Keepsafe vs LockMyPix, which photo vault is better?

Side by side

Which one suits you

Keepsafe suits people who want a free cloud backup of a small library and sync across iPhone and Android, and who accept an email account and an email PIN reset. LockMyPix suits people who want no account, folders and subfolders, and a backup in their own iCloud, and who will pay for Premium to get the backup and the decoy.

Keepsafe and LockMyPix sell the same idea in two ways. Keepsafe is a 2012 app with an account and its own cloud. LockMyPix is a 2020 app with no account that keeps files on the iPhone and backs up to your own iCloud. The size gap is large: Keepsafe has about 384,000 US ratings, LockMyPix about 2,600.

Accounts and passwords

Keepsafe asks for an email address at sign-up. That email logs you in on a new device and resets your PIN. When you tap Forgot PIN, Keepsafe sends an access code to every verified email on the account, after a 5-minute wait. This helps people who forget their PIN. It also means that anyone with access to your email can reset it.

LockMyPix has no account. Recovery is optional: you can add a recovery email or an alternative password in settings. Its help center is direct about the other case: “You cannot gain access if you forget your password and didn’t activate a recovery option. There’s no backdoor.”

For lock types, Keepsafe offers a PIN or a pattern. LockMyPix offers a PIN of 4, 6 or 8 digits, a custom-length number or a password with letters. Both apps add Face ID.

Backup

This is the biggest practical difference.

Keepsafe backs up to its own cloud. Basic covers the first 200 items, and Premium covers up to 10,000, per Keepsafe support. On a new phone you log in and the backup downloads.

LockMyPix backs up to your own iCloud, with its own AES encryption on top. Its Get Premium page lists the cloud backup as a Premium feature. You can also make an encrypted backup file and move it yourself. On iPhone, LockMyPix warns that “Files of an app are deleted by default when uninstalling.” So a free LockMyPix user with no backup file has one copy, on one phone.

Read our guide to moving a photo vault to a new iPhone before you trust either app with photos you cannot replace.

Decoy vault, break-in photos and Trash

The two apps put almost the same features behind payment.

• Decoy vault. Keepsafe’s Fake PIN and LockMyPix’s Fake Vault are both Premium.
• Break-in photos. Keepsafe’s Break-In Alerts and LockMyPix’s Intruder Selfie are both Premium.
• Trash. Keepsafe sells Trash Recovery as Premium. LockMyPix keeps Trash without a time limit only with Premium.

One detail matters for anyone who relies on a decoy. In the app text of LockMyPix 4.1.1 that we read, a lapsed plan shows “Reactivate LockMyPix Premium to open your FakeVault again”. A person who sees that screen learns that a second vault exists. Keep Premium active if you depend on the Fake Vault. For more on how decoy codes work, see decoy and erase codes.

Disguise

Keepsafe has a face-down lock: turn the phone over and Keepsafe locks and switches apps. Keepsafe once had a fake app front called Secret Door. Its app text says Apple’s guideline 1.1.6 made it remove that front.

LockMyPix sells a Disguise Mode with other app icons. Its App Store page says the app “will look like another app i.e. a Calculator”. Its help center says the disguised login page is Android only. On iPhone, Disguise Mode changes the icon. No iPhone app can change the name under its icon, so the name still shows on the home screen and in Settings.

Ads, tracking and privacy labels

Both free tiers show ads. On the App Store privacy labels, checked October 2, 2026:

• Keepsafe lists Usage Data under “Data Used to Track You”.
• LockMyPix lists Identifiers under “Data Used to Track You”, and device ID, purchases, usage and diagnostics as not linked to you.

Both companies say they cannot see your photos. The labels describe ad and analytics data, not vault content.

Price

As of October 2, 2026, the US App Store pages list:

• Keepsafe: Premium at $9.99 or $12.99 a month and $23.99 or $35.99 a year, plus older plans.
• LockMyPix: Premium at $7.99, $9.99 or $11.99 a month, and $14.99, $23.99 or $29.99 a year. It also lists $20.49 for 6 months, $3.99 a week and $189.99 for lifetime.

LockMyPix is the only one of the two with a lifetime plan. It also shows many discounts in the app, so the price you see can differ from the list.

What App Store reviews say

We read 495 Keepsafe reviews and 52 LockMyPix reviews.

• Keepsafe: 111 report lost photos and 113 describe a vault that crashes or will not open, many after an update. Keepsafe users also praise the decoy vault (11 reviews) and the face-down switch.
• LockMyPix: short 5-star reviews praise privacy (8) and ease of use (7). The 1-star reviews report lost photos (3), lockouts (3) and slow support (3). One says Live Photos import and export as videos.

The Keepsafe sample leans toward long negative reviews, and the LockMyPix sample is small. Treat both as a list of risks, not a rate.

Moving from one to the other

Neither app imports the other’s vault. To switch, export your items from the old app to Photos or Files, then add them to the new app.

• From Keepsafe: export to the Camera Roll before you cancel Premium. Keepsafe’s own listing says Space Saver keeps originals in its cloud, so download any Space Saved items first.
• From LockMyPix: move files out to the gallery, or make a backup file. A LockMyPix backup file opens only in LockMyPix, with the same password.

Count your items before and after the move, and keep the old app until the counts match.

Which one to choose

Pick Keepsafe if a free cloud backup of up to 200 items and sync across iPhone and Android matter most. An email account must not bother you.

Pick LockMyPix if you want no account, folders inside folders, and a backup in your own iCloud, and you plan to pay for Premium. Set up a recovery option on day one, because without one a forgotten password ends access.

For a wider view, see the best photo vault apps for iPhone, our Keepsafe alternative page and the LockMyPix alternative page.

A third option: York Vault

York Vault is our own vault app for iPhone, iPad and Android, on the App Store and Google Play. Plus adds a Mac app, and Pro adds a web app. It has a free cover code and a 12-word recovery key instead of an email reset. Its free encrypted backup goes to your own iCloud, or to Google Drive on Android. Download York Vault on the App Store or Google Play.