What to look for in an alternative
- No ads on any tier. Keepsafe's listing says Keepsafe Basic is ad supported.
- No account. Your vault should work without an email.
- On-device encryption with keys you hold.
- A one-time price if you dislike subscriptions.
The alternatives
VaultBolt. On-device AES-256-GCM, no account and no ads. Its scan finds private photos for you, and its clean-up removes every leftover copy. Decoy vault, duress code and intruder photos on Pro. Free plan, or $37.99 once. Compare with Keepsafe.
Vaultaire. AES-256-GCM, no account, no ads, encrypted iCloud backup on the free plan and a duress vault on Pro. Pattern-only unlock.
Obscura. Open-source AES-256-GCM, no cloud and no analytics. You manage encrypted export files yourself.
Encamera. Open source, no account, no ads, local or iCloud storage per album.
Inner Gallery. ChaCha20-Poly1305, encrypted iCloud sync and a one-time upgrade.
How to switch from Keepsafe without leaving copies
- Export from Keepsafe. Open each album, select everything and export (or unhide) to Photos.
- Import into your new vault. In VaultBolt, tap + and choose from Photos, or run the scan, which will find most of them.
- Clean up. Delete the exported copies from Photos and empty Recently Deleted. VaultBolt's clean-up walks you through this.
- Check it all opens, then delete Keepsafe. If you used Keepsafe's cloud, follow its instructions to delete your account and cloud data.
Frequently asked questions
Why do people look for Keepsafe alternatives?
Common reasons are ads on the free tier, subscription-only pricing, and wanting a vault where encryption keys stay on the device rather than relying on a company cloud.
How do I get my photos out of Keepsafe?
Open each album in Keepsafe, select the items and export or unhide them back to Photos. Then import them into your new vault and delete the exported copies.
