Strongbox
native keepass client for mac and ios with a lifetime licence
Lifetime tier
At $124.99 against $24.99 a year, the lifetime tier only wins if you stay about five years — which is a real bet on a small developer. It buys the app, not a sync service: you still supply the storage, whether that is iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, WebDAV or SFTP, and you own the consequences if that storage breaks. The free version is non-commercial and missing conveniences, so business use means paying. The code is AGPL on GitHub, but the App Store builds are what the licence is for.
Cost over five years
$125 once = 23 months of Dashlane Premium. Over five years that is $325 rented against $124.99 owned — $200 kept, and you still have the app.
Dashlane Premium priced at $65 a year — current App Store in-app annual price. Checked 2026-09-22.
Strongbox is for people who decided their passwords should live in a file they can see, back up and move, rather than in a vendor's account. The file is a KDBX database — the KeePass format — so if Strongbox vanished tomorrow you could open it in KeePassXC on Linux and carry on. What you are buying is the Apple-side polish that the open-source clients never really got: AutoFill that works in Safari and in apps, Face ID and Touch ID unlock, an SSH agent that hands keys to your terminal, YubiKey support, and sync over whatever storage you already pay for.
The one-time price is $124.99 and it is a real one-time price, not a three-year subscription wearing a hat. It covers Mac, iPhone and iPad, and Family Sharing extends it to six people, which is where the arithmetic gets comfortable — against 1Password's family plan it stops being a close call.
Against the $24.99 yearly, though, it is close. Five years is the break-even, so if you are not fairly sure you will still be running Strongbox in 2031, take the subscription and decide later. And if you are happy configuring KeePassXC yourself and do not need mobile AutoFill, that is free and does the same encryption.
What it looks like
What it does
- Reads and writes standard KDBX (KeePass) and Password Safe databases
- AutoFill and Touch ID / Face ID unlock on macOS and iOS
- Built-in SSH agent and YubiKey hardware key support
- Sync over iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, WebDAV, SFTP or plain local files
- One licence for all your devices plus Family Sharing for six
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$50The facts
- Price
- $124.99
- Licence
- Lifetime plan available
- What you get
- Normally sold as a subscription, but a genuine one-time lifetime option exists.
- Details
- $124.99 one-time for Strongbox Pro, labelled "One time purchase" on the developer's pricing page, next to $2.99/month and $24.99/year for the same Pro feature set. One licence covers all your devices and can be shared with up to six people through Family Sharing. A feature-limited free version exists for non-commercial use. The page notes that your price may vary with your App Store country, so $124.99 is the US figure.
- Free trial
- Yes
- On Setapp
- Yes
- Minimum macOS
- not stated
- Developer
- Phoebe Code Limited
- Source
- Repository
- Price checked
- 2026-09-22
Check it yourself - Price band
- $120 and up