Guides/Post-Boxcryptor
Elba vs Boxcryptor (or: what to do now Boxcryptor is gone)
Boxcryptor stopped serving individuals in 2024. If you're looking for a personal replacement, the honest options are Cryptomator (for cloud-mounted encryption) and Elba (for a sealed local folder).
Why Elba, specifically
Because ‘the vendor got acquired’ is exactly the risk mortalware is designed to remove. Elba's license becomes MIT on 1 January 2030 no matter what happens to the makers.
Migration in one paragraph
Decrypt your Boxcryptor files with your existing installation. Put the plaintext into a folder. Point Elba at that folder and set a password. Delete the Boxcryptor cache.
Questions people actually ask
- Does Elba replicate Boxcryptor's cloud integration?
- No — Elba doesn't touch the network. Use Cryptomator for that shape.
- Is Elba small enough for a USB stick migration?
- Yes — the whole program is one HTML file.
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.
- €49MMXXVI· now ·
- €39MMXXVII2027
- €29MMXXVIII2028
- €19MMXXIX2029
- FreeMMXXX2030
the price falls each year · free to all 1 jan 2030
pay once · no account · nothing leavesRelated guides
- Elba vs Cryptomator: local folder vs cloud-transparent vault
Cryptomator encrypts for the cloud; Elba encrypts for your own machine. A short, honest comparison to help you pick.
- An alternative to AxCrypt that isn't a subscription trap
Looking for an AxCrypt alternative without the free-tier squeeze? Elba is a one-time-purchase, offline HTML file for folder encryption.
- One-time-purchase encryption software (and why it still exists)
Encryption software you buy once, keep forever. Elba is €49 one-time in 2026, declining every year until it is free in 2030.