Comparison

Sealby vs Ente Photos

Features, pricing and privacy at a glance. Details and sources below.

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Feature comparison

FeatureSealbyEnte Photos
Account
YesNone, ever
NoEmail (for backup, hiding and sharing)
Files and notes in the same app
Yes
No1
Hidden vaults with no stored list or count
Yes
NoHidden albums, behind a visible “Hidden” section
Platforms
iPhone & iPad
All platforms + web
Encryption
YesAES-256-GCM, per file
YesEnd-to-end (libsodium, Argon2id)
Source availability
NoSecurity design published
YesYes (AGPL-3.0)
Where data lives
YesYour device (+ your iCloud)
NoEnte’s servers
No ads
YesNo ads2
Not confirmedNot confirmed3
Notes on this comparison

We compare published features, not independently tested security. A red cross earns no credit: the feature is unsupported, has a drawback, or is labelled “Not advertised” because we found no claim in the checked sources. “Not advertised” does not prove a feature is absent. An amber dash means documented partial support. A grey question mark is reserved for checks we could not assess and is excluded from the ranking score.

  1. 1.
    Ente Photos · Files and notes in the same app: Photos & videos (documents in the separate Locker app)
  2. 2.
    Sealby · No ads: No ads in either the free or Premium version.
  3. 3.
    Ente Photos · No ads: Check the current app and plan for advertising; this comparison does not establish that all versions are ad-free.

Premium, side by side.

US prices · Checked

PlanSealbyEnte Photos
Monthly$4.99higher listed price$2.49lower listed priceStarter · 50 GB
Yearly$24.99lower listed price$29.88higher listed priceStarter · 50 GB
Lifetime$39.99One payment. No subscription.Not verified

↓ Lower price↑ Higher priceSame billing period; features differ.

Ente Photos · What these plans include

Starter · 50 GBMonthly
$2.49
Starter · 50 GBYearly
$29.88
Popular · 200 GBMonthly
$4.99

Listed offers, not guaranteed checkout prices. Availability and prices vary by region. “Not verified” means no unambiguous matching price was found, not that a plan is unavailable.

Sealby free & Premium plans
What these plans include

A free cloud-storage tier, with monthly or annual subscriptions for more storage. Paid plans also add benefits such as family sharing and additional stored replicas.

Should I use Ente Photos or Sealby?

Ente Photos backs up a photo library across devices. Sealby stores the private photos, documents and notes you choose in separate vaults, without a Sealby account.

What Ente Photos is built for

  • Open source and self-hostable
  • Whole-library encrypted backup
  • App lock with Face ID, a custom PIN or password, and hidden albums
  • Sharing, public links and on-device search across every platform

What to consider

  • Backup, hidden albums and sharing need an Ente account; your encrypted library lives on Ente’s servers. Without an account it works only as a gallery for the phone’s own photos
  • Hidden albums sit behind a visible “Hidden” entry in a known account; there is no decoy or duress option
  • Documents and notes go in Ente’s separate Locker app, not the Photos app

The honest verdict

Choose Sealby for a separate private space. Choose Ente if you want encrypted backup and search for your whole photo library.

Sources & checked date

Checked against these public sources on October 4, 2026. App Store privacy labels are self-reported by developers. Apps change; if anything here is out of date, write to hello@sealby.app and we will correct it. Product names are trademarks of their owners; Sealby is not affiliated with them.

  1. Ente: architecture (ente.com)
  2. Ente help: security and privacy FAQ (ente.com)
  3. Ente source code (AGPL-3.0) (github.com)
  4. Current plans and prices (ente.com)
  5. Checked (ente.com)

Common questions

Can I use Ente and Sealby together?

Yes. Use Ente for the everyday library and Sealby for the private set: move those photos into a Sealby vault and delete them from the library so they are not backed up elsewhere.

Does Sealby back up my whole photo library?

No. Sealby backs up only the private photos and files you deliberately add to a vault. Premium stores and syncs those vaults through your own iCloud; it does not mirror your whole photo library.

Related: vs Apple’s Hidden album · vs encrypted cloud drives · Private photos · How hidden vaults work

Your vault is waiting.

Download Sealby and protect what matters. Setup takes under a minute, and there’s no account to create.

Download on the App Store

iPhone & iPad · iOS 17+ · Free