Backroom vs Proton Drive

Proton Drive is end-to-end encrypted cloud storage for files and photos, with open-source apps. Backroom is a local vault for iPhone with no account.

Proton Drive stores files and photos in an end-to-end encrypted cloud, with sync across devices, sharing links and open-source code. Backroom, coming soon to the App Store, stores them encrypted only on your iPhone behind a pattern, with no account. Choose Proton if you need access anywhere, and Backroom if you want nothing on a server.

Side by side

BackroomProton Drive

AvailabilityComing soon to the App Store. iPhone.On the App Store, with other platforms on its site.

What opens itA pattern of at least 6 dots on a 5 by 5 grid.Proton account login. Optional PIN or biometric protection in the app.

EncryptionAES-256-GCM on each file, with a random key for each vault.End-to-end encrypted, including metadata such as filenames and sizes, per its listing.

Where files liveOn your iPhone, and in your device backups in encrypted form if you make them. No cloud sync.Proton's cloud, with offline access and photo backup.

AccountNone.Required.

Forgotten codeA 12-word recovery phrase for each vault. Lose the pattern and the phrase, and nobody can open that vault.Depends on your Proton account recovery settings. See its site.

If someone pressures youA different pattern opens a different vault, and the app shows no list of vaults. No duress mode.None listed.

DisguisePaid plan: alternate icons and a working calculator screen. The name under the icon stays Backroom.None listed.

Ads and dataNo ads and no analytics.Apple label: diagnostics not linked to you, for app functionality.

Code and reviewSource code is unpublished. No outside review has been completed.Open-source code, public and verified by experts, per its listing.

PriceFree: 50 photos and files, 5 videos and 10 notes in each vault. Paid: $1.99 a week, $19.99 a year or $39.99 once.5 GB free. Drive Plus 200 GB: $4.99 monthly. 1 TB: $9.99 monthly on the App Store listing.

Proton Drive facts checked October 31, 2026 against its own listing or site, US prices. See Sources below. Apps change, so check before you buy.

Where Proton is ahead

A lost phone costs you nothing, since your files are in the cloud. You can reach them from a browser or a computer, share with a password and an expiry date, and edit documents. Its code is public, and it has a long record in private email. Backroom has none of that.

What Backroom does differently

No account. Nothing leaves the phone apart from your own device backups. A pattern, separate from any login, opens a vault, and another opens a different one. There is also an optional disguise. For someone who does not want an account tied to these files at all, that matters.

How to choose

Ask which failure worries you more. If it is losing your files, Proton’s model is better. If it is a record of them anywhere beyond your own phone, Backroom’s is closer. You could also keep documents in Proton and a small set of pictures in a vault.

Frequently asked questions

Can Proton see my files?

Its listing says even Proton cannot view your content.

Does Proton Drive hide photos from someone holding my phone?

It offers a PIN or biometric lock for the app. Any originals in Photos stay there until you delete them, and the same is true with Backroom.

Which one is cheaper for a few hundred photos?

Proton's free tier gives 5 GB. Backroom's free tier holds 50 photos and files in each vault. Your total count and use decide this.