Proton Pass vs Bitwarden
Both publish open source apps, so the split is elsewhere. Proton Pass is Swiss, young, and builds in unlimited email aliases plus a clean fit with the Proton suite. Bitwarden is American, publishes its server code too, and can be self-hosted. Teams wanting Swiss jurisdiction pick Proton Pass; teams wanting maturity, a verifiable server or their own hosting pick Bitwarden.
Niels AbrahamsenAnalyst, Security & Infrastructure
Hannah Reiter
Tomasz WierzbickiVendors can pay for visibility on this site; it never changes what we say about a product. How that works.
Choose Proton Pass ifyou need Swiss jurisdiction as a requirement and not a preference, you already use or plan to use other Proton products, and built-in email aliases are useful to your team.
Choose Bitwarden ifyou want both clients and server open source with annual audits, the option to host the vault yourself, and SCIM provisioning already on the lower-priced Teams plan.
Proton Pass and Bitwarden side by side
| Proton Pass | Bitwarden | |
|---|---|---|
| Our password manager rank | #2 of 12 | #1 of 12 |
| Established in | Switzerland | United States |
| Pricing | Free tier; paid per user per month, published | Free personal tier; business plans per user per month, published |
| List price, 30 September 2026 | Pass Essentials €1.99 per user per month, billed yearly, minimum 3 users | Teams $4 per user per month, billed annually |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | — | Yes |
| Built for | A privacy-sensitive team that wants Swiss jurisdiction | A team that wants audited open source and an option to self-host |
| Not for | A buyer who wants a long track record in business deployments | A company that will choose on interface alone |
Both are reviewed in full in our password manager ranking: Proton Pass and Bitwarden.
Where they differ
Proton Pass 2 · Bitwarden 1 · open 2- 01
Country of establishment
Proton is based in Geneva and presents Proton Pass as sitting outside United States and European Union jurisdiction; Bitwarden is a United States company, though its cloud lets you create the organisation in either a US or an EU region. Where the vendor sits decides who can compel it. For a team that treats Swiss jurisdiction as a hard requirement, only Proton Pass answers it.
Edge: Proton Pass
- 02
How much of the code is open, and where it runs
Proton Pass publishes its browser extensions and mobile apps on GitHub, and Cure53 audited the apps and API in 2023. Bitwarden goes further: server and clients are both public, audits are annual and cover server and network as well, and the server can run in Docker on your own infrastructure. On verifiability and control Bitwarden leads.
Edge: Bitwarden
- 03
Readiness for business administration
Proton Pass is the younger product, but its Professional plan now lists SSO, SCIM, enterprise policies, detailed activity logs and SIEM integration. Bitwarden puts directory sync, SCIM and event logs on Teams and reserves SSO, enterprise policies and self-hosting for Enterprise. Both cover the standard checklist; the difference is the tier at which each control appears, which depends on what you need.
Depends on the buyer
- 04
What comes with the vault
Proton Pass builds hide-my-email aliases into the product: ten on the free plan, unlimited on paid plans, with a 2FA authenticator alongside. Bitwarden's generator can also create forwarding aliases, but only through outside services such as SimpleLogin, Addy.io, Firefox Relay, Fastmail or DuckDuckGo, each needing its own account. For aliases without a second supplier, Proton Pass offers more.
Edge: Proton Pass
- 05
Price as listed
Proton Pass Essentials is listed at €1.99 per user per month on yearly billing, minimum three users, and Professional, the tier with SSO and SCIM, at €4.49. Bitwarden lists Teams at $4 and Enterprise, the tier with SSO and self-hosting, at $6 per user per month, billed annually. The currencies differ, so compare at your own billing currency and tier.
Depends on the buyer
When neither fits
When the rollout will succeed or fail on polish, and neither open source nor jurisdiction is a requirement, both are second choices in our ranking: Bitwarden's finish trails the commercial leaders and Proton Pass is still maturing. 1Password has the best interface here, and Keeper the longest certification list.
Proton Pass or Bitwarden: questions
4 answersIs Proton Pass or Bitwarden more private?
They protect privacy differently. Proton Pass offers Swiss jurisdiction, end-to-end encryption of every field including web addresses, and built-in aliases.
Bitwarden offers open source clients and server plus self-hosting, so the vault can stay on your own infrastructure. It depends whether your concern is the vendor's country or holding the data yourself.
Are both Proton Pass and Bitwarden open source?
Both publish their apps. Proton Pass's browser extensions and mobile apps are on GitHub, and Cure53 audited the apps and API in 2023. Bitwarden publishes the server as well as the clients, commissions audits every year, and lets you run that server yourself in Docker.
Which is cheaper for a business, Proton Pass or Bitwarden?
List prices are in different currencies. Proton Pass Essentials is €1.99 and Professional €4.49 per user per month on yearly billing, with a three-user minimum.
Bitwarden Teams is $4 and Enterprise $6 per user per month, billed annually. SSO needs Professional at Proton and Enterprise at Bitwarden.
Can either one be tried or used for free?
Yes. Proton Pass has a free personal plan with unlimited logins and devices and ten aliases, and its business plans have a 14-day trial. Bitwarden has an always-free personal plan and offers free trials of Teams and Enterprise.
Sources
Checked 30 September 2026- Proton Pass business pricing page: Essentials and Professional prices, minimums, feature lists and trial.
- Proton Pass personal pricing page: free plan contents and the ten-alias limit.
- Proton Pass security page: Geneva base, jurisdiction statement and encryption of all fields.
- Proton blog: Pass audit and open source: Cure53 audit scope and GitHub repositories.
- Bitwarden business pricing page: Teams and Enterprise prices and which tier holds SSO, SCIM and self-hosting.
- Bitwarden open source page: server and client repositories and Docker self-hosting.
- Bitwarden help: audits: annual audits covering clients, server and network.
- Bitwarden help: generator: aliases only through third-party forwarding services.
- Bitwarden help: server geographies: US and EU cloud regions.