Concealer and Espionage Alternative That Also Locks Apps

Concealer and Espionage are two Mac encryption apps. Both are vaults, and a vault solves a different problem than locking and hiding the apps you use every day. Here is the comparison.

Concealer: a secure container and password manager

Concealer by BeLight Software is an encrypted vault with password manager extras. It is a one-time purchase (around $19.99).

The model is the key thing: your data lives inside Concealer’s own interface. It does not put Touch ID in front of the real apps on your Mac, and it does not hide apps. If your private information already lives in apps you use, Messages, Notes, a finance app, you would have to move it into Concealer’s vault to protect it.

Espionage: folder encryption

Espionage by Tao Effect encrypts folders with AES-256. It is a one-time purchase (around $29.99).

Like Concealer, Espionage is encryption only. It does not lock apps behind Touch ID, and it does not hide apps from view. The workflow is technical.

Where Cloak is different

Cloak overlaps with both on encryption, it encrypts folders with AES-256 in place, but it adds the two things vaults do not:

It locks the actual apps you use behind Touch ID or a password, so you do not have to migrate your data into a separate container.
It hides apps completely, so a private app does not just sit there locked, it disappears.

In other words, Concealer and Espionage protect data you put into them. Cloak protects the apps and folders you already have, where they already are.

Side by side

	Cloak	Concealer	Espionage
Price	$9.99 once	$19.99 once	$29.99 once
Encrypts folders	In place	Vault	In place
Locks apps	Yes	No	No
Hides apps	Yes	No	No
Touch ID	Yes	Not stated	Not stated
Intruder photo	Yes	No	No
Plausible deniability	No	No	Yes
Local, no account	Yes	Yes	Yes

Switching from Concealer or Espionage to Cloak

It takes about five minutes.

Open Concealer or Espionage and move your files back out into a normal folder on your Mac.
Download Cloak, set up Touch ID or a password, and save the recovery key it gives you.
Press + under Locked folders & files and pick that folder. It is encrypted in place with AES-256 and disappears from Finder and Spotlight.
Add the apps you want behind Touch ID under Locked apps, and anything nobody should see under Hidden apps.

The verdict

Concealer is a vault with password manager extras. Espionage is folder encryption for power users. Both only protect what you move into them.

If you want to lock and hide the apps you already use, and encrypt folders, without moving everything into a separate container, that combination is what Cloak is built for. One-time purchase, fully local, nothing uploaded.

Try Cloak on your Mac.

For all eleven points on every locker, see every Mac app locker compared.

Questions people ask

What is the difference between locking and hiding an app?

A locked app stays in the Dock and Applications folder but will not open without Touch ID or your password. A hidden app is moved into an encrypted image, so it is gone from the Dock, Launchpad, Spotlight and the Applications folder until you unhide it.

What if I forget my Cloak password?

When you set up Cloak you get a recovery key. It brings your hidden apps and locked folders back if you lose your password. Keep it somewhere safe and offline: without the password or the recovery key, your encrypted items cannot be opened, on purpose.

Does Cloak need an account?

No. There is no account and no sign-in. Everything Cloak locks, hides and encrypts stays on your Mac, and nothing is uploaded.

How much is Cloak and how many Macs does it cover?

Cloak is a one-time purchase: $9.99 for one Mac, $14.99 for two and $24.99 for five, at launch pricing. Updates are free, with no subscription.