1Password vs Proton Pass

The short answer

• Choose 1Password for the Secret Key, Watchtower and Travel Mode, and a mature business setup.
• Choose Proton Pass for open source, built-in email aliases, a free plan, the Proton suite, and the lower business price.
• Both share with people outside for up to 30 days; neither collects credentials from outside. CredenShare covers that.

Who this page is for: individuals and teams choosing between polish and privacy.

1Password vs Proton Pass at a glance

Checked on October 23, 2026 against each vendor's own pages; see the sources below.

Which is cheaper, 1Password or Proton Pass?

Proton Pass, at every level, and it has a free plan. For 10 people billed yearly: Proton Pass Essentials is $19.90 a month and Professional $44.90, against $89.90 for 1Password Business. 1Password's Teams Starter Pack ($24.95 a month for up to 10 people) narrows the gap for small teams.

Which is more secure?

• 1Password adds a 128-bit Secret Key to your account password, so a leaked password alone can't decrypt your vault, and uses SRP so the password never crosses the internet.
• Proton Pass is open source: every item has its own key, your user key is protected by a bcrypt hash of your password, and Cure53 audited its apps, extensions and API.

Both are end-to-end encrypted. 1Password's edge is the Secret Key; Proton's is openness.

Which is better for business?

1Password Business offers Unlock with SSO (OIDC), automated provisioning, a 365-day activity log, guests, and developer tools (service accounts, Connect, SSH agent). Proton Pass Professional offers SSO and SCIM, activity logs, policies, SIEM integration, group sharing, a CLI and an SSH agent, at about half the price.

How do they share with people outside?

• 1Password: item links for 1 hour to 30 days or one view, open to anyone or verified email addresses.
• Proton Pass: secure links on paid plans, 7 days by default and up to 30, with an optional view limit, end-to-end encrypted on your device.

Which should you pick? Scenarios

What neither 1Password nor Proton Pass does

Both are built around your vault. How each reaches people outside it:

• 1Password: item links that anyone, or verified email addresses, can open for 1 hour to 30 days or one view.
• Proton Pass: secure links on paid plans, up to 30 days, optional view limit.

At the edge of the vault, three needs keep coming up that neither covers on its own pages:

1. Collecting a credential from someone outside. A client's hosting login or a vendor's API key: there's no request form, so it usually arrives by email or chat.
2. Proof that an outside handoff arrived. Their logs track your organization; a per-link record of who opened a share, when and from where, isn't described.
3. Handoffs on the recipient's schedule. Links that last longer, or start counting at the first open.

CredenShare is built for that edge, and works with either:

• Secure Requests (Business and Enterprise): send a form with the fields you need; each answer is encrypted in the sender's browser.
• Access logs for every share: views, times and IP addresses, kept 3 to 180 days by plan.
• Expiry from 1 hour to 3 months, optionally from the first open, plus passcodes and view limits.
• Slack, a browser extension, a REST API, SDKs and an MCP server for AI agents.

Shares made in the web app, API and SDKs are encrypted in your browser or client; Slack-created shares are encrypted on our servers. Only the people who create shares and requests need a CredenShare seat.

Before you share a credential: a checklist

These apply whichever tool you use.

1. Send the link and the passcode through different channels. For example, the link by email and the passcode by text message.
2. Watch out for link scanners. Some email security filters and chat apps open links automatically, which can use up a one-view link. Send the link as plain text through a channel that doesn't pre-open links, or allow a second view with a short expiry.
3. Don't open the link to test it. On a one-view link, your test is the view.
4. Pick the shortest expiry that works. If you don't know when the recipient will act, a link that starts counting at the first open is safer than a long fixed window.
5. Rotate after the handoff when you can. The link expires, but the credential is still valid.
6. Keep the original in your password manager. A sharing link is a delivery method, not storage.

Verdict: 1Password or Proton Pass?

• Pick 1Password for the Secret Key, polish, and its developer tools.
• Pick Proton Pass for open source, aliases, the Proton suite and a lower price.

Whichever you choose, cover the outside handoffs neither is built for.

Related: Bitwarden vs Proton Pass · 1Password vs Bitwarden · CredenShare vs Proton Pass

Sources (checked October 23, 2026):

• 1Password: pricing, business pricing, security, assessments, SSO, share items
• Proton Pass: pricing, business pricing, security model, audit, governance, secure links

1Password, Proton Pass are trademarks of their respective owners. CredenShare is not affiliated with any of them.