Skip to content

Sigil vs Vaultaire

Vaultaire is a pattern-lock photo vault for iPhone and iPad from Wraxle LLC. Its site and App Store listing describe AES-256-GCM encryption, hidden and duress vaults, encrypted iCloud backup and vault sharing.

Last verified

Planned

Sigil is in development. Its column describes what version 1.0 is built to do.

Feature by feature

Across 16 rows, Sigil is ahead on 3, Vaultaire is ahead on 5 and 8 are level. Planned items count as not yet shipped.

Sigil compared with Vaultaire, feature by feature, with a source for each row
FeatureSigilVaultaire
Vault key needs a secret that never leaves the phonePattern page: the device-wide Keychain salt is 'a nonsecret value' that 'makes the local derivation device-bound'.Source for Vault key needs a secret that never leaves the phoneYesNo
Slow, costly key derivation from the patternSecurity page: PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA512, 600,000 iterations. Its example: a billion guesses at 1 ms each take about 11.6 days on one worker.Source for Slow, costly key derivation from the patternYesYes
Unlock with a pattern on a 5x5 gridRequires at least 6 dots and one direction change.Source for Unlock with a pattern on a 5x5 gridYesYes
Recovery phraseNine-word phrase by default, or a custom phrase of at least six words.Source for Recovery phraseYesYes
Several vaults, each opened by its own patternUnlock screen shows no cross-vault list.Source for Several vaults, each opened by its own patternYesYes
Vault count hidden from someone inspecting the filesIt pads its pool with cover files, but says a filesystem examiner can still count vaults from storage directories.Source for Vault count hidden from someone inspecting the filesYesNo
Duress or decoy vaultA special pattern opens one designated vault and removes the other vault indexes from the device.Source for Duress or decoy vaultPlannedYes
Encrypted cloud backupEncrypted iCloud backup, on by default and can be turned off.Source for Encrypted cloud backupPlannedYes
Secure sharing of a vaultRead-only vault shared through iCloud with a one-time phrase.Source for Secure sharing of a vaultPlannedYes
Sync across your own devicesDevice Sync is a Pro feature covering iPhone and iPad through your private iCloud database.Source for Sync across your own devicesPlannedYes
Secure in-app cameraCaptures photos and video without adding them to the Photos library.Source for Secure in-app cameraYesYes
Alternate app iconsPro feature: Calculator, Printer and five other utility icons.Source for Alternate app iconsPlannedYes
Folders inside each vaultListing: 'Folders inside each vault'. Sigil has one level of albums.Source for Folders inside each vaultYesYes
No account neededListing: 'Pattern lock without an account'.Source for No account neededYesYes
No analytics SDKIts security page says anonymous usage and crash data go to PostHog by default and can be turned off.Source for No analytics SDKYesNo
One-time purchase optionListing shows a Pro Lifetime in-app purchase.Source for One-time purchase optionYesYes

Who each one suits

Vaultaire

Vaultaire is available now and covers more than Sigil v1.0 will: encrypted iCloud backup, vault sharing, a duress vault, device sync and alternate icons, in 31 languages. If you want those features this week, it is the better fit today.

Sigil

Sigil suits people who care most about how the vault key is made: it needs the pattern and a secret that stays on the phone, and fixed slots hide how many vaults exist. It has not launched, so backup, duress mode and sharing are planned.

Price

Free to download, with in-app purchases. Listed on the US App Store on 2026-10-21: Vaultaire Pro Weekly $1.99, Monthly $5.99, Annual $19.99, Lifetime $39.99, Family Annual $49.99 and Family Lifetime $99.99. Source

Vaultaire on the App Store

Sources

Last verified

Names and logos belong to their owners. Not affiliated.