Answers/The escape queries
Cryptomator vs a single-file vault — which one for a folder that never leaves your computer?
Cryptomator is designed around one very specific job: making a cloud sync folder — Dropbox, iCloud, OneDrive — encrypted from the moment your file leaves your machine. It does that job beautifully. If your folder never leaves your computer, you're paying for a feature you don't use.
What Cryptomator optimises for
Cryptomator encrypts files individually and stores them in a folder structure a sync client can walk. That is the whole trick: your cloud provider sees encrypted blobs, syncs them, and never sees your filenames or contents.
The consequence is that you always work with a mounted virtual drive. You install the app, unlock the vault, and use it like a normal folder. When you're done, you lock it. It is well-made and free.
What a single-file vault optimises for
A single-file vault takes a folder and turns it into one encrypted bundle. There is no per-file structure to sync, no mounted drive, and no install. You get one file that is either sealed or not.
For a folder that lives on your laptop and never touches a cloud, that is the smaller and honest shape. Fewer moving parts, no background process, no daemon watching the folder.
How to choose
Use Cryptomator when the folder must sync to a cloud provider you do not want to trust with its contents.
Use a single-file vault (Elba is one) when the folder lives on your machine, or on a USB stick, or in a backup you make yourself. It ships as one HTML file, runs in a Chromium browser, uses AES-256-GCM, and makes no network requests.
Questions people actually ask
- Can I put a single-file vault inside a cloud folder?
- Yes — the encrypted bundle is ordinary bytes and can sync safely. The tradeoff is you upload the whole bundle when any file inside changes, versus Cryptomator's per-file sync.
- Is one more secure than the other?
- Both use modern authenticated encryption with key derivation. Neither is meaningfully stronger for the same passphrase; they are shaped for different workflows.
- Does Elba need to be installed?
- No. It is a single HTML file that runs in your browser.
Take the island
Elba is one HTML file. It runs locally in a Chromium browser, seals a folder with AES-256-GCM, never phones home, and becomes open source on 1 January 2030.
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- VeraCrypt is too complicated — is there a simpler way to encrypt one folder?
VeraCrypt is powerful but heavy for one folder. A plain-language look at simpler options and when a single-file vault is the honest fit.
- Encrypt files *before* they reach Dropbox, iCloud, or OneDrive
The right moment to encrypt is on your machine, before the file ever sees a sync client. A minimal workflow, and where it breaks down.