Comparison

DotBGE vs PassPony

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

Head to head
About

DotBGE

Securely encrypt and decrypt private documents and photos using recipient identities or passwords. Organize files in a vault with collections and sync across devices. Share encrypted messages and files with trusted contacts.

Highlights
  • Encrypt/decrypt individual files
  • Secure text message sharing
  • Private iOS vault
  • Share via recipient identity
  • Password-protected sharing
  • Organized vault with collections
  • Optional iCloud sync
Features
Read full description

Encrypt private documents and photos, then share them with people you trust. DotBGE protects files directly on your iPhone using a recipient’s identity or a password — with no DotBGE account required. FREE FOR EVERYDAY FILES • Encrypt and decrypt individual files. • Encrypt text messages and share them as .bge files. • Keep up to 20 encrypted files in your iOS vault. • Use one identity and preview supported files after decrypting. SHARE WITH THE RIGHT PERSON Add trusted contacts using identity cards. Choose a recipient to create files that only their private key can decrypt, without exchanging a shared password. Share your own card as a QR code, link or .bgekey file so others can encrypt files for you. PREFER A PASSWORD? Protect a file with a passphrase for one-time sharing. The recipient can open it in DotBGE using that password. Send the password through a separate channel. A PRIVATE VAULT, KEPT ORGANIZED Unlock your vault with Face ID or Touch ID. Create collections with names, colors and icons, and add a file to several collections without making copies. Optional iCloud sync makes your encrypted vault and collections available across your own devices. DECRYPT, PREVIEW, KEEP EXPLORING View supported photos, PDFs, text, audio and video inside the app. Enable Reuse Authentication in Vault to swipe through supported vault files, and optionally show photo thumbnails. Both settings are off by default. Some previews use protected temporary files; see the privacy policy for details. MESSAGES YOU CAN SHARE Type or paste text, encrypt it for yourself, a contact or with a password, then send the .bge message file through your chat app. Recipients open it in DotBGE to read and copy the decrypted text. MORE FILES, MORE CONTROL WITH PRO • Batch encryption for multiple files. • Folder and structured encryption, with one encrypted package or separate encrypted files. • An unlimited vault and multiple identities. • Saved Quick Tasks for repeating folder workflows. For folder encryption, choose the save location and whether to keep originals. Optionally hide names or select which file types to encrypt. Files outside the selection stay unencrypted. Existing encrypted outputs are skipped, even when the source has changed; Quick Tasks do not automatically refresh those files. ON YOUR DEVICE. IN AN OPEN FORMAT. DotBGE uses RSA-4096 and AES-256-GCM with the documented .bge format. Encryption and decryption run on your device. Open .bge files from Files, Mail or other apps that support document sharing, or encrypt through the share sheet. Pro is available through in-app purchase. Single-file encryption, decryption, encrypted messages and supported previews remain free. Designed for iPhone; runs on iPad in compatibility mode. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdfla/ Privacy Policy: https://dotbge.app/privacy

About

PassPony

This app is an open-source password manager that allows you to own your encrypted password files. It syncs with Git and is interoperable with command-line tools, offering features like QuickType autofill and live one-time codes.

Highlights
  • File-based encrypted password storage
  • Git synchronization
  • Interoperable with pass/passage CLI
  • QuickType autofill
  • Live one-time codes (TOTP)
  • Face ID/Touch ID unlock
  • Ephemeral clipboard
Features
Read full description

PassPony is a password manager for people who want to own their passwords. Every entry is one encrypted file in a store you control, in the same format as the pass and passage command line tools. Your Mac, your server, and your phone can all work on the same store. WHY A FILE-BASED STORE One entry, one file: the password on the first line, anything else after it. Encrypted with your keys: age identities for passage stores, OpenPGP keys for pass stores. Synced with git over HTTPS or SSH: clone your existing store, publish a new one, and resolve conflicts per entry, never with a silent merge. Interoperable: commits match the pass CLI format, so the store stays fully usable from the desktop tools. EVERYDAY USE AutoFill: your passwords appear above the keyboard when you sign in. Only entry names are indexed; nothing decrypts until you fill. Passkeys: save a passkey for a site and sign in with it. It lives in that site's entry, encrypted with your keys, and syncs like everything else. One-time codes: TOTP with a countdown ring, HOTP counters, and import from an authenticator app's export QR codes. Face ID or Touch ID unlock, with a five-minute grace window shared with AutoFill. Ephemeral clipboard: copies are local only and clear after 45 seconds. Field-level editing that preserves the exact bytes of lines it does not touch. YOUR KEYS STAY YOURS Back up every key on your phone to one file locked with a recovery code, and restore it on a new phone. SSH sync uses a key made on your phone or imported; hosts are trusted on first use and a changed host key is refused. Phones that share a store each add their own public key to it when they sync, and you approve every new key before your entries are re-encrypted for it. Secret keys never leave a device. PRIVATE BY ARCHITECTURE No account, no signup, no PassPony server. The only network connection is the git remote you configure. No analytics, no ads, no tracking. Open source, Apache-2.0. The full app and its Rust core are published in a public git repository for anyone to audit. FORMATS passage stores encrypt with modern age identities. pass stores encrypt with OpenPGP keys (Cv25519 and X25519/Ed25519 in software). RSA-keyed stores need a smartcard, which is not supported yet. Each format keeps its own store; switching never touches the other. Localized in English, Spanish, French, German, Simplified Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese, and Russian. If you already run pass or passage, PassPony is the missing phone half of your setup. If you have never used them, the first-run tour will have you adding your first pass in about a minute.

Screenshots

DotBGE4 screens
PassPony4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PassPony at none against DotBGE's 2. On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. DotBGE sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. PassPony asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for DotBGE against 5.0 for PassPony. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

DotBGE ships an update every 2 weeks, PassPony every 10 days. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
DotBGE versus PassPony: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDotBGEPassPony
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS17.6 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB23 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer刚 熊Kevin Stewart

Customer experience

DotBGE

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

PassPony

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

DotBGE

Subscriptions1
  • DotBGE Pro Monthly$3.991 Month
One-time1
  • DotBGE Pro Lifetime$24.99
None

PassPony

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is DotBGE free?
DotBGE is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PassPony free?
PassPony is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, DotBGE or PassPony?
DotBGE and PassPony are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do DotBGE or PassPony have ads?
Neither DotBGE nor PassPony shows ads.
Which is updated more often, DotBGE or PassPony?
DotBGE ships an update every 2 weeks, and PassPony every 10 days. Most recently, DotBGE was updated on October 31, 2026 and PassPony on October 31, 2026.

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