Comparison
Encrypted storage keeps files. A vault keeps secrets.
Account-based encrypted drives — Tresorit, NordLocker and the like — do honest end-to-end encryption at real scale. What they can’t do is make your data account-free or its existence deniable. Those are different properties, for a different kind of file.
Is encrypted cloud storage enough for my most private files?
For most files, yes — a reputable zero-knowledge drive protects content well. But the account still ties your identity to data whose existence, size and activity are knowable, and nothing about it is deniable. For the files that shouldn’t provably exist at all, a local-first vault like Sealby — no account, no provider copy, unprovable vaults — is the stronger shape.
Where Encrypted cloud drives shines
- Genuine end-to-end encryption from reputable providers
- Real capacity: terabytes, sharing links, team features, every platform
- The right tool for encrypting your general files and backups
Where it falls short
- An account attaches your identity to the existence of your data
- Metadata survives encryption: that you store, roughly how much, and when it changes
- Nothing is deniable — the account and its contents are enumerable on demand
- A drive behaves like a workspace, not a sealed vault: files open, preview and cache like ordinary documents
The honest verdict
Use both, for different tiers. An encrypted drive is where your files live; a vault is where your secrets live. The drive gives you scale and reach with strong encryption. Sealby gives the small set of files that really matter a property no drive offers: no account, no provider copy, and no way to prove the vault exists.
Common questions
What can a zero-knowledge cloud provider still see?
Not your content — that’s the point of the encryption. But typically: who you are, that you store data, approximate volume, and access patterns. That metadata, attached to your identity, is exactly what a vault with no account and no provider never generates.
What about open-source tools like Cryptomator?
A respected approach: it encrypts files client-side inside your existing cloud drive, with no extra account. It shares Sealby’s no-provider spirit for general files — but it is a file-encryption layer, not a phone vault: no deniable multi-vault design, no duress option, and a workflow built around drives rather than a sealed app.
Related: vs Proton Drive · Zero-knowledge, explained · The Sealby security model
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