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Head to head

1Password vs Dashlane

1Password is the more transparent of the two. It publishes its exact KDF parameters (650,000 PBKDF2 rounds) and its Secret Key design; Dashlane has migrated to Argon2d but does not publish the parameters. Dashlane also discontinued its free plan entirely, so neither offers a free route in.

Facts reviewed 2026-08-01. Every row below is sourced, and anything a vendor does not publish is marked as such rather than estimated.

The question that decides it

Does a published, checkable key-derivation configuration matter to you?

Choose 1Password if

you want documented cryptographic parameters and the Secret Key model.

Choose Dashlane if

you want Dashlane's bundled extras and are comfortable with unpublished KDF settings.

Side by side

Comparison of 1Password and Dashlane by security and account features
 1PasswordDashlane
Storage modelCloud-synced encrypted vaultCloud-synced encrypted vault
Key derivationKey derivation sets how expensive each attacker guess is. A vendor that does not publish its parameters cannot be independently compared on this.PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256, 650,000 iterationsArgon2d — migration from PBKDF2 completed by June 2026. Exact parameters are not published.
Source codeProprietarySource-available web extension and mobile clients; the production service is not open source
Independent auditsPublishes independent assessments, including a 2020 ISE code review, plus ongoing penetration testing via its Trust Center.Reports annual SOC 2 Type II audits and ISO 27001 certification; no freely downloadable full penetration-test report was found.
Free tierNo permanent free tierNo — the free plan was discontinued
Main free-tier limitNo free tierNo free tier
Account recoveryReusable recovery codes for individual and family accounts; family organisers and business admins can recover other members.An opt-in 28-character account recovery key, biometric recovery on supported devices, and admin-assisted recovery on business plans. Without one enabled in advance, resetting erases the data.
PasskeysSaves, syncs, shares and uses website passkeys.Creates, syncs, stores and uses passkeys.
PlatformsmacOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, plus major browser extensions.iOS, Android, web and browser extensions. Desktop use is primarily browser-based.
Documented incidents“None found” means no authoritative report surfaced during research. It is not a claim that no incident has ever occurred.September 2023: an attacker used a session tied to the Okta support breach to reach 1Password's employee Okta tenant. 1Password reported no compromise of user data.None found in published sources

How 1Password works

A cloud-synced vault encrypted and decrypted on your device with AES-GCM-256. Uniquely, it is protected by two secrets: your account password and a randomly generated 128-bit Secret Key, which means a stolen vault cannot be attacked with the password alone.

Key derivation
PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256, 650,000 iterations
If you forget the master password
Recovery is possible — Reusable recovery codes for individual and family accounts; family organisers and business admins can recover other members.

How Dashlane works

A cloud-synced zero-knowledge vault. Credentials are encrypted locally with AES-256-CBC plus HMAC-SHA256, using separate device authentication keys.

Key derivation
Argon2d — migration from PBKDF2 completed by June 2026. Exact parameters are not published.
If you forget the master password
Recovery is possible — An opt-in 28-character account recovery key, biometric recovery on supported devices, and admin-assisted recovery on business plans. Without one enabled in advance, resetting erases the data.
A third option

Both 1Password and Dashlane store your passwords. MoolKey does not.

1Password and Dashlane differ in how well they protect a stored copy of your passwords. MoolKey answers a different question: it recalculates each password from your private phrase and the site name whenever you need it, so no copy exists to protect. A breach would expose masked account names and integers, not credentials.

That is a real trade, not a free win. There is no autofill, no import of your existing passwords, and no recovery if you forget your phrase — none, by design. your private phrase never reaches the service, so nobody can reset it or reproduce a password derived from it.

How it worksFull comparison

1Password vs Dashlane FAQ

What is the main difference between 1Password and Dashlane?
1Password uses cloud-synced encrypted vault, while Dashlane uses cloud-synced encrypted vault. 1Password is the more transparent of the two. It publishes its exact KDF parameters (650,000 PBKDF2 rounds) and its Secret Key design; Dashlane has migrated to Argon2d but does not publish the parameters. Dashlane also discontinued its free plan entirely, so neither offers a free route in.
Is 1Password or Dashlane more secure?
Security here is mostly about verifiable design rather than marketing. 1Password uses pbkdf2-hmac-sha256, 650,000 iterations. Dashlane uses argon2d — migration from pbkdf2 completed by june 2026. exact parameters are not published., which it does not publish in full. Does a published, checkable key-derivation configuration matter to you?
Can I recover my account if I forget the master password?
1Password: Reusable recovery codes for individual and family accounts; family organisers and business admins can recover other members. Dashlane: An opt-in 28-character account recovery key, biometric recovery on supported devices, and admin-assisted recovery on business plans. Without one enabled in advance, resetting erases the data.
Does 1Password or Dashlane have a free plan?
1Password: No permanent free tier. Dashlane: No — the free plan was discontinued.
Has 1Password or Dashlane ever been breached?
1Password: September 2023: an attacker used a session tied to the Okta support breach to reach 1Password's employee Okta tenant. 1Password reported no compromise of user data.. Dashlane: no authoritative breach report was found during research, which is not the same as a guarantee that none has occurred.

Sources

Every factual claim above traces to vendor documentation or published reporting. Where a vendor does not publish a figure, this page says so instead of repeating a number from a comparison table we cannot verify.

Make one account easier today.

Start with the password you keep reusing or the bank card that still shares a PIN. MoolKey is free, and you do not need to move everything at once.

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