Guides/Compared with…
Elba vs EncFS — legacy per-file FUSE vs modern per-vault
EncFS is a legacy per-file FUSE encryption layer with a public audit showing weaknesses when files are modified in place. Elba is a modern per-vault sealed folder built on WebCrypto's AES-256-GCM.
Why EncFS is a hard recommend today
The 2014 audit flagged issues that were never fully addressed. Modern alternatives (gocryptfs, Cryptomator, Elba) exist and are actively maintained.
Migrating away
Mount your EncFS volume, copy contents into an Elba vault, seal, and remove the EncFS layer.
Questions people actually ask
- Is EncFS still safe for read-only archives?
- For static, read-only data the known issues are less exploitable, but replacing is still recommended.
- Does Elba mount as a filesystem?
- No — it's a browser-based vault, not a FUSE layer. Simpler, less integrated.
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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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.
- Elba vs LUKS — full-disk vs per-folder encryption on Linux
LUKS encrypts the whole disk offline. Elba encrypts a single folder while the machine runs. They solve different problems on Linux.