If I sign with an MSP and later want to switch to a different one, will I have to start all over? Will they hold my passwords hostage?

The fear is legitimate because the horror stories are real: some providers make leaving painful, dragging out credential handoffs and treating documentation as leverage. But understand what that behavior is: a rare failure of professionalism, not a standard feature of the industry. Among professional MSPs, transitions are routine and cooperative. The outgoing provider hands over credentials and documentation, answers the incoming provider's questions, and exits cleanly, because their reputation in the local market rides on how they behave on the way out. A professional departing MSP actively helps the incoming one.

Your protection is established on day one, not on exit day. Before signing with anyone, confirm in the agreement: all accounts, licenses, domains, and passwords are owned by and registered to your business; documentation of your environment belongs to you; and offboarding terms are spelled out (what is handed over, in what timeframe). A provider who welcomes those clauses is exactly the kind who will honor them; one who resists is showing you the exit experience in advance. This is the single best predictor, so start with a professional organization in the first place.

And no, you do not start over. Your environment, documentation, and history transfer; the new provider deploys its tools alongside the old ones before cutover, so coverage never gaps (the same parallel-onboarding process described in our question on switching providers without downtime). Businesses change MSPs every day without their staff noticing much beyond a new phone number to call. Choose well up front and the exit you are worried about becomes a two-week administrative task you barely see.