Comparison

SecretShield vs Cipher

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ€” with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

SecretShield

Features
Read full description

Securely store and recover sensitive information such as seed phrases, private keys, break glass credentials, and digital inheritance plans with ease. Whether you're someone managing critical business systems, or a crypto enthusiast looking to protect wallet recovery phrases, SecretShield lets you decentralize your secrets, preventing single points of failure and minimizing risk if systems are compromised. Key Benefits Include: โ€ข Zero Trust Recovery: Secrets are split into shares that do not contain the secret and are stored by your assigned contacts. This means no single person (not even SecretShield) has full access to your data. โ€ข Flexible Configuration: Assign contacts with customized recovery rules to maintain full control over who can request access to your secrets, and under what conditions permission is granted. โ€ข Offline Access: Secrets can be recovered even without internet access, ensuring resilience in emergency situations or for global travelers. For Individuals, SecretShield offers a flexible and highly secure way to protect your most sensitive information without compromising accessibility or convenience. โ€ข Digital Inheritance, Wills, & Estates: Ensuring your loved ones have access to your digital assets, passwords, or other sensitive information in case something happens to you. โ€ข Emergency Access for Personal Accounts: Securely store your master password or critical login details, allowing only a select few to access them if an emergency arises. โ€ข Protect What Matters: Safeguard personal documents, financial information, records that should be kept private yet accessible when necessary. For businesses, SecretShield is your trusted partner when it comes to ensuring business continuity, from break-glass accounts to disaster recovery configurations. โ€ข Disaster Recovery Made Easy: Keep your emergency credentials securely stored and easily recoverable to ensure business operations remain uninterrupted. โ€ข Customizable Recovery Thresholds: Tailor your recovery process to meet your organization's needs, whether that means requiring multiple approvals or distributing access across departments. โ€ข Decentralized Access: Securely distribute recovery access among team members, so no single device or person is a point of failure. By keeping your secrets off centralized servers, your sensitive data is shielded from hacking or unauthorized access. Additional key features include: โ€ข Cutting-Edge Encryption: All data is encrypted locally on your device, ensuring privacy from the moment you enter your secrets. โ€ข Decentralized Storage: Break down your secrets into shares, which are then distributed among your chosen contacts. Each share is meaningless on its own, only becoming useful when combined under your preset recovery rules. โ€ข Easy to Use: Streamlined setup allows for quick configuration. Invite your trusted contacts to be guardians or trustees and enjoy peace of mind knowing your data is secure. SecretShield by Secret Shield Inc.

About

Cipher

Securely store and encrypt sensitive text files, passwords, and crypto keys. Access your protected information across devices with cloud sync, even when offline. Your data remains private and under your control with strong AES-based encryption.

Highlights
  • Encrypt notes, texts, passwords, crypto keys, and recovery phrases
  • Import text files for encryption
  • Search across encrypted items
  • Cloud Sync across devices
  • Offline access to encrypted content
  • AES-based encryption
Read full description

Password managers ask you to trust them with everything. One breach โ€” and your whole digital life is exposed. Cipher works differently: you store hints, not passwords. The passwords stay in your head. HOW IT WORKS Keep two or three base patterns in your head. They are never written down anywhere. For each service, save only a hint about which pattern and which rule you used: "Bank โ€” pattern B, caps, +2024" That hint is useless to anyone else. The password itself never leaves your head. WHAT YOU GET - Hints, notes and text files encrypted with AES, each protected by a passphrase you choose - Passphrases are never stored โ€” not on the device, not in the cloud - Works fully offline, no account required - Optional cloud sync with your Apple or Google account, if you want your hints on every device - Import text files, search across your encrypted items - Also fits crypto seed-phrase hints and any private note WHO IT IS FOR People who do not want to hand every password to a single vault. If you have hundreds of random passwords, a password manager is the right tool. If you rely on patterns in your head and keep forgetting which rule you used where, Cipher is for you. Privacy Policy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i8-tLk1ekAxQgjGyF6LO0mOtwo_sgI1nsi22A4v-ITo

Screenshots

SecretShield4 screens
Cipher4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Cipher at none against SecretShield's 4. Cipher also leads on device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.0). SecretShield's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 4 months). On price and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. SecretShield sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per month. Cipher asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SecretShield ships an update every 3 weeks, Cipher every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 4, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences ยท 4 level
SecretShield versus Cipher: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSecretShieldCipher
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviewsโ€”100.0% of reviews
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks โ€” betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo โ€” better
Monetizationโ€”Free
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac โ€” better
Requires iOS17.015.6 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size38 MB34 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSecret Shield Inc.DGL Factor

In-app purchases

4 purchases

SecretShield

Subscriptions4
  • Basic$19.991 Month
  • Inheritance$49.991 Month
  • Basic$199.001 Year
Show 1 more
  • Inheritance$499.001 Year
None

Cipher

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SecretShield free?
SecretShield is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Cipher free?
Cipher is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do SecretShield or Cipher have ads?
Neither SecretShield nor Cipher shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SecretShield or Cipher?
SecretShield ships an update every 3 weeks, and Cipher every 4 months. Most recently, SecretShield was updated on October 4, 2026 and Cipher on October 10, 2026.

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