Cryptomator Free tier

What Cryptomator actually does

Cryptomator isn't a cloud storage service — it's a small, focused tool that encrypts files before they ever leave your computer, so whatever cloud provider you already use only ever sees unreadable ciphertext.

The core product

Cryptomator is made by Skymatic GmbH, a small software company based in Bonn, Germany. Rather than competing with Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive or a home NAS, it works on top of whichever one you already use: you create an encrypted 'vault', which is really just a specially structured folder, and place it inside your existing cloud-sync folder. Cryptomator then mounts that vault as a virtual drive on your computer. Anything you save into the virtual drive is encrypted — file names included — before your normal sync client ever touches it, so the cloud provider only ever stores unreadable ciphertext rather than your actual files. The encryption itself uses AES-256 with per-file keys, and that scheme has been reviewed by outside security auditors rather than left as a marketing claim. Because the desktop apps for Windows, macOS and Linux are free and open source, anyone technical enough can read the code and confirm the encryption behaves the way Skymatic says it does, instead of taking it on faith.

What's new or notable

The most notable thing about Cryptomator's model is what it deliberately doesn't do: it's not trying to become a full privacy suite. Desktop use has always been free, but the mobile apps for Android and iOS ship as free downloads that only allow read-only access to a vault — actually writing or editing files from a phone requires a one-time €29.99 purchase per platform to unlock full read/write access, according to Cryptomator's own pricing page. For teams, Skymatic also sells Cryptomator Hub, a separate managed product for centralizing vault and user management, alongside a free, self-hosted Community edition of Hub limited to five seats for anyone willing to run it themselves.

Who should use Cryptomator

Great fit if…

• You already pay for cloud storage and don't want to switch — Cryptomator adds encryption on top of Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive or a NAS you already use, rather than asking you to move your files somewhere new.
• You want to verify the encryption rather than trust a brand — the desktop apps are open source and the AES-256 scheme has been independently audited, so the zero-knowledge claim can actually be checked.
• Your main use is desktop-based — the free desktop apps for Windows, macOS and Linux cover full read/write vault access with no purchase required.

Skip it if…

• You need one tool that syncs and encrypts — Cryptomator doesn't sync or back anything up itself; you still need a working cloud-sync setup underneath it, so a sync failure means troubleshooting two tools instead of one.
• You want free mobile editing — the Android and iOS apps are read-only until you pay €29.99 per platform, so phone-first users face an extra cost the desktop apps don't.
• You might lose your password — there's no account recovery or company backdoor by design, so losing both your vault password and recovery key means permanently losing access to your files.

Pricing in detail

Cryptomator's pricing is unusually simple compared to most privacy tools: there's no subscription at all, just one-time purchases for specific platforms, according to its own pricing page.

Where it falls short

• It only encrypts, nothing else — Cryptomator doesn't sync files, doesn't back them up, and doesn't manage sharing or collaboration between people; it's deliberately a single-purpose tool.
• You're still running two systems — you need a working cloud-sync setup underneath it, and any conflict or failure in that sync layer becomes a second thing to debug.
• Mobile access isn't free — full read/write on a phone costs €29.99 per platform, which can surprise anyone who assumed the free download meant free full access.
• Support is limited outside the paid Hub product — individual users mostly rely on the community forum rather than direct support.

Privacy & data

Cryptomator's privacy story rests on the fact that it never has access to your files in the first place: encryption and decryption both happen locally on your device using AES-256 with a per-file key structure, and the cloud provider you sync to only ever receives ciphertext. Because the desktop clients are open source, the underlying implementation can be independently reviewed rather than taken on trust, and the encryption scheme has already been checked by outside auditors. Skymatic GmbH is based in Bonn, Germany, so it operates under GDPR as an EU company. There is no account recovery mechanism and no built-in backdoor for lost passwords — a deliberate design choice that maximizes privacy but means a lost password and lost recovery key together result in permanently inaccessible files.

How we checked this

This entry is based on Cryptomator's own pricing page at cryptomator.org/pricing, fetched and checked on 2026-09-05, along with the product's publicly documented feature set and known limitations (its narrow scope, the paid mobile unlock, and the lack of account recovery). We did not run hands-on encryption benchmarks or a technical security review of our own; claims about the audit and open-source status reflect what Cryptomator and its auditors have published, not independent testing performed for this listing.

What you get, what you give up