VaultaireCompare
sigil. vs Vaultaire
Vaultaire vs sigil.: two pattern-based encrypted vaults with no account. Backup, decoy, free tier and price compared honestly.
Short answer: Vaultaire and sigil. are close cousins — both have no account, both use a drawn pattern to derive the key, both open a different vault for each pattern. Choose Vaultaire if you want encrypted iCloud backup and multi-device sync today, or a family plan. Choose sigil. if you want a strictly local vault with no cloud copy at all, a written recovery phrase, and EXIF stripping built into import and export.
It is worth saying plainly: Vaultaire shipped the "any pattern opens a vault" idea before us, and it does it well. This page is about the differences that remain.
- Price
- Free · Pro €39.99 once or €19.99/yrUS App Store: Pro $1.99/wk, $5.99/mo, $19.99/yr; Family $49.99/yr
- Lifetime option
- €39.99 once, no subscriptionPro Lifetime $39.99; Family Lifetime $99.99 (US App Store)
- Free tier
- 100 photos and documents + 10 videos per vault, 1 vault + decoy vaultUp to 3 vaults, 100 photos and 10 videos total
- Account required
- No account at allNo account required
- Encryption
- 256-bit encryption; key unlocked by your sign (Argon2id, bound to the secure chip)AES-256-GCM, key unlocked by your pattern (vendor-stated)
- Zero-knowledge
- Yes — no server, we never see anythingVendor services never receive readable contents, pattern or keys
- Multiple vaults
- Up to 7 vaults with Pro, one sign each; the app never lists themEach pattern opens a separate vault; no visible vault list
- Decoy vault
- Free: a decoy pattern opens a decoy vault with harmless photos and erases nothingDecoy vault via another pattern; Pro duress pattern removes other vaults
- Disguised icon
- Neutral utility icons that don't say vault.Pro: alternate icons such as Calculator
- Private camera
- Photos never touch the Camera RollIn-vault camera; nothing goes to the Camera Roll
- EXIF / location removal
- Location/EXIF stripped on import and export—
- Cloud sync
- No — local-first, no cloud backup yetEncrypted iCloud backup on by default; multi-device sync is Pro
- Unlock
- Only the sign you draw — no Face ID or Touch ID, by designDrawn pattern; no PIN
- Break-in alerts
- No intruder photos; optional self-destruct after too many wrong signs—
- Platforms
- iPhone onlyiOS, iPadOS
| Feature | sigil. | Vaultaire |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free · Pro €39.99 once or €19.99/yr | US App Store: Pro $1.99/wk, $5.99/mo, $19.99/yr; Family $49.99/yr |
| Lifetime option | €39.99 once, no subscription | Pro Lifetime $39.99; Family Lifetime $99.99 (US App Store) |
| Free tier | 100 photos and documents + 10 videos per vault, 1 vault + decoy vault | Up to 3 vaults, 100 photos and 10 videos total |
| Account required | No account at all | No account required |
| Encryption | 256-bit encryption; key unlocked by your sign (Argon2id, bound to the secure chip) | AES-256-GCM, key unlocked by your pattern (vendor-stated) |
| Zero-knowledge | Yes — no server, we never see anything | Vendor services never receive readable contents, pattern or keys |
| Multiple vaults | Up to 7 vaults with Pro, one sign each; the app never lists them | Each pattern opens a separate vault; no visible vault list |
| Decoy vault | Free: a decoy pattern opens a decoy vault with harmless photos and erases nothing | Decoy vault via another pattern; Pro duress pattern removes other vaults |
| Disguised icon | Neutral utility icons that don't say vault. | Pro: alternate icons such as Calculator |
| Private camera | Photos never touch the Camera Roll | In-vault camera; nothing goes to the Camera Roll |
| EXIF / location removal | Location/EXIF stripped on import and export | — |
| Cloud sync | No — local-first, no cloud backup yet | Encrypted iCloud backup on by default; multi-device sync is Pro |
| Unlock | Only the sign you draw — no Face ID or Touch ID, by design | Drawn pattern; no PIN |
| Break-in alerts | No intruder photos; optional self-destruct after too many wrong signs | — |
| Platforms | iPhone only | iOS, iPadOS |
Security model
Vaultaire describes its encryption as AES-256-GCM, key unlocked by your pattern (vendor-stated). sigil. uses 256-bit encryption, with a key unlocked by a sign you draw on a dot grid, hardened with Argon2id and bound to the phone's secure chip (pattern encryption).
At this level the two designs are very similar. In both, a wrong pattern does not trigger a "wrong PIN" error: in Vaultaire it opens a different vault; in sigil. it simply opens nothing. And in both, multiple vaults exist without a visible list: Vaultaire says Each pattern opens a separate vault; no visible vault list, and sigil. works the same way (multiple hidden vaults).
Where they diverge is recovery. sigil. gives you a 12-word recovery phrase from the BIP-39 wordlist, which you write down once and can use to regain access if you forget your sign. We did not find an equivalent documented on Vaultaire's site or App Store page at the time of writing; check their listing if this matters to you.
Privacy: account and server
Neither app asks you to sign up. Vaultaire: No account required, and on data access it says Vendor services never receive readable contents, pattern or keys.
The real difference is the cloud. Vaultaire states: Encrypted iCloud backup on by default; multi-device sync is Pro. That backup is encrypted before it leaves the phone, which is a good design — but it does mean an encrypted copy of your vaults lives in your iCloud account by default.
sigil. keeps no copy anywhere except your phone. For some people that is the point: nothing to find in a cloud account, nothing to hand over. For others it is a risk — if the phone is lost, so is the vault. Read how to protect photos if your phone is stolen before deciding.
Features
Decoy. Both apps have something to show under pressure. Vaultaire: Decoy vault via another pattern; Pro duress pattern removes other vaults. sigil.'s decoy pattern opens a decoy vault while the others stay hidden. Functionally, these are close.
Disguised icon. Vaultaire offers Pro: alternate icons such as Calculator. sigil. offers neutral utility icons that don't say vault (disguised icon).
Camera. Vaultaire: In-vault camera; nothing goes to the Camera Roll. sigil.'s private camera also never writes to the Camera Roll.
Metadata. sigil. strips EXIF and location data on import and export, and warns you before any plaintext export. We did not find EXIF stripping documented by Vaultaire. You can inspect files with the photo metadata viewer or clean them with the EXIF remover.
Price
Vaultaire on the US App Store: US App Store: Pro $1.99/wk, $5.99/mo, $19.99/yr; Family $49.99/yr. Lifetime: Pro Lifetime $39.99; Family Lifetime $99.99 (US App Store). Free tier: Up to 3 vaults, 100 photos and 10 videos total.
sigil. is free with every feature included (decoy vault, self-destruct, disguised icon): 100 photos and documents plus 10 videos per vault, one vault plus the decoy vault. Pro lifts the photo and video limits and gives you up to 7 vaults, each opened by its own pattern: €39.99 once, lifetime, no subscription, or €19.99 per year. No free trial and no monthly plan. Over the free limit nothing is locked; you just can't add more. See pricing.
Vaultaire's free tier is more generous than ours. We are not going to pretend otherwise.
Where Vaultaire is better
- Backup and sync. Encrypted iCloud backup on by default; multi-device sync is Pro. sigil. has neither yet.
- Free tier. Up to 3 vaults, 100 photos and 10 videos total, versus one vault plus the decoy vault, with 100 photos and documents and 10 videos per vault, in sigil.
- Family plan. Vaultaire offers family pricing (see the price row above); sigil. does not.
- iPad. Vaultaire lists iOS, iPadOS. sigil. is iPhone-only today.
Where sigil. is different
- No cloud copy at all. Nothing leaves the phone unless you export it.
- Recovery phrase. A standard 12-word phrase you can store on paper.
- Metadata hygiene. EXIF and location stripped on the way in and out.
How to switch from Vaultaire to sigil.
- In Vaultaire, open each vault and export the items you want to move.
- Install sigil., draw a sign for each vault you want to recreate, and write down the recovery phrase.
- Import the items into the matching sigil. vault.
- Verify that items open, then delete the exported copies from Photos and empty Recently Deleted.
- If Vaultaire's iCloud backup was on, remove that backup too once you have moved everything.
Verdict
These are the two closest apps in this space. If you want encrypted cloud backup and sync, Vaultaire is the stronger product today. If you want a vault that exists only on your phone, with a written recovery phrase and metadata stripping, sigil. is the cleaner fit. See also our Vaultaire review and pattern lock vs PIN vs password.
Frequently asked questions
Are sigil. and Vaultaire the same idea?
They share the core idea: a drawn pattern derives the key that opens a vault, and different patterns open different vaults. They differ in backup, extras and pricing details.
Which one backs up to iCloud?
sigil. does not back up to the cloud yet; it is local-first. Check Vaultaire's current App Store listing for its backup options, which are summarized in the table above.
Can I have several hidden vaults in sigil.?
Yes. Every sign opens its own vault and there is no list of vaults, so nobody can tell how many exist. The free plan includes one vault; Pro raises it to 7, each with its own pattern.
Is a pattern as strong as a password?
It depends on the pattern. A long sign on a 5×5 grid has far more combinations than a 4-digit PIN, but simple shapes are guessable. Test yours with our pattern strength meter.
App names and icons belong to their owners; used only to identify the products compared.