Guides/Elba vs Cryptomator
Elba vs Cryptomator: local folder vs cloud-transparent vault
Cryptomator's job is to make cloud storage safe. Elba's job is to make one folder on your own machine private. Same word, different problems.
Pick Cryptomator if
You keep files in Dropbox / iCloud / Google Drive and want each file individually encrypted so the cloud can still sync. It has mobile clients and works nicely with mounted drives.
Pick Elba if
You want a fence around one folder, on one machine, with no accounts, no daemons, and one HTML file you can read. No mobile app, no cloud story beyond ‘back up the sealed folder if you want’.
Questions people actually ask
- Can I put an Elba-sealed folder inside Dropbox?
- Yes. Dropbox will sync it as an opaque blob. Cryptomator does per-file sync; Elba does per-folder.
- Do both use AES?
- Both use AES-based encryption; the file formats differ.
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 ·
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- FreeMMXXX2030
the price falls each year · free to all 1 jan 2030
pay once · no account · nothing leavesRelated guides
- Elba vs Boxcryptor (or: what to do now Boxcryptor is gone)
Boxcryptor was acquired and shut down for individuals. Elba is one alternative — one HTML file, no account, no cloud.
- How to encrypt files in Dropbox, iCloud, or Google Drive safely
Seal the folder first, then sync it. A short recipe for using cloud storage without letting the cloud read your files.
- Elba vs VeraCrypt: two different jobs, honestly compared
Elba and VeraCrypt solve related but different problems. Here's when to pick one over the other for local file encryption.