Choosing a password manager for SMBs: 1Password, Bitwarden, or something else?

No security strategy works without a password manager. Here's a practical comparison of the three options most relevant to SMBs, with clear trade-offs to help you decide.

A password manager is the cheapest security tool with the biggest impact. At €3–8/user/month, it prevents 80% of credential-stuffing attacks.

1Password Business

• Price: €7–8/user/month.
• Strengths: UX, admin dashboard, shared vaults with ACL, audit log.
• Weakness: most expensive option.
• Best for: marketing/sales-driven companies where UX matters.

Bitwarden Business / Enterprise

• Price: €3–5/user/month.
• Strengths: open source, self-hostable, affordable, advanced enterprise features.
• Weakness: UX slightly less polished than 1Password.
• Best for: tech companies, cost-conscious SMBs, compliance-focused organisations.

Keeper Business

• Price: €4–6/user/month.
• Strengths: strong enterprise security features, compliance reporting.
• Weakness: smaller community, fewer integrations.
• Best for: compliance-heavy industries.

What you need (at a minimum)

• Per-user vault + shared company vaults.
• ACL on shared items.
• Audit log showing who accessed which password and when.
• Built-in MFA authenticator (TOTP alongside passwords).
• Browser extension, mobile app, desktop app.
• Offboarding flow: individual vault transfer when someone leaves.
• SSO integration (optional, but valuable for > 50 users).

Implementation in 2 weeks

1. Week 1: account setup, admin training, configure shared vaults for company credentials.
2. Week 2: roll out per team, 15-minute demo per team, guide users through migrating existing passwords.

What NOT to use

• Browser-built-in password storage without business controls.
• Spreadsheets.
• A Notion database with passwords in a text field.

See also: shared password management, security pillar.