Bitwarden
Password & Security
Bitwarden is open-source password management across platforms that you can self-host, with a complete free plan.
★★★★☆4.3
✓ Docs-based · verified against official site ↗ ← All tools 
Password Managers Compared 2026: Free Tiers, Pricing & Picks
Free password managers used to mean heavily restricted tiers that pushed you to upgrade fast. Now three of the five biggest players offer genuinely usable free plans — but the caps and feature cuts differ a lot. We compared Bitwarden, NordPass, LastPass, Dashlane and 1Password against their official pricing pages (verified 2026-08-31 through 2026-09-09) to see which free tiers you can actually use long-term. Bitwarden and NordPass both run free-forever plans with unlimited passwords and devices. Bitwarden's free tier syncs across unlimited devices and its paid side is the cheapest in the set at $19.80/year ($1.65/month), with Families at $47.88/year and a Teams seat at $4/user/month. NordPass matches the unlimited free plan and adds autofill, sync and MFA at no cost; Premium is $1.59/month on a 2-year plan ($1.89 on 1-year), Family $2.79/month for 6 vaults, and Teams $3.59/user/month — but personal plans are annual-only, with no monthly checkout. LastPass keeps unlimited passwords on the free tier but caps sync to ONE device type — computer or mobile, not both — since 2021; Premium lifts that for $3/month annually ($36/year), Families is $48/year for 6, and Business adds SSO at $7/user/month. Dashlane and 1Password have no free tier at all. Dashlane discontinued its free plan in September 2025 and offers only a 30-day trial before Premium at $4.99/month annually ($59.88/year), annual billing only. 1Password gives a 14-day trial and its headline $2.99/month annual ($35.88/year) is a first-year promo — the regular price rose in March 2026 to $3.99/month ($47.88/year), with Families at $5.99/month for 5 users. The short answer holds — pick Bitwarden or NordPass for a free plan you can live in, and treat Dashlane and 1Password as paid products with trials, not free tiers.
How we rated
- Forever-free plan
- Cheapest paid tier
- Open-source transparency
- Family & cross-platform fit
Bitwarden
Best free plan & open source★★★★4.3
The only one of the three with a verified forever-free plan - unlimited passwords and devices, open source - and Premium at $19.80/year is the cheapest paid tier in the class (verified). The security-conscious default: your vault is auditable, and 'free' is real, not a trial.
Free tier: Yes
Paid from: $19.80/yr (Premium; $19.80/yr ($1.65/mo); Families $47.88/yr; free tier = unlimited passwords & devices (re-checked 2026-09-09: Teams $4/user/mo and Enterprise $6/user/mo published — the open-source ladder stays under half of LastPass/1Password at team level; self-hosting on Enterprise))
1Password
Best polish & family UX★★★★4.4
The polished premium option (4.4, the class top): Individual is $2.99/mo billed annually ($35.88/yr), no free plan beyond a 14-day trial (verified). Travel Mode, Watchtower and family UX are the best in the class - you pay for finish, and it shows daily.
Free tier: No — trial only · 14-day free trial
Paid from: $2.99/mo (Individual; $2.99/mo billed annually ($35.88/yr) is a first-year promo for new customers (regular annual price $3.99/mo); no free plan; 14-day trial (re-checked 2026-09-09: the increase landed in March 2026 — regular Individual now $3.99/mo = $47.88/yr, Families $5.99/mo for 5 users; independent 2026 trackers confirm the old $2.99/$4.49 pair is gone outside first-year promo))
1Password
Password & Security
1Password manages team and personal passwords, with secrets vaulting and zero-trust integrations.
★★★★☆4.4
✓ Docs-based · verified against official site ↗ NordPass
Best polished free experience★★★★4.1
NordPass Free gives you unlimited password storage, autosave, autofill, cross-device sync and MFA — all free forever. The UI is more polished than Bitwarden's, and the upgrade path to Premium ($1.59/mo 2-yr) adds data breach scanning, email masking and unlimited active sessions. The catch: no open-source option, and the free tier limits active sessions (you have to re-authenticate on new devices).
Free tier: Yes · 30-day money-back guarantee on personal plans; 14-day business free trial (no credit card)
Paid from: $1.59/mo (Free plan = unlimited passwords, autosave, autofill, sync, MFA; Premium $1.59/mo (2-yr) / $1.89/mo (1-yr) — data breach scanner, email masking, unlimited sessions; Family $2.79/mo (2-yr) for 6 vaults; Teams $3.59/user/mo annual (fixed 10-user pack); Business $3.99/user/mo annual (5-250 users); monthly billing not available for personal plans)
Dashlane
Best when bundled VPN matters★★★★3.9
The bundle play (3.9): Premium at $4.99/mo billed annually, the priciest entry here - and its free tier was discontinued in September 2025 (verified). Pick it only if the bundled VPN and dark-web monitoring are worth the premium; otherwise the same money buys more elsewhere.
Free tier: No — trial only · 30-day trial
Paid from: $4.99/mo (Premium; annual billing only; free tier discontinued Sep 2025)
Dashlane
Password & Security
Dashlane bundles a VPN and dark web monitoring with smooth password management, at a higher price.
★★★★☆3.9
✓ Docs-based · verified against official site ↗ LastPass
The cautionary free plan★★★★3.5
Unlimited passwords — on computer OR mobile, one device type (verified across 2026 sources). Dark web monitoring and 1-on-1 sharing are included, but the single-device cap is why the 2021 change pushed its free users to Bitwarden, which syncs unlimited devices. Include LastPass Free only if you truly live on one device class.
Free tier: Yes · 30-day premium trials
Paid from: $3/mo (Free: unlimited passwords but ONE device type only (computer OR mobile — post-2021 restriction), dark web monitoring, 1-on-1 sharing; Premium $3/mo billed annually ($36/yr): cross-device, 1GB encrypted file storage, one-to-many sharing, emergency access; Families $4/mo ($48/yr) for 6; Teams $4/user/mo ($48/user/yr) up to 50; Business $7/user/mo ($84/user/yr) with SSO. The live pricing page personalizes its price strings client-side (static HTML ships tokens, not numbers) — ladder cross-verified against three independent 2026 reviews.)
Bottom line
Bottom line: Bitwarden and NordPass both have genuinely usable free tiers with unlimited passwords. Bitwarden wins on open-source code and self-hosting; NordPass wins on UI polish. 1Password and Dashlane have no free plans — only 14-day and 30-day trials respectively — so they are not 'free' in any real sense.
FAQs
Which password manager has a real free plan?
Only Bitwarden - unlimited passwords and devices, forever, verified on the official pricing page. 1Password offers a 14-day trial (no free plan); Dashlane's free tier was discontinued in September 2025.
What is the cheapest paid password manager?
Bitwarden Premium at $19.80/year. 1Password Individual is $2.99/mo billed annually ($35.88/yr); Dashlane Premium is $4.99/mo billed annually.
Which password manager is the security-conscious choice?
Bitwarden - open-source and auditable, the only one here with a genuine free tier. 1Password is the polished premium pick (top rating 4.4) if you pay; Dashlane only when the bundled VPN matters.