York Vault vs Vaulty: which photo vault should you use?

Side by side

Which one suits you

Pick Vaulty if you use only Android, want a long-standing app with a free Google Drive sync, and accept ads, a security question reset and no named cipher. Pick York Vault if you want one vault on Android and iPhone, encryption you can name, a recovery key in place of a security question, and no ads on any plan.

Our full review of Vaulty on its own: Vaulty review: is Vaulty safe, and is it still a good Android vault?

What protects your files

This is the biggest difference between the two apps.

Vaulty copies each file you hide into a private folder in its own .vdata format, renames it and deletes the original from the gallery. Its help center says the file is “renamed and modified so that it cannot be opened without Vaulty”, and that backups “remain encrypted” in Google Drive. No Vaulty page we found names a cipher or says how keys are made. Squid Tooth says nothing goes to its own servers and that its makers cannot see your content.

York Vault has no account. Each item gets its own random key and is sealed with AES-256-GCM on your phone, before it is stored or backed up. On Android, the keys sit in Android Keystore, in StrongBox where the phone has it. File names, dates and thumbnails are encrypted too. We cannot reset a code or open a file. Read how the encryption works and what we can and cannot see.

Forgotten code

Vaulty resets a password with the answer to a security question you set. Its help page says: “If you’ve forgotten your security question, you can try contacting our support.” It also says Squid Tooth cannot recover your content. A security question is only as safe as the answer is hard to guess for the people around you.

York Vault shows a 12-word recovery key at setup and asks you to type 3 of the words back. The key opens your library and restores a backup on a new phone. If you want a softer fallback, you can turn on a 72-hour reset through your Apple Account or Google account. During the wait, every device with York Vault shows a banner, and the right code cancels the reset.

Backup and new phones

Both apps back up for free to your own Google Drive on Android.

Vaulty syncs two ways between your Android phones. Its help center warns: “If you delete files from Drive, even just move them to Trash, Vaulty will see them as deleted and will remove them from your device as well.” Vaulty also keeps its data folder outside the app, so the files survive an uninstall. Squid Tooth says you cannot open Vaulty items on a computer or an iPhone.

York Vault encrypts each item before upload to the Drive app data folder, which only York Vault can read. A restore check confirms that every file is back on the new phone. Phone-to-phone transfer works over local Wi-Fi, also from Android to iPhone. See encrypted backup, backup on Android and moving between iPhone and Android.

Decoy codes, break-in photos and disguise

Vaulty lets you make several vaults, each with its own password, so you can show a different vault to different people. Its break-in alert takes a photo after a wrong password. It disguises itself as a working calculator, or as a stocks lookup app that opens the vault when you search for your password. We found no erase code.

York Vault puts these on the free plan:

• A cover code that opens a separate library, and an erase code that also removes the keys to the rest.
• A wrong-code photo and a log of attempts.
• Codes on single albums.
• A working calculator front, 12 or more neutral icons and a face-down exit.
• On Android, York Vault blocks screenshots and screen recording on every screen.

Ads, tracking and price

Vaulty’s free version shows ads, and Google Play marks it “Contains ads”. Its data safety section says it may share device or other IDs with third parties and may collect financial info. Vaulty Pro removes the ads and adds “Advanced Security”. Squid Tooth does not list the Pro price on its site. Google Play lists in-app items from $0.99 to $99.99 (checked October 8, 2026).

York Vault shows no ads on any plan. It does measure its own ad campaigns, with the Google Play Install Referrer and the Android advertising ID, which you can delete in Android settings. The measurement code never sees your files, names or codes. York Vault has Free, Plus, Pro and Family plans. Viewing, export, Trash recovery and restore of your own items stay free on every plan. See pricing and what stays free.

What Vaulty does better

Vaulty has been on Google Play since July 2010. It lists more than 10 million installs and a 4.6 rating from about 409,000 reviews. Its free Google Drive sync keeps several Android phones in step with no extra plan, while York Vault syncs between your devices on Plus. Its files survive an uninstall. Its stocks lookup front is a disguise York Vault does not offer. One long-time user wrote: “Been using this app for more than a decade. Best app ever.”

Switching from Vaulty

Unhide your files in Vaulty first, because York Vault cannot read .vdata files. Then import them into York Vault on the same phone and check the count. Leave your Vaulty files in Google Drive until the move is done, because a delete in Drive also removes them from the phone. The Vaulty alternative page has every step, also for a move to iPhone, and our Vaulty review covers the rest of the app.

Download York Vault on the App Store or Google Play.