Zero-knowledge encryption
Google stores it.
Google can't read it.
Secret Drive encrypts your photos, videos, audio and documents on your phone with AES-256 — then stores the encrypted result in the Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive you already own. The key never leaves your device, and is never uploaded to your provider or to us.
$4.99 a year. Try it free with 50 files. No account to create — there is nothing of yours on our side.
In Secret Drive
- passport-scan.pdf2.4 MB · Files
- tax-return-2025.pdf1.1 MB · Files
- IMG_4417.HEIC3.8 MB · Photos
- clinic-results.jpg0.9 MB · Photos
In your cloud provider
- 8f3b2a91c47e0d55unknown · encrypted
- 1d904fa7be3c8102unknown · encrypted
- a45c7e10b8f9d326unknown · encrypted
- 60be14d7c3a5f8b2unknown · encrypted
How it works
Three steps, and none of them involve us
There is no Secret Drive account, no server of ours in the path, and no copy of your key anywhere but your phone.
- 01
Connect the cloud you already use
A Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive connection. There is no Secret Drive account to create, because we run no servers and store nothing about you.
- 02
Your phone encrypts, then uploads
Files are sealed chunk by chunk with AES-256-GCM on the device. The key is derived from a 24-word phrase and never leaves the phone — it is not uploaded to your provider, and not to us.
- 03
Your provider stores bytes it cannot read
What lands in the cloud is ciphertext under a meaningless name. Open the app and it is a photo grid again. Open the cloud and it is noise.
What the app does
A vault that behaves like a gallery, not a folder
Competing encryption layers largely give you an encrypted directory. Secret Drive was built for a phone from the start.
On-device encryption
AES-256-GCM, applied chunk by chunk before anything uploads, so a 4 GB video never has to fit in memory.
Encrypted filenames
Names, types, sizes and dates are encrypted too — not just the contents. Your provider sees a meaningless name.
Four vault sections
Photos, Videos, Audio and Files, each with its own grid or list, so the vault reads like a gallery rather than a folder.
In-app viewer
View photos, play video and audio, read documents inside the app. Files are never handed to Google Photos or a third-party player.
Encrypted previews
Thumbnails are generated on your phone and encrypted as well, so the grid is browsable without decrypting whole files.
Tags and search
Free-form labels and instant search across names and tags — all local, because the cloud cannot read any of it.
Three cloud providers
Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive. Keep the storage you already have, and in most cases already pay for.
Multiple accounts
Pool the free space across several cloud accounts. Files are placed automatically into whichever one has room.
24-word recovery phrase
Restores the entire vault on a new phone. No account, no server, no reset email — because there is nothing to reset.
Screenshot blocking
Android blocks screenshots and screen recording outright. iOS blocks recording and blurs the app switcher preview.
Face ID / Touch ID unlock
Enforced by the phone's secure hardware during the key read, not by a screen we draw on top of an unlocked vault.
Light and dark themes
Follows the system setting, or set it manually. Both are designed, neither is an afterthought.
Why this one
Encryption on top of the cloud you already have
The encrypted-storage market wants you to migrate and pay monthly. We are the other kind of product — a layer, not a landlord.
You don't move house
Every encrypted-storage competitor asks you to migrate your files somewhere new and pay monthly for the privilege. We encrypt into the cloud account you already have.
A tenth of the comparable price
$4.99 a year, against roughly €49.99 a year for pCloud Crypto or from $4.75 a month for Tresorit. Cryptomator is a €29.99 one-time purchase, so it works out cheaper somewhere past year six — we are not claiming otherwise.
Built for a phone, not ported to one
Four browsable sections, encrypted thumbnails so the photo grid actually looks like a photo grid, an in-app player, tags and search. Competing encryption layers largely give you a folder.
Files never leave the app to be viewed
Tapping a photo opens it inside Secret Drive. It is not handed to Google Photos and not thrown at a share sheet. On Android the OS refuses to screenshot or record the app at all.
Nothing to subpoena
No servers, no user accounts, no copy of any key — the recovery phrase is never uploaded either. There is no database of ours to breach, and nothing we could hand over if compelled, because we never had it.
Audited cryptography, not our own
The encryption is built on @noble/ciphers, @noble/hashes and @scure/bip39 — audited, widely reviewed libraries. Rolling our own cipher would be the first thing worth distrusting.
Pricing
$4.99 a year, and the encryption is the same either way
Pro buys capacity and a faster way in — more files, more cloud accounts, biometric unlock. It does not buy stronger security, and it never will.
Free
$0Try it with 50 files
The full app, capped at 50 files. Enough to see the whole thing working before paying anything.
- Store up to 50 files
- Full AES-256 encryption — identical to Pro
- One cloud account: Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive
- All four sections: Photos, Videos, Audio, Files
- In-app viewer and player
- Tags and search
- Encrypted filenames and previews
- 24-word recovery phrase
- Screenshot blocking
- Face ID / Touch ID unlock
- Additional cloud accounts
Pro
Recommended$4.99per year — about $0.42 a month
Unlimited files and unlimited pooled cloud accounts. Pro buys capacity and a faster way in, never stronger encryption.
- Unlimited files
- Full AES-256 encryption — identical to Free
- Unlimited cloud accounts, pooled into one vault
- Face ID / Touch ID unlock
- All four sections: Photos, Videos, Audio, Files
- In-app viewer and player
- Tags and search
- Encrypted filenames and previews
- 24-word recovery phrase
- Screenshot blocking
The 51st file is where Pro starts
The free plan stores 50 files. Past that you are asked to upgrade before adding more — but everything already in your vault stays accessible and readable, exactly as before. Nothing is locked away and nothing is held back. Free is a real trial of the whole app rather than a storage tier that quietly stops working.
The field
Encryption layers, and the storage services that want you to move
Two different products get sold under one word. Only one of them lets you keep the cloud account you already pay for.
| Product | Price | Model | Uses your existing cloud | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secret Drive | $4.99 / year | Encryption layer | Yes — Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive | Mobile-first, with an in-app viewer for every file type |
| Cryptomator | €29.99 one-time | Encryption layer | Yes | Open source and well respected. Desktop-first, and its free mobile tier is read-only |
| Boxcryptor | Discontinued | Encryption layer | Yes | Shut down 31 December 2025 after Dropbox acquired its assets |
| pCloud Crypto | ≈ €49.99 / year | Add-on to pCloud | No — pCloud only | Around ten times our annual price, and only encrypts one folder inside pCloud's own storage |
| Tresorit | from $4.75 / month | Encrypted storage | No | Enterprise-grade and priced accordingly. You migrate your files to them |
| Proton Drive | Paid tiers, monthly | Encrypted storage | No | Strong brand and a real free tier, but it is storage you must move into |
Competitor prices were checked in August 2026 and change often, including through seasonal sales. Cryptomator is a one-time purchase rather than a subscription, so over a long enough period it costs less than we do — we are not claiming to be cheaper than Cryptomator, only that there is nothing to pay up front and that our free tier can write files.
Read this before you install
We cannot recover your files. That is the whole point.
If you lose your 24-word recovery phrase and your device, your files are gone permanently. No reset, no support ticket, no back door. Every service that can restore your account can also read your data — we deliberately built ourselves out of that position. Write the phrase down, keep it somewhere safe, and treat it as the key it is.
Questions
The ones worth asking about a product like this
Can Google, Dropbox or Microsoft read my files?
No. Files are encrypted with AES-256-GCM on your phone before they upload, so the provider receives ciphertext under a meaningless name. Filenames, types, sizes and dates are encrypted as well, not just the contents. The key that unscrambles them never leaves your device.
Can Secret Drive read my files?
No, and not by policy — by design. We run no servers and hold no accounts. Your key is derived on your device from a 24-word recovery phrase that is never uploaded anywhere, including to us. There is nothing on our side that could decrypt anything, because nothing of yours is on our side.
What happens if I lose my recovery phrase?
If you lose both your 24-word recovery phrase and your device, your files are permanently unrecoverable. There is no reset, no support ticket and no back door. That is not a gap in the product — it is precisely what makes it work. A company that can recover your files is a company that can read them.
What happens at file 51 on the free plan?
You are asked to upgrade to Pro before adding more. Everything already in the vault stays accessible and readable — nothing is locked away or held back. The free plan is a genuine trial of the whole app, not a permanently free storage tier.
Is the encryption weaker on the free plan?
No. Encryption is identical on both plans and always will be. Pro buys capacity and convenience — unlimited files, multiple pooled cloud accounts, and Face ID or Touch ID unlock. A vault that is weaker unless you pay would not be a zero-knowledge product.
Do I need to buy storage from you?
No. Secret Drive is an encryption layer, not a storage service. It uses the free or paid space in the Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive account you already have. On Pro you can connect several accounts and the app places each file into whichever one has room.
I used Boxcryptor. Is this a replacement?
It is the same idea — encryption on top of the cloud storage you already own — rebuilt for mobile. Boxcryptor shut down on 31 December 2025. Secret Drive supports Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive, encrypts on the device, and needs no account with us.
How do I open my vault on a new phone?
Install the app, connect the same cloud account, and enter your 24-word recovery phrase. The key is derived from those words, so it is reproduced on the new device without anything being fetched from a server. Then you set a password for that phone.
Keep the cloud storage you already pay for. Stop it reading your files.
Encrypted on your device before upload. Works with Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive. $4.99 a year, and the first 50 files are free.