1Password

Why a password manager matters more for solos

A solopreneur has more logins than they realise. Stripe, every SaaS subscription, the analytics tool, the email service, the hosting provider, the domain registrar, the social platforms, the bank, the accountant. Two hundred logins is normal. Reusing passwords is reckless. Remembering 200 unique strong passwords is impossible.

A password manager solves this. The choice is which one. The shortlist is 1Password and Bitwarden. The trade-off:

• Bitwarden is free for individuals, open source, fully featured. Genuinely good.
• 1Password is paid ($36/yr) and noticeably more polished, with better autofill, slicker apps, and unique features like Watchtower and one-time-share links.

For most solos, Bitwarden is enough. 1Password is worth the $36/yr only if the polish matters to you or you use a feature Bitwarden does not have.

What you actually use

• Autofill. Browser extensions, mobile apps, and macOS apps all autofill from your vault. The hit rate is the highest in the category.
• Watchtower. Scans your vault and surfaces weak, reused, breached, or expiring credentials. Actionable: each item links to a "fix this" flow.
• Travel Mode. Hides selected vaults when you cross a border. Niche but genuinely useful for some.
• Secret sharing. Send a one-time-view password to a contractor or family member without giving them access to your vault. The link self-destructs after view.
• Passkeys. Generate, store, and autofill passkeys (the WebAuthn-based password replacement) across browsers and devices.

Where Bitwarden catches up

Bitwarden has closed most of the feature gap over the past two years. Free tier covers unlimited passwords across unlimited devices, including 2FA codes, secure notes, and basic sharing. Premium ($10/yr) adds emergency access, file attachments, and security reports.

The remaining 1Password advantages are mostly polish: better mobile UX, smoother browser autofill in edge cases, more thoughtful UX around niche features.

What you can ignore

• Watchtower's "Compromised Websites" alerts. Rarely actionable and noisy.
• The mobile widget. Slow and rarely used.
• The Personal vs Business plan distinction. For a one-person business, Individual is fine. Business adds shared vaults, audit logs, and admin features that solos do not need.

Verdict

If you can pay $36/yr, 1Password is the more polished option. If you cannot or would rather not, Bitwarden is genuinely good and free. The one thing that is not optional: pick one and use it. Reusing passwords across 200 logins is a real risk that catches up with people.