1Password vs Dashlane: Which Fits Your Household?
Two polished products, neither with a free tier. The clearest difference is size: 1Password Families covers five people, Dashlane describes ten accounts on one subscription.
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The short answer
On this page
A note on what follows, because it affects how you should read it.
1Password publishes its personal prices. Dashlane did not display prices on either its personal or its business pricing page when we checked on 31 August 2026 — the figures rendered as placeholders rather than numbers. So this comparison is built on what we could verify, and where a price could not be confirmed we say so instead of estimating one.
That is itself worth knowing before you buy. Being able to see the price without a sales conversation is a small but real advantage.
Side by side
| 1Password | Dashlane | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | No — 14-day trial | No — 14-day trial on business |
| Individual | $2.99/mo paid annually (regular $3.99) | Premium — price not displayed |
| Family plan | Families, up to 5 members, $4.49/mo paid annually | Friends & Family, "10 accounts, one subscription" |
| Business | Request a quote | Password Management and Credential Protection — prices not displayed |
| Encryption model | Zero-knowledge | Zero-knowledge |
The one difference that decides most cases
Seat count.
1Password Families covers up to 5 members. Dashlane's Friends & Family is described as "10 accounts, one subscription."
For a household of two, three or four this is irrelevant and you should choose on other grounds. For anything larger it decides the question, and it is a more common situation than vendors seem to assume: a couple with three children is already at five, leaving no room for a parent. One competent person administering passwords for several relatives across different addresses — which is an extremely common arrangement — runs out of 1Password seats immediately.
Ten accounts on one subscription has no equivalent among the products we have priced. If your household is genuinely that shape, Dashlane is the answer and the rest of this page is secondary.
Where 1Password is the stronger choice
You can see what it costs. $2.99 a month individual, $4.49 families, both paid annually, with the regular monthly prices also published. That sounds like a low bar until you try to budget against a product that will not show you a number.
It is the most refined product in the category. Browser filling is the most reliable, the apps are the most pleasant, and the onboarding is gentle enough that a relative who dislikes software will complete it without you sitting next to them. In a family context that is not a luxury — a password manager only protects the accounts people actually put in it, so the product that gets adopted is the product that works.
Its recovery story for households is well-developed. A family organiser can help a member who has locked themselves out, which in practice means you rather than a support queue, and that is the right answer when the person locked out is your father.
Where Dashlane is the stronger choice
Ten seats, as above, is the headline and often the whole argument.
Dashlane also positions itself around credential protection more broadly than password storage — its business line is split into Password Management and a separate Credential Protection product, which suggests where the company's emphasis sits. For a household that is not especially relevant; for a small business weighing both, it is worth asking what the second product covers and whether you need it, since it is priced separately.
Both companies offer a 14-day trial, which is the right way to settle this. Two weeks is enough to test the thing that actually differs day to day: whether the browser extension fills your real accounts, on your real sites, without you having to intervene.
What neither of them is
Free.
If you arrived at this comparison hoping to spend nothing, neither product is a candidate and it is better to know that now. Both run trials and then charge.
The free alternatives are genuinely good rather than consolation prizes. Bitwarden's free plan includes unlimited devices and unlimited passwords with browser, mobile and desktop apps. Proton Pass free includes unlimited logins and unlimited devices plus 10 hide-my-email aliases. Either will do the job indefinitely without payment — both are compared here.
How to decide
- Five people or fewer, want the best product: 1Password Families, $4.49 a month paid annually.
- More than five people: Dashlane Friends & Family, and confirm the price on their site.
- One person, wants published pricing: 1Password Individual at $2.99 a month paid annually.
- Free is a requirement: neither — use Bitwarden or Proton Pass.
- Value matters most and you are technically comfortable: Bitwarden, which undercuts both — that comparison is here.
Whichever you pick, the decision that outlasts the product choice is what happens if you lose your master password. Both use zero-knowledge encryption, so neither vendor can let you back in — set up emergency access where it exists, and keep a written recovery copy somewhere physically secure. The reasoning is in are password managers safe, and the wider buying framework in how to choose a password manager.
Key differences at a glance
Is 1Password or Dashlane better?
1Password is the safer default for most households: it is the most polished product in the category and it publishes its prices, so you know what you are committing to. Dashlane is the better answer when you need to cover more than five people, because its Friends & Family plan is described as 10 accounts on one subscription.
How much do 1Password and Dashlane cost?
1Password publishes Individual at $2.99 a month paid annually (regular $3.99) and Families at $4.49 paid annually (regular $5.99) for up to 5 members. Dashlane showed placeholders rather than figures on its personal and business pricing pages when we checked, so we are not quoting a price - check it on their site before deciding.
Does either have a free plan?
Neither offers a meaningful free tier. Both provide a 14-day free trial. If free is a requirement rather than a preference, Bitwarden and Proton Pass both run free plans with unlimited devices and unlimited passwords.
Which covers more family members?
Dashlane, clearly. Its Friends & Family plan is described as "10 accounts, one subscription" against 1Password Families at up to 5 members. For an extended family, or where one person administers passwords for relatives who do not live with them, that is the deciding difference.
Is it hard to switch between them?
No. Both import and export standard formats, so logins, secure notes and payment cards travel. Two-factor setup and any sharing arrangements have to be rebuilt by hand. Export files are unencrypted plain text, so delete them securely as soon as the import has been verified.
Where this information comes from
Product details change often. Each item below links to the primary source we checked, so you can confirm anything that matters to your decision.