Vaultaire review: is Vaultaire safe, and is it worth paying for?

At a glance

What is Vaultaire?

Vaultaire is a new photo vault for iPhone and iPad. It arrived on the App Store on March 13, 2026, and the seller is Wraxle LLC. You import photos, videos and other files, or capture them with its own camera, and the app encrypts them in a vault that only your drawn pattern opens. We found no Android version, and its sync page says it does not sync to Android, Windows or the web.

The model is freemium. The free plan has no ads and includes the encrypted backup. Pro removes the limits on items and vaults and adds sync between devices, shared vaults and a duress vault.

How Vaultaire protects your photos

Vaultaire encrypts on the iPhone with AES-256-GCM. A random key encrypts the files, your pattern unlocks that key, and the listing says Vaultaire’s servers “never receive your files or keys.” Its home page says the cipher also covers metadata, thumbnails and indexes. This is real encryption, not a PIN screen over plain files.

Vaultaire is also open about the limits. Its FAQ says the number of vaults “remains visible to an examiner with app-container access.” It runs its encryption in the app, and it does not claim to use the Secure Enclave for it. Analytics and crash reports are on by default, and its FAQ says crash reports “can include file names.” You can turn both off in Settings.

Lock, forgotten pattern and decoy

The only lock is a pattern on a 5x5 grid, with at least 6 dots and one change of direction. The manifesto says “No biometric unlock inside Vaultaire”, so there is no Face ID, no Touch ID, no PIN and no passcode. Vaultaire’s own guide says observers reproduced a traced pattern “around 64 percent of the time”, against about 11 percent for a six-digit PIN.

If you forget the pattern, the recovery phrase opens the vault. Vaultaire makes a nine-word sentence, or you can write your own phrase. Its secret phrase page says the phrase can be shown again from the vault’s settings, and that anyone who opens the vault “may be able to view it.” There is no email reset.

Each pattern opens its own vault, and no screen lists them, so any vault can be a decoy. The free plan allows 3. The duress vault is Pro. Its pattern opens it and removes local access to every other vault, with no undo. We found no photo on a wrong pattern and no icon disguise. Vaultaire’s guide says it “does not disguise its icon.”

Backup and moving to a new phone

The encrypted iCloud backup is free and on by default. Vaultaire encrypts the vault on the iPhone first, so Apple stores only encrypted records. On a new iPhone or iPad with the same Apple Account, you restore with your pattern or the recovery phrase. The backup does not move to another Apple Account.

The backup is newer than the app. It moved to the free plan in version 1.0.9 in August 2026. The release notes for 1.0.15, in September 2026, say restore on a second device “now brings your files back.” Sync between devices is Pro.

Price and plans

Prices on the US App Store, checked October 8, 2026:

• Vaultaire Pro Weekly: $1.99
• Vaultaire Pro Monthly: $5.99
• Vaultaire Pro Annual: $19.99, with a 7-day free trial
• Vaultaire Pro Lifetime: $39.99
• Vaultaire Pro Family Annual: $49.99
• Vaultaire Pro Family Lifetime: $99.99

The free plan holds 3 vaults with 100 photos and 10 videos in total. That covers a small private album. A larger library needs Pro.

Privacy label and ads

Vaultaire has no ads. Its App Store label has no “Data Used to Track You” section. It lists Contact Info and User Content as linked to you, and Usage Data and Diagnostics as not linked. Our read of its app package found no ad SDK and no request for tracking permission.

Its privacy policy says one switch, “Share errors anonymously”, controls the analytics, crash reports and Apple Ads attribution. It is on by default. The policy says Vaultaire does not use the advertising identifier.

What users report

We found only 7 Vaultaire App Store reviews, 4 from the US and 3 from Canada, from June to September 2026. That is too few to rank or to count themes. Read them as single data points:

• A 1-star review from July 2026, on version 1.0.7, says photos “cannot be opened and cannot be moved” and “There’s no easy Support access through the app.”
• A 2-star review says “files disappeared and now i just lost them”.
• A 4-star review asks for albums: “Wish I could create album and folders”. Version 1.0.18 added folders on October 6, 2026.
• A 5-star review calls it a “Súper helpful way to keep photos and videos completely on device and also completely private.”

What Vaultaire does well

Vaultaire is one of the most careful apps in this field. It encrypts on the device with a named cipher, needs no account and backs up free to your own iCloud. It ships no ad SDK and lists no data used to track you. Its website explains the key design and states its weak points in plain words. It ships fixes often, with 18 releases in 7 months, and it added folders, a custom order and shared vaults that open on another Apple ID.

York Vault as an alternative

York Vault is our own app, so read this part with that in mind. It also needs no account, encrypts each item on your phone with its own key (AES-256-GCM), and backs up free to your own iCloud, or Google Drive on Android. You pick a pattern, a PIN or a passcode, with optional Face ID or fingerprint. The 12-word recovery key is shown once and never again. The cover code, the erase code, wrong-code photos and a calculator front are free. York Vault measures its own ads, so its label lists data for that. See York Vault vs Vaultaire for the full table, and the Vaultaire alternative page for how to export everything first.

Download York Vault on the App Store or Google Play.

Who it fits

Side by side with York Vault, row by row: York Vault vs Vaultaire: which photo vault should you use?