Keepsafe alternative for iPhone with no account and no company key
Mirage Vault is a Keepsafe alternative for people who want the vault to have no account: no e-mail sign-up, no password reset, no company servers holding the photos. Keepsafe keeps content in its cloud behind an account that can be reset by e-mail; Mirage encrypts on the iPhone with a key behind the Secure Enclave and backs up ciphertext to your own iCloud. Keepsafe remains the choice if you need Android or iPad.
We make Mirage Vault. This page compares it with other apps using only what each app's App Store listing or its own website states, read on 2026-10-19 and 2026-10-31. "—" means the listing does not say. Nothing here is a review, and we have not tested the other apps on a device. If a fact about your app is wrong, tell us and we will correct it.
Why people look for a Keepsafe alternative
Keepsafe is one of the oldest and most installed photo vaults, and it is built around an account. You sign up with an e-mail, your content is kept in Keepsafe’s cloud, and a forgotten PIN is reset through that e-mail. For a lot of people that is exactly right: the same vault on an iPhone, an iPad and an Android phone, with nothing to lose if a device is lost.
The account is also the reason people leave. A vault whose company can reset your PIN is a vault the company can open, because a reset that works for you works for whoever controls the e-mail, and for the company itself. Content on a company server is subject to that company’s security, staff and legal requests. And the App Store privacy label lists data linked to the account.
A Keepsafe alternative worth switching to has to remove the account without removing the safety net. In Mirage Vault the safety net is an encrypted backup to your own iCloud and an 8-word recovery phrase; the price is that the phrase is yours to keep.
Keepsafe and Mirage Vault on facts
| What we compared | Mirage Vault | Keepsafe |
|---|---|---|
| Encryption | AES-256-GCM, 1 MiB chunks, a key per file | Not named ("military-grade") |
| How the key is protected | PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256 ≥ 600,000, wrapped by a Secure Enclave key | — |
| Unlock | Pattern drawn anywhere, Face ID, PIN backup | PIN; Face ID stated |
| Account | None | E-mail account; password reset by e-mail |
| App Store privacy label | No analytics, no account (label pending publication) | Data Linked to You |
| Decoy vault | Yes (Pro) | Yes (fake PIN) |
| Break-in alerts | Yes, photo + time + pattern, no GPS (Pro) | Yes |
| Duress / wipe code | Yes: Wipe Key (Pro) | — |
| Disguise | Icon only; the label stays "Mirage" (Pro) | — |
| Backup | Encrypted iCloud backup, free, ciphertext only | Company cloud, content stored on its servers |
| Platforms | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, Android |
| Free plan | Up to 100 photos and 10 videos, with encrypted iCloud backup | — |
| Checked on | 2026-11-01 | 2026-10-19 |
Sources: Keepsafe: apps.apple.com/us/app/id510873505. Mirage Vault facts are from the app's source and its 2026-10-31 security audit.
Who should stay with Keepsafe
- You need Android or iPad. Mirage Vault is iPhone only, with no plans we would promise here.
- You want the company to be able to recover your vault. That is the account’s purpose. Mirage cannot recover anything; the recovery phrase can.
- You share a vault across a family on different platforms. Keepsafe’s account model is built for it.
Who Mirage Vault suits better
- You do not want an account anywhere. Mirage has none: no e-mail, no sign-up, no server of its own. Purchases go through Apple.
- You want the cipher and the key named. AES-256-GCM per 1 MiB chunk with a key per file; PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256 with at least 600,000 rounds; the vault key wrapped by the Secure Enclave. Keepsafe’s listing does not name a cipher.
- You want no analytics beside your photos. Mirage contains no third-party code at all.
- You want Face ID bound to your faces, a decoy vault and a Wipe Key. Face ID in Mirage uses a Secure Enclave key tied to the enrolled faces, with no passcode fallback. The decoy and the Wipe Key are Mirage Pro.
Moving photos from Keepsafe to Mirage Vault
No vault can read another vault’s container, so the move goes through the Photos app.
- Export from Keepsafe to Photos
In Keepsafe, select the photos and use its export or unhide function to put them back in the Photos app. Do it in batches if the vault is large. They land in Recents.
- Set up Mirage and write down the phrase
Draw a pattern, turn on Face ID, and save the recovery phrase from the checklist before importing anything.
- Import into Mirage
Tap + › Add from Photos, select the exported photos. Each is encrypted as it arrives. The free plan holds 100 photos and 10 videos; Mirage Pro has no limit.
- Delete the originals
When the toast asks Delete the originals from Photos?, tap Delete and confirm the iOS dialog. Then open Photos › Collections › Utilities › Recently Deleted and delete them there too; otherwise they stay for 30 days.
- Close the Keepsafe account
Once everything is in Mirage and backed up, delete the content in Keepsafe and its account through its own settings, so the copies on its servers go away.
Hiding photos on iPhone has the import steps with screenshots, and the security page has the full key chain if you want to check the claims above before moving.