Comparison
Bunker vs Keepsafe
Keepsafe is a PIN-locked photo locker with an account and its own cloud, and it works on both iPhone and Android. Bunker takes a different approach: there’s no account and no email, each vault is encrypted on your device under a Pattern only you know, and you can keep as many separate vaults as you like, plus a plan for your family.
The short verdict
- Pick Keepsafe if you need Android as well as iPhone, want Face ID or Touch ID, or want to recover a forgotten PIN by email.
- Pick Bunker if you’d rather not give a vault app your email, want the key to be something only you know, or want Hidden Vaults, a Duress Vault or Legacy Vaults.
Side by side
| Bunker | Keepsafe | |
|---|---|---|
| Encryption model | AES-256-GCM on your device; keys come from your Pattern, and we hold none | Says it encrypts your photos; the listing doesn’t describe how keys are made |
| Account required | No account, no email | Sign-up with name and verified email |
| Unlock method | Pattern on a 5 × 5 dial, optional Passphrase | PIN, with Touch ID or Face ID |
| Backup | Encrypted Backup to your own iCloud, free | Keepsafe’s Private Cloud; Premium raises the limit |
| Multiple vaults / decoy | Unlimited Hidden Vaults, each with its own Pattern | Album Lock (Premium); Fake PIN that opens a decoy (Premium) |
| Duress | Duress Vault (Bunker Pro) | None listed |
| Family access / legacy | Legacy Vaults (Bunker Pro); Family Plans for up to 6 people | None listed |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad and Mac | iPhone, iPad and Apple Vision Pro; Android |
| Price model | Free; Bunker Pro weekly, yearly with a free trial, or lifetime | Free with ads; Premium monthly or yearly |
Keepsafe details come from its App Store listing, its website, its Premium page and its help center articles on signing in, a lost PIN, permissions and Intruder Alerts, checked Oct 24, 2026.
How Keepsafe works
You set a PIN, and Keepsafe locks your photos and videos behind it, with Touch ID or Face ID where your device has it. You sign up with an email address, and that address is how you get back in if you forget your PIN. Your items back up to Keepsafe’s Private Cloud and sync to Keepsafe on your other devices, including Android phones.
Keepsafe Basic is free and supported by ads. Premium removes the ads and adds Album Lock (a separate PIN per album), a larger Private Cloud (up to 10,000 items, says its App Store listing), Space Saver and Trash Recovery. Keepsafe’s website also lists a Fake PIN that opens a decoy Keepsafe, and Break-In Alerts that photograph someone who enters a wrong PIN. Its App Store privacy label says usage data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies, and lists third-party advertising.
Where Bunker is different
No account. Bunker has nothing to sign up for. There’s no email on file, no password reset, and nobody at Bunker who could open your vaults. The flip side is real: if you forget a Pattern and lose its Recovery Phrase, nobody can help you get that vault back.
The Pattern is the key. In Bunker, your Pattern is run through Argon2id to make the key that unlocks the vault. It isn’t a gate in front of readable files. Someone who copies the app’s files gets only encrypted data.
Separate vaults with no list. Instead of locked albums, Bunker gives you Hidden Vaults: each opens with its own Pattern, and there’s no list of them on any screen or in the app’s files. A Pattern that opens nothing says “No vault opened”, the same words for a typo and a new Pattern, so the app never confirms what it holds. That’s also why Bunker has no intruder photos: there’s no “wrong attempt” to catch.
A Duress Vault. With Bunker Pro, one vault can be a Duress Vault. It opens normally and clears your other vaults from this device. Your iCloud backup still keeps them, and each comes back with its Recovery Phrase.
Your iCloud, not ours. Encrypted Backup is free for everyone and goes to your own iCloud, encrypted before it leaves the device.
No ads, no tracking. Bunker shows no ads and doesn’t track you across apps. Anonymous usage data is off unless you choose to share it.
Legacy Vaults and a Mac app. Legacy Vaults let the trusted contacts you choose open a read-only copy of one vault together, with printed Legacy Cards. In v1, enough of them together can open it at any time, so choose people you’d trust with it today. Bunker also runs natively on the Mac.
Choose Keepsafe if…
- You use Android. Keepsafe syncs between iPhone and Android. Bunker has no Android app.
- You want Face ID or Touch ID. Keepsafe supports them. Bunker always asks for your Pattern or Passphrase.
- You’d like a way back in by email. If you forget your Keepsafe PIN, your verified email helps you recover it. Bunker can’t do that for a forgotten Pattern; only the Recovery Phrase can.
- You want intruder photos. Keepsafe’s Break-In Alerts are a Premium feature; Bunker deliberately has none.
- You prefer a monthly plan. Keepsafe lists Monthly Premium at $9.99 and Yearly Premium at $23.99 in the US App Store; other prices appear there too. Bunker has no Monthly plan. Prices were checked Oct 24, 2026 and can change.
Choose Bunker if…
- You don’t want to give a vault app your email or make an account.
- You want each vault’s key to come from something only you know.
- You want more than one private space, or a vault you can open safely under pressure.
- You’d like no ads and no cross-app tracking.
- You want your family to be able to reach a vault later.
Bunker’s Free plan holds 3 Vaults, with 100 photos, 10 videos and 20 documents and notes in total. Bunker Pro is $19.99 a year with a 7-day free trial, $1.99 a week, or $39.99 once.
Limits of both
No vault app protects a phone that’s already compromised. In Bunker, someone who holds your unlocked phone and knows your Pattern sees that vault, and someone who watched you draw it can repeat it. Screenshots of vault screens are blocked by default, but not on every surface.
Related
- Bunker vs Private Photo Vault and Bunker vs calculator vault apps
- Secure Camera and Vault Sharing
- Guides: how to lock photos on iPhone and how to choose a photo vault app
Questions
Does Keepsafe need an account?
Yes. Keepsafe's help center describes signing up with your name and email address and verifying it by email; that verified email is how you get back in if you forget your PIN. Bunker has no account and asks for no email.
Can I use Keepsafe on Android?
Yes. Keepsafe makes apps for iPhone and Android, and its listing says it syncs between Keepsafe installations on any platform. Bunker is only for iPhone, iPad and Mac.
What happens if I forget my Bunker Pattern?
You open the vault with its Recovery Phrase and set a new Pattern. If you lose both, nobody can open that vault, including us, because we never hold your keys. That is the trade-off for having no account.
Does Bunker take a photo of someone who guesses wrong?
No. A Pattern that opens nothing looks the same as a brand-new Pattern, so there's no wrong attempt for the app to record. Keepsafe offers Break-In Alerts as a Premium feature.