1Password moves into AI cost management, betting that token spend is the next enterprise budget crisis

1Password announced the launch of its AI Spend and Consumption Management tool on Tuesday. Integrated into its SaaS Manager platform, this new feature provides IT and finance teams with a comprehensive, real-time overview of their organization’s AI service usage and expenses with vendors such as Anthropic, Cursor, and OpenAI.

This introduction represents a strategic expansion for 1Password, a company initially known for consumer password management, which has repositioned itself in recent years as a broader identity security and SaaS governance platform for enterprise clients. The company is now venturing into the complex domain of managing the budgetary impacts of large language models.

“Executives want teams to build faster with AI, but that speed is creating a new kind of spending pressure,” said Greg Henry, the chief financial officer of 1Password, in an exclusive interview with VentureBeat. “Developers are consuming tokens at a pace that traditional budgets weren’t built to manage, and IT and finance teams are being asked to forecast and justify AI investments without a clear view of what’s actually driving costs.”

Currently in public preview, with full availability set for fall 2026, the product connects to vendor admin APIs to gather daily token-level consumption data. This data is standardized across providers into a single dashboard, enabling organizations to set vendor-specific spending limits, configure alert thresholds via Slack and email, and analyze usage by team, user, vendor, and model.

Why Traditional Software Budgets Struggle with AI Token Costs

1Password identifies a structural challenge: unlike traditional SaaS pricing based on per-seat, per-year models, AI pricing is variable. Each API call to models like Claude, GPT-5.6, or Cursor-powered coding assistants consumes tokens, with costs differing by model and task complexity. A single team can quickly exhaust a prepaid token budget without the finance team realizing until the bill arrives.

Henry compared this to previous experiences with cloud infrastructure pricing. “Consumption-based pricing isn’t new,” he noted. “We saw it arrive with cloud infrastructure, and it took years to build the tools and disciplines to manage it. AI is the next version of that shift.”

This parallel is widely recognized, as enterprises initially struggled to manage cloud costs until a FinOps ecosystem emerged to address these challenges. Henry predicts a similar path for AI token spending, warning that organizations lacking visibility may end up “paying far more than they needed to, for far longer than they should have.”

Goldman Sachs has projected that token usage from AI agents will increase 24 times by 2030, driven by autonomous AI systems executing complex workflows that involve more API calls than a human interacting with a chat interface.

Tracking AI Token Usage Across Vendors

This new feature builds on the existing capabilities of 1Password SaaS Manager, enhancing application discovery, license management, and spend analytics. It is not a standalone product, and SaaS Manager users can activate it by linking supported AI vendor API keys, feeding consumption data into a dedicated AI Consumption Management dashboard. Henry confirmed that there is no additional charge for this feature.

The system offers four key functions: it aggregates token usage and spending across vendors into a unified view, allows for setting budget controls with automated alerts, breaks down consumption by team and model, and contextualizes AI spending within the broader SaaS portfolio.

Importantly, it captures consumption data regardless of whether a human or AI agent initiates it. “Token consumption is captured at the API level regardless of whether a human or an agent is generating it,” Henry said. The system provides a complete consumption picture, including spikes from agent loops, which can be challenging to detect before they escalate.

Currently, the product offers alerts but not enforcement. Henry mentioned that although automatic spending cutoffs are under consideration, visibility is the priority: “You can’t enforce what you can’t see.”

Launch Partners Highlight AI Budget Pressures

The choice to partner with Anthropic, Cursor, and OpenAI reflects where enterprise AI spending pressures are most pronounced. Henry explained that customer demand dictated this focus. “Anthropic, Cursor, and OpenAI are where we’re seeing the highest adoption, and where token consumption can move fast and get ahead of the teams responsible for managing it,” he stated. The company plans to expand to more vendors based on customer needs and budget considerations.

The inclusion of Cursor, an AI code editor, indicates challenges in forecasting consumption. Unlike chatbots where usage is user-driven, Cursor’s continuous AI suggestions during coding can lead to unexpected budget overruns.

Henry addressed the issue of ownership within organizations, acknowledging that no single group currently owns the problem. “When spend is fragmented across vendor dashboards and finance teams are reconciling it monthly, you’re always behind,” he said. “AI spend can’t be treated as a finance-only or IT-only problem.” He noted that the choice of AI models now involves significant financial considerations, drawing CFOs into discussions with IT and engineering leaders.

Steve May, IT director at ServiceTrade and a 1Password user, highlighted the tool’s impact. “Forecasting tools for AI consumption and spend was one of our biggest gaps in planning because we didn’t have a reliable way to track it,” May said, noting that the visibility provided has prevented costly overruns.

1Password in the Evolving SaaS Management Landscape

While not alone in addressing AI cost management, 1Password enters a fragmented and evolving market. Zylo, identified as a leader by Gartner, has reported significant growth in AI-native application spending and offers its own token-level cost tracking. Vendr focuses on contract-level tracking but lacks consumption-level visibility. The FinOps Foundation noted in its 2026 survey that AI cost management is becoming standard practice.

The broader SaaS management market is consolidating, with companies like Deel acquiring Sastrify. 1Password differentiates itself by building AI cost management on an identity security platform rather than a FinOps or procurement tool. The SaaS Manager product emerged from its acquisition of Trelica, which enhanced its capabilities in discovering unsanctioned applications and managing access. This identity-first approach helps link spending data to users and teams, emphasizing value-driven spending.

From Password Manager to Enterprise Platform

Henry addressed the evolution from a consumer password manager to a platform addressing enterprise AI cost management. “It doesn’t feel like a stretch to us. It feels like a natural progression,” he explained. “For more than 20 years, 1Password has evolved alongside how our customers work. We started by protecting passwords. Then we helped organizations manage secrets, control access, and get visibility into the applications their teams rely on.”

1Password’s growth has been swift, with a $620 million Series C funding round in January 2022, reaching a $6.8 billion valuation. The company claims significant revenue growth, with B2B sales making up a large portion. Recent acquisitions and product launches, including Extended Access Management, have further expanded its enterprise offerings.

Interpreting High AI Token Consumption

Henry cautions against assuming high token consumption equates to waste. “A team burning through tokens may be building something genuinely valuable,” he said. The focus should be on whether consumption delivers business value, not just cutting costs.

AI Spend and Consumption Management provides insights into how consumption drives revenue or efficiency, allowing informed budget decisions. Organizations can prioritize valuable projects over low-value automation, avoiding broad cuts that might hinder competitive advantage.

Preparing for Future Pricing Challenges

The product’s current capabilities, including three vendor integrations and alert systems, are initial steps. Henry hinted at future features like automatic spend limits and expanded vendor partnerships.

Henry sees this as part of a larger trend towards consumption-based pricing in enterprise software. Companies that establish visibility and management now will be better prepared for future developments in AI and SaaS pricing. The question remains whether organizations can stay ahead of these changes or repeat past mistakes with cloud spending.

AI Spend and Consumption Management is available now in public preview for 1Password SaaS Manager customers, with full availability expected by fall 2026.