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# Things Are Quietly Changing at Bitwarden, and People Are Worried
- URL: https://itsfoss.com/news/bitwarden-quiet-changes/
- Published: 2026-05-19T15:11:38.000Z
- Updated: 2026-05-19T15:11:38.000Z
- Description: The password manager swapped its CEO, rewrote its core values, and briefly pulled "Always Free" from its pricing page.
- Author: Sourav Rudra
- Tags: News, Privacy 🛡️

For a lot of people, [Bitwarden](https://bitwarden.com/?ref=itsfoss.com) became the go-to password manager after [the LastPass fiasco](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022%5FLastPass%5Fdata%5Fbreach?ref=itsfoss.com). Free, open source, and trustworthy, it has gained a reputation by offering a free tier, keeping the code open, and not pulling the rug.

But that comes at a cost; any hit to its image matters a lot when we are talking about software that holds extremely sensitive information.

So when things start looking a little off, people pay attention. And over the past few months, a few things have looked a little off.

## Some things changed at the top

The first change worth noting happened in February. Bitwarden's longtime CEO, [Michael Crandell](https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcrandell?ref=itsfoss.com), stepped back to an advisory role. The company said nothing about it publicly, and one would have to check his LinkedIn profile to find out.

![a cropped screenshot of michael sullivan's linkedin profile, with the about section visible](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2026/05/michael-sullivan-linkedin-profile.png)

The new CEO is [Michael Sullivan](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mpsully/?ref=itsfoss.com), who was previously CEO of Acquia and, before that, InsightSoftware. What got people worried was his experience of working across "***all facets of mergers and acquisitions***," with named private equity firms, including Hg, Vista Equity Partners, and TA Associates.

That is a very particular background for someone to be stepping into a head honcho role at a password manager company. Bitwarden's CFO also changed, where [Stephen Morrison](https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-morrison-97845012/?ref=itsfoss.com) left in April and [Michael Shenkman](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mshenkman/?ref=itsfoss.com), who previously ran InVision, came in as his replacement.

None of these major executive changes were officially announced.

## Quiet changes

![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2026/05/bitwarden-personal-always-free-text.png)

![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2026/05/bitwarden-personal-always-free-text-missing.png)

**The term "Always free" has been restored (left), but it was missing for quite some time (right).*

I referred to the [Wayback Machine](https://web.archive.org/) and found that the term "***Always free***" had been on Bitwarden Personal's [product page](https://bitwarden.com/products/personal/?ref=itsfoss.com) for a long time, sitting inside the plan comparison table.

It disappeared sometime in mid-April and was only restored sometime [after May 14](https://web.archive.org/web/20260514234836/https://bitwarden.com/products/personal/).

According to a company employee who posted on the [r/Bitwarden](https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitwarden/comments/1tdvnh7/comment/olznwcv/?ref=itsfoss.com) subreddit, all of that was supposedly due to an oversight by the Bitwarden marketing team.

Then there's **the other issue of values being quietly changed**. Bitwarden has used the **GRIT** acronym to describe its company culture for years, standing for *Gratitude, Responsibility, Inclusion, and Transparency*.

![this is a cropped screenshot of the wayback machine on internet archive that shows a blog by bitwarden explaining the original meaning of their GRIT principles](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/2026/05/bitwarden-grit-original-definition.png)

I again checked the Wayback Machine, and the values were still intact [as of March 14, 2026](https://web.archive.org/web/20260314030243/https://bitwarden.com/blog/defining-and-sustaining-value-for-bitwarden-users/). At some point after that, they were quietly changed. GRIT now stands for *Gratitude, Responsibility, Innovation, and Trust*.

The 2022 blog post Crandell wrote laying out [the original GRIT values](https://bitwarden.com/blog/defining-and-sustaining-value-for-bitwarden-users/?ref=itsfoss.com#bitwarden-operates-with-grit) was edited to reflect the new ones. Except the editing stopped halfway. The explanatory paragraph further down in the same post still describes *Inclusion* and *Transparency* as the values.

📋

Props to [ByteHaven](https://blog.ppb1701.com/the-quiet-renovation-at-bitwarden?ref=itsfoss.com#:~:text=But%20the%20explanatory%20paragraph%20at%20the%20bottom%20of%20the%C2%A0same%20post%C2%A0still%20says%20the%20old%20ones%3A%20Inclusion%20and%20Transparency.%20Crandell%E2%80%99s%20name%20is%20still%20on%20it.%20The%20post%20now%20contradicts%20itself%2C%20and%20nobody%20wrote%20a%20new%20one.) for spotting this.

## Bitwarden's stance

Sullivan published [a blog](https://bitwarden.com/blog/my-first-100-days-at-bitwarden/?ref=itsfoss.com) recently, laying out his first 100 days at Bitwarden and also hashing some things out.

**The free tier is not going anywhere**. He ruled out a trial model or bait-and-switch and said that the open source foundation and the ability to audit the code, self-host, and verify are what make Bitwarden different from everything else in the space.

He also acknowledged that **changes are coming**, but those would be explained properly.

## Should you be worried?

The post referenced above is the most direct on-record statement Bitwarden has about the free tier. But a pattern of ambiguity has already been established.

For such a sensitive piece of software, unannounced leadership changes and a values rewrite are the kind of thing that should make you nervous. But unless Bitwarden does something drastic like axing the free tier or [pulling a Cal.com](https://itsfoss.com/news/cal-com-goes-proprietary/), there is not much to act on just yet.

---

**Suggested Read 📖:** [*Bitwarden vs. Proton Pass*](https://itsfoss.com/comparison/bitwarden-vs-proton-pass/)

[Bitwarden vs. Proton Pass: What’s The Best Password Manager?What is your favorite open-source password manager?![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/icon/android-chrome-512x512-419.png)It's FOSSAnkush Das![](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/thumbnail/biwarden-vs-protonpass-ft-1.png)](https://itsfoss.com/comparison/bitwarden-vs-proton-pass/)