Compare
How Sealed compares with other photo vault apps and with what iPhone already does, checked against each app’s own listing and privacy label.
Choosing a vault
- 1Password or Sealed for your IDs and documents? A password manager that also keeps IDs and files, set beside a photo vault that also keeps records: what each holds, what each asks of you, and who fits which.
- A locked note or a vault app? A locked note set beside Sealed, row by row: what each can hold, what opens it, where the cloud copy goes, and what a forgotten password costs you.
- A photo vault or an encrypted cloud A vault keeps a few things apart on your phone; an encrypted cloud keeps everything on every device. Five questions that decide it, and when to use both.
- After Dropbox Vault The PIN-protected Vault folder was discontinued in 2025. What the cloud app protects on an iPhone today, and how that compares with an encrypted vault.
- Amazon Photos and Sealed, side by side Amazon’s photo backup stores a whole library and tags faces and things in it. A vault seals a few chosen photos. What Amazon says it scans, keeps and shares.
- Cryptomator and Sealed, side by side A locked folder inside the cloud you already pay for, or a vault that keeps photos sealed on the iPhone: how they differ on backup, cost and getting back in.
- Decoy passwords, vault by vault A decoy code means something different in every vault: an empty gallery, a second set of photos, a separate space, or a code that erases. What each one says it does.
- Encrypted clouds for your photo library Seven clouds that say they encrypt on your phone, compared for photos: camera backup, free space, what is encrypted, and what a lost password costs you.
- Filen and Sealed, side by side An open-source encrypted cloud with servers in Germany, or a vault that keeps photos on your iPhone? Accounts, system versions, plans and the trade-offs.
- Folder Lock and Sealed, side by side Two iPhone apps that lock photos, files and wallet cards, compared on what the listing names, where the backup goes, what the privacy label says and the price.
- Google Photos and Sealed, beyond the Locked Folder Google’s photo app reads your library to search it, edit it and group faces. A vault seals a few photos no service reads. What Google says it does and doesn’t do.
- Google Photos Locked Folder and Sealed, side by side Locked Folder on iPhone opens with your phone’s own lock and keeps items on the device unless library backup is on. How that compares with a sealed vault.
- How to compare photo vault apps Five questions to put to any photo vault app, where each answer sits on its App Store page or help center, and a ten-minute test with sample photos.
- iCloud Photos and Sealed, side by side Your photo library syncs to every device you sign in to. A vault keeps chosen photos on one iPhone under its own code. What each does, and how the two fit together.
- Intruder photos, vault by vault Which iPhone vaults photograph a wrong guess, which add a location, which charge for it, and the questions that matter more than the photo itself.
- Is Signal’s Note to Self a good place to keep things? Sending photos and notes to yourself in a messenger chat: what Note to Self does well, what a chat can’t do as storage, and when a vault fits better.
- Keeping videos in a vault Videos are the files that break a vault’s free tier, fill a phone and slow a backup. How eight iPhone vaults handle them, from their own pages, and what to check.
- Locking the Photos app vs a vault What happens when you put a lock on the whole Photos app, what that lock leaves open, and when a vault app with a passcode of its own fits better.
- MEGA and Sealed, side by side Lots of free encrypted cloud space and camera backup, or a few chosen photos sealed on the phone? Recovery keys, tracking labels and plans, compared.
- OneDrive Personal Vault and Sealed, side by side Personal Vault is a locked folder in a Microsoft cloud drive; a vault app keeps files on the iPhone. How each opens, who holds the keys, the three-file catch.
- pCloud Encryption and Sealed, side by side Client-side encryption sold as an add-on that turns on one Crypto folder, or a vault that seals everything you add? What each covers and costs, compared.
- Photo vaults that need no account Which iPhone photo vaults start with no sign-up, which ask for an email later, and what takes the place of an account when you forget the code or change phones.
- Photo vaults that work on iPad Which iPhone photo vaults list iPad on their App Store page, the iPadOS each needs, and how to get one vault onto both your iPhone and your iPad.
- Sealed and Ente Photos, side by side An end-to-end encrypted photo cloud and an encrypted vault on the iPhone, compared on accounts, where copies live, recovery, platforms and price.
- Sealed and Proton Drive, side by side An encrypted cloud drive and an encrypted vault on the iPhone, compared for photos and documents: account, backup, a password reset, platforms and price.
- Standard Notes or Sealed for notes you keep to yourself An encrypted notes app that syncs everywhere, and a vault that keeps notes beside photos on one iPhone: free plans, files, offline use and a forgotten password.
- Sync.com and Sealed, side by side One keeps every file in an encrypted cloud you reach from any computer; the other keeps photos sealed on the phone. Where data sits, what it costs after year one.
- The locked album in Photos, or a vault app? Photos' locked album or a vault app such as Sealed? What opens each, who else gets in, what each holds, what it costs, and the jobs where the built-in album wins.
- The Passwords app or Sealed records? The Passwords app set beside Sealed: which one fills a login for you, where sign-in codes and ID numbers belong, and a simple split between the two.
- Tresorit and Sealed, side by side Shared encrypted folders for a team, or a vault for one person’s photos and records? Accounts, sharing, photo upload and price, compared.
- Where to write notes nobody else should read A locked note, an encrypted notes app, a password manager’s secure note, a chat with yourself, or a vault: what each protects and what each costs you.
Alternatives
- Keepsafe alternative with no account or ads: Sealed compared Leaving Keepsafe? What changes when your vault needs no email: sign-in, who can open your files, ads, backup limits, a forgotten PIN, and moving your photos.
- Private Photo Vault alternative with free backup to your iCloud Thinking of leaving Private Photo Vault? The locks are much alike. What changes is where the backup lives, who pays for it, ads, and what ends with Premium.
- Sealed and 1Locker, side by side A photo vault that also keeps passwords, card notes and contacts, set beside Sealed: structure, moving to a new iPhone, cloud backup and one-time prices.
- Sealed and Darkbox, side by side Darkbox sells cloud space with its vault, while Sealed’s backup uses an account of yours. Compared on cloud, fake password, encryption claims and price.
- Sealed and Encamera, side by side Two iPhone apps that shoot photos straight into an encrypted vault, compared on the lock-screen camera, the key you keep, backup, analytics and price.
- Sealed and HiddenVault, side by side Two iPhone vaults for photos and passwords, compared on encryption, cloud backup, a forgotten passcode, the privacy policy, trials and price.
- Sealed and Hide it Pro, side by side Hide it Pro and Sealed compared on what happens after a forgotten PIN or a lost phone, what each says about encryption, and what each costs.
- Sealed and Inner Gallery, side by side Two newer iPhone vaults with no account, compared on where the key comes from, a forgotten PIN, encrypted sync, free limits and paying once.
- Sealed and Obscura, side by side Two encrypted photo vaults with no account, compared on backup, a forgotten password, documents, free limits and price, from each app’s own pages.
- Sealed and Privault, side by side Two iPhone photo vaults compared on a forgotten passcode, moving to a new iPhone, backup, ad tracking and the one-time price, each row with its source.
- Sealed and PV, side by side PV and Sealed compared on free storage, ads and tracking, a forgotten password, what happens when you delete the app, and where backups go.
- Sealed and SA, side by side Two iPhone vaults with a decoy code and intruder photos, compared on what each one tracks, where a paid cloud backup is kept and how you get back in.
- Sealed and Safe Lock, side by side Two iPhone photo vaults with many ways to lock, compared on what each says about encryption, where copies go, wrong-passcode photos and price.
- Sealed and Vaultaire, side by side Two iPhone vaults with no account and a free encrypted backup, compared on how the key is protected, the way back in, the free plan, sharing and price.
- Sealed and Vaulty, side by side Two iPhone photo vaults compared on sign-in, where the cloud copy is kept, what each says about encryption, ads, and the plans on offer.
- Sealed vs SPV (Secret Photo Vault): what if the phone is lost? One vault keeps photos only on the phone, the other adds an encrypted backup and a recovery key. What each app says, row by row with sources, and who each fits.
Documents and ids
- Apps to keep IDs, passports and documents on iPhone, compared Notes, Files, Passwords, a password manager and photo vaults, compared on four jobs: keeping a passport scan, its numbers, a lock, and a way back on a new phone.
- Bitwarden or Sealed for your papers and records? Bitwarden fills in logins on every device, and a photo vault keeps scans on one iPhone. How each handles a passport scan, a card number and a lost password.
- Password manager or vault app? A rule of thumb for where each thing goes: typed values that fill in forms, or pictures of paper you show. With a sorting table for twelve common items.
- The Files app or a vault for your documents? Keeping a lease, a contract or tax papers in the Files app, set beside Sealed: where each copy lives, what opens it, and which folders have no lock.
Encryption
- Advanced Data Protection or a vault? What the optional end-to-end setting for your cloud data changes, what it leaves alone on the phone in your hand, and where a vault fits beside it.
- Encrypted photo apps for iPhone, and how much each one tells you Photo vault apps sorted by how much they say about their encryption: a named cipher, where the key lives, what the word covers, or nothing at all.
Pricing
- Free photo vaults for iPhone, and what free covers What the free tier of each photo vault holds, what it leaves out, and what pays for it, from each app’s own App Store page read in November 2026.
- Subscription or pay once? How photo vaults charge on iPhone, from weekly plans to lifetime purchases, what store pages showed this month, and what to ask before you pay.