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Private Photo Vault alternatives for iPhone in 2026
Private Photo Vault - Pic Safe is the biggest vault app on the App Store (about 1 million ratings, 4.8 stars). If you want an alternative, Keepsafe is the closest big one with an optional private cloud, PV - Secret Photo Album has the most features and the cheapest subscription, and Photo Vault: Hide Pics Video (ours) keeps everything on the phone with no account and no cloud.
iOS already has a free Hidden album in Photos; for casual privacy that may be enough. Apple's own guide is linked in the sources.
At a glance
| App | Price (US) | Cloud backup | Privacy features | App Store privacy label | Version (date) | Rating (US) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Photo Vault: Hide Pics Video Our app | Free to download; Premium yearly (listed $19.99 and $29.99) or lifetime (listed $14.99, $29.99 and $59.99) | No: no cloud and no account; one encrypted file you export yourself | Face ID, per-album passwords, disguised icon, face-down exit, private camera | Data Not Collected | 1.2.8 (13 Oct 2026) | 4.2 (6 ratings) |
| Private Photo Vault - Pic Safe | Free; Premium listed at $6.99, $12.99, $35.99 and $39.99 | Optional encrypted Cloud Vault | PIN or pattern lock, per-album passwords, break-in report with photo and GPS, decoy password, face-down lock | Data Used to Track You (usage data); Data Linked to You (purchases, user content, identifiers, usage data, diagnostics) | 25.8 (17 Sep 2026) | 4.8 (1,017,221 ratings) |
| Secret Photo Vault: Keepsafe | Free; Premium listed from $4.99 to $35.99 (yearly $23.99, monthly $9.99) | Optional Private Cloud (Premium) | PIN, Touch ID, album lock with separate PINs, Safe Send | Data Used to Track You (usage data); Data Not Linked to You (usage data) | 13.34.0 (12 Oct 2026) | 4.8 (384,414 ratings) |
| PV - Secret Photo Album | Free (with ads); Pro $3.99 a month or $17.99 a year, lifetime $41.99; cloud plans $12.99 to $79.99 a year | Optional cloud backup plans | Face ID, fake password, emergency switch when face down, customizable app icon | Data Used to Track You (identifiers, usage data); Data Linked to You (contact info, identifiers); Data Not Linked to You (identifiers, usage data, diagnostics) | 7.5.18 (8 Aug 2026) | 4.7 (30,267 ratings) |
| Secret Photo Album - SA | Free; Premium listed from $1.99 to $51.99 across plans | Secure cloud backup (unlimited cloud storage on Premium) | PIN, Touch ID and Face ID, decoy PIN, break-in alerts with intruder photos, separate PIN per album | Data Used to Track You (purchases, location, identifiers, usage data, diagnostics, other data); Data Linked to You (purchases, location, user content, identifiers, usage data, diagnostics, other data) | 2.18 (6 Oct 2026) | 4.6 (38,913 ratings) |
All five are free to download. Prices are the in-app purchases listed on the US App Store on 16 October 2026 (apps list several price points for the same plan). Ratings are the App Store average and number of ratings that day.
Photo Vault: Hide Pics Video Our app
Best for: people who want photos only on their iPhone, with no account and nothing uploaded.
- Opens with Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode, and each album can have its own password.
- Disguised icon (Calculator, Notes or Weather) and a face-down exit that jumps to Safari, Calendar or Messages.
- Private Camera takes photos straight into the vault, so they never reach the camera roll.
- Left out of iCloud backups; to move to a new iPhone you export one password-locked file and restore it. Works offline.
- 19 languages, iOS 17 or later, 17 MB.
Limits: no automatic backup: if you delete the app without exporting the vault, it is gone. The free version is limited (it held a single item when we checked on 11 October), so in practice it is a paid app. Only 6 ratings so far, and a much younger app than the others here.
Private Photo Vault - Pic Safe
Best for: the best-known vault, with a long feature list including a private browser.
- Break-in report with photo and GPS, decoy password and face-down lock, per its listing.
- Private web browser that can download photos into the app; import and export, wireless photo transfer.
- Optional encrypted cloud backup ("Cloud Vault"); the listing says its employees cannot view your photos.
- 11 languages, iOS 15 or later, 172 MB.
Limits: its privacy label lists several kinds of data linked to you, and several features need Premium.
Secret Photo Vault: Keepsafe
Best for: an easy vault with optional cloud sync across devices.
- PIN and fingerprint lock; Album Lock gives each album its own PIN on Premium.
- Private Cloud stores up to 10,000 items and syncs across devices (Premium); Safe Send shares pictures for a limited time.
- Integrated camera and trash recovery.
- 16 languages, iOS 17 or later, 210 MB.
Limits: cloud backup and per-album locks need Premium, and your photos go to its cloud if you switch the cloud on.
PV - Secret Photo Album
Best for: the longest feature list at the lowest subscription prices.
- Free unlimited storage, per its listing, with password and Face ID protection, fake password and a customizable icon.
- Tags, notes and search, a photo editor, audio support and Nearby Drop between phones.
- Wi-Fi transfer to a PC and third-party cloud backup are Pro features; ads are removed with a purchase.
- 12 languages, iOS 15 or later, 157 MB.
Limits: free version shows ads, and the privacy label includes contact info and identifiers linked to you.
Secret Photo Album - SA
Best for: a simple vault if you are comfortable with a long list of data types on its privacy label.
- Encrypted, PIN-protected vault with a decoy PIN, break-in alerts with photos of the intruder and a separate PIN for selected albums.
- Private browser with an ad blocker and a built-in camera; unlimited cloud storage is a Premium feature. A separate Secret Calculator Photo Vault purchase is listed at $9.99.
- 12 languages, iOS 15 or later, 80 MB, the smallest of the competitors.
Limits: it has the longest privacy label of the five, including location, and its Premium lists many different prices.
Who should use what
- You want nothing uploaded and no account: Photo Vault: Hide Pics Video (ours).
- You want the best-known app and a decoy or break-in report: Private Photo Vault - Pic Safe.
- You want your photos synced to a private cloud: Keepsafe or Private Photo Vault.
- You want the most features for the lowest price: PV - Secret Photo Album.
- You only need to hide a few photos from casual snooping: iOS's own Hidden album, which needs no app.
Use cases
- Keeping private photos out of the shared camera roll and out of iCloud (an app with no cloud, such as ours).
- Backing up a vault so a lost phone does not lose photos (Keepsafe or Private Photo Vault cloud).
- Handing your phone to someone without them seeing the app (disguised icons and face-down exit).
- Moving to a new iPhone: with ours you export and restore a file yourself; cloud-backed apps restore from their cloud.
How we checked
On 16 October 2026 we opened each app's US App Store page and Apple's lookup data: in-app purchases, version and release date, rating and number of ratings, languages, size, minimum iOS and the privacy label. Features are the ones each developer lists on its App Store page; we did not verify their encryption. We did not invent ratings or reviews.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best alternative to Private Photo Vault?
Keepsafe is the closest large alternative, with an optional private cloud. PV - Secret Photo Album has the most features for the lowest subscription price. Photo Vault: Hide Pics Video is the option with no cloud and no account.
Is Photo Vault: Hide Pics Video the same as Private Photo Vault?
No. They are different apps by different developers. Photo Vault: Hide Pics Video is by Saga Ltd.; Private Photo Vault - Pic Safe is by Legendary Software Labs.
Which photo vault does not use the cloud?
Photo Vault: Hide Pics Video keeps everything on the iPhone, with no account and no sync, and its privacy label says Data Not Collected. Cloud backup is optional in Private Photo Vault, Keepsafe and PV.
Do I need a vault app at all?
Not always. iPhone has a Hidden album in Photos that you can lock with Face ID or a passcode on recent iOS versions; an app adds separate albums, disguised icons and other features. See Apple's guide in the sources.
Can I move my vault to a new iPhone?
With Photo Vault: Hide Pics Video you export one password-locked file and restore it on the new phone, because the vault is left out of iCloud backups. Cloud-based vaults restore from their own cloud.
Sources
- Photo Vault: Hide Pics Video (App Store): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1532670722 (16 October 2026)
- Private Photo Vault - Pic Safe (App Store): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id417571834 (16 October 2026)
- Keepsafe (App Store): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id510873505 (16 October 2026)
- PV - Secret Photo Album (App Store): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id867586326 (16 October 2026)
- Secret Photo Album - SA (App Store): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id1174964304 (16 October 2026)
- Apple Support: hide photos on iPhone: https://support.apple.com/en-us/104987 (16 October 2026)