Comparison
Passwords are a job. Private files are another.
1Password is excellent at what it’s for: logins, passkeys and team credentials. Sealby answers a different need — a sealed, deniable home for the photos, documents and notes that define your private life, with no account attached to any of it.
Should I use 1Password or Sealby for private documents?
Use 1Password for credentials — logins, passkeys, 2FA — where its autofill and team features shine. For private files, photos and notes, a dedicated local-first vault fits better: Sealby encrypts on-device with no account, organises media and documents with folders and search, and keeps whole vaults deniable.
Where 1Password shines
- Best-in-class credential management: autofill, passkeys, watchtower alerts
- Mature cross-platform ecosystem with family and team plans
- Strong security model for what it stores (Secret Key + account password)
Where it falls short
- Requires an account and an ongoing subscription
- Your encrypted vault lives on their servers, attached to your identity
- Documents are attachments, not a browsable media/file vault
- No deniability — the vault, and the fact you have one, visibly exist
The honest verdict
This one isn’t either/or: 1Password for the secrets you type into websites, Sealby for the files you’d never upload anywhere. If you must pick one place for private documents, photos and notes on an iPhone, the account-free, deniable vault is the safer shape.
Common questions
Can 1Password store files and photos?
It can attach documents to items, with storage limits by plan. It works for a passport scan attached to a travel login — it isn’t built to hold and organise a private photo library, videos, or a folder tree of documents. That’s the job Sealby is shaped for.
Is “no account” really more secure?
It removes entire attack classes rather than defending them: nothing to phish, no server-side vault to breach or subpoena, no identity linking you to your data. 1Password defends those fronts well — Sealby simply doesn’t have them.
Related: Notes & documents · The security model · Best encrypted vault apps
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