Ente Auth vs Proton Authenticator Comparison

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.

Without sync, the secrets stay on the device, encrypted with a random key kept in the system key store (Android Keystore, Apple Keychain, Windows Credential Manager or a Linux Secret Service). With sync, Proton stores an encrypted copy; by Proton's account, only your Proton account key can open it. That is Proton's statement: no independent audit of the app has been published.

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.

Sync to a Proton account is off until you sign in. Automatic backup files to a folder you choose are also off by default on Android; the iPhone app offers them during setup. Backup and export files can be protected with a password of your own. On Apple devices, iCloud sync is a separate switch, off by default.

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.

A Proton account is needed only for sync between devices. Google Play's data-safety section lists an email address as the only data collected.

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.

Published by Proton AG, Route de la Galaise 32, 1228 Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva. Proton's privacy policy says it discloses the limited user data it holds only when legally obliged, on a binding request from the competent Swiss authorities.

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.

Proton AG's primary shareholder is the Proton Foundation, a Swiss non-profit registered in Geneva; Proton says no change of control can happen without the Foundation's consent.

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.

The app has no paid tier and no ads and brings in no revenue of its own; Proton AG develops it alongside its other services.