An Aegis alternative that also runs on iPhone
Aegis Authenticator is free, open source, and keeps everything on the device. It is one of the best authenticators on Android, and it does not exist on iPhone.
What Aegis does well
- Open source under the GPL, so anyone can read exactly what it does.
- An encrypted vault, automatic backups to a folder you choose, and imports from many other authenticators.
- No account, no cloud, and no internet permission, like Otter.
What Otter does differently
- Otter runs on iPhone as well as Android, and the same backup file restores on either.
- Otter is not open source. What it claims rests on the store privacy labels and, on Android, on the missing internet permission, rather than on public code.
- Fewer options, by design: no icon packs, no groups and no plain text export. Otter does one job.
- Otter does not read Aegis vault files. Accounts are moved one at a time.
At a glance
| Otter | Aegis | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, no ads, no in-app purchase | Free, open source |
| Platforms | iPhone and Android | Android only |
| Account needed | None | None |
| Where copies of your keys live | On your phone, and in backup files you export yourself | On your phone, and in backups you export or schedule |
| Export to a file you keep | Yes, encrypted with a passphrase you choose | Yes, encrypted or in plain text |
| Network use | None. The Android app does not even hold the internet permission | None. The app does not hold the internet permission |
What this page says about other apps was checked in October 2026. Apps change: if something here is out of date, write to otter@foohx.com and it will be corrected.
Which one to choose
On an Android phone you mean to keep, Aegis is an excellent choice, and its open source code is a real advantage. If you use an iPhone, or might move between iPhone and Android, Otter brings the same idea to both, with one backup file that opens on either.
Moving your accounts to Otter
Otter does not read Aegis vault files. Move each account by opening it in Aegis’s edit screen and typing its key into Otter, or by adding it again from the service. A plain text export from Aegis holds every key in the clear: if you make one, delete it as soon as you are done.
Moving your two-factor accounts to another app, step by step
Try Otter
Free on iPhone and Android. No account to create and nothing to sync: install it, scan your first QR code, and the code is on your screen.