AlterVaultvs
KeepsafeThe best Keepsafe alternatives
Keepsafe is the most installed app in this category and the least private of the serious ones. Here is where its users go, and what changes when the photos stop leaving the phone.
AlterVault vs Keepsafe
AlterVaultKeepsafeEncryption
Cipher on your files
XChaCha20-Poly1305
None
Key derived from
Your code (Argon2id)
Company-held
Thumbnails encrypted
✓
✕
Only you can decrypt
✓
✕
Where photos live
On a server
Never
Yes
Works with no network
✓
✕
No account needed
✓
✓
No password reset
✓
✕
Survives losing the phone
Your backup file
Their cloud
Hiding
Decoy gallery
Shake gesture
Fake PIN, Premium
Multiple vaults
Pro
✕
Money
Price
$19.99 once
$23.99 / yr
Five-year cost
$19.99
~$120
Free tier
10 items
Limited
US list prices, September 2026.
Why switch
Why people leave Keepsafe
The cloud
Photos are uploaded and encrypted on Keepsafe's servers with keys Keepsafe holds, so the company can technically read your library. That is not an accusation, it is what a working password reset implies.
The price
About $24 a year, forever, with the fake PIN and break-in log behind Premium. Roughly $120 over five years.
Data loss
The recurring complaint is photos that did not come back after a reinstall, a device change, or a lapsed subscription.
What AlterVault does instead
- Encrypted on the phone
- Every file sealed with XChaCha20-Poly1305 before it is written, thumbnails included. The key comes from your code through Argon2id and wraps a master key in the Android Keystore.
- Nothing on a server
- No account, no sync, no password reset. Nobody at AlterVault can open your library, and there is no database to breach.
- A decoy instead of a fake PIN
- Shake once and the vault becomes an ordinary gallery. No code typed in front of the person asking.
- $19.99 once
- Free up to 10 items. Pro lifts the cap and adds more vaults, each behind its own code.
Leaving without losing anything
Export before you cancel. A lapsed subscription can lock you out mid-export.
- 01Export from KeepsafeUnhide everything back to your camera roll, in batches. Check the count.
- 02VerifyOpen several at random and confirm they are full resolution, not thumbnails.
- 03Import, then deleteMove into AlterVault, verify the count again, then delete from Keepsafe and cancel.
- 04Make a backupSettings, Encrypted Backup, Save a Backup. Keep the file off the phone.