MacRumors Exclusive: Take 50% Off Your First Year of 1Password Families

[0924487]

Here's the funny thing.

1Password 7 and lower doesn't require you to maintain a server. In fact, for WiFi sync, all of that functionality is already embedded within the application. You start your own WLAN server within 1Password, and every other 1Password app that has the shared key to that server (the main 1Password desktop application) can sync to it.

Compare that to Bitwarden, where they want you to create a server (Windows, Linux, Solaris, doesn't matter), whether a physical box or a VM, to run Docker. From within Docker you are setting up your own server for Bitwarden to host your vaults. From that, you sync your clients to that vault. That leaves not only the maintenance of Bitwarden, but also Docker and that physical server or VM up to you to do. You have to keep up with software updates. You have to keep up with patches. You have to keep up with kernel updates (if necessary). No-one thinks about the upkeep regarding those when you are "hosting your own server".

Funnily enough, that is the offering that 1Password is looking for in pittance for ticking off their base of users who would lose their standalone vaults, while still sticking them to the subscription model.

Now, as far as the $3 - $5/month argument, see my previous post regarding cost and comparing that cost over the span of 8 to 10 years. A one time cost for a license that can be used for my lifetime would be immensely cheaper than spending money per month. For example, a 20-year old person spends $50 for 1Password, and uses it for 50 years. In that same vein, another 20 year old kid spends $5 on a subscription and uses it also for 50 years. Let's do the math.

The subscription kid:
$5 per month, * 12 = $60/year.
$60/year * 50 years = $3000.

The License kid:
$50.

That leaves the license kid another $2950 that he could use for his other expenses over the course of 50 years that the Subscription kid does not have. The issue? The subscription model only sees a short term cost without amortizing that out for the lifetime of use, and when they finally do, they see that they've spent so much money on something they've had for a long period of time and continue to have until they say stop. And when they do say stop, they have no control over what AgileBits does with their data when they cancel their subscription.

So uncertainty surrounding his data and $2950 more spent versus the License kid. The license kid has the security and ensured privacy of his data, and a lot less spent. The license kid doesn't look foolish there, n'est-ce pas?

The subscription kid got screwed.

BL.

Yeah, but realistically the license kid will bot be able to use it for 50 years.

In software engineering, the lifecycle of consumer software is normally designed to be 5 years. In other words, consumer software is only designed to be used for 5 years before being obsolete, then maintenance is required.

 

[0924487]

Indeed. The theory of no motivation is utter tosh. If they don't innovate, their subscribers drop dramatically and their income goes down.

If it works well, then people wouldn’t upgrade.

 

[bradl]

Yeah, but realistically the license kid will bot be able to use it for 50 years.

In software engineering, the lifecycle of consumer software is normally designed to be 5 years. In other words, consumer software is only designed to be used for 5 years before being obsolete, then maintenance is required.

I don't know.. I mean, I've been using 1Password 6 ever since it came out. I've been on MacOS Sierra since it came out (High Sierra crashes on my MBA, while Sierra has been solid). Even by extension, I've had my Mac since it came out in July 2011, and it's going on strong for almost 11 years without any maintenance. I get the normal use cases for software, but if they are that solid, they can keep going. I have a Solaris box I'm still maintaining as a hardware requirement for a client.. it's in the first week of January, it will hit 4000 days of uptime. It's still going strong.

BL.

 

[0924487]

I don't know.. I mean, I've been using 1Password 6 ever since it came out. I've been on MacOS Sierra since it came out (High Sierra crashes on my MBA, while Sierra has been solid). Even by extension, I've had my Mac since it came out in July 2011, and it's going on strong for almost 11 years without any maintenance. I get the normal use cases for software, but if they are that solid, they can keep going. I have a Solaris box I'm still maintaining as a hardware requirement for a client.. it's in the first week of January, it will hit 4000 days of uptime. It's still going strong.

BL.

Okay, that works. It's like you are taking a snapshot of the environment/era for that generation of software and hardware. I normally keep hardware and OS up-to-date, so this breaks things. For example, Safari 14 in Big Sur doesn't support the extension from 1Password 6 anymore.

 

[bradl]

Okay, that works. It's like you are taking a snapshot of the environment/era for that generation of software and hardware. I normally keep hardware and OS up-to-date, so this breaks things. For example, Safari 14 in Big Sur doesn't support the extension from 1Password 6 anymore.

That I get. The problem I have is that with High Sierra being the last OS that Apple supports my Mac on, I'm stuck. So it's either upgrade to that and deal with how it spontaneously crashes, or revert back to what is rock solid. I chose the latter, which is where I've been since. And as 1Password 6 is still available for download for anything MacOS 10.12 or newer, that's where I've had to plant my flag. I can't go any higher as Apple also classed my Mac as obsolete in 2017, so I'm stuck with what I have.

Now, when I buy the new Mac, that puts me on borrowed time; I can migrate everything over to it with 1Password 6 (via Time Machine), but that leaves me with being able to use it for as long as Rosetta 2 is supported. I could either stay on the last version of MacOS that has Rosetta 2 and use that forever on that Mac, or when Rosetta 2 is dropped, I move off of 1Password completely.

BL.

 

[0924487]

That I get. The problem I have is that with High Sierra being the last OS that Apple supports my Mac on, I'm stuck. So it's either upgrade to that and deal with how it spontaneously crashes, or revert back to what is rock solid. I chose the latter, which is where I've been since. And as 1Password 6 is still available for download for anything MacOS 10.12 or newer, that's where I've had to plant my flag. I can't go any higher as Apple also classed my Mac as obsolete in 2017, so I'm stuck with what I have.

Now, when I buy the new Mac, that puts me on borrowed time; I can migrate everything over to it with 1Password 6 (via Time Machine), but that leaves me with being able to use it for as long as Rosetta 2 is supported. I could either stay on the last version of MacOS that has Rosetta 2 and use that forever on that Mac, or when Rosetta 2 is dropped, I move off of 1Password completely.

BL.

When you upgrade to a AppleSilicon Mac, if I were you, I would just use the iPhone and iPad app exclusively. Then use iCloud KeyChain as a supplement. You can use universal pasteboard to copy and paste passwords to Mac.

 

[bradl]

When you upgrade to a AppleSilicon Mac, if I were you, I would just use the iPhone and iPad app exclusively. Then use iCloud KeyChain as a supplement. You can use universal pasteboard to copy and paste passwords to Mac.

Good suggestion, but unfortunately won't be enough for my needs. While iCloud keychain could easily cover my needs, I store more than just passwords in my vault. I have PCI data (bank accounts, credit card data), PII data (passports, SSN numbers, etc.), and PHI data (insurance cards) in my vaults. Plus I'm now having to maintain a separate vault for my parents so their data is stored in case of something happening (which there currently is), and they are PC. So while I'm okay on 1Password 6 for my Mac, if I were staying with 1Password, I'd need 1Password 7....

... which leads me back to the standalone vault/subscription model issue which has a fair number of the user base up in arms. There already is a 40-page thread on people looking for alternatives to migrate to when 1Password 7 is made obsolete. Lots of detailed information there.

1Password migrants thread

So as you know 1Password is forcing you to the subscription model which is something I refuse to pay for a simple piece of software that is basically a glorified password protected spreadsheet file browser. I am fed up of subscription model and greedy companies that abuses it. I have already...

forums.macrumors.com

BL.

 

[ackmondual]

Here's the funny thing.

1Password 7 and lower doesn't require you to maintain a server. In fact, for WiFi sync, all of that functionality is already embedded within the application. You start your own WLAN server within 1Password, and every other 1Password app that has the shared key to that server (the main 1Password desktop application) can sync to it.

Compare that to Bitwarden, where they want you to create a server (Windows, Linux, Solaris, doesn't matter), whether a physical box or a VM, to run Docker. From within Docker you are setting up your own server for Bitwarden to host your vaults. From that, you sync your clients to that vault. That leaves not only the maintenance of Bitwarden, but also Docker and that physical server or VM up to you to do. You have to keep up with software updates. You have to keep up with patches. You have to keep up with kernel updates (if necessary). No-one thinks about the upkeep regarding those when you are "hosting your own server".

Funnily enough, that is the offering that 1Password is looking for in pittance for ticking off their base of users who would lose their standalone vaults, while still sticking them to the subscription model.

Now, as far as the $3 - $5/month argument, see my previous post regarding cost and comparing that cost over the span of 8 to 10 years. A one time cost for a license that can be used for my lifetime would be immensely cheaper than spending money per month. For example, a 20-year old person spends $50 for 1Password, and uses it for 50 years. In that same vein, another 20 year old kid spends $5 on a subscription and uses it also for 50 years. Let's do the math.

The subscription kid:
$5 per month, * 12 = $60/year.
$60/year * 50 years = $3000.

The License kid:
$50.

That leaves the license kid another $2950 that he could use for his other expenses over the course of 50 years that the Subscription kid does not have. The issue? The subscription model only sees a short term cost without amortizing that out for the lifetime of use, and when they finally do, they see that they've spent so much money on something they've had for a long period of time and continue to have until they say stop. And when they do say stop, they have no control over what AgileBits does with their data when they cancel their subscription.

So uncertainty surrounding his data and $2950 more spent versus the License kid. The license kid has the security and ensured privacy of his data, and a lot less spent. The license kid doesn't look foolish there, n'est-ce pas?

The subscription kid got screwed.

BL.

It seems like if they stuck with the 1-time license model and they drop support for it, you'll just switch to another app? These days, apps don't really stick around for long, and I can't see that happening with some subscription model. I do get it... I've had hardware and software I figured I'd use forever, but ended up not doing so.

 

[bradl]

It seems like if they stuck with the 1-time license model and they drop support for it, you'll just switch to another app? These days, apps don't really stick around for long, and I can't see that happening with some subscription model. I do get it... I've had hardware and software I figured I'd use forever, but ended up not doing so.

That's what a fair amount of people are doing; finding an alternative and migrating to that. So far, the biggest alternatives everyone has talked about are Bitwarden, Enpass, and Codebook. The developers of Codebook have been in the game for password managers for the past 23 years; they were the ones that developed STRIP, which was the password manager for the Palm Pilot.

Enpass is a good alternative to 1Password, especially when it comes to ease of use and compatibility compared to 1Password. I've found very few differences between the two; in fact, there are two distinct differences I've found that I'm trying to work around.. they aren't deal breakers, but just.... annoying:

• Enpass does have browser extensions, which is great. Supports Opera, Edge, Safari, Chrome, Brave, Firefox, and a couple of others. However, for it to be used, Enpass has to be open the entire time. There isn't a mini that can run without having to have the full client running like 1Password.
• The iOS app doesn't have a browser built in to keep credentials within a single app. However, it can use autofill directly from iOS, so there is a workaround.

Codebook works the same as Enpass, which is why I am currently using both for separate needs. If both are a 1-time purchase, I can get the same longevity out of them as I have 1Password, which in that long run would be cheaper than any subscription model.

BL.

 

[ackmondual]

That's what a fair amount of people are doing; finding an alternative and migrating to that. So far, the biggest alternatives everyone has talked about are Bitwarden, Enpass, and Codebook. The developers of Codebook have been in the game for password managers for the past 23 years; they were the ones that developed STRIP, which was the password manager for the Palm Pilot.

Enpass is a good alternative to 1Password, especially when it comes to ease of use and compatibility compared to 1Password. I've found very few differences between the two; in fact, there are two distinct differences I've found that I'm trying to work around.. they aren't deal breakers, but just.... annoying:

• Enpass does have browser extensions, which is great. Supports Opera, Edge, Safari, Chrome, Brave, Firefox, and a couple of others. However, for it to be used, Enpass has to be open the entire time. There isn't a mini that can run without having to have the full client running like 1Password.
• The iOS app doesn't have a browser built in to keep credentials within a single app. However, it can use autofill directly from iOS, so there is a workaround.

Codebook works the same as Enpass, which is why I am currently using both for separate needs. If both are a 1-time purchase, I can get the same longevity out of them as I have 1Password, which in that long run would be cheaper than any subscription model.

BL.

If you or anybody else have actual numbers on this, I'd seriously would like to know. As a prior post mentioned, sometimes those of us are really the "vocal minority"

 

[bradl]

If you or anybody else have actual numbers on this, I'd seriously would like to know. As a prior post mentioned, sometimes those of us are really the "vocal minority"

Not exact numbers, but the 1Password migrants thread posted above as well as the 1Password alternatives Reddit are a good solid barometer of how many people are upset at the changes and are looking for alternatives. Now, I'll agree that most of the masses won't really care because they aren't attuned to the details of what 1Password can do besides "store my password, I don't care where!", but those that use more of its features and functionalities are definitely vocal.

BL.

 

[Hammerd]

Reasons I stick with 1password
1) I share all my passwords with my wife. This isn’t possible with iCloud Keychain as each account is separate.
2) All the additional items I can save in 1password including adding custom fields for every login (security questions and answers) and secure documents like copies of drivers license or passport.
3) With family plan ends up being only $1 a month per account which is cheap enough for all my family to keep using.
4) maybe iCloud does this but 1password shows me if sites have been compromised, reused passwords, poor passwords, and other security alerts like those.

You are right except for 4) iCloud keychain does that too