Authy vs Ente Auth Comparison

With backups off, Twilio says the codes you add stay only on the phone. With backups on, Twilio says the app encrypts each secret on the phone with a key made from your backup password, which never reaches its servers. That is Twilio's statement about closed-source software, with no published audit. It covers codes you add by QR code or key; codes that a website creates in the app through Twilio's own service sync to Twilio's servers even on a device where backups are off.

On the device, the codes are encrypted with a key kept in the system's secure storage. With an Ente account, the app encrypts every code before upload with keys that, by Ente's documentation, only your password or recovery key can unlock, so Ente's servers hold only encrypted copies. That is Ente's statement: an outside audit has checked Ente's server, not the Auth apps.

Backups are off until you turn them on and set a backup password. The copy lives on Twilio's servers, tied to your phone number. Twilio cannot reset the backup password: if you forget it and lose your phones, the copy cannot be opened. With backups on, Twilio can see which accounts you added, as far as the setup QR code names them, usually the site and your username or email.

The first screen offers Sign up and Log in, with Use without backups as a smaller option below them. With an account, an encrypted copy syncs to Ente. Without one, codes stay on that device only; automatic daily backup files, protected by a password you set, are off until you switch them on. Ente says device transfers and system backups do not count as a backup for offline codes.

An Authy account needs a phone number, verified by a code, and Twilio also collects an email address for identity checks and account recovery. Twilio says whoever holds the phone number is treated as the account's owner.

An Ente account, which needs an email address and a password, is used only for the encrypted copy and sync. Without it the app works offline; the desktop apps and the Android app downloaded from GitHub may still contact Ente to check for updates.

The app terms are with Twilio Inc., a company incorporated in Delaware in 2008 with its head office in San Francisco, California. The App Store lists the seller as Authy Inc., and Google Play lists the developer as Twilio Inc.

Ente Technologies, Inc. has been a US corporation since 2022; its terms are governed by Delaware law, with a notice address in Dover, Delaware. Ente's privacy policy says its servers and hosting partners are in Europe and that personal information may be accessed from or transferred to the US.

Twilio bought Authy in 2015. Twilio's shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under TWLO.

Ente was started in 2020 by its founders and says it is funded by customer subscriptions, not venture capital. Since July 2026 it publishes its revenue and customer counts.

The app has no paid tier and no ads. Twilio pays for it as part of its business; websites can also build Authy codes and push approvals into their own sign-in through Twilio's Authy service.

Auth earns no money of its own. Ente pays for it from subscriptions to its photo storage service and asks people who want to support Auth to subscribe there; at launch in 2022 it said existing users would keep Auth for free if it ever became paid.