Is there a photo vault app without ads?

Most photo vault apps are free to download, and many pay for the free plan with ads. In an app that holds your most private photos, that is worth checking before you install. We read the App Store and Google Play listings of the main vault apps on 2026-10-09. Listings change, so check them again on the day you choose.

Which vault apps show ads

App	What the listing says	Where
Keepsafe	“Keepsafe Basic is ad supported”. Google Play: Contains ads	App Store and Google Play listings
Private Photo Vault	Contains ads	Google Play listing
LockMyPix	Contains ads. Its help center says “Premium disables all ads”	Google Play listing, LockMyPix help
NQ Vault (Vault - Hide Pics, App Lock)	Contains ads	Google Play listing
Calculator Lock	Sells “Remove Ads” at $3.99 and “Calculator Lock (Remove Ads)” at $3.99	App Store in-app purchases
Privault	Sells “Remove ADs” at $2.99	App Store in-app purchases
Vaultaire	No mention of ads in the listing we read	App Store listing
York Vault	No ads on any plan	Our own rule

Google Play puts Contains ads under the app name for apps that show ads. The App Store has no such label, so the clues there are the description and the list of in-app purchases.

How the paid plans remove them

• Keepsafe lists “Ad-Free” among its Premium features, next to more cloud storage, Trash recovery and the decoy vault.
• Calculator Lock and Privault sell ad removal as its own purchase.
• LockMyPix says Premium “unlocks all features and removes all ads”.
• Private Photo Vault does not name the ad change in the App Store list we read. Check the plan screen in the app.

Why ads matter in a vault

In our study of 836 App Store reviews of 7 vault apps, ads inside a privacy app were their own theme. The complaints fall into three groups:

• Ads that interrupt viewing, with a full-screen ad between photos.
• Ads that give the disguise away. A Calculator Lock reviewer wrote that the app “has to load an add first…no calc does this”. A real calculator never shows an ad, so the ad tells a person looking at the screen that the calculator is something else.
• Another company in the app. An ad network runs its own code inside the vault. In the Keepsafe app text we read, it asks to allow “personalized ads” based on things like device type and country. That is a normal ad practice, and it is still a second party in the room.

No ads does not mean no data collection

An app without ads can still use analytics or measure its own ad campaigns. To see what an app collects, read:

• App Privacy on the App Store listing.
• Data safety on the Google Play listing.
• The app’s privacy policy.

We say this about ourselves too. York Vault shows no ads, ever. It does run ads for itself on other apps and sites, and it uses one attribution partner to measure them. That code never sees your photos, file names, thumbnails, album names or codes. See ad measurement and privacy and what we can and cannot see.

What to check before you choose

1. Look for Contains ads on Google Play, or a Remove Ads purchase on the App Store.
2. Read App Privacy or Data safety for data linked to you.
3. Check that export and Trash recovery do not need a plan. Our guide to whether vault apps are safe covers the rest.
4. Compare the paid plans. If you would rather pay once, see photo vaults with a one-time purchase.

For full comparisons, read the best photo vault apps for iPhone and for Android. York Vault is on the App Store and Google Play, with no ads on Free, Plus, Pro or Family. Download York Vault.