Keepsafe vs Private Photo Vault
Keepsafe and Private Photo Vault both keep your photos behind a lock of their own, and both run on iPhone, iPad and Android. They differ on your email, the backup, and how you get back in if you forget your PIN or password. Underlock is a private vault for your iPhone that opens with a pattern you draw on a grid of dots. This page shows Underlock as a third choice.
We make Underlock, so read this knowing that.
Underlock is coming soon to the App Store.
Which is right for you?
Keepsafe may suit you if:
- you want a free backup for up to 200 photos and videos
- you want to share albums with people you invite
- you’d like your email to be your way back in
Private Photo Vault may suit you if:
- you’d rather not make an account
- you want your vault to need both Face ID and your PIN
- you want a backup its team can’t view, with Premium
Underlock may suit you if:
- you’d rather not give an app your email
- you’d rather keep 12 words on paper as your way back in
The App Store shows each app’s prices for your country, on the app’s page. The Pricing page shows Underlock’s prices.
Side by side
Keepsafe and Private Photo Vault come first. Underlock, the app we make, is the third column. Every answer in the table comes from the app’s own pages. Not stated means those pages don’t say. Analytics means data an app collects about how you use it.
| Feature | Keepsafe | Private Photo Vault | Underlock |
|---|---|---|---|
| A lock of its own, not your iPhone passcode | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Opens with Face ID | Yes | Yes | No |
| Encrypted on your iPhone | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| On other devices too | iPad and Android | iPad, Mac and Android | No, iPhone only |
| Share an album with people you invite | Yes | Not stated | No |
| Account or email to sign up | Name and email | Only for backup | None |
| If you forget how to open the vault | A code sent to your email | A recovery email, if you set one up | 12 words on paper |
| Analytics in the app | Yes | Yes | None |
What both do well
Keepsafe and Private Photo Vault get the same basics right, and both do things Underlock doesn’t.
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A lock of their own
Each has a PIN of its own, separate from your iPhone passcode. Both can open with Face ID too, and Private Photo Vault can ask for both Face ID and your PIN.
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iPhone, iPad and Android
Both have apps for all three. Photos in Keepsafe’s backup show up on every device you sign in to. With Private Photo Vault, your photos show up on your other devices only with Premium.
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Encrypted on your iPhone
Both encrypt your photos on your iPhone, on the free plan too.
If you forget your PIN or password
Keepsafe starts with an account, made with your name and email. If you forget your PIN, Keepsafe emails a code to that address. With the code, you choose a new PIN. If you can no longer get into that email, Keepsafe says it can’t recover your account or the photos in it.
Private Photo Vault needs no account, unless you add Cloud Vault, its Premium backup. A recovery email is your choice. If you set up a recovery email, Private Photo Vault can use it to reset a forgotten PIN or password. Without a recovery email, that reset isn’t available. Cloud Vault uses a second password, on top of the PIN or password that opens the app. Without that second password, the Cloud Vault backup can’t be opened, and nobody can recover the second password. Private Photo Vault asks you to write down that second password.
Underlock needs no email either. When you set up a vault, Underlock shows you 12 words to write on paper: your recovery phrase. Those 12 words open your vault if you forget your pattern. Keep the paper somewhere safe. The 12 words work like your pattern: anyone who has them and can unlock your iPhone could open your vault. If you lose both your pattern and the paper, nobody can open your vault, not even us.
Choosing Keepsafe? Add a second email address to your Keepsafe account, so losing one inbox doesn’t lock you out. Choosing Private Photo Vault? Set up a recovery email, so a forgotten PIN or password can be reset.
The backup, and who can see your photos
Both apps encrypt your photos on your iPhone. Encrypted photos are scrambled, and only a key unscrambles them. What differs is who else can see your photos.
Keepsafe’s free plan backs up the first 200 photos and videos you add, encrypted. Photos after the first 200 stay in the app, without a backup, and Premium backs up as many as 10,000. Keepsafe says its staff don’t look at your photos unless you ask them to. Keepsafe also names two cases when its staff can technically view your data: when they’re required to, and when they suspect Keepsafe’s terms were broken.
Cloud Vault, Private Photo Vault’s backup, comes with Premium and needs an account. Private Photo Vault says its team can’t view your photos, in the app or in Cloud Vault. On the free version, Private Photo Vault suggests backing up your whole iPhone to a computer.
We never receive your files, your pattern or your keys, so we can’t open your vault.
Questions people ask
It depends on what matters most to you. Keepsafe backs up your first 200 photos and videos for free, and your email is your way back in. Private Photo Vault needs no account unless you add its backup, which comes with Premium.
Yes. Both are free to download, and both sell Premium. Keepsafe’s free plan backs up your first 200 photos and videos. New Keepsafe accounts start with 30 days of Premium. When the 30 days end, you choose the free plan or pay, and Keepsafe doesn’t charge you automatically. Private Photo Vault’s free version keeps your photos on your iPhone, with no backup to Cloud Vault.
In both apps, your photos stay in the app. In Keepsafe, the backup keeps only 200 photos and videos, and the rest stay in the app without a backup. Private Photo Vault offers to renew Premium or to switch to the free version. If you switch, Private Photo Vault deletes the Cloud Vault backup.
Yes. Both have apps for iPhone, iPad and Android. Photos in Keepsafe’s backup show up on every device you sign in to: the first 200 on the free plan. With Private Photo Vault, your photos show up on your other devices only with Premium.
Yes. Underlock is free forever: one vault, no file limit. If the free plan ever changes, you keep the plan you started with. More vaults come with Pro, Underlock’s paid plan.
Related
- Underlock vs Keepsafe What Keepsafe does well, and how it differs from Underlock.
- Underlock vs Private Photo Vault What Private Photo Vault does well, and how it differs from Underlock.
- Forgot your photo vault password? What you can still do, step by step.
- Photo vault apps for iPhone, compared Four ways to keep photos private, row by row.
- Free photo vault apps What each free plan includes, and what costs money.
- Are photo vault apps safe? Check 5 things before you trust a vault app with your photos.
Give what’s private a lock of its own
Free for one vault, with no file limit. No account, no email.
For iPhone with iOS 17 or later.