Dropbox alternative
PicVaultPro vs Dropbox
Dropbox is a great file-sync service, and many people back up their camera roll to it. But Dropbox’s own help center says it doesn’t offer client-side encryption. PicVaultPro encrypts every photo on your device before upload, on every plan.
Encrypted at rest is not the same as encrypted on your device
Dropbox encrypts files at rest with 256-bit AES, but its help center states that Dropbox doesn’t offer client-side encryption and doesn’t support creating your own private keys.
Dropbox does offer end-to-end encrypted team folders, but only on Business Plus, Advanced and Enterprise team plans. In those folders, previews, thumbnails, content search, shared links and shared folders aren’t available, which makes them hard to use as a photo library.
PicVaultPro is built the other way around: every photo and video is encrypted on your device before upload, and you still get thumbnails, a full gallery, albums and encrypted sharing with your partner.
Where Dropbox is the better pick
- Much more storage for the money: 2 TB for $9.99 a month on Plus.
- Best-in-class file sync across desktop and mobile, with many third-party integrations.
What PicVaultPro can and can't see
Your photo and video contents are encrypted on your device before upload, and we can't read them. We can read metadata: file names, capture time and location, file type and size, and the album, tag and people names you create. Optional face recognition runs on PicVaultPro's servers. Full details are in our privacy policy.
Dropbox details checked October 2026 from: Dropbox: how security works, Dropbox: encrypted team folders, Dropbox plans. Products change; tell us at support@picvaultpro.com if something here is out of date. Dropbox is a trademark of its owner.