Guides/Elba vs GPG
Elba vs GPG: signing and PKI vs a small local fence
GPG is a whole ecosystem — keyrings, web of trust, signing, encrypted email. Elba is a fence around one folder. If you're choosing, you're probably choosing between very different jobs.
GPG wins when
You need signed releases, encrypted email (PGP), or a web-of-trust identity. It's the standard.
Elba wins when
You just want a local folder sealed with a password and don't want to learn a keyring model to get there.
Questions people actually ask
- Does Elba do public-key encryption?
- No. Elba is symmetric (AES-256-GCM) with a password-derived key. It is not a PGP replacement.
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 age: a GUI for the ‘just encrypt this folder’ case
age is the modern command-line file encryption tool. Elba is a GUI fence around a folder. Different audiences, same seriousness.
- How client-side encryption works, in one page
Client-side encryption means the key never leaves your device. Here's how it works, why it matters, and how Elba applies it.
- Zero-knowledge encryption, explained without jargon
Zero-knowledge means the service can't read your files even if it wanted to. Here's the idea, and how Elba goes one further.