Sources checked Sep 22, 2026
Bitwarden vs Proton Pass: free plans, family prices, and email aliases
Both have a free plan that works on unlimited devices. The differences are in how you share, whether you want email aliases built in, and what a paid year costs: Bitwarden Premium is $19.80 a year and Proton Pass Plus is $35.88. Decide which of those matters to you, then try both.
PUBLISHED PLAN DETAILS
Free plans, prices, and privacy tools
USD figures from each provider’s pricing page, Proton’s with USD selected. Bitwarden says its prices exclude tax. Proton’s page does not say whether its annual price is introductory, so check the renewal amount at checkout.
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| What to compare | Bitwarden | Proton Pass |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | One person, unlimited devices. Share with one other user through a free organization (2 users, up to two collections). | One person, unlimited devices, logins, and notes. 2 vaults, each shareable with up to 2 others; no single-item sharing; 1 GB storage. |
| Paid personal plan | Premium: $19.80 a year ($1.65 a month equivalent), billed annually. No separate first-year offer is shown. | Pass Plus: $35.88 every 12 months ($2.99 a month), or $4.99 billed monthly. |
| Family plan | Families: $47.88 a year ($3.99 a month equivalent), billed annually. | Pass Family: $59.88 every 12 months ($4.99 a month), or $6.99 billed monthly. |
| Accounts in the family plan | 6 Premium accounts. | 6 Pass Plus accounts, with an admin panel. |
| Sharing model | Families: unlimited sharing and unlimited collections; members see only what is shared with them. Premium on its own shares items with one other existing Bitwarden user. | Share whole vaults: up to 10 others per vault on paid plans (2 on Free), with up to 50 vaults. Paid plans can also share single items and links, including with people who do not use Proton Pass. |
| Email aliases | No alias service of its own. The generator connects to outside forwarding services: SimpleLogin, Addy.io, Firefox Relay, Fastmail, Forward Email, and DuckDuckGo, which may need their own subscription. The pricing page lists this under Premium and Families, but the help page says it is available to all users, so check. | Built in: 10 hide-my-email aliases on Free, unlimited on Pass Plus and Pass Family. Replies you send appear to come from the alias, and you can disable or delete an alias. Starting a new email from an alias needs a paid plan. |
| Passkeys | Save and use passkeys in the browser extension and the iOS and Android apps; the pricing page lists passkey management for every account. Bitwarden’s JSON export includes passkeys. | Proton lists passkeys as supported on all devices, on every plan including Free. |
| Import routes | Import files from Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, and many other managers, including ProtonPass (json) and 1Password (1pux). Direct transfer with Credential Exchange on iOS 26 and Android 14 or later. | The import tool covers Chrome, Firefox, Brave, Edge, and Safari, and managers including Bitwarden (from a .json export), 1Password, Dashlane, KeePass, Keeper, LastPass, and NordPass. |
| Open source | Bitwarden publishes its server, web vault, browser extension, desktop, mobile, and CLI code on GitHub. | Proton says all its apps are open source and independently audited, and links the Proton Pass code on GitHub. |
What the choice depends on
- How many people share logins. Bitwarden Free shares with one other person; Proton Pass Free shares each of its 2 vaults with up to 2 others. Both family plans cover six accounts.
- Whether you want email aliases built in (Proton Pass) or through a forwarding service you connect to Bitwarden.
- Your budget for one person: $19.80 a year for Bitwarden Premium, $35.88 for Pass Plus on annual billing.
Neither is right for every household. List the features you need with the password-manager checklist →
A household of six: price and aliases side by side
At the listed annual prices, Proton Pass Family costs $12 more a year than Bitwarden Families ($59.88 − $47.88), and both cover six accounts. Proton’s price includes unlimited hide-my-email aliases. With Bitwarden, aliases come from a separate forwarding service, which may have its own price, so add that before comparing totals if your household will use aliases. This is a price calculation, not a verdict about which app your household will find easier.
See every plan from each provider
This comparison covers the plans most households weigh against each other. For every published plan, including business entry tiers and what to check at checkout, see Bitwarden pricing and Proton Pass pricing.
Try this before a full import
- Share one low-risk test login with another person and check what they can see and change.
- If aliases matter, create one for a low-risk sign-up, reply from it, then disable it.
- Save a passkey for a test account and check it signs you in on each device you use every day.
- Import a small export first, compare the item counts, and write down the renewal price before the trial or first year ends.
Use a non-sensitive test login before moving your full vault.
CHECK THE PROVIDERS
Confirm the plan for your setup.
These links go directly to the providers. Neither is an affiliate link.