What is a good alternative to Vaultaire?

Photo Vault - Vaultaire and York Vault side by side

Why do people look for a Vaultaire alternative?

Vaultaire takes a clear stance. It encrypts every file on the iPhone, needs no account, and backs up to your own iCloud for free. It also leaves out several things most vault apps have. People who look for an alternative usually miss one of these.

No Face ID, Touch ID or PIN

Vaultaire’s manifesto says: “No biometric unlock inside Vaultaire.” The only ways in are a pattern on a grid and the recovery phrase. Vaultaire’s own guide on locks says that against someone watching, “a pattern is the weakest of the three by a wide margin”. It cites a study where observers reproduced a traced pattern “around 64 percent of the time”, against about 11 percent for a six-digit PIN.

Folders arrived late

Until October 2026, separate vaults were the only way to group files. One of the few written reviews asked for this: “Wish I could create album and folders” (4★, June 2026). Version 1.0.18, released October 6, 2026, added folders inside folders and a custom order.

No icon disguise, no intruder photo

Vaultaire’s guide on app icons says “Vaultaire does not disguise its icon.” It suggests Apple’s Hide and Require Face ID instead. No Vaultaire page lists a photo on a wrong attempt. Its comparison with Encamera also marks Live Photos in Vaultaire as “Still image only”.

A young app with few reviews

Vaultaire launched on the App Store in March 2026 and has 33 US ratings at 4.7 (checked October 8, 2026). We read all 7 written US and Canadian reviews in our sample, which is too few to rank. 2 report files that disappeared or would not open. One says: “There’s no easy Support access through the app” (1★, July 2026). Its release notes from 1.0.9 to 1.0.17 are mostly fixes to import, backup, restore and sync. They say restore on a second device brought files back only from 1.0.15.

Plan limits and Pro-only safety

The free plan holds up to 3 vaults with 100 photos and 10 videos in total. Larger libraries need Pro. The duress vault, which removes local access to your other vaults when you draw its pattern, is also a Pro feature. A free user can keep a second vault as a decoy, but cannot set a pattern that removes access to the real one.

The recovery phrase stays visible

Vaultaire’s secret phrase page says the phrase is stored “so it can be shown later from that vault’s settings.” It adds a fair warning: “Anyone who can open the vault and reach its settings may be able to view it.” Some people prefer a key that the app never shows again after setup.

What to look for in a replacement

If you leave Vaultaire, do not give up what it does well. Check that the new app:

1. Encrypts on the iPhone with a named cipher, as Vaultaire does.
2. Backs up for free to a place you control, encrypted before upload.
3. Offers the lock you want: Face ID, a PIN, a passcode or a pattern. See lock options.
4. Has albums, search and a stable order.
5. Lets you export everything for free, in the original format.

How to export your files from Vaultaire

Vaultaire’s site says “you can export files back into Photos when you want them there.” We found no page with step-by-step export instructions or a bulk export option. The app’s export prompt says the file will be saved outside the vault and “will no longer be protected.”

A safe order of steps:

1. Open each vault with its pattern. Each pattern opens a different vault, so list them all first.
2. Export the items from each vault to Photos.
3. Count the items in Photos against the count in each vault.
4. Add them to your new app and check that every item opens.
5. Delete the copies from Photos, then empty Recently Deleted. Our Recently Deleted guide shows how.

Vaultaire’s settings use Optimized import quality by default, which can convert or downscale some photos and videos. Items imported that way export in their stored form, not the original. Keep Vaultaire installed until the new app has everything.

What Vaultaire does well

Vaultaire is one of the most careful apps in this field, and it is better than most rivals in several ways:

• Real on-device encryption with AES-256-GCM, and a written key design on its website.
• Free encrypted iCloud backup, on by default, with versions and a restore by pattern or phrase.
• No ads, and no Data Used to Track You section in its privacy label. Its label lists only Contact Info and User Content as linked data. York Vault cannot match this, because it uses an attribution tool for its own ads.
• No account. Nothing to sign up for.
• Honest limits. Its plausible deniability page admits that “the on-disk layout exposes the vault count to an examiner with app-container access.”
• Safe error messages that say what happened to your files first.

If you want a pattern-only vault with strong encryption and no ad tracking, Vaultaire may already be the right app.

What York Vault does differently

York Vault is on the App Store for iPhone and iPad and on Google Play for Android. Plus adds the Mac app, and Pro adds the web app. Here is what it does differently:

• Your choice of lock. Pattern, PIN or passcode, with optional Face ID or Touch ID. The fallback is always your York Vault code.
• A recovery key you hold. 12 words shown once at setup. You cannot view them again later inside the app, so a person who opens your library cannot copy them. Vaultaire shows its phrase again from vault settings.
• Albums inside albums, search and drag to reorder.
• Live Photos kept on import and export.
• Neutral disguise icons, a working calculator front and a face-down exit, free.
• A free cover code and erase code. Vaultaire’s duress vault is Pro.
• An optional photo on a wrong code, free.

York Vault also encrypts each item on the iPhone and backs up to your own iCloud for free, which Vaultaire does too. See plans for Free, Plus, Pro and Family, or download York Vault on the App Store or Google Play.

Other alternatives worth checking

• Apple’s Hidden album costs nothing and uses Face ID.
• LockMyPix names AES encryption and has Face ID, folders and Live Photos.
• Private Photo Vault has albums, a decoy password and a break-in report.
• Our best photo vault apps for iPhone guide compares more options.