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In Its First Funding in 14 Years, 1Password Raises $200M Series A

485 points by adamfeldman 7y ago

danShumway 7y ago
I'm in the process of convincing a business I'm working with to start using 1Password for all of our password management. I really hope this story isn't the first warning sign that the decision was a mistake.
- TheTaytay 7y ago
  I think that the business use case will become their sweet spot...
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
tnorthcutt 7y ago
As a long-time user of 1Password, this is worrying. I hope this turns out well, but I’m not optimistic.
- wtmt 7y ago
  You could try Bitwarden.
dewey 7y ago
I can only hope that this doesn't have any bad impact on the consumer product. I'm using it since its first version when it was a Mac only password manager without any cloud integration.
aljungberg 7y ago
This may become another example of a good company catering well to a specific niche, then taking on money until they are unable to cater well to their original niche anymore. Solving a specific problem well in a market worth $X is not compatible with taking 10 * $X in funding — you will be forced to start doing something else so you can make ROI. Along the way you’ll probably alienate your existing market by price gouging (like switching to a subscription based service model for a simple app), so there won’t be any turning back either.
- journalctl 7y ago
  So what you’re saying is someone had better start working on a competing password manager today.
  - toomuchtodo 7y ago
    There are several competing password managers today of course! My take is that like Dropbox (disclaimer: paying Dropbox customer until iCloud Files is just a bit better), this is a feature, not a product (unless you need team or cross platform functionality, but for teams you should probably be enterprise grade with SSO instead of sharing creds). I'd switch from BitWarden to a native Apple solution the moment the Keychain UX reached parity with BitWarden, n=1.
    - scrollaway 7y ago
      As a sole user it's definitely a feature-not-product, but for teams 1Password really is a product with its extensive access controls etc. Kinda reminds me of identity management / authentication. These also are features, right? But I feel a lot better about delegating that feature to a business whose core competency is that (eg. Okta, Google, …). "Payment" also is a feature, but I'd never not use Stripe.
      - deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
    - nytesky 7y ago
      Why or why is Apple keychain so limited. It is strictly for website address/passwords, so doesn't work for a more diverse robust security password manager. And the sync is very flaky (when I create items within the setting application, they don't show up on my phone). And its multi steps to simply launch keychain since its not a true native app on MacOS nor iOS.
      - lotsofpulp 7y ago
gtf21 7y ago
I hope this isn't a bad sign for the future of 1Password. I've been a customer as a consumer for about ten years, and my team has been using it for four years. The nice thing about them is that they have always had a great consumer product (and the teams product has also been excellent). Since they didn't need to take on the funding, I wonder if having a fund on board will result in focussing on the wrong things (e.g. growth-at-all-costs).
- CPLX 7y ago
  Wanted to piggyback on this thread since I've been thinking about using a password manager for awhile and have never gotten around to it. What's the best service level for 1password for a small office, like 10 people or so, that want to just share basic passwords for things like social media accounts, mailchimp login, adobe password, and stuff like that?
  - roustem 7y ago
    Thank you for asking! 1Password Teams is the best option for smaller teams: https://1password.com/teams/ https://1password.com/teams/ You can always change it to 1Password Business later if you need more permission controls, user groups, etc. If you need help with anything, please get in touch with our business team: business@1password.com
nytesky 7y ago
Password managers are still very clunky, and only part of a broader personal cyber security landscape. I hope they are working towards a more holistic approach for personal security (encrypted drives, cloud backup, monitoring, most things are still very difficult for anyone but prosumer to manager).
missU1P 7y ago
Yet another sustainable and useful business that'll be undone by Venture Capital. They've had sustainable growth with the support of paying customers who truly love the product, and now they'll be on the path to 100x and/or bust in <5 years. I hope they'll re-release the standalone version before the last person out switches off the servers.
- kgraves 7y ago
  Those looking into a password manager solution dodged a bullet.
simongr3dal 7y ago
Seems like a very weird thing for them to do. The article mentions all the things that 1password succeeded in doing on its own: bootstraping themselves, shifted their product to focus on subscriptions, even made their product work well with more enterprise-y needs. All while working out pretty well financially. And now they need capital funding. For what? The quotes in the article seems to say that a developing a go-to-market strategy and hiring a sales team to do telemarketing requires 200M.
- yborg 7y ago
  They don't need the money, I assume this is a CEO/founder cash-out. They have an established revenue stream, and have established an enterprise presence, they will be an attractive acquisition target. There's so much VC money floating around that a sure bet like this can attract that kind of money, and who would turn it down? I'm still on the pre-subscription 1Pass and kudos to them that it still works, but like Dropbox this will become an enterprise service that will be too expensive for consumers. The good news is that password managers are now effectively a commodity, like cloud storage, so there are plenty of options.
  - thesimon 7y ago
    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-the-secret-is-out-torontos-1password-raises-200-million-led-by-us/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-the-secret-... Indeed it seems like only like $70mio go into the company, rest is cashout.
- deweller 7y ago
  The money is for the enterprise product. > 1Password plans to use its new capital to “aggressively” invest in its product and go-to-market programs so that it can continue to grow its enterprise customer base
- tim333 7y ago
  To let the shareholders cash out maybe? If they get annoying, Bitwarden's not bad https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21175332 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21175332
classified 7y ago
I immediately thought this is the worst possible news about 1Password. In order to let the investors cash in, they'll ruin a good product or pivot completely, like selling online ads.
- kgraves 7y ago
  Agreed, to be honest, I was considering them as a password manager for my personal needs, now I am unsure about trusting them with this announcement.
- TheTaytay 7y ago
  I understand being somewhat cynical about acquisitions under certain circumstances, but expecting ruin or a pivot of this sort feels like quite a leap to me. Are there other examples of profitable SAAS companies, particularly ones with enterprise offerings, later pivoting to that extreme? I understand selling lots of ads happens after an Instagram acquisition. (They're buying eyeballs/attention after all.) But this feels like a totally different beast to me.
subdane 7y ago
Rhymes with Github
pgt 7y ago
What are good alternatives to 1Password?
- bretpiatt 7y ago
  For consumer (individual or family) or business? Password management is a privacy and data sync problem. As a consumer I use an Android device, Windows desktop, Linux laptop so OS or single ecosystem solutions don't work for me. They may be ideal for others. For a business password manager I'd want to know who is storing my data and how it's being stored. It should be stored where the provider has no access to the passwords (data is encrypted client side before being sent through sync backend ). Disclosure: TeamPassword is part of the business I run.
- swozey 7y ago
  Bitwarden will be the most recommended. I tried it to move off of 1password a few months ago, there was a time where 1password kept breaking the extension in every OS I was using. I can't remember exactly what was missing but there were several things I was used to in 1password that weren't available in bitwarden that made it feel clunkier to me. It's UI is definitely the closest you'll get to 1pass. I think a big reason I couldn't use it was the Android app is built off Electron and doesn't currently support Android fingerprinting.. So I'd have to fingerprint into 1pass to grab my Bitwarden pass.. edit: Err on my part, it's missing TouchID in OSX https://community.bitwarden.com/t/touch-id-support-for-macos/568?page=2 https://community.bitwarden.com/t/touch-id-support-for-macos...
  - nytesky 7y ago
    How mature is Bitwarden? I know its open source, but IIRC the business address for Bitwarden is a random house in Jacksonville, Florida? And that was only found on Reddit or something. If its open source thats great, but most people are not building the clients for iOS and MacOS at home. We trust the builds that they host to be true to the source. 1password lists its physical address on its home page (and I think every page). Lastpass is part of Logmein, an established tech company in Boston. I'm very wary of a password manager trojan horse, similar to the Kaspersky incident.
atonse 7y ago
Why? I mean, by all means they've always felt like a true bootstrapping success story (I'm a happy 1Password customer for many years). Why take funding and give up control of your company to an outsider now?
- dajonker 7y ago
  Because you can cash millions so you'll never have to work again for the rest of your life?
  - toomuchtodo 7y ago
    You're not wrong. If the friction is low, user harm is minimal because they can move easily (the import from 1Password to Bitwarden was painless), and you're just burning someone else's VC dollars, I ain't even mad. No extra credit for making life harder than it has to be.
  - chubot 7y ago
    It sounds like they could have already done that given the success of the company? A company that's been profitable for 14 years has likely made its owners rich. Is it really a matter of getting $4X M instead of $X M?
  - atonse 7y ago
    They've bootstrapped to hundreds of employees, suffice to say the owners are probably multi-millionaires by now.
swlkr 7y ago
I moved away from 1password when they switched from license to subscription pricing. There's nothing wrong with subscription pricing, especially when paired with cloud syncing. Bandwidth and cloud storage aren't free and the app is definitely worth the $2.99/mo. It was a great move for them, just not for me since I don't sync my passwords over the cloud.
- bashy 7y ago
  I believe they still support buying a single license from within the app.
  - chucktorres 7y ago
    The process is increasingly convoluted to figure out. I'm still clinging on to their 1Password 6 license and it's now broken in Safari on Catalina. Life goes on.
    - ping_pong 7y ago
      it's also broken on all Windows, and for Chrome on Mac. I also have my 1Password 6 license using Dropbox to sync and I just cut and paste my passwords now. I don't want to pay subscription since I paid $80 already for something that doesn't substantially change.
      - abendy 7y ago
        I use v6 on Mac/Chrome and it works as expected. When did it stop working for you? And have you found a work around? I'm dreading the day this stops working. I'll probably bail on this company if they prevent me from using software that I have paid for unless I upgrade.
        therealx 7y ago
        You can't expect them to keep updating old versions to work with new operating systems. I agree they should not turn off old versions, but thats not whats happening.
kgraves 7y ago
Products that take in VC funding (at any stage) never ends well for the company or consumers. Such a shame 1Password caved in.
- switz 7y ago
  I'm no champion of VC backed business, but this is an absurd statement.
  - kgraves 7y ago
    Why? I am genuinely curious.
    - switz 7y ago
      There are countless examples of successful businesses (and products, if that's your point of emphasis) that have raised VC, both from a company and consumer standpoint. VC can corrupt product, and I have intentionally avoided VC funding for my products, but to say it "never ends well" is just hyperbole.
swozey 7y ago
I feel like I've spent an absolute fortune on 1password over the last decade. I'm pretty sure it was, what, $70 when I got it 6+ years ago? Now I'm paying monthly (2.99 or 4.99/mo x .. 3-5 years?) which is pretty ironic considering a lot of us initially left LastPass to go to 1pass because it was 100% offline (I'm aware you can do local vaults still). At least the QOL updates have been coming faster lately, especially with Android. Anyway, very curious what this means. I'm sure there's a ton of features I've not thought about in years it could use (like LastPass's IP/region blocks) but 1password has never felt like it was a fast moving feature company. Maybe this will get us that.
- AdmiralAsshat 7y ago
  Kinda feels like the Wal-Mart episode of South Park, where they burn it down and all go back to shopping at a Mom-and-Pop shop: the M&P shop grows to keep up with demand, gets too big, and then they burn it down again. It seems that the fate of every decent Password Manager is to be acquired by some rent-seeking company and have its userbase gouged. I suppose we can all start packing up to make the move to Bitwarden. Until it's bought.
  - swozey 7y ago
    Then LastPass just buys them all and we're back to that
- gtf21 7y ago
  Very frustratingly, there's no Linux client and they recommend 1PasswordX for Linux users, which doesn't allow offline vaults, pretty sure it _requires_ 1Password's online service.
  - swozey 7y ago
    I was actually really impressed with 1passwordX, it made me switching off of OSX almost a non-issue but you're right, I didn't realize it didn't support offline vaults. They really don't like that.
  - 7y ago
ghshephard 7y ago
This isn't really a typical Venture funding, and is definitely not a "Series A". Traditionally, at this point, 1Password would probably have just gone Public, without any need for venture funding. But, why go to the hassle of doing that when you can get most of the same benefits ($$$) without any of the pain (public reporting, SOX, etc...). The VCs at this point would be happy with a 3-4x return, because the risk is minimal - companies at this level of maturity, profitability, market dominance, and growth are highly unlikely to fail. So, if they picked up (for arguments sake) 25% of the company, giving it pre-money valuation of $800mm, all they really need to do over the next 3-4 years is build an $3.2B company, which, given 1Password's dominance/quality of product - should be relatively straightforward. Their killer organic entry is: "Everyone" is already using them for personal password management, which means cost of training/installation/use is trivial to add the Enterprise element. As a personal user, I consider 1Password the GitHub of password management - sure, there are lots of GitHub competitors, and you can roll your own - but, when there is one product that has completely nailed it - why bother going with anyone else.
- ttul 7y ago
  This is so so true. I have tried them all. 1Password is the no-brain option that crushes all others.
  - jliptzin 7y ago
    I haven’t tried 1password, I have been using LastPass, would you recommend I switch?
    - tnorthcutt 7y ago
      Without hesitation. The user experience with 1Password is far better than LastPass (I’ve used both).
    - NeedMoreTea 7y ago
      Not any more. It used to be a no brainer, but they switched to cloud based subscription at great cost increase, loss of some features, and dark-patterned the native app into invisibility. Native is still available apparently, but you won't find it from the homepage, unless they were persuaded to change recently. Report an error in the native app, and they suggest switching to cloud subscription without addressing the error at all. When my current native install of 1pw stops working I'll be migrating elsewhere.
s09dfhks 7y ago
i fear that if they go public, the service will just turn into a cash grab
kevinherron 7y ago
Well that’s disappointing.
- vntok 7y ago
  Another way to look at it is it's a huge success and kudos to the team.
scott_s 7y ago
Am I the only one who considers this a good thing? I recently started using 1Password, and I love it. I finally jumped in because a colleague gave it glowing praise and my company gave us corporate accounts. After using it for a week through my company account, I created a separate personal account for myself. I happily pay a monthly subscription because it is a service I benefit from daily. It also lets me neatly manage personal and company accounts easily, from the same interface, while still keeping the vaults separate. I see this as a good thing because someone will become the password manager for large companies, and that someone will likely become the password manager. I'm glad to see it's likely to become a service that I think is a good one. I understand people are worried that the personal use will suffer, but I don't see how. (I understand why people say that - less emphasis on a smaller market - but I don't see how since the corporate offering is basically the same thing as the personal one, to an individual user.)
- gtf21 7y ago
  > I see this as a good thing because someone will become the password manager for large companies, and that someone will likely become the password manager A) 1Password was already well on its way to doing this (a lot of large companies seem to be using it); B) I'm not sure that it follows necessarily that the largest corporate option will become the largest consumer option.
- swozey 7y ago
  > Am I the only one who considers this a good thing? This company over the years has, multiple times, basically ripped the rug out from under its users (moving to online vaults, hiding native app, switching from a single fee to monthly charge) so I really don't see it as a positive. From comments in here it seems like they'll be focusing on Enterprise. That just leads me to assume they'll listen to consumer feedback even less.
  - novok 7y ago
    What do you mean native app? I use the native apps all the time and it’s a pretty prominent thing that you get redirect to when you press get started on their front page
mattmar96 7y ago
Get ready for a new round of monetization.
sys_64738 7y ago
EnPass is my replacement.
vikingcaffiene 7y ago
Ugh. I have been a happy paying customer for many years now. I went all in on 1p specifically because they didn't do shit like this. When a CEO says things like "we need to grow aggressively" I hear "we need to find ways to foist new trash features no one asked for upon our users and then ignore them to get the big enterprise bucks". Time after time I see great products get ruined by that mindset. See Dropbox. See Evernote. There are open source solutions that are nearly as good as 1p. I guess its time to start evaluating. Man I _just_ got my partner to starting using 1p too...
- stevenjohns 7y ago
  Check out Bitwarden. This[0] event sealed the deal for me that I wouldn't use 1Password again, and Bitwarden was a great alternative. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20417832 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20417832
  - stevewodil 7y ago
    Will add that my experience using Bitwarden has been nothing but positive so far! Happy with the product. We are also considering using Bitwarden for Business at my company
  - mackrevinack 7y ago
    in the past i recommended lastpass to people who are just getting started but now I recommend bitwarden instead unless someone needs password sharing. the UI is a lot simpler for a first timer to pick up. the reason I don't use bitwarden myself anymore is because I started using syncthing and it seemed like a waste that I wasn't using it to sync my passwords as well. so I'm using keepass now. its not as pretty but the autotype feature is great and it means I need one less browser extension that I need installed
noja 7y ago
Why? They're not cheap as it is. What's the extra cash for? Edit: they have 174 staff!
- ska 7y ago
  "growth" of course. Which, in context, probably doesn't mean good things.
- superchink 7y ago
  Do you think that’s a little? Or a lot?
callumprentice 7y ago
I've been a customer for 10 years (coincidentally, I checked email and I downloaded it from the iOS app store 10 years today) and very happy. The two things I'd love for them to fix are: 1/ Make the Windows version feel more like the macOS one. I switch between the two OS's all the time and it always feels jarring to open the Windows one after using the other. 2/ Add an option to cache everything locally. My phone has plenty of storage and there have been a few times where I have been with cell service or wifi and unable to pull down a document or credential I have stored there. Mostly though I love it and can't imagine what life must have been like before password managers.
- ble52 7y ago
  Personally I like that macOS and Windows apps are different. Those are two different platforms, with their own design paradigms, human interface guidelines, etc. They should have different versions, tailored specifically for the OS they're running on. I don't like apps, usually Electron- or something like that-based, that are exactly the same on all platforms, because they feel out of place on all of them, IMHO.
  - callumprentice 7y ago
    Yep understood and I agree with most of that. It's been a gripe of mine for a while but I went back now and compared the two and the Windows one, IMHO, is much improved. Certainly thankful in any case that there is a Windows version and I don't have to manually transcribe from my phone.
  - dawnerd 7y ago
    Thats fine and all but there's some things the windows app just doesn't do or do well at all compared to mac. Searching is one of them, along with being able to use 1pass x with the desktop app for auth. I'm just amazed that they have so many employees yet their window and browser apps are still really lacking. Side nitpick: it's annoying that they're moving to 1Password X. I really don't want to run the desktop app AND an independent version in my browser. It's not as bad on mac since it can communicate with the desktop app to unlock, but on windows... ugh.
te_chris 7y ago
Priming for a sale to GAFAM huh? Surely it's cheaper just to sell...
streblo 7y ago
Disappointed to see so much negativity in this thread. Password management is still an unsolved problem in most peoples lives. Think of your parents - are they using a good digital password manager, or do they still have a bunch of sticky notes with their passwords written out on them? Wouldn't it be better if they were using a password manager? Most people I know, especially the ones that aren't tech savvy, won't use a password manager until the UX and product experience are nailed. So far, 1Password is the only password management product I see making progress in that direction. People complained when they upped their prices and moved to a cloud model (and in all fairness that transition wasn't handled perfectly), but honestly, the product is now way better, works on more platforms, and is totally seamless. I hope they use the investment money to continue to make the product better and to get it into more people's hands.
- AlexandrB 7y ago
  > but honestly, the product is now way better It is not. 1Password 7 for Mac is a UX regression IMHO. Most of my common workflows have become more clunky. There's useless UI elements I can't get rid of taking up prime real estate (Watchtower). And, while this is subjective, I think it's also uglier than 1Password 6.
- emptysongglass 7y ago
  I tell friends and family the threat they're under by continuing to use the same password for all their accounts. They know I'm a geek so they ask me what do I do and I have them up on the free and open-source Bitwarden in a few minutes. They love it, I love helping them. Profit is fine so long as a user always remains in control. Given 1Password's history of pulling the rug, I can't guarantee that control.
chadlavi 7y ago
I thought Apple had bought them? Am I thinking of a different password management app?
- the_narrator 7y ago
  I am not sure what you are thinking of, but it isn't 1Password.
- tw04 7y ago
  No, they just purchased a corporate license which people assumed was an indication Apple would eventually acquire them. https://bgr.com/2018/07/10/apple-1password-acquisition-deal/ https://bgr.com/2018/07/10/apple-1password-acquisition-deal/
  - chadlavi 7y ago
    Aha! Thanks. Thought I was going crazy for a bit there.
joshmn 7y ago
I'm happy for them, but I'm worried about what this means for the product and its future. They now need to hit $1BB or die trying. And most of the time that means die. Maybe they might have some life-changing enterprise thing up their sleeves. I don't know. We don't know. I'm wishing them well, I just am bracing for impact.
- AmericanChopper 7y ago
  > They now need to hit $1BB or die trying What are you basing this off exactly? The only case where failing to hit valuation targets can kill a company, is when the company is reliant on continued funding to operate. A profitable company is free to disappoint it's investors in any way it chooses.
  - gruez 7y ago
    >A profitable company is free to disappoint it's investors in any way it chooses. ...until those investors are not satisfied with those low returns, and installs a new board/executive focused on milking their existing customers.
    - woah 7y ago
      Depends on whether or not the control the company.
    - AmericanChopper 7y ago
      I didn’t read that Accel had acquired a controlling stake. Can you point me to the source that makes that claim?
      - gruez 7y ago
        "Accel" wasn't even mentioned in my original comment. Quit putting words in my mouth.
        AmericanChopper 7y ago
Deimorz 7y ago
Official blog posts: * 1Password: https://blog.1password.com/accel-partnership/ https://blog.1password.com/accel-partnership/ * Accel: https://www.accel.com/interests/OurSeriesAIn1Password https://www.accel.com/interests/OurSeriesAIn1Password
eternalny1 7y ago
How does 1Password compare to Firefox Lockwise? I am using Lockwise and it uses the same technology and cross-platform sync. Since I already use Firefox this is a no-brainer to me, and it's free. Is there an advantage to 1Password over Lockwise?
- ymolodtsov 7y ago
  Lockwise isn’t very polished in terms of UI. It doesn’t have 2FA support, it doesn't check if your passwords are good and different. You also don’t have desktop apps in case you open an app that doesn’t support your password manager.
- tilolebo 7y ago
  I use none of the above, but I guess you can't autofill smartphone app credential fields with Lockwise, while you certainly can with 1pw.
HugoDaniel 7y ago
How Will they adapt if something like webauthn or any other passwordless tech catches up ?
endorphone 7y ago
1Password almost makes me feel like I'm in the Truman Show or something. It's a company whose founders live in my small hometown and keeps appearing in my life in the most disconnected ways (despite living hours away). Just recently my sister-in-law was hired to the company. All along I'm super impressed by their model and great culture, but at the same time believing that it's -- in the words of Steve Jobs -- a feature and not a product. Fantastic to see them doing so well.
- greedo 7y ago
  It is a feature in many ways, but its cross-platform nature is what protects it from competitors like iCloud and Google's password sync.
jeena 7y ago
I never really understood the appeal of 1Password, why would you send all your passwords to a 3rd party where you can't even read the source code? I'm using KeePassXC in combination with Syncthing, everything is hosted by me and without the need of any cloud. Am I missing something, or is it just the convinience of one package?
- otachack 7y ago
  I have a similar setup and yes, I believe it's a convenience thing. Imagine teaching your non-technical family member how to manage your setup.
tolmasky 7y ago
1Password needs to rename their service. I have told non-technical people "oh you should really use 1Password", have have them respond "Oh I do!", only to later find out they meant they use "one password" for every service, the exact opposite of the right thing to do! It is seriously some "Who's on First?"-level bullshit that leads me to have to be incredibly meticulous and careful when recommending their product. Imagine naming your product "'password'-as-your-password" then telling people "Oh you should really try using 'password'-as-your-password!".
- chrisstanchak 7y ago
  This is pretty funny
- tumblen 7y ago
  Great point that I hadn't thought of, but is so true! It communicates ok in text, but verbally not well at all. Maybe they can rebrand to "123456"
  - fred_is_fred 7y ago
    They should call it hunter2 of course.
    - iandinwoodie 7y ago
      I'm putting my vote in for bond007.
    - caleb-allen 7y ago
      How would you pronounce that? "star star star, star star star star"?
  - Thorrez 7y ago
    We already have zxcvbn https://github.com/dropbox/zxcvbn https://github.com/dropbox/zxcvbn
- toomanybeersies 7y ago
m0zg 7y ago
Just goes to show that how you sell stuff dominates _what_ you sell. 1Password is a relatively primitive CRUD app with multiple $0 competitors (I moved off it to Bitwarden, which is ugly, but works fine). And yet they have (judging by the amount raised) at least tens of millions of paying customers, if not hundreds of millions.
trollied 7y ago
Definitely waiting for Apple to buy them & integrate into macOS/iOS/iPadOS. Apple use 1Password themselves.
- Svoka 7y ago
  FYI, all password managers are integrated into iOS
- saagarjha 7y ago
  Well, Apple provides it as an option for you to use. You don’t have to use it if iCloud Keychain works for you.
murat124 7y ago
I love 1Password and I used it after I migrated from the terrible LastPass. But I'm happy with password-store/GPG/Github priv repo solution and definitely not going to pay for a mo/yr subscription. Good luck to them though.
anon9001 7y ago
IMO the biggest threat to 1Password is Yubico. Webauthn already works, all that's missing is the adoption. In the not-so-distant future, the idea of password management will be laughable.
auslander 7y ago
Security slip-ups in 1Password and other https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/02/28/flaws_in_password_management_apps/ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/02/28/flaws_in_password_m...
jeffdavis 7y ago
Great. Now the company I trust my secrets with needs hyper-growth.
httpsterio 7y ago
I've been using a password manager for almost 10 years now and on the enterprise side there's really none that competes with 1pass. They had some security issues like with their Jira being misconfigured and open to the public, but their marketing and imago is built around them taking security very seriously (for obvious reasons). personally though, I don't use their offering outside of my work context. Currently, I think bitwarden is maybe the best platform for consumers as its open source, audited by proper security companies and generally very open. I roll with my self-hosted version and I've been nothing but amazed on how good it is to use, even on mobile. Lastpass had way more usability issues (like being totally broken at first on Firefox when they came out with webextensions) and bitwarden's mobile app is at least as good as the one's you'd normally have to pay for. Strong recommendation for bitwarden.
- freeAgent 7y ago
  I'd say Okta is pretty much the standard corporate "password manager" (SSO) solution. I'm a consultant and probably half of my (very large) clients use Okta.
samgranieri 7y ago
I'm really happy for them. I've been using them for almost a decade, since I saw a weird looking icon in Geoffrey Grosenbach's broswer in his PeepCode tutorials and found out it's a password manager. This app is a huge part of my day and I'm happy to evangelize it.
forrestthewoods 7y ago
I quit 1Password for Bitwarden. I don’t need to pay $5 a month to store a 10kb database file in the cloud. I had a paid app that worked fine. But they tried really really hard to force you into subscription service. Thanks but no thanks.
botswana99 7y ago
I bet the founding team took half of the 200M and put it in their personal bank accounts. This is called a secondary. After so many years I am happy for them. But some people think this practice is a sketchy WDYT?
- darawk 7y ago
  Seems fine to me. They sold some equity, nothing wrong with that.
arminiusreturns 7y ago
I can't wait for someone to do web based enterprise password management right, because almost no one has yet. I'm still over here clinging to my keepassxc like a life-raft after the Titanic.
jshaqaw 7y ago
I bought 1Password years ago but balked at a subscription (I pay for tons of subscription software products - this one just didn't feel worth it). Now I pretty much just use MacOS keychain. What am I missing that would lure me back?
mensetmanusman 7y ago
It’s somewhat a risk, Apple is trying to Sherlock password management.
pertymcpert 7y ago
Can someone explain what 1Password gives that iCloud Keychain doesn’t? Is it just the cross platform thing? Because I use iPhone and Mac and iCloud Keychain works really well, I don’t even think about it.
- syntheticcdo 7y ago
  For me, 2FA tokens and easy shared vaults.
  - alpb 7y ago
    It's actually not recommended to keep your 2FA tokens and passwords at the same place (i.e. your 1Password vault). The whole point of 2FA is the separation (something you _know_ and something you _have_).
- gcarvalho 7y ago
  Access to your passwords outside of iOS / macOS.
Thorentis 7y ago
KeePass + Dropbox is my preferred option. No centralised access to my passwords, available across all devices. There is a great KeePass app on Android that auto syncs with a file in Dropbox, and all my machines obviously just access it via the Dropbox folder. Entirely free.
- Sendotsh 7y ago
  Yup I've been using KeePass + OneDrive (and duplicated to my NAS) on all my devices, across all major OSes, for years now. Never had a single issue and love that it's open source with a selection of clients to choose from. You can also keep your password database offline (airgapped network, USB key/drive, remote/offline devices), and having control of the client + database means you know you can still access those same passwords a decade from now.
dclaw 7y ago
I'm laughing at all these people saying they've paid them money already. WOW. There are completely free alternatives. https://www.passwordstore.org/ https://www.passwordstore.org/ for instance, which has clients and/or client integrations for all platforms and is completely FOSS. Sorry, but your passwords are some VCs property now, and how/where you use/access them from are a business metric to be sold.
tootahe45 7y ago
Serious question: why does an already-built password manager need 200m?
edwinyzh 7y ago
Congratulations! If i remember it correct, it's written in Delphi, the best desktop development tool for Windows.
mssun 7y ago
For those who have concern about security, pass (https://www.passwordstore.org/ https://www.passwordstore.org/) is a good alternative. It supports many clients like Pass for iOS (https://github.com/mssun/passforios https://github.com/mssun/passforios), Password Store Android (https://github.com/android-password-store/Android-Password-Store https://github.com/android-password-store/Android-Password-S...). The good thing is that all are open source.
neighbour 7y ago
Just curious, why would anyone use this over Bitwarden?

485 points by adamfeldman 7y ago

I'm in the process of convincing a business I'm working with to start using 1Password for all of our password management. I really hope this story isn't the first warning sign that the decision was a mistake.

TheTaytay 7y ago
I think that the business use case will become their sweet spot...

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

tnorthcutt 7y ago

As a long-time user of 1Password, this is worrying. I hope this turns out well, but I’m not optimistic.

wtmt 7y ago
You could try Bitwarden.

dewey 7y ago

I can only hope that this doesn't have any bad impact on the consumer product. I'm using it since its first version when it was a Mac only password manager without any cloud integration.

aljungberg 7y ago

This may become another example of a good company catering well to a specific niche, then taking on money until they are unable to cater well to their original niche anymore. Solving a specific problem well in a market worth $X is not compatible with taking 10 * $X in funding — you will be forced to start doing something else so you can make ROI. Along the way you’ll probably alienate your existing market by price gouging (like switching to a subscription based service model for a simple app), so there won’t be any turning back either.

journalctl 7y ago
So what you’re saying is someone had better start working on a competing password manager today.
- toomuchtodo 7y ago
  There are several competing password managers today of course! My take is that like Dropbox (disclaimer: paying Dropbox customer until iCloud Files is just a bit better), this is a feature, not a product (unless you need team or cross platform functionality, but for teams you should probably be enterprise grade with SSO instead of sharing creds). I'd switch from BitWarden to a native Apple solution the moment the Keychain UX reached parity with BitWarden, n=1.
  - scrollaway 7y ago
    As a sole user it's definitely a feature-not-product, but for teams 1Password really is a product with its extensive access controls etc. Kinda reminds me of identity management / authentication. These also are features, right? But I feel a lot better about delegating that feature to a business whose core competency is that (eg. Okta, Google, …). "Payment" also is a feature, but I'd never not use Stripe.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
  - nytesky 7y ago
    Why or why is Apple keychain so limited. It is strictly for website address/passwords, so doesn't work for a more diverse robust security password manager. And the sync is very flaky (when I create items within the setting application, they don't show up on my phone). And its multi steps to simply launch keychain since its not a true native app on MacOS nor iOS.
    - lotsofpulp 7y ago

gtf21 7y ago

I hope this isn't a bad sign for the future of 1Password. I've been a customer as a consumer for about ten years, and my team has been using it for four years. The nice thing about them is that they have always had a great consumer product (and the teams product has also been excellent). Since they didn't need to take on the funding, I wonder if having a fund on board will result in focussing on the wrong things (e.g. growth-at-all-costs).

CPLX 7y ago
Wanted to piggyback on this thread since I've been thinking about using a password manager for awhile and have never gotten around to it. What's the best service level for 1password for a small office, like 10 people or so, that want to just share basic passwords for things like social media accounts, mailchimp login, adobe password, and stuff like that?
- roustem 7y ago
  Thank you for asking! 1Password Teams is the best option for smaller teams: https://1password.com/teams/ https://1password.com/teams/ You can always change it to 1Password Business later if you need more permission controls, user groups, etc. If you need help with anything, please get in touch with our business team: business@1password.com

nytesky 7y ago

Password managers are still very clunky, and only part of a broader personal cyber security landscape. I hope they are working towards a more holistic approach for personal security (encrypted drives, cloud backup, monitoring, most things are still very difficult for anyone but prosumer to manager).

missU1P 7y ago

Yet another sustainable and useful business that'll be undone by Venture Capital. They've had sustainable growth with the support of paying customers who truly love the product, and now they'll be on the path to 100x and/or bust in <5 years. I hope they'll re-release the standalone version before the last person out switches off the servers.

kgraves 7y ago
Those looking into a password manager solution dodged a bullet.

simongr3dal 7y ago

Seems like a very weird thing for them to do. The article mentions all the things that 1password succeeded in doing on its own: bootstraping themselves, shifted their product to focus on subscriptions, even made their product work well with more enterprise-y needs. All while working out pretty well financially. And now they need capital funding. For what? The quotes in the article seems to say that a developing a go-to-market strategy and hiring a sales team to do telemarketing requires 200M.

yborg 7y ago
They don't need the money, I assume this is a CEO/founder cash-out. They have an established revenue stream, and have established an enterprise presence, they will be an attractive acquisition target. There's so much VC money floating around that a sure bet like this can attract that kind of money, and who would turn it down? I'm still on the pre-subscription 1Pass and kudos to them that it still works, but like Dropbox this will become an enterprise service that will be too expensive for consumers. The good news is that password managers are now effectively a commodity, like cloud storage, so there are plenty of options.
- thesimon 7y ago
  https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-the-secret-is-out-torontos-1password-raises-200-million-led-by-us/ https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-the-secret-... Indeed it seems like only like $70mio go into the company, rest is cashout.
deweller 7y ago
The money is for the enterprise product. > 1Password plans to use its new capital to “aggressively” invest in its product and go-to-market programs so that it can continue to grow its enterprise customer base
tim333 7y ago
To let the shareholders cash out maybe? If they get annoying, Bitwarden's not bad https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21175332 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21175332

classified 7y ago

I immediately thought this is the worst possible news about 1Password. In order to let the investors cash in, they'll ruin a good product or pivot completely, like selling online ads.

kgraves 7y ago
Agreed, to be honest, I was considering them as a password manager for my personal needs, now I am unsure about trusting them with this announcement.
TheTaytay 7y ago
I understand being somewhat cynical about acquisitions under certain circumstances, but expecting ruin or a pivot of this sort feels like quite a leap to me. Are there other examples of profitable SAAS companies, particularly ones with enterprise offerings, later pivoting to that extreme? I understand selling lots of ads happens after an Instagram acquisition. (They're buying eyeballs/attention after all.) But this feels like a totally different beast to me.

subdane 7y ago

Rhymes with Github

pgt 7y ago

What are good alternatives to 1Password?

bretpiatt 7y ago
For consumer (individual or family) or business? Password management is a privacy and data sync problem. As a consumer I use an Android device, Windows desktop, Linux laptop so OS or single ecosystem solutions don't work for me. They may be ideal for others. For a business password manager I'd want to know who is storing my data and how it's being stored. It should be stored where the provider has no access to the passwords (data is encrypted client side before being sent through sync backend ). Disclosure: TeamPassword is part of the business I run.
swozey 7y ago
Bitwarden will be the most recommended. I tried it to move off of 1password a few months ago, there was a time where 1password kept breaking the extension in every OS I was using. I can't remember exactly what was missing but there were several things I was used to in 1password that weren't available in bitwarden that made it feel clunkier to me. It's UI is definitely the closest you'll get to 1pass. I think a big reason I couldn't use it was the Android app is built off Electron and doesn't currently support Android fingerprinting.. So I'd have to fingerprint into 1pass to grab my Bitwarden pass.. edit: Err on my part, it's missing TouchID in OSX https://community.bitwarden.com/t/touch-id-support-for-macos/568?page=2 https://community.bitwarden.com/t/touch-id-support-for-macos...
- nytesky 7y ago
  How mature is Bitwarden? I know its open source, but IIRC the business address for Bitwarden is a random house in Jacksonville, Florida? And that was only found on Reddit or something. If its open source thats great, but most people are not building the clients for iOS and MacOS at home. We trust the builds that they host to be true to the source. 1password lists its physical address on its home page (and I think every page). Lastpass is part of Logmein, an established tech company in Boston. I'm very wary of a password manager trojan horse, similar to the Kaspersky incident.

atonse 7y ago

Why? I mean, by all means they've always felt like a true bootstrapping success story (I'm a happy 1Password customer for many years). Why take funding and give up control of your company to an outsider now?

dajonker 7y ago
Because you can cash millions so you'll never have to work again for the rest of your life?
- toomuchtodo 7y ago
  You're not wrong. If the friction is low, user harm is minimal because they can move easily (the import from 1Password to Bitwarden was painless), and you're just burning someone else's VC dollars, I ain't even mad. No extra credit for making life harder than it has to be.
- chubot 7y ago
  It sounds like they could have already done that given the success of the company? A company that's been profitable for 14 years has likely made its owners rich. Is it really a matter of getting $4X M instead of $X M?
- atonse 7y ago
  They've bootstrapped to hundreds of employees, suffice to say the owners are probably multi-millionaires by now.

swlkr 7y ago

I moved away from 1password when they switched from license to subscription pricing. There's nothing wrong with subscription pricing, especially when paired with cloud syncing. Bandwidth and cloud storage aren't free and the app is definitely worth the $2.99/mo. It was a great move for them, just not for me since I don't sync my passwords over the cloud.

bashy 7y ago
I believe they still support buying a single license from within the app.
- chucktorres 7y ago
  The process is increasingly convoluted to figure out. I'm still clinging on to their 1Password 6 license and it's now broken in Safari on Catalina. Life goes on.
  - ping_pong 7y ago
    it's also broken on all Windows, and for Chrome on Mac. I also have my 1Password 6 license using Dropbox to sync and I just cut and paste my passwords now. I don't want to pay subscription since I paid $80 already for something that doesn't substantially change.
    - abendy 7y ago
      I use v6 on Mac/Chrome and it works as expected. When did it stop working for you? And have you found a work around? I'm dreading the day this stops working. I'll probably bail on this company if they prevent me from using software that I have paid for unless I upgrade.
      - therealx 7y ago
        You can't expect them to keep updating old versions to work with new operating systems. I agree they should not turn off old versions, but thats not whats happening.

kgraves 7y ago

Products that take in VC funding (at any stage) never ends well for the company or consumers. Such a shame 1Password caved in.

switz 7y ago
I'm no champion of VC backed business, but this is an absurd statement.
- kgraves 7y ago
  Why? I am genuinely curious.
  - switz 7y ago
    There are countless examples of successful businesses (and products, if that's your point of emphasis) that have raised VC, both from a company and consumer standpoint. VC can corrupt product, and I have intentionally avoided VC funding for my products, but to say it "never ends well" is just hyperbole.

swozey 7y ago

I feel like I've spent an absolute fortune on 1password over the last decade. I'm pretty sure it was, what, $70 when I got it 6+ years ago? Now I'm paying monthly (2.99 or 4.99/mo x .. 3-5 years?) which is pretty ironic considering a lot of us initially left LastPass to go to 1pass because it was 100% offline (I'm aware you can do local vaults still). At least the QOL updates have been coming faster lately, especially with Android. Anyway, very curious what this means. I'm sure there's a ton of features I've not thought about in years it could use (like LastPass's IP/region blocks) but 1password has never felt like it was a fast moving feature company. Maybe this will get us that.

AdmiralAsshat 7y ago
Kinda feels like the Wal-Mart episode of South Park, where they burn it down and all go back to shopping at a Mom-and-Pop shop: the M&P shop grows to keep up with demand, gets too big, and then they burn it down again. It seems that the fate of every decent Password Manager is to be acquired by some rent-seeking company and have its userbase gouged. I suppose we can all start packing up to make the move to Bitwarden. Until it's bought.
- swozey 7y ago
  Then LastPass just buys them all and we're back to that
gtf21 7y ago
Very frustratingly, there's no Linux client and they recommend 1PasswordX for Linux users, which doesn't allow offline vaults, pretty sure it _requires_ 1Password's online service.
- swozey 7y ago
  I was actually really impressed with 1passwordX, it made me switching off of OSX almost a non-issue but you're right, I didn't realize it didn't support offline vaults. They really don't like that.
- 7y ago

ghshephard 7y ago

This isn't really a typical Venture funding, and is definitely not a "Series A". Traditionally, at this point, 1Password would probably have just gone Public, without any need for venture funding. But, why go to the hassle of doing that when you can get most of the same benefits ($$$) without any of the pain (public reporting, SOX, etc...). The VCs at this point would be happy with a 3-4x return, because the risk is minimal - companies at this level of maturity, profitability, market dominance, and growth are highly unlikely to fail. So, if they picked up (for arguments sake) 25% of the company, giving it pre-money valuation of $800mm, all they really need to do over the next 3-4 years is build an $3.2B company, which, given 1Password's dominance/quality of product - should be relatively straightforward. Their killer organic entry is: "Everyone" is already using them for personal password management, which means cost of training/installation/use is trivial to add the Enterprise element. As a personal user, I consider 1Password the GitHub of password management - sure, there are lots of GitHub competitors, and you can roll your own - but, when there is one product that has completely nailed it - why bother going with anyone else.

ttul 7y ago
This is so so true. I have tried them all. 1Password is the no-brain option that crushes all others.
- jliptzin 7y ago
  I haven’t tried 1password, I have been using LastPass, would you recommend I switch?
  - tnorthcutt 7y ago
    Without hesitation. The user experience with 1Password is far better than LastPass (I’ve used both).
  - NeedMoreTea 7y ago
    Not any more. It used to be a no brainer, but they switched to cloud based subscription at great cost increase, loss of some features, and dark-patterned the native app into invisibility. Native is still available apparently, but you won't find it from the homepage, unless they were persuaded to change recently. Report an error in the native app, and they suggest switching to cloud subscription without addressing the error at all. When my current native install of 1pw stops working I'll be migrating elsewhere.

s09dfhks 7y ago

i fear that if they go public, the service will just turn into a cash grab

kevinherron 7y ago

Well that’s disappointing.

vntok 7y ago
Another way to look at it is it's a huge success and kudos to the team.

scott_s 7y ago

Am I the only one who considers this a good thing? I recently started using 1Password, and I love it. I finally jumped in because a colleague gave it glowing praise and my company gave us corporate accounts. After using it for a week through my company account, I created a separate personal account for myself. I happily pay a monthly subscription because it is a service I benefit from daily. It also lets me neatly manage personal and company accounts easily, from the same interface, while still keeping the vaults separate. I see this as a good thing because someone will become the password manager for large companies, and that someone will likely become the password manager. I'm glad to see it's likely to become a service that I think is a good one. I understand people are worried that the personal use will suffer, but I don't see how. (I understand why people say that - less emphasis on a smaller market - but I don't see how since the corporate offering is basically the same thing as the personal one, to an individual user.)

gtf21 7y ago
> I see this as a good thing because someone will become the password manager for large companies, and that someone will likely become the password manager A) 1Password was already well on its way to doing this (a lot of large companies seem to be using it); B) I'm not sure that it follows necessarily that the largest corporate option will become the largest consumer option.
swozey 7y ago
> Am I the only one who considers this a good thing? This company over the years has, multiple times, basically ripped the rug out from under its users (moving to online vaults, hiding native app, switching from a single fee to monthly charge) so I really don't see it as a positive. From comments in here it seems like they'll be focusing on Enterprise. That just leads me to assume they'll listen to consumer feedback even less.
- novok 7y ago
  What do you mean native app? I use the native apps all the time and it’s a pretty prominent thing that you get redirect to when you press get started on their front page

mattmar96 7y ago

Get ready for a new round of monetization.

sys_64738 7y ago

EnPass is my replacement.

vikingcaffiene 7y ago

Ugh. I have been a happy paying customer for many years now. I went all in on 1p specifically because they didn't do shit like this. When a CEO says things like "we need to grow aggressively" I hear "we need to find ways to foist new trash features no one asked for upon our users and then ignore them to get the big enterprise bucks". Time after time I see great products get ruined by that mindset. See Dropbox. See Evernote. There are open source solutions that are nearly as good as 1p. I guess its time to start evaluating. Man I _just_ got my partner to starting using 1p too...

stevenjohns 7y ago
Check out Bitwarden. This[0] event sealed the deal for me that I wouldn't use 1Password again, and Bitwarden was a great alternative. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20417832 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20417832
- stevewodil 7y ago
  Will add that my experience using Bitwarden has been nothing but positive so far! Happy with the product. We are also considering using Bitwarden for Business at my company
- mackrevinack 7y ago
  in the past i recommended lastpass to people who are just getting started but now I recommend bitwarden instead unless someone needs password sharing. the UI is a lot simpler for a first timer to pick up. the reason I don't use bitwarden myself anymore is because I started using syncthing and it seemed like a waste that I wasn't using it to sync my passwords as well. so I'm using keepass now. its not as pretty but the autotype feature is great and it means I need one less browser extension that I need installed

noja 7y ago

Why? They're not cheap as it is. What's the extra cash for? Edit: they have 174 staff!

ska 7y ago
"growth" of course. Which, in context, probably doesn't mean good things.
superchink 7y ago
Do you think that’s a little? Or a lot?

callumprentice 7y ago

I've been a customer for 10 years (coincidentally, I checked email and I downloaded it from the iOS app store 10 years today) and very happy. The two things I'd love for them to fix are: 1/ Make the Windows version feel more like the macOS one. I switch between the two OS's all the time and it always feels jarring to open the Windows one after using the other. 2/ Add an option to cache everything locally. My phone has plenty of storage and there have been a few times where I have been with cell service or wifi and unable to pull down a document or credential I have stored there. Mostly though I love it and can't imagine what life must have been like before password managers.

ble52 7y ago
Personally I like that macOS and Windows apps are different. Those are two different platforms, with their own design paradigms, human interface guidelines, etc. They should have different versions, tailored specifically for the OS they're running on. I don't like apps, usually Electron- or something like that-based, that are exactly the same on all platforms, because they feel out of place on all of them, IMHO.
- callumprentice 7y ago
  Yep understood and I agree with most of that. It's been a gripe of mine for a while but I went back now and compared the two and the Windows one, IMHO, is much improved. Certainly thankful in any case that there is a Windows version and I don't have to manually transcribe from my phone.
- dawnerd 7y ago
  Thats fine and all but there's some things the windows app just doesn't do or do well at all compared to mac. Searching is one of them, along with being able to use 1pass x with the desktop app for auth. I'm just amazed that they have so many employees yet their window and browser apps are still really lacking. Side nitpick: it's annoying that they're moving to 1Password X. I really don't want to run the desktop app AND an independent version in my browser. It's not as bad on mac since it can communicate with the desktop app to unlock, but on windows... ugh.

te_chris 7y ago

Priming for a sale to GAFAM huh? Surely it's cheaper just to sell...

streblo 7y ago

Disappointed to see so much negativity in this thread. Password management is still an unsolved problem in most peoples lives. Think of your parents - are they using a good digital password manager, or do they still have a bunch of sticky notes with their passwords written out on them? Wouldn't it be better if they were using a password manager? Most people I know, especially the ones that aren't tech savvy, won't use a password manager until the UX and product experience are nailed. So far, 1Password is the only password management product I see making progress in that direction. People complained when they upped their prices and moved to a cloud model (and in all fairness that transition wasn't handled perfectly), but honestly, the product is now way better, works on more platforms, and is totally seamless. I hope they use the investment money to continue to make the product better and to get it into more people's hands.

AlexandrB 7y ago
> but honestly, the product is now way better It is not. 1Password 7 for Mac is a UX regression IMHO. Most of my common workflows have become more clunky. There's useless UI elements I can't get rid of taking up prime real estate (Watchtower). And, while this is subjective, I think it's also uglier than 1Password 6.
emptysongglass 7y ago
I tell friends and family the threat they're under by continuing to use the same password for all their accounts. They know I'm a geek so they ask me what do I do and I have them up on the free and open-source Bitwarden in a few minutes. They love it, I love helping them. Profit is fine so long as a user always remains in control. Given 1Password's history of pulling the rug, I can't guarantee that control.

chadlavi 7y ago

I thought Apple had bought them? Am I thinking of a different password management app?

the_narrator 7y ago
I am not sure what you are thinking of, but it isn't 1Password.
tw04 7y ago
No, they just purchased a corporate license which people assumed was an indication Apple would eventually acquire them. https://bgr.com/2018/07/10/apple-1password-acquisition-deal/ https://bgr.com/2018/07/10/apple-1password-acquisition-deal/
- chadlavi 7y ago
  Aha! Thanks. Thought I was going crazy for a bit there.

joshmn 7y ago

I'm happy for them, but I'm worried about what this means for the product and its future. They now need to hit $1BB or die trying. And most of the time that means die. Maybe they might have some life-changing enterprise thing up their sleeves. I don't know. We don't know. I'm wishing them well, I just am bracing for impact.

AmericanChopper 7y ago
> They now need to hit $1BB or die trying What are you basing this off exactly? The only case where failing to hit valuation targets can kill a company, is when the company is reliant on continued funding to operate. A profitable company is free to disappoint it's investors in any way it chooses.
- gruez 7y ago
  >A profitable company is free to disappoint it's investors in any way it chooses. ...until those investors are not satisfied with those low returns, and installs a new board/executive focused on milking their existing customers.
  - woah 7y ago
    Depends on whether or not the control the company.
  - AmericanChopper 7y ago
    I didn’t read that Accel had acquired a controlling stake. Can you point me to the source that makes that claim?
    - gruez 7y ago
      "Accel" wasn't even mentioned in my original comment. Quit putting words in my mouth.
      - AmericanChopper 7y ago

Deimorz 7y ago

Official blog posts: * 1Password: https://blog.1password.com/accel-partnership/ https://blog.1password.com/accel-partnership/ * Accel: https://www.accel.com/interests/OurSeriesAIn1Password https://www.accel.com/interests/OurSeriesAIn1Password

eternalny1 7y ago

How does 1Password compare to Firefox Lockwise? I am using Lockwise and it uses the same technology and cross-platform sync. Since I already use Firefox this is a no-brainer to me, and it's free. Is there an advantage to 1Password over Lockwise?

ymolodtsov 7y ago
Lockwise isn’t very polished in terms of UI. It doesn’t have 2FA support, it doesn't check if your passwords are good and different. You also don’t have desktop apps in case you open an app that doesn’t support your password manager.
tilolebo 7y ago
I use none of the above, but I guess you can't autofill smartphone app credential fields with Lockwise, while you certainly can with 1pw.

HugoDaniel 7y ago

How Will they adapt if something like webauthn or any other passwordless tech catches up ?

endorphone 7y ago

1Password almost makes me feel like I'm in the Truman Show or something. It's a company whose founders live in my small hometown and keeps appearing in my life in the most disconnected ways (despite living hours away). Just recently my sister-in-law was hired to the company. All along I'm super impressed by their model and great culture, but at the same time believing that it's -- in the words of Steve Jobs -- a feature and not a product. Fantastic to see them doing so well.

greedo 7y ago
It is a feature in many ways, but its cross-platform nature is what protects it from competitors like iCloud and Google's password sync.

jeena 7y ago

I never really understood the appeal of 1Password, why would you send all your passwords to a 3rd party where you can't even read the source code? I'm using KeePassXC in combination with Syncthing, everything is hosted by me and without the need of any cloud. Am I missing something, or is it just the convinience of one package?

otachack 7y ago
I have a similar setup and yes, I believe it's a convenience thing. Imagine teaching your non-technical family member how to manage your setup.

tolmasky 7y ago

1Password needs to rename their service. I have told non-technical people "oh you should really use 1Password", have have them respond "Oh I do!", only to later find out they meant they use "one password" for every service, the exact opposite of the right thing to do! It is seriously some "Who's on First?"-level bullshit that leads me to have to be incredibly meticulous and careful when recommending their product. Imagine naming your product "'password'-as-your-password" then telling people "Oh you should really try using 'password'-as-your-password!".

chrisstanchak 7y ago
This is pretty funny
tumblen 7y ago
Great point that I hadn't thought of, but is so true! It communicates ok in text, but verbally not well at all. Maybe they can rebrand to "123456"
- fred_is_fred 7y ago
  They should call it hunter2 of course.
  - iandinwoodie 7y ago
    I'm putting my vote in for bond007.
  - caleb-allen 7y ago
    How would you pronounce that? "star star star, star star star star"?
- Thorrez 7y ago
  We already have zxcvbn https://github.com/dropbox/zxcvbn https://github.com/dropbox/zxcvbn
toomanybeersies 7y ago

m0zg 7y ago

Just goes to show that how you sell stuff dominates _what_ you sell. 1Password is a relatively primitive CRUD app with multiple $0 competitors (I moved off it to Bitwarden, which is ugly, but works fine). And yet they have (judging by the amount raised) at least tens of millions of paying customers, if not hundreds of millions.

trollied 7y ago

Definitely waiting for Apple to buy them & integrate into macOS/iOS/iPadOS. Apple use 1Password themselves.

Svoka 7y ago
FYI, all password managers are integrated into iOS
saagarjha 7y ago
Well, Apple provides it as an option for you to use. You don’t have to use it if iCloud Keychain works for you.

murat124 7y ago

I love 1Password and I used it after I migrated from the terrible LastPass. But I'm happy with password-store/GPG/Github priv repo solution and definitely not going to pay for a mo/yr subscription. Good luck to them though.

anon9001 7y ago

IMO the biggest threat to 1Password is Yubico. Webauthn already works, all that's missing is the adoption. In the not-so-distant future, the idea of password management will be laughable.

auslander 7y ago

Security slip-ups in 1Password and other https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/02/28/flaws_in_password_management_apps/ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/02/28/flaws_in_password_m...

jeffdavis 7y ago

Great. Now the company I trust my secrets with needs hyper-growth.

httpsterio 7y ago

I've been using a password manager for almost 10 years now and on the enterprise side there's really none that competes with 1pass. They had some security issues like with their Jira being misconfigured and open to the public, but their marketing and imago is built around them taking security very seriously (for obvious reasons). personally though, I don't use their offering outside of my work context. Currently, I think bitwarden is maybe the best platform for consumers as its open source, audited by proper security companies and generally very open. I roll with my self-hosted version and I've been nothing but amazed on how good it is to use, even on mobile. Lastpass had way more usability issues (like being totally broken at first on Firefox when they came out with webextensions) and bitwarden's mobile app is at least as good as the one's you'd normally have to pay for. Strong recommendation for bitwarden.

freeAgent 7y ago
I'd say Okta is pretty much the standard corporate "password manager" (SSO) solution. I'm a consultant and probably half of my (very large) clients use Okta.

samgranieri 7y ago

I'm really happy for them. I've been using them for almost a decade, since I saw a weird looking icon in Geoffrey Grosenbach's broswer in his PeepCode tutorials and found out it's a password manager. This app is a huge part of my day and I'm happy to evangelize it.

forrestthewoods 7y ago

I quit 1Password for Bitwarden. I don’t need to pay $5 a month to store a 10kb database file in the cloud. I had a paid app that worked fine. But they tried really really hard to force you into subscription service. Thanks but no thanks.

botswana99 7y ago

I bet the founding team took half of the 200M and put it in their personal bank accounts. This is called a secondary. After so many years I am happy for them. But some people think this practice is a sketchy WDYT?

darawk 7y ago
Seems fine to me. They sold some equity, nothing wrong with that.

arminiusreturns 7y ago

I can't wait for someone to do web based enterprise password management right, because almost no one has yet. I'm still over here clinging to my keepassxc like a life-raft after the Titanic.

jshaqaw 7y ago

I bought 1Password years ago but balked at a subscription (I pay for tons of subscription software products - this one just didn't feel worth it). Now I pretty much just use MacOS keychain. What am I missing that would lure me back?

mensetmanusman 7y ago

It’s somewhat a risk, Apple is trying to Sherlock password management.

pertymcpert 7y ago

Can someone explain what 1Password gives that iCloud Keychain doesn’t? Is it just the cross platform thing? Because I use iPhone and Mac and iCloud Keychain works really well, I don’t even think about it.

syntheticcdo 7y ago
For me, 2FA tokens and easy shared vaults.
- alpb 7y ago
  It's actually not recommended to keep your 2FA tokens and passwords at the same place (i.e. your 1Password vault). The whole point of 2FA is the separation (something you _know_ and something you _have_).
gcarvalho 7y ago
Access to your passwords outside of iOS / macOS.

Thorentis 7y ago

KeePass + Dropbox is my preferred option. No centralised access to my passwords, available across all devices. There is a great KeePass app on Android that auto syncs with a file in Dropbox, and all my machines obviously just access it via the Dropbox folder. Entirely free.

Sendotsh 7y ago
Yup I've been using KeePass + OneDrive (and duplicated to my NAS) on all my devices, across all major OSes, for years now. Never had a single issue and love that it's open source with a selection of clients to choose from. You can also keep your password database offline (airgapped network, USB key/drive, remote/offline devices), and having control of the client + database means you know you can still access those same passwords a decade from now.

dclaw 7y ago

I'm laughing at all these people saying they've paid them money already. WOW. There are completely free alternatives. https://www.passwordstore.org/ https://www.passwordstore.org/ for instance, which has clients and/or client integrations for all platforms and is completely FOSS. Sorry, but your passwords are some VCs property now, and how/where you use/access them from are a business metric to be sold.

tootahe45 7y ago

Serious question: why does an already-built password manager need 200m?

edwinyzh 7y ago

Congratulations! If i remember it correct, it's written in Delphi, the best desktop development tool for Windows.

mssun 7y ago

For those who have concern about security, pass (https://www.passwordstore.org/ https://www.passwordstore.org/) is a good alternative. It supports many clients like Pass for iOS (https://github.com/mssun/passforios https://github.com/mssun/passforios), Password Store Android (https://github.com/android-password-store/Android-Password-Store https://github.com/android-password-store/Android-Password-S...). The good thing is that all are open source.

neighbour 7y ago

Just curious, why would anyone use this over Bitwarden?