Comparison
Bunker vs Vaultaire
Bunker and Vaultaire are close cousins: both encrypt your photos, videos and files on your iPhone, both open a vault when you draw a Pattern, and neither asks for an account. Choose Bunker if you want a plan for your family (Legacy Vaults), a native Mac app or searchable scanned documents; choose Vaultaire if you want a Monthly plan or support for iOS 17.
The short verdict
- Pick Bunker for documents and family: the built-in scanner reads text on your device so you can search inside your scans, Legacy Vaults let the people you trust open a read-only copy of one vault together, and the same vaults open on iPhone, iPad and Mac.
- Pick Vaultaire if price and reach matter most and you only need photos and files on iPhone and iPad. It has a Monthly plan, more languages and an older minimum iOS.
Both apps are honest about their limits, and both are a real step up from hiding photos in Apple’s Photos app.
Side by side
| Bunker | Vaultaire | |
|---|---|---|
| Encryption model | AES-256-GCM on your device; keys come from your Pattern through Argon2id, a memory-hard function | AES-256-GCM on your device; keys come from your pattern through PBKDF2 (its site lists 600,000 iterations) |
| Account required | No account, no email | No account |
| Unlock method | Pattern on a 5 × 5 dial, optional Passphrase; no Face ID | Pattern on a 5 × 5 grid |
| Recovery | A generated Recovery Phrase of about 12 words | A nine-word phrase, or one you write yourself |
| Backup | Encrypted Backup to your own iCloud, free | Encrypted iCloud backup, free and on by default |
| Multiple vaults / decoy | Unlimited Hidden Vaults on every plan, no list | Up to 3 vaults on Free, unlimited on Pro, no list |
| Duress | Duress Vault (Bunker Pro) | Duress vault (Pro) |
| Family access / legacy | Legacy Vaults (Bunker Pro); Family Plans for up to 6 people | No legacy feature listed; family plans |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad and Mac (iOS 18, macOS 15) | iPhone and iPad (iOS 17) |
| Price model | Free; Bunker Pro weekly, yearly with a free trial, or lifetime | Free; Pro weekly, monthly, annual with a free trial, or lifetime |
Vaultaire details come from its website and App Store listing, checked Oct 24, 2026.
Where they’re the same
Both apps treat your Pattern as the key, not as a lock screen in front of plain files. A different Pattern opens a different vault, and neither app shows a list of vaults. Both back up to your own iCloud with the data encrypted before it leaves the device, both let you share a read-only vault with someone, and both have a secure camera that saves straight into the vault.
Both also clear your other vaults from the phone when a duress Pattern is drawn, and both say plainly that your iCloud backup still holds them. In Bunker, each cleared vault comes back with its Recovery Phrase. See how the Duress Vault works.
Where Bunker is different
Legacy Vaults. You choose up to 5 trusted contacts and how many of them must come together, for example any 2 of 3. Each gets a printed Legacy Card. One card alone opens nothing (unless you choose a set of just 1); enough cards together open a read-only copy of that vault. In v1 there is no waiting period: enough contacts acting together can open it at any time, including while you’re alive, so choose people you’d trust with it today. Read more on Legacy Vaults and the Legacy hub.
Documents you can search. Scan & Search scans passports, insurance papers and receipts with the built-in document scanner, reads the text on your device, and lets you search inside your scans and notes. Vaultaire’s website and App Store page don’t list a document scanner or text search inside files.
A Mac app. Bunker runs natively on the Mac, and with Bunker Pro your vaults sync between iPhone, iPad and Mac through your own iCloud.
How the files look on disk. Vaultaire’s website states that someone with a copy of the app’s files can still estimate how many vaults you have. Bunker keeps every vault’s unlock records in one slot file that is always the same size, and all contents in one shared pool, so a single copy of the app’s files doesn’t show the count. The limit: someone comparing several backups taken at different times could still get a hint. The security page lists the rest.
Free limits. Both Free plans allow up to 3 Vaults with 100 photos and 10 videos in total; Bunker’s also allows 20 documents and notes. On Free, both apps keep a count of your Vaults on the device. Bunker Pro deletes that count and keeps none.
No Face ID, on purpose. Neither app offers Face ID. In Bunker, the Pattern or the vault’s Passphrase is the only way in. The Passphrase helps on a Mac, with VoiceOver, or if you’d simply rather type.
Choose Vaultaire if…
- You want a Monthly plan. Vaultaire lists Pro Monthly at $5.99. Bunker has no Monthly plan.
- Your iPhone runs iOS 17. Vaultaire supports iOS 17; Bunker needs iOS 18 or later.
- You use the app in a language Bunker doesn’t have yet. Vaultaire’s listing shows 31 languages. Bunker launches in 21.
- You only keep photos and files on one iPhone and don’t need Legacy, a Mac app or text search. Then Vaultaire does the core job well.
Every other plan costs the same in both apps: $1.99 a week, $19.99 a year, $39.99 for Lifetime, and $49.99 a year or $99.99 once for Family. Prices are from the US App Store on Oct 24, 2026 and can change.
Choose Bunker if…
- You want the people you trust to reach a vault if you can’t, without either of you creating an account.
- You keep documents, not just photos, and want to find them by the words inside.
- You use a Mac as well as an iPhone or iPad.
- You’d like the app’s storage not to reveal how many vaults you keep.
Limits that apply to both
No vault app protects a phone that’s already compromised, and neither can stop someone who watched you draw your Pattern. If you forget a Pattern and lose its Recovery Phrase, nobody can open that vault, including us. Someone who holds your unlocked phone and knows your Pattern sees everything in that vault.
Related
- Pattern encryption and Hidden Vaults
- Encrypted Backup and Vault Sharing
- Bunker vs calculator vault apps
- Guide: photo vault apps for iPhone: how to choose one
Questions
Is Bunker a copy of Vaultaire?
No. Both apps open a vault by drawing a Pattern on a 5 × 5 grid and both work without an account, but Bunker is its own app with its own code, storage design and features, including Legacy Vaults, a Mac app and document scanning with on-device text search.
Which one hides the number of vaults better?
Vaultaire's own website says that someone with a copy of the app's files can still estimate how many vaults you have. Bunker keeps every vault's unlock records in one fixed-size file and every vault's contents in one shared pool, so a single copy doesn't show the count. Comparing several backups taken over time can still hint at it.
Can I move my vaults from Vaultaire to Bunker?
There's no direct import between the two apps. You can export items from Vaultaire to Photos or Files, import them into a Bunker vault, and then delete the exported copies.
Which is cheaper?
Neither. Both charge $1.99 a week, $19.99 a year and $39.99 for Lifetime, and Family plans cost the same. Vaultaire also has a Monthly plan at $5.99; Bunker doesn't. Prices were checked on Oct 24, 2026 and can change.