1Password announces cloud-based subscription service for individuals


1Password today announced 1Password subscription service for individuals. The subscription includes a secure sync storage and licenses for all versions of 1Password across all platforms. Plus all software updates are included. This seems a predictable move after the company rolled out similar services for family and teams.

The cloud service offers up to 1GB of storage for passwords and secure storage. This appears to replace the need to rely on cloud service such as iCloud or Dropbox. This will also allow features like recovery history.

1Password, however, is not going exclusively subscription. They are still selling standard software licenses and will continue to bring updates and features. The catch, however, is that features that rely on their cloud service won't be compatible.

The service runs $2.99 per month and until September 21, 2016 offers six months free.

I'm not enjoying the inevitable march towards subscriptions for software. I don't have a problem paying for upgrades and supporting developers, but I prefer to be in control of that decision. Sometimes I may wish to skip a version just because I don't use it that much and/or the new version doesn't offer any helpful features, for example. I'm glad to hear 1Password will still be available as a stand-alone solution. I like so much, I'm considering switch to the subscription, but I really appreciate the option for conventional licenses.