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ARCA

Arca vs Keepsafe Photo Vault

Keepsafe is one of the most polished vault apps, with cloud backup and a clean interface. It advertises “military-grade encryption,” but its privacy and backup features are built around an account and cloud sync, and several are gated behind a subscription.

Feature
Arca
Keepsafe Photo Vault
Real per-file encryption (AES-256)
AES-256-GCM, per file
Encrypts stored photos
Zero-knowledge (no one else can read your photos)
Yes — key derived from your PIN
Account/cloud model; vendor holds infrastructure
Works with no account
No sign-up at all
Account required
Fully local — no server
Nothing leaves the device
Cloud sync is a core feature
Decoy / duress vault
Second PIN opens a decoy
Fake PIN / decoy supported
Break-in report (failed-unlock log)
Time, PIN, optional photo
Break-in alerts offered
Encrypted backup you fully control
Single .arcavault file
Cloud backup tied to your account
No lock-in (lossless export, no pay-or-lose)
Export originals anytime
Export possible; cloud is vendor-controlled

Based on publicly available information about Keepsafe. Features and pricing change — verify the current app before relying on it.

Where Arca stands

Arca is local-first and account-free. Your photos never sync to a vendor's cloud, there's no login to phish, and a one-time lifetime purchase removes the subscription dependency entirely.

Questions

Does Keepsafe really use military-grade encryption? +

“Military-grade” usually means AES-256, which is genuinely strong. What matters more is where keys live and whether your data sits on a vendor's servers. Keepsafe is account- and cloud-based, so you're trusting their infrastructure.

Why choose Arca over Keepsafe? +

If you want zero cloud exposure and no account, Arca keeps everything on your device with no server at all, and offers a lifetime purchase so privacy isn't rented.

Your photos. Truly private.

Download Arca and lock your first photos away in under a minute. No account, no cloud, no one but you.

Free to download · iPhone · iOS 18+