Authy makes exporting your 2FA secrets deliberately impossible, and 1Password wants $2.99+ a month, about $36 a year, just to hold the same codes in someone else's cloud. Keyloop is a desktop authenticator where you hold the vault: AES-256 encrypted on your own disk, exportable to an encrypted file, a printable QR paper backup, or a standard otpauth:// list. Pay $19 once, and you are never locked out or locked in.
This is the full pricing breakdown: what 1Password actually costs over one, two and three years, what Keyloop gives you for $19 paid once, and the honest cases where the subscription is still the right call.
What 1Password actually costs you
At $2.99+/mo, one 1Password subscription adds up to $36 every year — $108 over a three-year window, for software you stop owning the day you cancel. Keyloop is $19 the day you buy it, and the meter never runs again.
| Keyloop | 1Password | |
|---|---|---|
| Sticker price | $19 once | $2.99+/mo |
| Cost after 1 year | $19 | $36 |
| Cost after 2 years | $19 | $72 |
| Cost after 3 years | $19 | $108 |
Three years in, the gap is $89 — and every year after that adds another $36 to the subscription side of the ledger.
Keyloop vs 1Password, feature by feature
Price is only half the story — here's how the two line up on the things that decide day-to-day use:
| Keyloop | 1Password | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $19 once | $2.99+/mo |
| 3 years | $19 | ~$108 |
| Export your secrets | Yes — encrypted file + QR sheet + URIs | Partial |
| Works fully offline | Yes | No |
| Encrypted local vault | Yes, AES-256-GCM | Yes |
| Your data leaves the machine | Never | Always |
| Desktop-first | Yes | Yes |
What you get for $19, once
A desktop TOTP authenticator with an encrypted local vault and encrypted, QR and URI exports. The highlights:
- 🔢 Live 6-digit codes — Per-account countdown rings and click-to-copy with a clipboard that auto-clears.
- ➕ Add accounts three ways — Scan a QR screenshot, paste an otpauth:// URI, or type the secret manually, with SHA1/256/512, 6-8 digits and custom periods.
- 🔒 Encrypted local vault — scrypt key derivation into AES-256-GCM using Node built-in crypto; the master password is never stored and it auto-locks after five minutes idle.
- 💾 Encrypted .keyloop backups — One file, one password, restore anywhere.
Seven months of 1Password 2FA costs more than Keyloop, which then never bills you again and, unlike Authy, always lets you walk away with your secrets.
Switching is 3 steps
- Buy once on Whop. One payment of $19 gets you the packaged Windows installer, or clone the MIT source at github.com/bensblueprints/2fa-authenticator-backup-mvp and run it yourself for free.
- Install and run offline. Install the NSIS Windows build and run it; the app makes zero network calls, so everything stays on your machine.
- Import your codes. Scan QR screenshots, paste otpauth:// URIs or bulk-import from another authenticator, then keep an encrypted or printed QR backup so you are never locked out.
When paying 1Password is still the right call
Being straight about it: the subscription earns its keep in three situations. If your team is large enough that 1Password's collaboration features, permissions and admin controls are genuinely load-bearing; if your workflow is built on its integrations and leaving means rebuilding that plumbing; or if you have enterprise requirements — SSO, audit logs, SLAs, a vendor to call — that a pay-once app doesn't come with. Everyone else is paying $2.99+/mo for a job that runs fine on hardware they already own.
If that's you, Keyloop is $19, once. For the deeper dive, read the Keyloop vs 1Password head-to-head.
Frequently asked questions
Is it really free on GitHub?
Yes. Keyloop is MIT-licensed at github.com/bensblueprints/2fa-authenticator-backup-mvp and always will be. The $19 buys the packaged Windows installer; building from source is free.
Does anything leave my computer?
No. Keyloop makes no network calls at all, has no accounts and no telemetry; the encrypted vault lives only on your disk.
What if I forget my master password?
With no backup you are locked out, because there are no custom primitives and no reset. Keyloop gives you three backup formats (encrypted file, QR paper sheet, URI list); use one. A paper QR backup holds your raw secrets, so store it like cash.
Is this a subscription in disguise?
No. $19 once, no renewal, no cloud, no license server. The app keeps working offline forever.
More on 1Password pricing
Keyloop — product page, demo & full feature list · All OneTimeSuite pricing breakdowns
Try Keyloop — $19, once
A desktop TOTP authenticator with an encrypted local vault and encrypted, QR and URI exports.