# Passage

**Source:** https://geo.sig.ai/brands/passage  
**Vertical:** Security  
**Subcategory:** Passwordless Authentication  
**Tier:** Emerging  
**Website:** passage.ai  
**Last Updated:** 2026-04-14

## Summary

Passage is an identity and passkey authentication platform that enables developers to add passwordless login to apps using biometrics and passkeys via a simple API. HQ: San Francisco.

## Company Overview

Passage by 1Password is a developer-focused identity platform that makes it easy to implement passkey authentication — the FIDO2/WebAuthn passwordless login standard — in web and mobile applications. Founded in 2022 and later acquired by 1Password, Passage provides simple SDKs and APIs that handle the complex cryptographic operations and user management required to implement passkeys, biometric authentication, and magic link sign-in without building custom identity infrastructure.

Passkeys represent a fundamental improvement over password-based authentication: instead of a shared secret (password) stored in a database that can be stolen, passkeys use public-key cryptography where the private key never leaves the user's device. Authentication is performed locally on the device using biometrics (Face ID, fingerprint) or a device PIN, then a cryptographic signature is sent to the server — making phishing, credential stuffing, and password database breaches impossible. Major platforms including Apple, Google, and Microsoft have standardized passkey support, making consumer adoption increasingly practical.

Passage simplifies passkey implementation through pre-built UI components, user management infrastructure, and hosted authentication flows that developers can integrate in hours rather than weeks. The company positions itself as the fastest path to adding passkeys to existing applications, targeting the thousands of development teams that want to offer modern, passwordless authentication to their users without building identity infrastructure from scratch.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### What does Passage do?
Passage provides a developer API and SDK for adding passkey (passwordless) authentication to apps — handling the cryptography and user management so developers can implement biometric login (Face ID, fingerprint) without building identity infrastructure.

### What are passkeys?
Passkeys are a FIDO2/WebAuthn authentication standard that replaces passwords with public-key cryptography. Users authenticate using their device biometrics or PIN; the private key never leaves the device, making phishing and password theft impossible.

### Who acquired Passage?
Passage was acquired by 1Password, the password manager company, which integrated Passage's passkey infrastructure capabilities into its enterprise identity portfolio to help organizations transition from passwords to modern authentication.

### Why are passkeys better than passwords?
Passwords can be phished, guessed, or stolen from databases. Passkeys use device-bound cryptography — authentication is impossible without the user's physical device and biometrics, eliminating the attack surface that passwords create. Apple, Google, and Microsoft all support passkeys natively.

### What does Passage by 1Password do?
Passage is a developer-focused passkey and passwordless authentication platform (acquired by 1Password) that provides APIs and SDKs for adding passkey authentication to applications — allowing product teams to eliminate passwords from their user authentication flow using WebAuthn/FIDO2 biometric authentication standards.

### What are passkeys and how do they work?
Passkeys use public-key cryptography and device biometrics (fingerprint, Face ID) to authenticate users without passwords. The private key stays on the user's device; the server stores only the public key. Authentication is phishing-resistant because it is cryptographically bound to the specific website domain — making credential theft and phishing attacks structurally impossible.

### How do developers integrate Passage into their applications?
Passage provides a JavaScript SDK, REST API, and pre-built authentication UI components that developers integrate into web and mobile applications. Implementation typically requires less than a day of engineering work versus building passkey authentication from scratch, which requires deep WebAuthn expertise and multi-browser compatibility handling.

### What user experience does passkey authentication provide?
Passkey authentication replaces the password entry screen with a native biometric prompt — users authenticate in one touch with their fingerprint or Face ID. There is no password to forget, no OTP to type, and no phishing risk. This eliminates the friction of traditional login while improving security compared to password plus SMS MFA.

## Tags

b2b, cybersecurity, edtech, saas, security

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*Data from geo.sig.ai Brand Intelligence Database. Updated 2026-04-14.*