Blog / 10 Years of Cryptomator – Thank You All
Today, Cryptomator Turns 10
It feels surreal to read this sentence.
What once began as a small idea has become a tool trusted by millions of people worldwide. People from very different backgrounds and walks of life: journalists protecting their sources. NGOs securing sensitive information. Researchers, students, freelancers, companies—all united by a common need: to keep their data private in an increasingly connected world.
Today, we are not only celebrating an anniversary. We are looking back on the history of Cryptomator, saying thank you to all our supporters, and looking ahead to what the future holds for the Cryptomator project.
How It All Began
About ten years ago, cloud storage became part of everyday life. Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and many others promised convenience: anytime access to files, easy sharing, seamless collaboration. And they delivered exactly that—but at a hidden price: the surrender of your privacy – the analysis of uploaded data.
The only protection against this was encryption. But encryption was either non-existent, optional, or so complicated that it was not a realistic option for many people. Using the cloud often meant relinquishing control over your own data, often without really noticing.
Cryptomator was born out of this very tension.
“As is often the case with FOSS, it all started with my own needs, because existing tools did not meet my requirements. My motivation then changed significantly when it became apparent that others also had this need for a transparent, cloud-compatible encryption solution and were also dissatisfied with the existing tools (at that time, mainly Boxcryptor).”
— Sebastian Stenzel, CTO
From the outset, Cryptomator was developed as open-source software. Transparency was not a marketing promise, but a prerequisite. Anyone could understand how the encryption worked, check for vulnerabilities, and contribute improvements.
“At the beginning, open source was actually our most important unique selling point compared to our main competitor Boxcryptor – I simply didn’t want to trust blindly. In theory, open source means that you don’t have to trust us at all. And new processes such as provenance attestation—i.e., cryptographic evidence of how a build was created—can also ensure the integrity of software that has already been compiled by the manufacturer in the future.”
— Sebastian Stenzel, CTO
Grown With the Cloud
But time does not stand still. Over the past ten years, the world of work has changed fundamentally. Remote work has become the norm since the COVID-19 pandemic. International collaboration is now a matter of course. Entire organizations have moved their processes to the cloud. At the same time, the risks have also grown: data leaks, ransomware, surveillance, increasing regulatory requirements.
“Privacy has (unfortunately) become increasingly important: In the past, the main concerns were cybercrime and leaks – today, I am worried about the spread of authoritarian tendencies in so-called ‘democracies’. The demanded erosion of privacy can, in the wrong hands, become a means of control over us all; AI troll armies with access to private chats and data would be the most powerful propaganda tool in human history. If we allow this to happen, it will have serious consequences.”
— Sebastian Stenzel, CTO
Privacy is no longer a “nice-to-have.” It is a necessity. Cryptomator has evolved to meet these challenges.
A desktop application became a cross-platform solution. Mobile apps were added. New use cases emerged. Feedback from the community has significantly shaped usability, performance, and features.
Cryptomator Hub was the next step: secure collaboration for teams and organizations—without compromising on encryption or control.
Throughout all these developments, one thing has remained the same: security and user-friendliness should not be mutually exclusive.
Below, we have compiled a timeline showing the most important milestones of recent years.
Timeline
2013–2014 – The idea is born, development begins
The vision arises from a very practical need: to be able to use the cloud without entrusting plain text data to the provider. Active development begins in 2014, with a focus on local encryption and ease of use.
2015 – First releases & initial recognition
Cryptomator takes shape: early GitHub releases create a stable foundation. The CeBIT Innovation Award (Usable Security & Privacy) gives the approach an early boost: security doesn’t have to be complicated.
March 9, 2016 – Cryptomator 1.0: the official launch
Cryptomator 1.0 is the first stable desktop version. Interest is so great that the website is temporarily overloaded on release day – an early sign of how great the demand for independent cloud encryption is.
2017 – Growth in the ecosystem: integration, community, Android
Cryptomator becomes more visible and suitable for everyday use: integration with Cyberduck brings the project closer to existing workflows. The community forum creates a central location for support and exchange. And with Android 1.0, mobile encryption finally becomes suitable for the masses.
2018 – Sustainability: the sponsor program
To ensure that Cryptomator can continue to be developed in the long term, a sponsor program is launched. It strengthens financing and enables open source to be operated professionally on a permanent basis – without abandoning the core values of the project.
2020 – A milestone: 1 million downloads & a big leap for desktop
Cryptomator reaches 1 million downloads. At the same time, a major update (including a new UI and vault format) marks the next level of maturity. At the end of the year, the Android app also becomes completely open source – a logical step towards transparency.
2021–2023 – More open source, more teams: iOS & Cryptomator Hub
The iOS app becomes open source and undergoes a fundamental technical overhaul with Cryptomator 2.0. At the same time, demand from companies and organizations grows: Cryptomator Hub 1.0 (2022) adds a solution for teams and institutions – including central administration and team vaults. Hub will be further expanded in subsequent versions (e.g., recovery keys).
2024–2025 – Reach & future viability Cryptomator reaches new target groups through greater media presence and recommendations. At the same time, the focus is clearly on the future: The post-quantum roadmap prepares for the long-term cryptographic future, and integrations (e.g., Mountain Duck) strengthen the ecosystem around encrypted cloud workflows.
What’s Next? – New Updates & Features
New Cryptomator Hub Features – Early Access / Anniversary Launch
As part of its 10th anniversary, several key enhancements for Cryptomator Hub are entering early access or being made publicly available for the first time. These are designed to give teams and organizations more control, security, and flexibility. To celebrate, we’re offering a special 100-day free trial (instead of the usual 30 days) for Cryptomator Hub Managed. For more details, check out the Early Access documentation.
User & Group Management
A key highlight of the new Hub version is User & Group Management.
This allows administrators to:
- Manage users in a targeted manner
- Create groups and assign roles
- Assign rights in a more structured and granular way
This enables better control over access within teams and organizations, which is particularly important for larger groups or departments. This feature marks an important step from simple access control to true team and organizational role management.
Emergency Access
Another big step: Emergency Access is being introduced.
This allows you to:
- Create security accounts for emergencies
- Define trusted persons/administrators
- Enable access in case of lost access data or keys
This improves reliability, especially in organizational contexts, and ensures that no data access is lost, even if individuals are no longer available.
Cryptomator Desktop and iOS
Files in Use
The desktop application also has a new feature in update 1.19.0 that is important for Hub vaults: “Files in Use.”
If a file is open in a Hub vault on one device, other users are notified when they open it on their devices.
This is particularly important for reducing conflicts or data loss when files are being edited simultaneously and improves collaboration in teams.
New Cryptomator logo for iOS (desktop & mobile)
To mark its anniversary, Cryptomator is also getting a minor visual update: A new Cryptomator logo is appearing on iOS—both in the mobile app and in the desktop application.
Voices From the Community
“Nowadays, I’m especially happy when I come across users in the wild or read reports.”
— Sebastian Stenzel, CTO
Over the past 10 years, Cryptomator has become much more than just an encryption tool. For many people today, it is an integral part of their daily work and security concept. Cryptomator gives you peace of mind when it comes to protecting your data. Here are some comments from our community:
“I just wanted to say thank you for this great tool!”
— Luke (@nuk3, Mastodon)
“This is why I love Cryptomator: the files are encrypted, and even if the cloud provider has a data leak, I know my files are safe.”
— mbeddedDev (Mastodon)
Again, Cryptomator is free to use. So if you can support the program, you should definitely do so. It’s a great piece of software.
— Techlore (YouTube)
For many users, it’s the combination of transparency and user-friendliness that makes the difference:
“Open source and widely used, tested and stable, with a beautiful and simple interface. It’s always my first general recommendation for cloud storage.”
— Fit_Flower_8982 (Reddit)
Organizations and companies also rely on our encryption solution, especially Cryptomator Hub:
“With Cryptomator Hub, we can securely manage sensitive company data while making it easy for our employees to use.”
— Andreas Cofalla, Application Manager IT, Walbusch GmbH & Co. KG
And for many users, Cryptomator has become part of their everyday lives:
“I sleep peacefully at night knowing that my files are private and secure, no matter where they are stored or backed up.”
— @paired_electron (X)
“Everything works effortlessly on my iPad… biometric login or password directly on the same screen is a great solution.”
— Jack Ouzzi (App Store)
Whether on desktop or smartphone, privately or in business, the trust, feedback, and support of our community have made Cryptomator what it is today. Thanks a lot for that!
10 Years of Cryptomator – Join Our Live AMA
As part of our 10th anniversary celebration, we are hosting an Ask Me Anything (AMA) on Reddit! We would love for you to join us.
📅 March 9, 2026
🕓 4:00 p.m. CET
📍 r/Cryptomator
Tobias Hagemann (CEO) and Sebastian Stenzel (CTO) will answer your questions live.
After ten years of working on privacy-friendly open-source encryption software, we are convinced that transparency and open exchange are more important than ever.
This AMA is our way of saying thank you and looking ahead together with you.
Follow us on Reddit and join the discussion on r/Cryptomator.
We look forward to your questions.
Can’t join us live? Don’t worry, we’ll make the questions and answers available afterwards, and of course, we’re always available via email, social media, or the community forum if you still have a burning question.
Special Anniversary Sale
Ten years of Cryptomator would not have been possible without you. To mark this anniversary, we would like to express our gratitude with a special thank you:
From March 9 through March 18, our mobile apps (iOS & Android) and the Supporter Certificate will be available for only €10*.
Whether you’ve been using Cryptomator since the early days or have only recently discovered it, now is the perfect time to support the project and secure your cloud on the go with client-side encryption.
*Note: The discount and price may vary depending on your region.
Here’s to the Next Ten Years of Cryptomator
What began as an idea over ten years ago has now become a globally used solution for secure cloud encryption. Millions of people use Cryptomator to protect their data—privately, in organizations, and in companies.
But Cryptomator is more than just software. It is an open-source project, a community, and a shared belief: privacy is not optional, but the standard.
None of this would have been possible without you—without your support, your contributions, your feedback, and your enthusiasm for secure and transparent software.
As we look back on the past ten years, we are also looking ahead. New features, new ideas, and new developments are already waiting in the wings.
One thing remains unchanged: our goal to make cloud storage more secure—and give people back control over their data.
Thank you for being part of this amazing journey.