A free 1Password alternative that keeps your logins on your computer

If you want a 1Password alternative because you are tired of paying every year for a vault you only use on one computer, Barside may be all you need. Barside is a free desktop app for Windows, Linux and Mac with a password manager built in. It keeps your logins and two-step codes encrypted on your own computer, fills them into Chrome, Edge and Brave on Windows, and copies them for you to paste on Linux and in Barside for Mac. You need no account, no browser extension and no master password.

It is also much smaller than 1Password. Barside has no phone app, no sync, no sharing and no passkeys. This page compares the two honestly, so you can decide in a few minutes which one fits the way you sign in.

The short answer

1Password is a full-featured, paid password manager. It runs on your Mac, iPhone, Windows computer, Android phone and Linux, fills logins through browser extensions, shares vaults with your family or team, and warns you about weak, reused and leaked passwords with Watchtower.

People mostly look for an alternative because of the subscription, the wish to keep passwords on their own computer, or the retirement of older versions. Barside answers the first two in a narrow way. It is a free, local vault for logins and two-step codes on one computer (Windows, Linux or Mac), and it lives in the same app as your notes, tasks and meetings.

If you need your passwords on your phone, or you share accounts with other people, stay with 1Password. If you sign in from one computer and want to stop paying, read on.

Why people look for a 1Password alternative

These are the common reasons, stated fairly:

• The subscription. As of September 2026, 1Password Individual costs US$3.99 a month and Families US$5.99 a month for up to 5 people, both paid annually. New customers get a lower price in the first year. There is a 14-day free trial but no free plan.
• Wanting passwords to stay on one computer. 1Password keeps your vault in your 1Password account so it can sync, protected by your account password and a 128-bit Secret Key. It is built so 1Password cannot read your vault. Some people still prefer a vault that never leaves the machine at all.
• Older versions retiring. 1Password is retiring 1Password 7: starting in May 2027, it will no longer sync changes for 1Password accounts. If you still use it, this is a natural moment to choose what comes next.
• One app less. If you already keep notes, tasks and bookmarks in Barside, a vault in the same app is one less program to install and update.

Barside's password manager at a glance

Open Barside Passwords from the key icon in the main window, in a pinned note or on the desktop bar. You can also go to Settings → Passwords & autofill → Open Barside Passwords, or type pw in the search bar. The window opens in front of your browser.

• Current website. Barside looks at the login page open in your browser and shows the logins you saved for that exact website. On Linux, it reads the page's address from the address bar with xdotool; without xdotool, copy the address yourself first. In Barside for Mac, Safari, Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc, Vivaldi and Opera share the address after macOS asks you once for each browser; Firefox does not.
• Add login. Enter the website, an optional name like "Work account", the email or username, and the password once. Choose Save login, or Save & fill to use it right away.
• Fill. On Windows, choose the account and press Fill. Barside fills in the username and password, and you press the website's own sign-in button. It never submits the form for you.
• Copy. On Linux, and in Barside for Mac, choose Copy username and Copy password, then paste. Barside clears each one from the clipboard after 45 seconds.
• Two-step codes. Edit a login and choose Add two-step code. Show the website's setup QR code on screen and choose Scan QR code on screen, or paste the setup key or otpauth:// link. Barside shows the current code with a countdown, and Fill code puts it into the code box (Copy code on Linux, and in Barside for Mac).
• Password health. Barside warns about reused passwords, worked out on your computer. Turn on Check my passwords against known data leaks to check them against Have I Been Pwned without sending the passwords themselves.

On Windows, Offer help on login pages shows a quiet notification when a supported login form or code box appears, so you do not have to open the window first. Linux has no login-page notifications, and Barside for Mac has none either. The full walkthrough is in the built-in password manager guide.

1Password vs Barside: feature comparison

Pricing compared

Prices are as each company's own page shows them, as of September 2026.

Barside Plus adds encrypted cloud backup, sync between your computers and cloud agents for your notes. It is worth saying twice: saved passwords are never part of cloud backup or sync. Plus does not turn Barside into a synced password manager.

How Barside protects your logins

Barside's vault is a separate, encrypted file. It is not part of your notes library.

• Encrypted by your operating system. On Windows, Barside uses Windows encryption (DPAPI) for your user account. On Linux, it uses your keyring through the Secret Service, such as GNOME Keyring, KWallet or KeePassXC, and says so when no keyring is open. Barside for Mac uses the macOS Keychain.
• Kept apart from everything else. Logins stay out of your notes, the assistant's memory, logs, library search, ZIP backups, cloud backup and sync. AI apps you connect through Barside's AI connections can never read the vault.
• A careful window. The Passwords window masks what you type, asks Windows to leave it out of screen captures, and closes when you lock Windows.
• Careful filling. Before it fills, Barside checks the exact website, the page address and the field again. It needs an HTTPS page and it never presses the sign-in button.
• A private leak check. Only the first 5 characters of a hash of each password go to Have I Been Pwned, and Barside compares the answer on your computer. Your passwords never leave it.
• Clipboard care. Copied codes, and the usernames and passwords Barside copies on Linux (and in Barside for Mac), are marked private and cleared after 45 seconds. Barside's own clipboard history never keeps them.

The honest limit: there is no master password. Anyone who can use your unlocked user account can open the vault, and the encryption does not protect against malicious software already running as you. 1Password adds a password only you know and a Secret Key on top. The privacy guide explains exactly how the vault is stored.

Where 1Password is better

1Password does a lot that Barside does not try to do. If any of these matter to you, it is the better choice.

• Your phone. 1Password has apps for iPhone, Android and Apple Watch. Barside is a desktop app, and your logins are not on your phone.
• Sync. Change a password on your laptop and 1Password syncs it to your phone. Barside keeps each vault on one computer.
• Autofill in more browsers. 1Password has extensions for Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox and Brave. Barside fills visible login forms in Chrome, Edge and Brave on Windows. Forms inside frames, forms with several password boxes and unusual sign-in pages need you to type or paste. On Linux, Barside copies instead of filling, and on a Wayland desktop it can read only browsers that run through XWayland. Barside for Mac copies too.
• Passkeys and a password generator. 1Password creates strong passwords for you and stores passkeys. Barside does neither.
• More than logins. 1Password keeps payment cards, bank accounts, identities and documents. Barside keeps logins and their two-step codes.
• Sharing. 1Password shares items with anyone, even people who do not use it, and Families shares vaults with simple admin controls. Barside has no sharing.
• Recovery. 1Password gives you an Emergency Kit, and individual and family accounts can create recovery codes to get back in. With Barside, if your computer or user account is lost and you have no encrypted export, the logins are gone.
• Travel Mode, audits and support. Travel Mode removes every vault you have not marked safe for travel from your apps and browser extension, so only those vaults are there if your devices are inspected on a trip. 1Password also publishes independent audits, is SOC 2 Type 2 certified and offers 24/7 support by email, forum and social media.

How to move from 1Password to Barside

Barside has no 1Password importer. Its Import logins button reads only Barside's own encrypted .barside-logins files. The move is manual, and the calmest way is to do it one site at a time while both apps are installed.

1. Download Barside for Windows, Linux or Mac and open Passwords from the key icon.
2. The next time you sign in to a site, open Barside Passwords on that login page. The Current website card shows the site. Choose Save a login for this site; the website is already filled in.
3. Copy the username and password from 1Password into the form, then choose Save & fill on Windows, or Save login on Linux and in Barside for Mac. Barside cannot read a password already typed into a website's masked field, so it has to be entered once here.
4. For two-step codes, open the website's security settings and set up the authenticator app again. With the new QR code on screen, choose Add two-step code, then Scan QR code on screen. Test the code before you remove it anywhere else.
5. If you would rather work from a list, 1Password 8 can export a CSV on Windows and Linux: select the ellipsis at the top of the sidebar, then Export, enter your account password and choose CSV (on a Mac, start from File, then Export). The file holds each login's title, website, username, password and one-time password. If a login's one-time password is an otpauth:// link, paste it into Barside's Setup key or otpauth:// link field. 1Password warns that exported files are not encrypted: keep the file off email and cloud storage, and delete it when you are done.
6. Turn on Check my passwords against known data leaks, then choose Check now, and change what Password health shows.
7. Choose Export encrypted logins, pick a backup password of at least ten characters, and keep the file somewhere safe, such as a USB drive. That file is your only backup of the vault.

Keep 1Password until every login you need works in Barside. If you cancel, 1Password freezes the account, and you can still sign in to view and export your data.

Who should switch, and who should stay

Barside is a good fit if you:

• sign in from one Windows or Linux computer (or a Mac), mostly in Chrome, Edge or Brave;
• do not need your passwords on your phone, or you keep phone logins in your phone's own password manager;
• want a free vault with two-step codes and leak checks, and no account;
• already use Barside for notes that stay on your computer and want one app less.

Stay with 1Password if you:

• need your passwords on a phone or a tablet, or on a Mac;
• share logins with a partner, a family or a team;
• use passkeys, or want a password generator;
• mostly use Firefox or Safari;
• want a separate master password between your computer account and your vault;
• need business features like role-based permissions and admin controls.

You can also use both. Barside's notes, search bar and meetings work next to other password managers, and Barside's clipboard history skips copies that password managers mark as private.

Other 1Password alternatives worth a look

If Barside's vault is too simple for you, these are the alternatives we would check first. Prices are as of September 2026.

• Bitwarden. Open source, with a free plan for as many passwords, passkeys and devices as you like, and browser, mobile and desktop apps. Premium, which adds a built-in authenticator for two-step codes, is US$19.80 a year, and Families is US$47.88 a year for up to 6 people.
• KeePassXC. Free and open source, with no cloud and no subscription. It keeps your passwords in an encrypted file on Windows, macOS or Linux, and you move that file yourself.
• Proton Pass. A free plan with no limit on logins or devices, apps for browsers, phones and computers, and passkeys. Paid plans add sharing items with anyone and a built-in authenticator for two-step codes.

For more apps that keep your data on your own machine, see the best local-first apps. If you are also comparing launchers for Windows, read the Raycast alternative guide.

Works well with Passwords