Aegis Authenticator vs Microsoft Authenticator Comparison

The secrets live in a vault file on the phone. The app has no internet permission and no account, so there is no copy with the developers. Setup offers a password by default; choosing no password leaves the vault unencrypted on the phone.

On Android, until you turn on Cloud Backup, the secrets stay on the phone. Microsoft's 2019 description of the backup says the app encrypts it with a key it requests from Microsoft's own key service and fetches that key again to restore, so with backup on Microsoft holds the key to the copy. On iPhone the current help pages do not say whether the app's iCloud switch starts on, or whose key protects the copy. There is no option to protect the backup with a password or key of your own.

Automatic backups are off until you switch them on and pick a folder, which can belong to a cloud app on the phone. Android's own cloud backup can also include the vault after you switch it on. Both work only with a password-protected vault and use your password or a separate backup password. Android's direct phone-to-phone transfer is always allowed to include the vault.

Android: the backup is stored with a Microsoft personal account you choose; Microsoft says that from January 2027 the Android backup will move to Google One backup instead. iPhone and iPad: the backup goes to your iCloud account once several iCloud settings and the app's own iCloud switch are on, and Microsoft's current help pages do not say whose key protects it. A backup made on one platform cannot be restored on the other, and work or school accounts are not backed up at all.

There is no account and no sign-up; the app works fully offline.

Codes for other services are added by scanning a QR code, without signing in to Microsoft. A Microsoft personal account is needed for push sign-in to that account and, on Android, to store the backup; on iPhone the backup uses your Apple account's iCloud.

The Google Play listing gives Beem Development's contact address in Dordrecht, Netherlands. The app has no servers and holds no user data with the developers, so the jurisdiction matters little for the secrets themselves.

The app is published by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Washington. Microsoft's privacy statement names Microsoft Corporation as the controller of personal data, and Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited for people in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. Microsoft says it discloses personal data when required by law or to respond to valid legal process.

Beem Development is the developer name on Google Play, F-Droid and the website. Most of the code on GitHub comes from two developers, and the project is funded by donations; no company registration is named on the project's pages.

Microsoft Corporation is a publicly traded company (ticker MSFT). The app is part of Microsoft's sign-in products for personal Microsoft accounts and for work or school accounts in Microsoft Entra ID.

The README and F-Droid link a donation page; there is no paid version.

The app has no revenue of its own; Microsoft pays for it as part of its sign-in products for personal and work accounts.