Keepsafe is easy to use and has a long track record, plus its own cloud and time-limited sharing. Its listing gives no detail about how files are encrypted, the free plan shows ads, and Premium is subscription only.
| Ease of use | ★★★★☆ | Mature app, 4.7 stars from more than 385,000 ratings, updated in October 2026. |
|---|---|---|
| Encryption you can verify | ★★☆☆☆ | The listing says "military-grade encryption" but not the algorithm, where keys live or whether the cloud is end-to-end encrypted. |
| Ads and pricing | ★★☆☆☆ | Basic is ad supported. Ad-free, Private Cloud and album PINs need Premium, which is a monthly or yearly subscription. |
| Features | ★★★★☆ | Album PINs, Private Cloud up to 10,000 items, Space Saver, Trash Recovery, in-app camera and Safe Send. |
| Under pressure | ★★☆☆☆ | The current listing doesn't mention a decoy PIN, duress mode or intruder photos. |
- Very large user base and 13+ years of updates
- Private Cloud and sync across your Keepsafe installs on any platform
- Safe Send shares a photo for a limited time
- Separate PINs per album on Premium
- No published detail on the encryption or who holds the keys
- Ads on the free plan
- Subscription only, no one-time purchase
- Uses Keepsafe's own cloud, which means trusting Keepsafe with your files
Best for: People who want a familiar, cross-platform photo locker with its own cloud storage and don't mind an account and a subscription.
What Keepsafe is
Keepsafe is a photo and video locker from KeepSafe Software, first released in April 2012. You import photos into the app and open it with a PIN or Touch ID. The listing claims more than 70 million users. On the App Store it has 4.7 stars from more than 385,000 ratings, and version 13.35 shipped on 26 October 2026.
It runs on iPhone and iPad (iOS 17 or later) and is also available on Android, which matters if your household mixes platforms: Keepsafe syncs your locker across all your Keepsafe installs.
Free vs Premium
| Keepsafe Basic (free) | Keepsafe Premium | |
|---|---|---|
| PIN pad and Touch ID | Yes | Yes |
| Albums, slideshow, in-app camera | Yes | Yes |
| Safe Send (time-limited sharing) | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | No |
| Separate PIN per album | No | Yes |
| Private Cloud | No | Up to 10,000 items |
| Space Saver (compress, original to cloud) | No | Yes |
| Trash Recovery | No | Yes |
Premium is sold as a monthly or yearly subscription. There's no lifetime option in the listing.
Encryption: what the listing says, and doesn't
The listing promises "military-grade encryption" and stops there. It doesn't name the cipher, say whether files are encrypted on the device, explain whether the Private Cloud is end-to-end encrypted, or say who holds the keys. That doesn't mean the design is weak. It means you can't check it from the outside.
This is the question we'd put to any vault. "Military-grade" usually means AES-256, which is fine, but the algorithm is rarely where things go wrong. What matters is where the key comes from and whether the company can open what's in its cloud. Our guide on whether photo vault apps are safe explains what to look for.
Space Saver: read this before you turn it on
Space Saver compresses the photos on your phone and keeps the full-resolution originals in Keepsafe's Private Cloud. That frees storage, but your best copy of each photo then lives on Keepsafe's servers. If you cancel Premium, check how to get the originals back before you rely on it.
Who Keepsafe suits
Keepsafe is a reasonable pick if you want something familiar, easy and cross-platform, with cloud storage handled for you, and you're comfortable trusting the company with your files. If you want to verify how your photos are protected, avoid accounts and ads, or pay once, compare it with apps that publish their security design. See our VaultBolt vs Keepsafe comparison and the full comparison of 16 vault apps.
We build VaultBolt, a competing vault, so weigh our view accordingly. Everything above comes from Keepsafe's own App Store listing, checked on 2 November 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Is Keepsafe safe to use?
It locks the app with a PIN or Touch ID and is a long-running, widely used app. What its listing doesn't explain is how files are encrypted or who can decrypt the Private Cloud, so you're trusting the company rather than checking the design.
Is Keepsafe free?
Keepsafe Basic is free and ad supported. Premium, a monthly or yearly subscription, removes ads and adds Private Cloud, album PINs, Space Saver and Trash Recovery. Check the App Store listing for current prices.
Does Keepsafe have a fake PIN or decoy?
Its current App Store listing doesn't mention one. If a decoy matters to you, check inside the app before you rely on it.
What's a good alternative to Keepsafe without ads?
Look for a vault that documents its encryption and works without an account. Our VaultBolt vs Keepsafe comparison covers the differences feature by feature.
