Umbra vs Vaultaire

Vaultaire is a well-made iPhone vault from Wraxle LLC, and it gets a lot right: real encryption, no account, a pattern lock, hidden vaults and a duress vault. If you’re choosing between the two, you’re already choosing between good options. This page sticks to what each app’s own pages say, with links, so you can check.

At a glance

Vaultaire details are from its App Store listing and homepage. Both apps also offer a $1.99 weekly plan, and Vaultaire has a $5.99 monthly plan.

Where they’re the same

Both apps share the same idea: a pattern on a 5×5 grid is the key, nothing on the unlock screen lists your vaults, and a second pattern can open a harmless vault if someone forces you to unlock. Both encrypt files with AES-256-GCM on the device, neither asks for an email, and both lose your data if you lose the pattern and the recovery phrase. That last part is a feature: nobody else can reset it.

The free plans are nearly identical too: up to 3 vaults, 100 photos and 10 videos. Umbra adds unlimited notes, PDFs and scans on the free plan.

Difference 1: Android

Vaultaire describes itself as an iPhone app, and we couldn’t find an Android version on Google Play. Umbra runs on iPhone, iPad and Android, with the same encryption and the same features apart from iCloud sync and sharing.

This matters more than it sounds. If you might switch to Android, or you have one of each in the family, a vault that only lives on one platform eventually means exporting photos back to an unencrypted camera roll. Umbra’s encrypted backup files restore on either platform with your recovery phrase. See how to move a vault from iPhone to Android.

Difference 2: how your pattern becomes a key

A pattern is short, so the thing that protects a stolen copy of your vault is how hard each guess is.

• Vaultaire’s homepage shows PBKDF2 with 600,000 iterations, a well-known and widely used standard.
• Umbra uses Argon2id, a newer memory-hard function designed to make guessing expensive on graphics cards and custom hardware, and mixes in a secret held in the phone’s secure hardware. Files copied off the device can’t be guessed at somewhere else.

Both are serious designs. Argon2id is the more modern choice for low-entropy secrets like patterns.

Difference 3: hidden vault counts

Both apps hide vaults from the unlock screen. Vaultaire’s homepage is candid that the number of vaults can still be seen by examining the file system. Umbra stores vault keys under names derived from the keys themselves, mixed with random decoys, and with Pro keeps no count of vaults on the phone at all.

Difference 4: what happens when you draw the duress pattern

Both duress features open a decoy and remove access to your other vaults on that device. According to Vaultaire’s duress page, it removes the other vaults' indexes and local recovery mappings, doesn’t touch iCloud backups, and has no confirmation or undo; recovery takes the phrase.

Umbra works the same way by default, and adds an optional "Also destroy their data" setting that erases the other vaults' files from the phone as well. Its setup walks you through choosing a decoy, makes it look lived-in, and shows a numbered summary of exactly what will happen before you turn it on. Read more in what is a duress pattern.

Difference 5: analytics

Vaultaire’s homepage says it ships anonymous analytics and crash diagnostics that are on by default and can be turned off. Umbra has no analytics, advertising or crash-reporting code at all. The only outside library checks your Pro purchase and never sees your vault.

Difference 6: price

Umbra Pro is $14.99 a year against Vaultaire’s $19.99, both with a 7-day free trial. Lifetime is $39.99 for both. Family plans are $42.49 a year or $84.99 once on Umbra, against $49.99 and $99.99 on Vaultaire.

Where Vaultaire is ahead

• Track record. It has been on the App Store longer, with more ratings and many detailed guides.
• Monthly plan. If you prefer paying monthly, Vaultaire has a $5.99 option.

Bottom line

If you’re only ever on iPhone and you want a monthly plan or the app with the longer track record, Vaultaire is a good choice. Choose Umbra if you want Android support or a vault that can move between platforms, no analytics at all, Argon2id key stretching, the option to destroy data under duress, or a lower yearly price.

Questions

Checked against public pages on 20 October 2026. Details change, so check the linked pages before you decide. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.