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Roboform vs 1Password
I've been dual running 1Password and Roboform for years, since the days that both were single platform tools. They both have their strengths and weaknesses, but running both is a pain, not to mention a wast of money so as Roboform for Mac and 1Password for Windows mature, I'm looking to commit to one or the other. At the moment I'm leaning towards Roboform; here's why:
1. Online access. About the same time that Agile dropped the experimental cloud-based keychain access, Roboform added this feature. Where Agile uses Dropbox, Roboform uses it's own cloud storage system and provides the all important browser-based access to my passwords when I'm at in a bind in front of somebody else's computer. Development of 1PasswordAnywhere seems to have stalled, which is probably no bad thing since it sucks anyway. My Dropbox password is stored in 1Password so I couldn't get to it on the go if I wanted to, and it's a hopelessly clunky means of online access anyway. I realise you're probably never going to go back to cloud-based keychain access, but I really wish that you would.
2. Less clicks to access a login. I rely heavily on AllBookmarks as a starting point for logging into a website, because the alternatives are so slow - three clicks to reach a search box for logins using the Firefox extension, or two clicks and wait for 1Password's main UI to open - a third click to close it. AllBookmarks seems to have been left behind (the download link for it doesn't even work any more) and the new menu icon in 3.9 (yes, I upgraded today) is way behind where it needs to be, with no search and no recently used list. Roboform's menu icon has these important features, and it's browser toolbar has a search built right in. It's quicker to get to a website and log in as a result. They really seem to focus on high speed access to your logins in a way that 1Password does not.
3. Auto-fill accuracy. Roboform fills credit card details and other personal details way more reliably than 1Password - it always has. 1Password still rarely completes every field in a typical credit card details form - either it doesn't select the card type, or or transposes the expiry date and start date or something. Also, Roboform treats wallet items as part of an "identity" and allows multiple addresses on an identity. It means you can choose your shipping address address and VISA card, and fill a whole form in one click, which is really sweet. I prefer this paradigm of hierarchical identify features.
4. Integration to Windows forms (on Windows obviously). This addition to Roboform on Windows is really great. I don't have to know my password for my thick client IT helpdesk system any more. I even use it to unlock the master password of 1Password on Windows.
5. Inconsistency. The Windows version of 1Password is way behind the Mac version. Don't get me wrong, I understand why - but I hope in the next major revision they become almost identical. The Windows/Mac issue is more understandable, but I could do without the constant evolution of the extensions, especially when they lag behind one another (Chrome's extension looks different than the one for Firefox and Safari and they all look way different than the Windows ones). I wish you hadn't removed the toolbar in Firefox, but more than that I wish you'd stop changing your mind about how you want these extensions to look and feel - it's making my head spin!
To be fair, there are things I would dearly miss if I were to switch to Roboform permanently. They are:
1. Style. 1Password applications are lovingly crafted by a gifted designer. Roboform's application have nowhere near the visual appeal of 1Password apps.
2. The personal touch. 1Password feels like a family business. It's blog posts a personal and interesting. It's support is high quality. You guys do seem to listen more to your customers than Roboform.
3. Software licences. Roboform has no concept of storing software licences as a "thing" and so I have to store them as notes. I would dearly miss this feature in Roboform if I were to lose it.
4. Hover and click to copy. How I wish you would copy this feature from the main UI to your extensions - it's swell.
Roboform for Mac currently only works with Safari, When they add support for Firefox, I think it might tip me in that direction. I think I'll probably wait for the 1Password 4 update (since I've effectively paid for it now) and then make a final decision. Meanwhile, you could make me a happy man by adding search and recently used list features to the global menu icon so I could finally dump AllBookmarks!
1. Online access. About the same time that Agile dropped the experimental cloud-based keychain access, Roboform added this feature. Where Agile uses Dropbox, Roboform uses it's own cloud storage system and provides the all important browser-based access to my passwords when I'm at in a bind in front of somebody else's computer. Development of 1PasswordAnywhere seems to have stalled, which is probably no bad thing since it sucks anyway. My Dropbox password is stored in 1Password so I couldn't get to it on the go if I wanted to, and it's a hopelessly clunky means of online access anyway. I realise you're probably never going to go back to cloud-based keychain access, but I really wish that you would.
2. Less clicks to access a login. I rely heavily on AllBookmarks as a starting point for logging into a website, because the alternatives are so slow - three clicks to reach a search box for logins using the Firefox extension, or two clicks and wait for 1Password's main UI to open - a third click to close it. AllBookmarks seems to have been left behind (the download link for it doesn't even work any more) and the new menu icon in 3.9 (yes, I upgraded today) is way behind where it needs to be, with no search and no recently used list. Roboform's menu icon has these important features, and it's browser toolbar has a search built right in. It's quicker to get to a website and log in as a result. They really seem to focus on high speed access to your logins in a way that 1Password does not.
3. Auto-fill accuracy. Roboform fills credit card details and other personal details way more reliably than 1Password - it always has. 1Password still rarely completes every field in a typical credit card details form - either it doesn't select the card type, or or transposes the expiry date and start date or something. Also, Roboform treats wallet items as part of an "identity" and allows multiple addresses on an identity. It means you can choose your shipping address address and VISA card, and fill a whole form in one click, which is really sweet. I prefer this paradigm of hierarchical identify features.
4. Integration to Windows forms (on Windows obviously). This addition to Roboform on Windows is really great. I don't have to know my password for my thick client IT helpdesk system any more. I even use it to unlock the master password of 1Password on Windows.
5. Inconsistency. The Windows version of 1Password is way behind the Mac version. Don't get me wrong, I understand why - but I hope in the next major revision they become almost identical. The Windows/Mac issue is more understandable, but I could do without the constant evolution of the extensions, especially when they lag behind one another (Chrome's extension looks different than the one for Firefox and Safari and they all look way different than the Windows ones). I wish you hadn't removed the toolbar in Firefox, but more than that I wish you'd stop changing your mind about how you want these extensions to look and feel - it's making my head spin!
To be fair, there are things I would dearly miss if I were to switch to Roboform permanently. They are:
1. Style. 1Password applications are lovingly crafted by a gifted designer. Roboform's application have nowhere near the visual appeal of 1Password apps.
2. The personal touch. 1Password feels like a family business. It's blog posts a personal and interesting. It's support is high quality. You guys do seem to listen more to your customers than Roboform.
3. Software licences. Roboform has no concept of storing software licences as a "thing" and so I have to store them as notes. I would dearly miss this feature in Roboform if I were to lose it.
4. Hover and click to copy. How I wish you would copy this feature from the main UI to your extensions - it's swell.
Roboform for Mac currently only works with Safari, When they add support for Firefox, I think it might tip me in that direction. I think I'll probably wait for the 1Password 4 update (since I've effectively paid for it now) and then make a final decision. Meanwhile, you could make me a happy man by adding search and recently used list features to the global menu icon so I could finally dump AllBookmarks!
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I agree. Roboform trumps one password for everything other than firefox... but the new firefox made 1 password harder to use than the roboform lite toolbar... speaking of which... roboform still HAS a toolbar, even on firefox 6. As of now, autofill and auto save both stopped working on firefox when I use 1password, but roboform works very well (roboform just keeps logging me out, no matter what I set the logout time for...)
Both programs are really making my day bad today.Flag 0 -
Hi
I have given up at the moment and went to Roboform. The current version of 1Password just does not work! There is a Mac version of Roboform and it synchs with my IE version. I use Roboform Everywhere. The iPad and iPhone versions are not as good as 1Password but within Mac, everything just works.
Too bad.
AndrewFlag 0 -
Wow. First of all, wwarby, thank you so much for such a well thought-out critique! You make a lot of great points, and I will definitely be sharing this with the rest of the team. Thanks also to jesseali and AndrewK for the added perspective. We have come a long way, but we still have plenty of room for improvement. Where we have not always lived up to your justifiably high expectations recently I apologize. To address some of your points:
[b]Where 1Password needs to improve[/b]
1. I am not sure what 'experimental cloud-based keychain access' support we dropped. 1PasswordAnywhere isn't as full-featured as 1Password, but it is a web app baked into your AgileKeychain and was never meant to replace it. I still use it in a pinch. If you have specific suggestions on how you would like to see it improved, I would love to hear them! <img src='http://forum.agilebits.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />
2. Okay, this AllBookmarks/1PasswordHelper lovechild you seem to be suggesting is awesome. I would love to see something like this. <img src='http://forum.agilebits.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />
3. Criticism taken. I hate to say that we are playing catch-up here, because I think that implies that we are chasing the competition and hope to overtake them. On the contrary, I think you make a good case for the relative strengths and weaknesses of each. And while we are constantly working to improve 1Password's form filling, they have a head start of several years and probably a much larger team (their 'job opportunities' page is almost as long as our roster!<img src='http://forum.agilebits.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />) So I think we look at it more from the perspective of what we need to do to improve 1Password rather than how to be more like RoboForm. The Wallet/Identity stuff is something we are looking into, however, as we all enjoy shopping online too. <img src='http://forum.agilebits.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />
4. System-wide integration is something we would like to do on both platforms. It is mainly a matter of priorities. I don't know what your Vault looks like, but something like 99% of my items are for websites, so we prioritize browser integration. As a small team, everything we do means we leave something else on the table. In many cases, this is a good thing and keeps us from making 1Password bloated, but it absolutely means that sometimes we aren't able to do things we really want to.
5. Functionally, there are things that the Windows version has that the Mac doesn't and vice versa. Mainly the interface is just very different, by virtue of the Windows version being based off of 1Password 2 (1Password 3 was just an idea when work on 1Password Windows was started) and the nature of the platform itself. We don't think the two should be identical, but we definitely want more consistency going forward. In the same vein, we are unifying the extensions in all major browsers going forward both for a more consistent user experience and also so we can update and improve them all more easily. I know it doesn't feel like it with so many changes recently to support major releases from Apple, Mozilla, and Google, but as things settle down there should be more consistency and less hassle in future browser releases.
[b]Where 1Password excels[/b]
1. On behalf of Dan, thank you! He works really hard, and I think he is as proud of his work as we are of him. <img src='http://forum.agilebits.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />
2. We love AgileBits small. While it means we aren't able to do some things that larger companies can, we are a really close-nit group and it also means we are able to provide personal support and adapt to change more readily. We wouldn't want to give that up. While 1Password can store your license for you (and automatically register itself!) I am glad that we are able to help people find theirs, too. <img src='http://forum.agilebits.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />
3. Software Licenses is a feature I love, too. I don't know how many times I have thought I present-me was out of luck. I don't know how many times I have contacted companies to see if I could get my license key again and never received a response. Fortunately in most cases past-me had been smart enough to store the license in 1Password.
4. While we don't have hover-to-view, you can indeed click to copy fields in our new extensions for Safari 5.1, Firefox 6, and Chrome 14 -- and even view and edit item details without having to leave your browser. <img src='http://forum.agilebits.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />
We are hard at work to get our new Firefox extension feature-complete, so hopefully we will be able to satisfy you there! But don't forget that your license doesn't expire. If 1Password doesn't meet your needs right now, we will do our best to do so in the future, and we will be here for you if you decide to come back. Thanks so much for your support and feedback! <img src='http://forum.agilebits.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />Flag 0 -
[quote name='brenty' timestamp='1316544954' post='50653']
1. I am not sure what 'experimental cloud-based keychain access' support we dropped.
[/quote]
my1Password
Read this old blog post:
[url="http://switchersblog.com/2007/10/whats-new-in--2.html#more"]http://switchersblog.com/2007/10/whats-new-in--2.html#more[/url]Flag 0
