My biggest issue with 1Password has been 1) how intrusive it can be in the browser, especially on mobile when it's too proactive to show its dropdown and just gets in the way of my experience. I know this is challenging because a mobile device is a small screen, but it is incredibly frustrating. 2) how bad the Safari extension. It regularly fails to load at all.
Aside from that, while you're absolutely correct - 1Password is still relatively inexpensive, let's look at the improvements thet mention:
1. Automatic saving of logins and payment details
Isn't this what 1Password has always done or am I misunderstanding?
2. Enhanced Watchtower alerts
I haven't seen any of these alerts ever help me.
3. Faster, more secure device setup
This I have noticed. It is very convenient
4. AI-powered item naming
This is weak sauce. I don't care for "AI" to help me name my logins/accounts/etc.
5. Expanded recovery options
I'm not sure what this is and how it's different than what they've always offered on a Family plan.
6. Proactive phishing prevention
Fine, I guess.
I was buying a train ticket on Eurostar for my mother. I filled her name as the passenger. Scrolled down and used the 1Password data I have to fill my address and billing information. I proceed and pay. Later, when checking the ticket, I see it's on my name. 1Password changed the passenger details, and since the screen is small, I did not notice.
No 100% refund from Eurostar, but lesson learned.
I'm not leaving 1Password though. It's too convenient for my family.
That and a lack of easy way to report a login page that doesn’t work perfectly would be my top annoyances (behind a 33% increase in a subscription that was already annoying me each time it came around).
I'm quite content with Apple's Password app but I pay for 1Password only for the peace of mind of having a backup in case Apple ever locks my account. I will suck it up and pay the higher price.
I had risks with 1Password as well. If my house were to burn down, and my phone was also inside, I’d lose it all. I have offsite backups, but I need 1Password to get into them.
So to cover those twelve dollars, the average Chinese worker will have to work three to four more hours a year just to have the same functionality, whereas the Indian average worker will have to work twelve to 24 more hours a year.
Does that help your struggle?
Also, if they'd increase things by 5%, or did yearly 2% increases or something like that, I'd be okay with that (to cover the inflation). But the 33% increase combined with the list of features I don't care about -- that's just taking users for granted. Thankfully I didn't start using passkeys, otherwise I'd be locked within 1p without ability to export them.
I'm guessing they'd view that as a marketing expense.
The price has been unchanged at least as far back as mid 2018. According to the inflation calculator at bls.gov [1] inflation over those 8 years was 31%.
1Password, like other subscriptions, becomes something for the middle class and up, not for the masses.
Vendor solutions become the only option.
You click the button in the browser, choose what to create 'I want to create a password (or a note, or whatever)' and then get redirected to their web-app and be presented with a pop-up asking what you want to create (I just told you, didn't I?)
I get it, when you move to a new web-app some things can break. But after using stored passwords creating new ones is pretty much the only other thing you do in the app, it seems to be core functionality that's been broken for over a year now, it's kinda madness tbh.
Edit: To be fair they offered a 'solution' when I reported it: "Don't use the web-app, install our desktop app instead."
Did they need to increase the price? Honestly I don’t know, without seeing their financials it is hard to say. But I would much rather they be able to be sustainable.
It likely doesn’t help that they are facing more and more free competition from Google and Apple. I know I have been considering a switch to Apple Passwords after the recent changes to it. I doubt this will excelerate it or anything because I will still want somewhere as a secondary area incase I loose access to my apple account.