The current pricing structure is a subscription, but you can use that subscription to use local vaults (syncing manually or via something like Dropbox):
Subscription pricing is pretty optimal for something like 1Password since if there is one product you want to make sure is being actively worked on it is the one with all your passwords. If you previously purchased a license you can continue to do that.
To confirm: have you tested that, or are you basing it solely on the linked doc?
I'm a huge fan of 1Password, and also a fan of paying subscription pricing for apps and dev teams making things I enjoy, but I'd seen the linked doc and parsed it the exact opposite way: "If you don’t want the benefits of a 1Password membership, you can use these third-party and advanced sync options:" --> ~"If you don't want to pay for a subscription, the non-subscription version of 1Password supports the following"
Up until now I've been counting the days until Agilebits finally sunsets the non-subscription plan since I thought the subscription option didn't support the "advanced/third-party" sync options. Will go re-evaluate that now.
If any Agilebits folks are lurking, it may be worth disambiguating that "switching to subscription billing" does not mandate "switching to an Agilebits-hosted vault"
I had a few interactions with them over the years, and the official answer has always been (quote) "...we have no intention of removing the standalone licenses as an option." (email exchange in Aug 2016).
Of course they can change their minds at any moment, but they did enough things right over the years that I have chosen to trust them.
Business-wise, they already have the best of both worlds: a cloud-based option for regular users (which generates steady income), and a standalone option for pro users who want full control (which generates spiky income, and a lot of goodwill).
From a brand perspective, pro users are much more likely to be spreading the word to friends and family (I definitely don't want my mom to be dealing with Dropbox issues, so cloud is just fine for her). From a cost perspective, maintenance of the standalone version is likely minimal, compared to supporting a cloud service safely.
Killing the standalone option would be net negative.
> I had a few interactions with them over the years, and the official answer has always been (quote) "...we have no intention of removing the standalone licenses as an option." (email exchange in Aug 2016).
I don't think these statements have any value whatsoever if AgileBits is unwilling to expose this option on its website and make it easy to buy. There is no way to buy the standalone option without spending a lot of time on the website and hunting for it (or asking on the forums). It doesn't have to be (and shouldn't be) so hard, unless AgileBits is not confident about the subscription model or wants to hide something. As a potential customer, this is how I see it.
That's pretty silly. Every popular commercial password manager is subscription-based server-mediated SAAS software, and that's who AgileBits competes with. Not only is the SAAS model much more lucrative, but support costs for SAAS customers are far lower.
Despite all that, AgileBits goes way out of its way to not only provide a standalone password manager but keep it within shooting distance of the functionality of the non-standalone product.
But that's not enough for you: if they don't actively advertise and promote the variant of their product that is most expensive for them to provide, unlike, you know, any business on the planet, you're unsatisfied with their support.
They actually said so in my email exchange: "...when we introduced 1Password, the subscription option for individuals, we clearly wanted to steer new users in this direction. If we gave them choices to get the standalone and the subscription option together it defeated the purpose of making their lives easier. Again, you and I, we get this stuff, but the average consumer doesn't."
I'm totally fine with it. It's a very reasonable business decision to try to steer away users towards the cloud option, while still offering the standalone (even if it's a bit buried). If you can't find the standalone subscription with a few more clicks, maybe you really shouldn't be using it in the first place.
Kudos to AgileBits for staying true to their origins. Provided they don't screw up, I'll continue to promote their products to friends and family.
> If you can't find the standalone subscription with a few more clicks, maybe you really shouldn't be using it in the first place.
Of course, I don't use 1Password (standalone) because I don't think a company that actively hides the standalone option deserves to get my money. "A few more clicks" is actually not the correct way to describe it. Like you, I will continue to state this dark pattern for as long as AgileBits follows this and warn people about such tactics, which I strongly believe are not good.
Actually, what's silly is that you missed my point by a very long distance. It just doesn't matter if AgileBits provides a standalone product or not if one cannot find it easily on its website and buy it. So yes, that's not enough for me! And claiming brownie points for a standalone version that's not visible on its website, in my books, is shady as heck! Please try to buy the standalone version and see for yourself how difficult it is before passing comments about it.
As for other popular commercial password manager being subscription based, that's not the topic of discussion in my comment. Such a deflection is not useful for discussion.
I, too, hope they never discontinue the standalone product. If it makes you feel any better, I noticed on their blog they're offering a paid upgrade for the next standalone version of 1password. So they're not getting rid of it in the next major version.
I have been a user for years so I have a license, but I set someone else up with it in the recent past and used iCloud to sync. There aren’t different versions of the software so I’m 99% sure anyone can sync how they’d like.
It makes some amount of sense, by now they have picked up most of the tech savvy crowd and for the average user hearing a list of sync options is intimidating.
https://support.1password.com/sync-options/
Subscription pricing is pretty optimal for something like 1Password since if there is one product you want to make sure is being actively worked on it is the one with all your passwords. If you previously purchased a license you can continue to do that.