely to significantly increase c/o Logmein ;))
What I realise, looking at the above list, is how lazy Lastpass has made me with regards to security. Although the chances are remotely slim with the auto fill and submit what's to stop a malicious site from collecting data unbeknownst to you, from reading these forums that seems to be reason for not including this with 1Password. Once I got over being annoyed, it's not really a huge issue as for the most part sites stay logged in so you are rarely logging in often.
I'd turned a blind eye, twice, to the fact that Lastpass hacked as I've always had 2FA enabled with a Yubikey on the account but it certainly doesn't make you feel safe.
So, what do I like about 1Password:
- Aside from its core function as a password manager
- Beautiful design, I'm using it on a Mac OS X and iOS device. It's easy to use and pleasing on the eye
- Excellent support, you only need look at the amount of staff present on these forums
- Forces you to be more involved with submitting your details, I'm still getting used to hitting ⌘\ but its growing on me.
- Offline database, I'm truely in control of my own security and can sync if I want to
- Dropbox sync is extremely well integrated, loving 1password anywhere
What I'd like to see:
- 1Password icons in username/password/password change fields that provide contextual options e.g. fill, password generator. Sometimes I don't want to hit ⌘\
- Detect that I'm changing a password on a website which automatically brings up password generator for me to press fill, the current work flow requires too many keyboard combinations + mouse clicks
- Universal license, it would be nice if a single license key worked on Mac, Windows, iOS, Android. Currently I have to buy the Mac + Windows bundle + on top of that the pro option in iOS - quite costly
- Agentless browser plugins, probably a pipe dream but I like to run light
So, long story short, I opted to spend my money on 1Password.
What swayed me was the responsive nature of Agilebits staff, yes they're not perfect and some feature developments take far too long (I'm looking at you Google Drive) however you get a sense they're proud of the product they make.
If you want like for like Lastpass then go with Dashlane as that is the closest I've found in terms of Lastpass like functionality. However their support is almost non existent.
Keep up the good work.
1Password Version: Not Provided
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Not Provided
Sync Type: Not Provided
