Offers security & time savings, but I'd like a few more organizational/usability features.
December 18, 2018
Offers security & time savings, but I'd like a few more organizational/usability features.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with 1Password
I use 1Password with both my internal team members (contractors) and with select clients.
For internal purposes, my team members have access to a main vault containing key credentials for apps & systems, as well as securely stored credentials for client systems. I also have a separate vault where I house my operational credentials (e.g., not to be viewed by the team).
With clients, 1Password offers a way to securely share sensitive data & credentials, and stay up-to-date on any changes they (or their team) might make to those assets. This helps avoid situations like password-protected spreadsheets or email sharing of credentials.
For internal purposes, my team members have access to a main vault containing key credentials for apps & systems, as well as securely stored credentials for client systems. I also have a separate vault where I house my operational credentials (e.g., not to be viewed by the team).
With clients, 1Password offers a way to securely share sensitive data & credentials, and stay up-to-date on any changes they (or their team) might make to those assets. This helps avoid situations like password-protected spreadsheets or email sharing of credentials.
- Securely stores passwords & sensitive data
- Integration with iPhone's password solution (ability to utilize 1Password info rather than Apple keychain items)
- Integration with Mac Touch ID
- Ability to access multiple accounts within a single interface (and search them all -- or not -- as needed)
- If a certain login needs to be placed in two vaults (e.g., for two different teams), any updates must be applied to both instances which creates a bit of a management hurdle. We could create a 'special' vault for those types of items, but that could lead to a lot of extraneous vaults. This is particularly relevant when using the "Guest" feature, as many of the credentials have to be duplicated, and then they won't sync to the Guest vault if they're updated in the Team vault.
- When using the 1Password iPhone app, the search field takes *forever* to populate results, making the search function essentially unusable. Instead, I typically use the alpha-scrolling and then manually navigate to the item I'm looking for.
- If I view a specific vault within the desktop app, the next time I use the browser extension the results are also restricted to that vault. In order to get it to look at all vaults again, I have to open the desktop app and change it back to "all vaults" there — there's no way to select the vault within the browser extension.
- The system walks you through the initial setup steps fairly well, but then setting up the apps can be a bit daunting. I'm planning to get my family members onto a personal plan, but the set up is so complicated that I have to wait until we're together so that I can help them through it. This also creates some difficulty when on-boarding new users for my business, as it takes a lot of effort to be sure they have access to all of the right areas (and then use / save that info in order to log in to the apps).
- Seems like the business plan should have more options to accommodate organizing credentials for many different clients. Right now, we just rely on consistent naming conventions to allow like items to group together (e.g., Client Name — Website Title), but it's not very elegant and can get lengthy. I know that tags are available for use, but I'm not sure that would achieve the desired result. Initially, I had considered using individual vaults for each client, but there are just too many to merit individual vaults.
- When using the browser extension, there's no preview of the username, so if you have two records with the same title (e.g., United Mileage Plus), you have to view it before filling to ensure it's the right one. This means that all records must have a unique name / identifier, which can lead to very lengthy titles. This is particularly relevant when you have access to client accounts, since you can't be renaming their items to match your own naming conventions.
- Simplified management & sharing processes, saves time
- Reduced stress by having a secure platform to save credentials
- Increased overall password security through the use of complex passwords
- The guest feature hasn't been as useful given the structure of our vaults, so new contractors are typically added as paid members, which can add up (especially since the membership is billed annually)
I haven't used any other password solutions. 1Password was recommended to me by a colleague, with whom I was sharing credentials, so that's the one I went with. I've been using it now for about 3 years, and though I periodically have some issues with usability, it's still more effective than manually saving & attempting to secure client credentials. I've considered other solutions like LastPass, especially as they seem to have a lot of integrations with other apps that I use, but my main barrier to switching is that I don't want to have to transfer data, set up a new platform, and add/train my team. Plus, I share credentials via 1Password with several clients and family members, so changing at this point would not be very feasible.