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Cybersecurity · head to head

1Password vs Cosign

1Password logo

1Password

Cybersecurity

The world's most-loved password manager

From
$2.99/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Cosign logo

Cosign

Cybersecurity

Signs and verifies container images and artifacts, with or without managing keys

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Cosign has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 1Password no free tier; all plans require paid subscription; Cosign keyless signing inherits every weakness of the identity provider behind it. Sigstore’s own threat model states that if an identity provider is compromised, Sigstore will issue certificates to those identities, so a compromised account produces perfectly valid signatures.
  • They diverge on capability: 1Password covers Password generator, Cosign covers Keyless signing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which 1Password and Cosign actually diverge.

Attributes where 1Password and Cosign differ
Attribute1PasswordCosign
Starting price$2.99/monthFree
Pricing modelUnknownOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsmacOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Linux, WebmacOS, Linux, Windows, Docker
Founded2006Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in 1Password

  • Password generator
  • Autofill
  • Secure notes
  • Credit card storage
  • Document storage
  • Two-factor authentication
  • Watchtower security alerts
  • Travel mode

Only in Cosign

  • Keyless signing
  • Key and KMS signing
  • Registry-native storage
  • In-toto attestations
  • Offline verification
  • Trusted root and signing config

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

1Password

  • Password managementnot Cosign
  • Secure document storagenot Cosign
  • Team credential sharingnot Cosign
  • Identity protectionnot Cosign
  • Compliance managementnot Cosign

Cosign

  • Signing container images in a build pipeline without managing long-lived private keysnot 1Password
  • Attaching a signed bill of materials to a release so consumers can verify its provenancenot 1Password
  • Meeting a customer or regulatory requirement for signed artifactsnot 1Password
  • Verifying third-party images before they enter an internal registrynot 1Password

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

1Password

  • No free tier; all plans require paid subscription
  • Offline access requires prior device sync; cannot add new passwords while offline
  • Enterprise plan does not include free trial access

Cosign

  • Keyless signing inherits every weakness of the identity provider behind it. Sigstore’s own threat model states that if an identity provider is compromised, Sigstore will issue certificates to those identities, so a compromised account produces perfectly valid signatures.
  • A signature proves who signed, never whether they should have. The documentation is explicit that Sigstore cannot determine authorisation, so every consumer must write and maintain their own identity and issuer policy or verification means nothing.
  • Nothing is enforced without an admission controller. Signing changes what you can prove, not what runs, and the official policy controller has a small maintainer base for a component sitting in a cluster admission path.
  • Upgrades break pipelines. Version 3 changed defaults, version 4 is announced as removing legacy functionality and roughly half the command line flags, and two official client libraries still lacked support for the new log format as of mid 2026.
  • Signatures do not expire. An artifact signed before a maintainer account was compromised and one signed after are indistinguishable unless somebody is actively monitoring the transparency log, and almost nobody is.

Pricing, plan by plan

1Password

$2.99/month

No published plan breakdown. See the 1Password review.

Cosign

Free
  • CosignFree
    • Apache-2.0
    • Public Sigstore infrastructure free to use
    • No usage limits published

Which should you pick?

Choose 1Password if

  • You need password generator.
  • You work on macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Linux, Web.
  • You also want autofill.
1Password review

Choose Cosign if

  • You need keyless signing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker.
  • You also want key and kms signing.
Cosign review

Questions people ask

Is 1Password or Cosign better?
Neither clearly leads. 1Password starts at $2.99/month and Cosign at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, 1Password or Cosign?
Cosign has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $2.99/month for 1Password and Free for Cosign.
Does 1Password or Cosign run on more platforms?
1Password runs on macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Linux, Web. Cosign runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker.
Can I use Cosign for free?
Yes. Cosign has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. 1Password starts at $2.99/month.
What is 1Password best used for?
1Password is most often used for password management, secure document storage, team credential sharing, identity protection. Of those, password management and secure document storage are not what Cosign is typically brought in for.
What can 1Password do that Cosign cannot?
1Password covers Password generator, Autofill, Secure notes, Credit card storage. Cosign covers Keyless signing, Key and KMS signing, Registry-native storage, In-toto attestations.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

1Password: Does 1Password offer a free tier?

No. 1Password offers no free tier as of July 2026, but provides a 14-day free trial with no credit card required for all plans except Enterprise.

Source
Cosign: Does Cosign tell me if an image is vulnerable?

No. It has no vulnerability knowledge whatsoever. It can carry an SBOM as a signed attestation but never reads it. Pair it with a scanner.

1Password: Can I access 1Password offline?

Yes. The desktop app allows for offline access to your vault once you have synced your passwords to the device.

Source
Cosign: Is signing alone enough?

No. Verification is a command somebody runs. Without an admission controller enforcing it, an unsigned image still runs.

1Password: What is the pricing for individuals and families?

Individual plan costs 2.99 USD per month or 35.88 USD annually. Families plan costs 59.88 USD per year and includes five licenses with the ability to add more for 1 USD per month each.

Source
Cosign: What does a bare cosign verify actually prove?

Very little. Without a pinned certificate identity and OIDC issuer, it accepts a valid signature from any identity at all.

1Password: What platforms does 1Password support?

1Password is available on macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Linux, with browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave, and Safari.

Source
Cosign: What is the risk of keyless signing?

Your OIDC provider becomes the root of trust. Compromise of that account yields genuine, verifiable signatures, so account security is the control that matters.

Cosign: Should we expect breaking changes?

Yes. Version 4 is announced to remove roughly half the flags, and a post-quantum migration is named as a further breaking change after that.

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