Passwords

The job

You need one place that holds the logins that keep the shop alive: domain registrar, mailbox, bank or payment processor, and the host that runs the site. Unique passwords, synced to the phone and the PC you actually use, with a recovery path that is not "I think I wrote it on a sticky note." That is the whole job.

Browser autocomplete for shopping sites is fine. It is a terrible home for the account that can transfer money or delete your domain. Same for a spreadsheet named passwords.xlsx in Downloads.

Who this page is for

• You are one person. There is no IT desk and no shared company vault yet.
• You will open the vault on a phone and a computer in the same week, not "someday when I travel."
• You want an agent to draft a migrate checklist and folder names; you alone own the master password and every 2FA approval.

Who should leave

• A team that needs admin policies, SCIM, and audit logs - you are shopping Bitwarden Teams / Enterprise or 1Password Business, not a solo free tier.
• Someone whose buyers or insurer already require a named enterprise password product in the contract.
• Anyone hunting an AI that "remembers all my passwords for me" so they never unlock a vault. That is how you gift the shop to whoever scraped the chat.

What "good" looks like in 90 days

• Registrar, mailbox, bank (or Stripe), and host each have a unique password you did not invent from a pet's name.
• Autofill works on the two devices you use weekly. You are not copy-pasting from a Notes app at the coffee shop.
• 2FA for those four accounts is on, and recovery codes live somewhere that is not only the laptop you might brick.
• You have exported the vault once and opened the file, so you know the exit button is real.

If you cannot point at those, the tool did not finish the job.

The pick

Primary

Product: Bitwarden Plan: Free individual - unlimited logins and devices, as listed on Bitwarden's pricing page on 17 Sep 2026. Upgrade to Premium when you want the built-in authenticator (TOTP), emergency access, and vault health reports: $1.65/month billed annually at $19.80/year (USD, taxes extra) on that same page after their January 2026 plan update. Why this one: The job is "stop losing the keys," not buying a lifestyle brand. Free closes sync, generator, and encrypted export across phone and desktop. Premium is a coffee-a-month bump for TOTP inside the same app - useful when you are tired of juggling a second authenticator. Open source, audited story, no seat tax for a solo shop. When it stops being the pick: You need family sharing beyond a free two-person org, a buyer forces another vendor, or you genuinely prefer 1Password's polish enough to pay the higher list price every year.

Runner-up (only if the split is real)

Product: 1Password Choose this instead when: You want their apps and Watchtower polish first, you will actually pay, and "it just works on my Mac and phone" matters more than the cheapest honest vault. Individual lists at $3.99/month billed annually ($47.88/year) on 1Password's personal pricing page as of 17 Sep 2026. New direct subscribers sometimes see a first-year promo at $2.99/month billed annually - renewals go to the regular rate. 14-day trial exists. Cost of being wrong: Roughly $28+ more per year than Bitwarden Premium for the same solo job, or you stay on Bitwarden Free and never miss the extras. Migrating later is a weekend of export/import and re-checking autofill - doable, annoying.

Skip

• Browser-only password save (Chrome/Safari/Edge "save password"): Fine for throwaway logins. Terrible as the only home for bank and registrar - tied to one browser profile, weak recovery story, easy to lose when you wipe a machine or switch browsers in a hurry.
• A spreadsheet (or Notes doc) of passwords: Feels organized until the file syncs to the wrong place, gets emailed to yourself "for backup," or sits unencrypted on a laptop that goes through airport security. No autofill, no breach alerts, one leak dumps everything.
• Sharing the vault master password (or the same login) with an agent: Agents draft checklists and folder names. They do not hold the master password, the Secret Key, or your bank 2FA. If a session asks for those, the session is over - change the password from a device you trust.

Cost

The honest comparison is not $0 vs $48. It is "will you still unlock this on a Tuesday when the registrar wants a code."

Who owns what

• You own: The master password, recovery codes, every business login inside the vault, the export files you download.
• The vendor owns: The sync service, the apps, and anything you never exported.
• The agent never owns: Master password, account recovery, payment card on the subscription, bank or registrar 2FA approvals, "just paste me the password so I can finish setup."

Setup

You do

1. Create the Bitwarden account with an email you control. Set a master password you have never used elsewhere. Write recovery materials down and store them offline - not only in the same laptop bag.
2. Turn on two-step login for the Bitwarden account itself before you import the bank. Install the phone app and the browser extension on the PC you actually use; unlock both once.
3. Change the registrar, mailbox, bank/payments, and host passwords into the vault (generator on, unique each). Turn on 2FA for those four where the vendor allows it. Do a logout/login test on phone.

The agent does

1. Draft a migrate checklist from your written list of accounts - names and URLs only, never live passwords in the prompt.
2. Suggest folder or collection names (for example: Money, Domain, Host, Mail) and a naming pattern for items.
3. Remind you which vendors still need 2FA turned on after the passwords move - from the checklist, not from inventing policy.

The agent does not

• Receive, store, or type the vault master password.
• Approve 2FA, buy Premium/Individual, or enter a card.
• "Temporarily" use your bank or registrar login to finish a task.

Day to day

Unlock when you need a login - not all day with the vault open on a shared screen. Save new shop accounts the same day you create them. Once a month, scan for reused or weak passwords on the critical four. Once a quarter, export and drop the file next to your offline recovery materials so you know the button still works.

The agent can update the checklist when you add a tool. You unlock and autofill.

How you know it is working

• You can log into the registrar from your phone without digging through old email for "the password we set in March."
• A new host login gets saved in under a minute, not "I'll remember it until Friday."
• Last quarter's export opens on a machine that is not the one you use every day.

How you know it is failing

• You still keep the bank password in the browser only. Move it into the vault and remove the browser save for that site.
• You are typing the same password into three "important" accounts. Rotate them - the generator exists for this.
• Autofill fails on both devices and you went back to a Notes app. Fix the extension/app install before you invent a second system.
• You cannot export. That is the leave condition, even if the UI is pretty.

Switching off

Export from Bitwarden's web vault (encrypted export if you can keep the password safe; otherwise treat an unencrypted export like cash). Import into the new manager, verify the four critical logins and 2FA still work, then keep the old account alive for a week in case something did not migrate. Delete the old vault only after phone and PC both unlock the new one cleanly. Customers never need a speech about your password manager - they need the site and the invoices to keep working.

Affiliate notes

No affiliate links on this page. Bitwarden and 1Password are named because they close the job, not because a partner URL is approved. See the live Bitwarden pricing and 1Password personal pricing pages before you pay; this writeup is dated.

Last verified

• Date: 2026-09-17
• What was checked: Bitwarden Free individual and Premium at $1.65/mo billed annually ($19.80/year) on bitwarden.com/pricing; Free includes unlimited devices/logins per Bitwarden help plans page; Premium adds TOTP authenticator, emergency access, vault health reports. 1Password Individual regular $3.99/mo annual ($47.88/year) and first-year promo $2.99/mo annual on 1password.com/pricing/personal; 14-day trial noted there. Bitwarden January 2026 Premium price update confirmed via Bitwarden's plan announcement.
• What may have changed: Promo vs list on 1Password, Bitwarden Premium dollar amount, Free-tier feature gates, Families/Teams pricing if you outgrow solo.