Vaultine vs. Safe Lock: Lock Screens or Encrypted Files?

Feature comparison

Vaultine compared with Safe Lock, feature by feature
Feature	Vaultine	Safe Lock
Works on Windows and MacThe same vault on a laptop, not just a phone	Yes	NoiOS only
AES-256-GCM encryptionAuthenticated encryption applied to every file	Yes	Not stated
Zero-knowledge designWe hold no keys and cannot decrypt your files	Yes	Not stated
No account or email to sign upNothing links the app to your identity	Yes	Not stated
Unrecognised code is rejectedOnly codes you set up open anything	Yes	Not stated
Decoy VaultA second code opens a vault you stocked with harmless files	Yes	Not stated
Duress VaultA third code opens an empty vault and wipes the real ones	Yes	Not stated
Multiple separate vaultsKeep work, finances and personal files apart	Yes	Not stated
5x5 pattern unlockTwenty-five points, drawn rather than typed	Yes	PIN, DotLock, password, Touch ID and Face ID
Built-in viewer, nothing written to diskPhotos, videos and PDFs open inside the vault	Yes	Not stated
No adsNo ads at any tier, free included	Yes	Not stated
Encrypted backup to your own DropboxEncrypted before it leaves the device	Yes	Import and export via Dropbox and Google Drive
12-word recovery phraseForgetting your code is not the end of your files	Yes	Not stated
Free tierUsable without paying	Yes	Yes

“Not stated” means Safe Lock’s own published material does not say either way. We only mark a feature as missing where their material says so.

Pricing

Vaultine

Free$0

One vault, up to 10 files
AES-256-GCM encryption
5x5 pattern or PIN unlock
Built-in secure viewer

Pro Monthly$1.99per month

Unlimited files, multiple vaults
Decoy Vault and Duress Vault
Encrypted Dropbox backup

Pro Yearly$14.99per year

Everything in Monthly
Around 37% less than paying monthly

Pro Lifetime$39.99one-time, yours for good

Everything in Pro, no recurring charge
Custom recovery phrase

Safe Lock

Free$0

Hidden photo albums
Multiple lock types

Premium$4.99 – $29.99several tiers

Removes limits

Safe Lock pricing is taken from its own published material and may have changed since we last checked.

A well-made lock

Safe Lock is better reviewed than most of this category and it is worth being fair about why. It offers more ways in than almost anyone — PIN, DotLock, numeric and alphabetic passwords, Touch ID and Face ID — plus break-in reports that photograph whoever failed an unlock, and straightforward import and export through Dropbox and Google Drive.

If the risk you have in mind is someone picking up your phone while it is unlocked and scrolling through your photos, Safe Lock handles that well.

What a lock does not reach

Its listing describes hiding albums rather than encrypting files, and does not name a cipher. That distinction is invisible day to day and decisive in one specific situation: when someone reaches the storage without going through the app at all — a device that is lost, imaged, or examined with forensic tools.

Vaultine encrypts each file with AES-256-GCM before it is written. The stored data is split and randomised so nothing on disk resembles the original, and the key is derived from your 5x5 pattern or six-digit PIN and never stored. Without your code there is nothing readable to find, regardless of how someone reaches the storage.

Break-in reports and prepared answers

A break-in report tells you afterwards that somebody tried. That is genuinely useful, and Vaultine does not have it.

What Vaultine has instead is for the moment itself. The Decoy Vault opens on a second code and shows a vault you stocked in advance with harmless files, so an unlock under pressure looks entirely ordinary and reveals exactly what you chose. The Duress Vault opens on a third code, shows an empty vault, and wipes your real vaults as it does.

Both are Pro features, both are configured by you, and because Vaultine rejects any code it does not recognise, the vaults on your device are only ever the ones you created.

One vault, four platforms

Safe Lock is an iPhone app. Vaultine runs on Windows, macOS, iOS and Android, which matters if the files you most want protected are the documents on a laptop rather than the photos on a phone.

The bottom line

Safe Lock is one of the better-reviewed apps in this set and it is not short of features — several lock types, break-in reports, easy transfer in and out. On the question this comparison turns on, its listing does not say: it describes locking albums, not encrypting files, and names no cipher. If your concern is someone picking up an unlocked phone, Safe Lock addresses it. If your concern is the device being lost, examined or imaged, that is a question about encryption.

Frequently asked questions

Does Safe Lock encrypt photos or hide them?

Its listing describes hiding photo albums behind PIN, DotLock, password, Touch ID and Face ID, and does not name an encryption cipher. Vaultine states its plainly: AES-256-GCM applied to every file on the device.

What is the difference between a lock screen and file encryption?

A lock screen controls what the app will show you; the files are unchanged. Encryption rewrites the file so it is unreadable without a key. Anything that reaches the storage another way is stopped by encryption and not by a lock screen.

What is the best Safe Lock alternative for Windows or Mac?

Safe Lock is an iPhone app. Vaultine runs on Windows, macOS, iOS and Android, so the same encrypted vault is available on a laptop.

What happens if someone forces me to unlock my vault?

Vaultine's Decoy Vault opens on a second code and shows harmless files you chose in advance. A separate Duress Vault opens on a third code, shows an empty vault, and wipes your real vaults as it does.

Vaultine vs. Safe Lock