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.
Based on publicly available information about Keepsafe. Features and pricing change — verify the current app before relying on it.
Account-based vs local-first
Keepsafe genuinely encrypts stored photos, and its interface is among the most polished in the category. The difference is architectural: Keepsafe is built around an account and cloud sync. That means there is a login that can be phished, vendor infrastructure that holds your data, and a subscription standing between you and several of its privacy features.
Arca keeps encryption and vault storage on your device, without an account or automatic library sync. You are responsible for keeping a backup. Purchase validation and optional link downloads still use online services; they do not back up your vault.
Which one should you choose?
Choose Keepsafe if you want managed cloud backup and cross-device sync, and you're comfortable trusting a vendor's servers and paying a recurring subscription for the fuller feature set. For many people that convenience is worth it.
Choose Arca if your priority is minimizing who could ever access your photos. Local-only storage plus per-file AES-256 encryption removes the vendor from the equation entirely, and the one-time lifetime purchase means your privacy isn't rented month to month.
Switching to Arca
Export your photos from Keepsafe back to the Photos app first — do this on Wi-Fi and confirm everything you stored has come back at original quality. Then import into Arca, where each file is encrypted on-device, and spot-check that your photos open. Finally, remove the originals from Keepsafe and from Photos, including the Recently Deleted album.
After migrating, create an .arcavault backup and keep it somewhere you control — a computer or an external drive. From that point on, no account closure, price change, or vendor outage can come between you and your photos.
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 local vault storage without an Arca account or automatic library upload, Arca provides it and offers a lifetime purchase. See the privacy policy for purchases, diagnostics, and optional online features.
Do I need a subscription to use Arca? +
No. Arca offers a one-time lifetime purchase, so your privacy features don't depend on a recurring payment staying active.
Is a cloud vault ever the safer choice? +
Cloud backup does protect you if your phone is lost or destroyed — that's a real benefit. The cost is that it widens who could access your photos to include the vendor and anyone who compromises your account. Arca's answer is local encryption plus an .arcavault backup file you store wherever you choose.
More comparisons
Your photos. Truly private.
Keep your photos in an encrypted vault on your iPhone, with no Arca account or automatic vault upload.
Free to download · iPhone · iOS 18+