Two significant pricing changes reshaped this comparison in 2026: Dashlane quietly discontinued its free plan, and 1Password raised its Individual and Family prices. Bitwarden also raised its Premium price, but remains the only one of the three with a genuinely full-featured free tier. Here’s where all three stand now.
At a Glance
| Dashlane | 1Password | Bitwarden | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | None (discontinued September 2025) | None (14-day trial only) | Yes, always free, unlimited passwords/devices |
| Individual paid plan | Premium: $4.99/mo (annual) | Individual: $4.99/mo (as of March 2026 increase) | Premium: $1.65/mo ($19.80/yr) |
| Family plan | Friends & Family (10 members): $7.49/mo | Families: $7.99/mo (as of March 2026 increase) | Families (6 users): $3.99/mo |
| Passkey support | Yes | Yes | Yes, including on the free tier |
Short Verdict
Bitwarden is the easiest recommendation for most people: it’s the only one of the three with a real free tier that includes unlimited passwords, unlimited devices, and passkey management, and its paid Premium tier is still the cheapest at under $20 a year. 1Password and Dashlane both compete on polish and support rather than price — 1Password’s recent price increase and Dashlane’s removal of its free tier both make them harder to justify unless you specifically want their particular business features or support experience.
Dashlane: No More Free Plan
Dashlane discontinued its free plan on September 16, 2025, meaning there’s no longer a way to use Dashlane without paying. Current plans:
- Premium (1 user): $4.99/mo, billed annually.
- Friends & Family (up to 10 members): $7.49/mo, billed annually.
- Business Standard (up to 10 users): $20/mo flat.
- Business (2+ users): $8/user/mo.
- Business Plus (100+ users): $5/user/mo.
All plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, and Dashlane markets passkey protection prominently across its business tiers.
1Password: Prices Went Up in 2026
1Password raised its Individual and Family subscription prices effective March 27, 2026, applying at each customer’s next renewal after that date. The new monthly prices are $4.99 for Individual (up from $3.99) and $7.99 for Family (up from $6.95). 1Password continues to offer a 14-day free trial but no permanent free tier; Teams Starter Pack and Business tiers are priced separately and are best confirmed directly on 1Password’s pricing page, since several third-party trackers reported conflicting figures for those tiers at the time of this research. Enterprise is sold by custom quote.
Bitwarden: Still Free, But Premium Costs More
Bitwarden’s Free plan remains genuinely free with no forced downgrade, long marketed as supporting unlimited passwords and unlimited devices across every tier including Free, and includes passkey management as a core feature at every level. Where Bitwarden changed in 2026 is its Premium price, which multiple independent trackers report roughly doubled, from about $10/yr historically to $19.80/yr ($1.65/mo) now. Premium adds a built-in 2FA authenticator, 5GB of encrypted attachment storage, emergency access, and vault health reports. Families is $3.99/mo ($47.88/yr) for up to 6 users; Teams is $4/user/mo annually; Enterprise is $6/user/mo annually and adds SSO, self-hosting, and enterprise policies.
Pros and Cons
- Dashlane pros: polished interface, strong dark web monitoring, flexible business tiers. Cons: no free plan at all anymore, among the pricier options for solo users.
- 1Password pros: well-regarded family and travel-mode features, strong enterprise/Business tooling. Cons: recent price increase, no permanent free tier.
- Bitwarden pros: genuinely free tier with passkeys and unlimited passwords/devices, open-source core, cheapest paid tiers. Cons: interface is less polished than Dashlane or 1Password; Premium price nearly doubled in 2026.
Who It’s a Good Fit For
Bitwarden fits anyone who wants a capable password manager at the lowest cost, including people who never want to pay anything — its free tier is not a crippled trial. Dashlane and 1Password fit people who want a more polished consumer experience or specific business/admin tooling and are willing to pay a premium for it; 1Password in particular has strong name recognition in business IT environments.
Who Should Look Elsewhere
Anyone who specifically wants to try a password manager for free before committing should skip Dashlane, which no longer offers that option, and either use Bitwarden’s free tier or 1Password’s 14-day trial first.
Bottom Line
2026 has been a year of price increases across password managers, and Bitwarden is the only one of these three that still offers a real free tier. Unless you have a specific reason to prefer Dashlane’s or 1Password’s interface or business features, Bitwarden’s combination of a capable free plan and the cheapest paid tiers makes it the default recommendation.
FAQ
Does Dashlane have a free plan?
No. Dashlane discontinued its free plan on September 16, 2025; every current plan requires payment.
Did 1Password really raise its prices?
Yes. Effective March 27, 2026, 1Password raised Individual from $3.99 to $4.99/mo and Family from $6.95 to $7.99/mo, applied at each customer’s next renewal.
Is Bitwarden’s free plan actually usable long-term?
Yes. Bitwarden has long marketed unlimited passwords and unlimited devices on its free tier, including passkey management, which is more generous than the free offerings most competitors provide.
Sources
- Bitwarden Pricing (bitwarden.com)
- Dashlane pricing overview (Security.org)
- 1Password price increase announcement (AlternativeTo)
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