Google Authenticator vs Proton Authenticator Comparison

Signed in to a Google Account, the app copies your secrets to that account, where Google says it encrypts them in transit and at rest. Choosing Use without an account keeps the codes only on the phone. There is no option to encrypt the synced copy with a password or key of your own, so Google can technically decrypt it.

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 only backup is the copy in your Google Account. Without an account, the app makes no backup file; codes can only be moved by scanning transfer QR codes from the old phone.

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.

A Google Account is needed only for syncing. The app works without one, and Google's help page describes how to use it that way from the first launch.

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.

The app is published by Google LLC, a Delaware company based in Mountain View, California. Google's terms are governed by California law unless local law requires otherwise; Google says that for most services the provider is either Google LLC, operating under US law, or Google Ireland Limited, operating under Irish law.

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.

Google LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., whose shares trade on Nasdaq. Google released Authenticator in 2010 and added Google Account sync in April 2023.

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.

The app has no revenue of its own; Google pays for its development as part of its account-security products.

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.