A Google Authenticator alternative that keeps your codes off the cloud
Google Authenticator is the app most people start with. Since 2023 it can sync your codes to your Google account, so they come back on a new phone, at the cost of a copy held by Google.
What Google Authenticator does well
- It is simple, free, and works with every service that offers an authenticator app.
- Signed in, your codes come back on a new phone with nothing more than your Google account.
- Signed out, it can still move accounts to another phone by showing transfer QR codes.
What Otter does differently
- No account and no sync. Your keys stay on your phone, so the safety of every code does not come down to your Google password.
- A backup you hold: one file, encrypted with a passphrase you choose, which Otter has no copy of and cannot open for you.
- No network at all. Otter makes no requests, and the Android app does not even hold the internet permission.
- Otter does not read Google Authenticator’s transfer QR codes, which use a format of Google’s own. Moving over means adding each account again from the service.
At a glance
| Otter | Google Authenticator | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, no ads, no in-app purchase | Free |
| Platforms | iPhone and Android | iPhone and Android |
| Account needed | None | Optional, a Google account to sync |
| Where copies of your keys live | On your phone, and in backup files you export yourself | In your Google account, when you sign in to sync |
| Export to a file you keep | Yes, encrypted with a passphrase you choose | No file. Accounts move to another phone as transfer QR codes |
| Network use | None. The Android app does not even hold the internet permission | Used to sync when signed in |
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 Apps change: if something here is out of date, write to otter@foohx.com and it will be corrected.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
If you want your codes to come back on a new phone with no effort, and you trust your Google account to guard them, Google Authenticator does that well. If you would rather no company held a copy of your second factors, Otter keeps them on the phone and leaves the backup in your hands.
Moving your accounts to Otter
Google Authenticator exports its accounts as QR codes in a format of its own, which Otter does not read, so each account is moved from the service itself: sign in, open its two-factor settings, set up a new authenticator and scan the QR code with Otter. Check that the code from Otter is accepted before you remove the account from Google Authenticator.
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.