1Password Introduces $2.99/Month Plan for Individuals, With 6 Months Free at Sign-Up [Updated]

[bwoodruff]

off-topic: I really do appreciate it that you guys are posting on here and twitter, etc. Explaining the situation with more details, while staying calm and being able to actually explain it. Facts and examples etc really help. Thank you for your time. I am sure others feel the same.

You're very welcome! Thanks for saying so.

Ugh. Example of squeaky wheels steering the ship into an iceberg, if this is accurate. People were really confused about buying a license for Mac software or for Windows software? How do those people function? I can only imagine that being the case if the website was very obtuse, unless a few customer support calls are being trumped up here as justification for a general drastic price increase.

Seriously. One of the top three issues in CS was confusion over which licenses were needed for a particular setup. You can't make this stuff up.

In any case, if people are "confused" about which version they are buying, then maybe make the more expensive bundle the default option, but for the vast majority of us who understand software and do not need the app on both platforms, offer the single-platform version at the lower price. Doesn't seem like a difficult problem to solve. Again, unless you were trying to solve some other problem.

Really, though, I definitely won't be buying the upgrade if it is $65 next time, given this "feature" of a license on a platform I never use by choice as the rationale. I'll limp along with my old version for a cycle or two instead. I would feel much much better about that price increase if you had justified it with features or inflation or your kid needing braces or whatever, but to justify it with "users keep buying the Mac version and trying to install it on Windows!" is disingenuous and destroys credibility.

(I have been using 1Password for many years, and have recommended it to many friends despite its cost. Making it more expensive, passing that mental $50 barrier, is just not going to keep me on board though.)

Historically upgrades have been ~50% discounted from the price of a new license.

--
Ben Woodruff
Positive Experience Architect
AgileBits

 

[Easttime]

I just went through all the Agilebits website info on this new service. There's a lot to like. One feature not mentioned: the security key. https://support.1password.com/understanding-account-key/ . This type of app is essential for me and no other option is as good. I use it daily on several devices, and $3/30 days = 10 cents per day; $36/year. Twelves cups of coffee. Four to five beers. I think I'm sold.

 

[bwoodruff]

I just went through all the Agilebits website info on this new service. There's a lot to like. One feature not mentioned: the security key. https://support.1password.com/understanding-account-key/ . This type of app is essential for me and no other option is as good. I use it daily on several devices, and $3/30 days = 10 cents per day; $36/year. Twelves cups of coffee. Four to five beers. I think I'm sold.

The account key is a very important part of the security of your data. We explain a lot more about it in our whitepaper:

http://1pw.ca/whitepaper

--
Ben Woodruff
Positive Experience Architect
AgileBits

 

[Easttime]

bwoodruff, thanks for being here. I have standalone apps purchased through the App Store. What happens to that setup when I migrate to the subscription service? I presume updating through the App Store carries on as before, all I do is set up each device's 1P app to sync with the new 1P account instead of my current iCloud sync after an initial import using the 1P app on my Mac?

 

[bwoodruff]

bwoodruff, thanks for being here.

You're most welcome! Thanks for saying so.

I have standalone apps purchased through the App Store. What happens to that setup when I migrate to the subscription service? I presume updating through the App Store carries on as before, all I do is set up each device's 1P app to sync with the new 1P account instead of my current iCloud sync after an initial import using the 1P app on my Mac?

Yep, basically. You can read all about the migration here:

https://support.1password.com/teams-families-migrate/

--
Ben Woodruff
Positive Experience Architect
AgileBits

 

[jettredmont]

I see nothing wrong with Agilebits offering the subscription option.

The problem is that, with history as our guide and despite current protestations from the Agilebits team (protestations that are almost word-for-word identical to those uttered by Adobe, for instance!), we know that moving to a subscription model is an almost 100% guaranteed death knell for the "pay once for the license" sales model for that software. Eitehr Agilebits will raise the pay-once price exorbitantly (which they already have, with flimsy pissing-on-my-leg-ain't-rain justification) or will stop selling standalone licenses altogether with the claim that "our sales figures show people LOVE the subscription model!"

Many here are complaining about it, and expecting to continue to use a product for free for as long as they like, without any further renumeration to said company. In my opinion, said position is built on nothing more than emotional greed.

I will gladly pay $50 for the next version, just like I did for v3 and then less than a year later v4. Just like I've talked many many family members into doing (before they raised the price to $65 apparently).

Those of you who have jobs, buy food, clothing, (and other essentials and nonessentials) have all been involved, directly or otherwise, in companies that have had to raise prices over time, due to the cost of living, research and development, taxes, insurance, litigation etc.

And in addition to the aforementioned reasons, many of you with jobs would, and do appreciate it when the company you work for acknowledges your hard work and dedication (verbally and monetarily). I am sure many would be disappointed in a company that did not seek to grow and thus, reward valued employees, by never offering promotions, pay increases, and new job opportunities. How many of you would be excited to work for free month after month, even though you had bills that needed paying? And yet, several here are of the mindset, that a company like 1Password is being greedy if not foolish, for offering another option to the consumer.

In my opinion, some of you need to come down off your greedy, self-centered software horse, and join the rest of us in the real world of business.

I think you went way off into a tangent fighting against a straw man there. I don't see anyone claiming that Agilebits should not make tidy revenues from their software. We are complaining because the subscription model and the price-gouging 30% price increase for a near-end-of-life version of their product is very shady business practice from a company we have invested a lot into.

I am also complaining because AgileBits appears to be squandering their resources in a bunch of web crap that isn't necessary rather than delivering new features in their product (and if there are no new features to be put into the password manager, set that product loose and build a new different product to showcase your web synching skills).

Frankly, I'm looking to what I can do with iCloud Keychain (which already does 99% of my password duties in duplication with 1Password) and Encrypted Notes (which is the second major use of 1Password) can do for me. Maybe just move the "other" bits of credit card info off to encrypted notes, then I have everything I use 1Password for in "free" tools.

 

[Ritte]

Hi!
I've 1Password on my iphone and on my Mac. Syncing via Dropbox and it's working flawlessly.
If I I'm not satisfied after 6 months, can I still use my vault with the existing standalone apps or will the vault be frozen?

To be clear, can I use the my vault in the standalone versions after I used the subscription version?

 

[bwoodruff]

Hi!
I've 1Password on my iphone and on my Mac. Syncing via Dropbox and it's working flawlessly.
If I I'm not satisfied after 6 months, can I still use my vault with the existing standalone apps or will the vault be frozen?

To be clear, can I use the my vault in the standalone versions after I used the subscription version?

Hi Ritte!

The vaults in the subscription account will become frozen if you allow the subscription to lapse, but you can copy the contents out into a local vault.

Thanks!

--
Ben Woodruff
Positive Experience Architect
AgileBits

 

[Ritte]

Hi Ritte!

The vaults in the subscription account will become frozen if you allow the subscription to lapse, but you can copy the contents out into a local vault.

Thanks!

--
Ben Woodruff
Positive Experience Architect
AgileBits

To be perfectly clear, I can use my passwords locally as now if I'm not happy.

Will I be able to export the vault or so I need to copy and paste each password?

(I've over 200 passwords, and I'm not too found about creating a new local vault by coping each one over.)

 

[kurzz]

Nope. No more subscriptions for this family. We already have too many as-is. We're glad to continue using the standalone software but we are subscription-maxed at this point. Seems every software company wants a piece of the monthly budget these days.

 

[bwoodruff]

To be perfectly clear, I can use my passwords locally as now if I'm not happy.

Will I be able to export the vault or so I need to copy and paste each password?

(I've over 200 passwords, and I'm not too found about creating a new local vault by coping each one over.)

Yes, as long as you have a license for the version of the app that you are using.

You can move them out the same way you move them in (from the Mac: en masse).

--
Ben Woodruff
Positive Experience Architect
AgileBits

 

[jettredmont]

Historically upgrades have been ~50% discounted from the price of a new license.

Ah, good to know, and certainly would take the sting off it if there is a paid upgrade coming with the next version of OS X. It has been so long since I had to pay for an upgrade of 1Password that I did not remember the v4 discount from v3.

 

[drewcosten]

I am also complaining because AgileBits appears to be squandering their resources in a bunch of web crap that isn't necessary rather than delivering new features in their product (and if there are no new features to be put into the password manager, set that product loose and build a new different product to showcase your web synching skills).

1Password subscriptions began with 1Password for Teams. If you had any idea how often we were asked for this service by various companies you'd understand why we built it. When we introduced it in beta last year, many people used it for their families and asked for family pricing, so the obvious next step was 1Password for Families subscriptions. I'm sure you can imagine what the next big request was at that point, by individuals who weren't living with a family, so we are now giving all three groups of people exactly what they requested.

Of course, we knew that not everybody would want to switch to a subscription service, or to use our servers for syncing their 1Password data, so we are continuing to offer standalone licenses as well, just as we always have. This way anybody can use 1Password exactly the way they want to.

 

[Dimwhit]

I'm not a fan of subscriptions, at all. If I had to pay a subscription for all the apps I use, I'd probably be paying $100+/month. Not feasible. So I do hope the standalone purchase won't ever go away.

That said, 1Password is so far superior to using something like Apple's Keychain or secure notes. It's not even a comparison. And I've used LastPass (we use it at work), and compared to 1Password, LastPass feels like an amateur wrote it. So I'm definitely not leaving 1Password. But if they ever go subscriptions only...that would probably tip it.

 

[philipk]

I am very upset by this move. However businesses have the right to do what they want.

I have been a long term 1password user. I really hope that Apple uses this opportunity to wipe this company off the map. All they have to do is included on their next operating system update.

 

[bwoodruff]

I am very upset by this move. However businesses have the right to do what they want.

I have been a long term 1password user. I really hope that Apple uses this opportunity to wipe this company off the map. All they have to do is included on their next operating system update.

Wow! That is a pretty harsh reaction to us adding a service to the line-up... As a long term 1Password user, nothing changes for you, unless you'd like to switch to the new service.

Ben

 

[philipk]

Wow! That is a pretty harsh reaction to us adding a service to the line-up... As a long term 1Password user, nothing changes for you, unless you'd like to switch to the new service.

Ben

Thank you for your kind reply. Yes I am angry. However it is based on what other companies have done. They promised no real change in standalone licensing. Most of the companies failed to keep their promises. I hope your company keeps its promises to continue to update the standalone licensing.

 

[bwoodruff]

Thanks for the feedback.

Ben

 

[Apple_Robert]

Thank you for your kind reply. Yes I am angry. However it is based on what other companies have done. They promised no real change in standalone licensing. Most of the companies failed to keep their promises. I hope your company keeps its promises to continue to update the standalone licensing.

Basing your anger and harsh reply (towards Agilebits) on what other companies have done is the definition of logical fallacy.

How about the local law enforcement holds you personally accountable for the actions of the next person in your city that commits the offense of DWI? That is the kind of flawed rationale you are positing towards Agilebits.

 

[kiancheong]

We’re still selling licenses and we will continue to update the apps for everyone. The only caveat is some of the new features rely on our hosted service and those won’t be available.

That sounds like the apps won't be updated with new features, and will eventually die off when everyone forgets about today's episode.

 

[Apple_Robert]

That sounds like the apps won't be updated with new features, and will eventually die off when everyone forgets about today's episode.

I believe Dave's reply was in regards to the subscription based 1Password features. It makes sense that said features would not be present in the nonsubscription based app.

 

[bwoodruff]

That sounds like the apps won't be updated with new features, and will eventually die off when everyone forgets about today's episode.

Not at all the case. The apps are an integral part of all of our offerings.

Ben

 

[kiancheong]

The choice to bundle Mac and Windows together was based on feedback and customer support requests from customers who were confused about what exactly it was that they needed to buy.

Oh my Universe, anyone who goes around looking for a password manager for their online activities would know if they have a Mac or a Windows machine!

 

[Floris]

Thank you for your kind reply. Yes I am angry. However it is based on what other companies have done. They promised no real change in standalone licensing. Most of the companies failed to keep their promises. I hope your company keeps its promises to continue to update the standalone licensing.

This would literally be the first company that would keep their promise - we will see in a year from now I guess.

 

[Primejimbo]

I am very upset by this move. However businesses have the right to do what they want.

I have been a long term 1password user. I really hope that Apple uses this opportunity to wipe this company off the map. All they have to do is included on their next operating system update.

Why are you upset? They are NOT removing the valults that you buy. Have not read anything? Did you just read the 1st line? All they did was add an option for people. More options, the better.