Backroom vs Vaulty

Vaulty offers a decoy PIN, a disguise as Notes or Passwords, and backup to your personal cloud. Backroom has pattern vaults, no account and no cloud.

Vaulty lets you hide selected photos behind a PIN or Face ID, with a decoy PIN, an app disguise and backup to your personal cloud. Its listing names no encryption method. Backroom, coming soon to the App Store, opens with a pattern, names AES-256-GCM and has no cloud or account.

Side by side

BackroomVaulty

AvailabilityComing soon to the App Store. iPhone.On the App Store.

What opens itA pattern of at least 6 dots on a 5 by 5 grid.PIN or Face ID.

EncryptionAES-256-GCM on each file, with a random key for each vault.The listing names no encryption method.

Where files liveOn your iPhone, and in your device backups in encrypted form if you make them. No cloud sync.A secure space in the app, backed up to your personal cloud.

AccountNone.The listing does not say.

Forgotten codeA 12-word recovery phrase for each vault. Lose the pattern and the phrase, and nobody can open that vault.Its cloud backup is described as covering a lost or changed device.

If someone pressures youA different pattern opens a different vault, and the app shows no list of vaults. No duress mode.Decoy PIN that opens an empty gallery.

DisguisePaid plan: alternate icons and a working calculator screen. The name under the icon stays Backroom.Camouflage as a Notes or Passwords app.

Ads and dataNo ads and no analytics.Apple label: contact info, identifiers, purchases, usage data and user content linked to you.

Code and reviewSource code is unpublished. No outside review has been completed.No published source or audit is mentioned on its listing or site.

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.Free app. Listed entries include $1.99 and $7.99 weekly, $4.99 and $14.99 monthly, $29.99, $39.99 and $99.99 yearly.

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

What Vaulty does that Backroom does not

Vaulty backs up to your personal cloud, unlocks with Face ID and has a decoy PIN that opens an empty gallery. It can also pose as a Notes or Passwords app. Those are useful features for a phone that friends or family pick up, and Backroom offers none of them besides a calculator screen and alternate icons on its paid plan.

What Backroom does differently

Backroom has no account and no analytics. Vaulty’s Apple privacy label lists data linked to you, including contact info and user content, so read its policy if that matters to you.

Backroom also describes its encryption: AES-256-GCM on each file and a random key per vault. Vaulty’s listing does not discuss encryption. Backroom has not had an outside review, so treat this as its design.

Losing your phone

Vaulty’s cloud backup covers a lost or changed device. With Backroom, your vault is gone with the phone unless you made a device backup, and even then you still need your pattern or recovery phrase.

Price

Backroom costs $1.99 a week, $19.99 a year and $39.99 once. Vaulty lists a wider range of plans, as the table above shows, and no one-time option appears in the entries we could see.

Frequently asked questions

Does Vaulty hide the app better than Backroom?

It can look like Notes or Passwords. Backroom's paid plan offers alternate icons and a calculator screen, with the name Backroom staying under the icon.

Does Backroom back up automatically?

Backroom has no cloud backup of its own. Vaults are included in device backups in encrypted form if you back up your iPhone.

Why does Vaulty list so many prices?

Its App Store listing shows several weekly, monthly and yearly entries. Check the price the app shows you before you subscribe.