If you are looking for a KeePassium alternative on iOS, the honest first question is why you are looking. KeePassium is a genuinely good, mature, independently audited app — most people who shop for an alternative are not unhappy with its quality. They are usually here for one specific reason: KeePassium puts YubiKey support behind its paid Premium tier (alongside multiple databases and a few other extras). If you bought a hardware key specifically to protect your vault, paying a subscription just to use that key can feel backwards.

That is the gap Kakuremi is built around. Kakuremi is a free, local-first KeePass (KDBX) password manager for iPhone where YubiKey unlock is free, and so is creating and editing your vault. Below is a fair, side-by-side look at where KeePassium is strong, where Kakuremi differs, and who should pick which — because the right answer genuinely depends on your platforms and priorities, not on which app we make.

Feature	KeePassium	Kakuremi
Platforms	iOS, iPadOS & macOS	iPhone only (iOS 17/18+)
YubiKey (HMAC-SHA1 Challenge-Response)	Yes — Premium (paid)	Yes — free (NFC)
Create & edit entries	Free	Free
Multiple databases	Premium	Pro
Live TOTP codes	Built-in	Store secrets free; view/copy codes = Pro
File attachments	Supported	View free; add/manage = Pro
KDBX format (3 & 4)	Yes	Yes
Independent audit	Yes — Cure53 (2024, iOS)	Not yet
Source code	Source-available on GitHub	Rust core, closed-source
Cloud account / sync	None required (uses your storage)	None — fully local-first, no built-in sync
Telemetry / analytics	None	None ("Data Not Collected")
Languages	~20	9
Pricing	Free + Premium: €19.99/yr or €79.99 lifetime (~$20/$80)	Free + Pro: $2.99/mo, $14.99/yr, $49.99 lifetime
Maturity	Mature (since 2018)	Newer / smaller

Competitor pricing and features verified June 2026 and may change — check each app's own site for the latest. Kakuremi details reflect the current App Store version.

What KeePassium does well (and why it's hard to beat)

Let's give credit where it's due. KeePassium has earned its reputation, and for many users it remains the right choice:

• Independently audited. KeePassium's iOS app was audited by Cure53 (a respected German security firm) in late 2024, with full source-code access. That is a real, verifiable trust signal that most KeePass apps — including Kakuremi — do not yet have.
• iOS and macOS. KeePassium runs on both iPhone/iPad and the Mac, so your vault follows you across Apple devices natively.
• Mature and polished. It has been shipping since 2018, supports roughly 20 languages, and has deep KDBX feature coverage and broad cloud-storage integration.
• Source-available. The code is published on GitHub, which lets the community inspect it.
• No account, no lock-in. Like Kakuremi, it works with the open KDBX format and your own storage — there's no proprietary cloud you're tied to.

If you want a Mac app, more localizations, or the assurance of a completed third-party audit today, KeePassium is a very defensible pick. We're not going to pretend otherwise.

Where Kakuremi differs

Kakuremi makes a different set of trade-offs. It is narrower than KeePassium on purpose, and it gives away the things KeePassium charges for.

• Free YubiKey unlock. Kakuremi's hardware-key support (HMAC-SHA1 Challenge-Response over NFC) is in the free tier. In KeePassium the same class of feature is Premium-only.
• Free editing. You can create a vault and add, edit, organize, tag, and delete entries and groups without paying. Editing is never gated.
• Rust core. Kakuremi's KDBX engine is written in Rust, a memory-safe language, which removes an entire class of memory-corruption bugs by design.
• Local-first and silent by default. No accounts, no cloud sync, no telemetry, no analytics. The App Store privacy label is literally "Data Not Collected", and the decrypted database lives only in memory.

Be fair about the costs, though. Kakuremi is iPhone-only (no Mac, iPad-sized, or Android build), it is a newer and smaller app, and its core is not yet independently audited. It also has fewer languages (9 vs ~20). If those matter more to you than a free hardware key, KeePassium is the safer bet.

The YubiKey difference — the usual reason people switch

This is the heart of it. Both apps support YubiKey the same way: as a per-database encryption / second factor using HMAC-SHA1 Challenge-Response — the same mechanism KeePassXC popularized on the desktop. The difference is the price tag:

• KeePassium: YubiKey support is part of Premium (about €19.99/year or €79.99 lifetime — roughly $20/$80).
• Kakuremi: YubiKey unlock is free.

A few honest warnings that apply to both apps, so you don't get surprised:

• This is not FIDO2, passkeys, or WebAuthn. It is HMAC-SHA1 Challenge-Response. A FIDO2-only "Security Key" model will not work — you need a YubiKey 5 series (or NEO) with a configured HMAC-SHA1 slot.
• Kakuremi uses NFC (tap the key to the top of the iPhone). KeePassium additionally supports MFi/Lightning keys, which can matter on older or non-NFC hardware.
• Keep a backup key. The YubiKey becomes part of your encryption. If you lose it and have no second key programmed with the same secret, the vault is unrecoverable. Always configure a backup key before you rely on this.

What's free vs paid in Kakuremi

To compare apples to apples, here is the entire Kakuremi paywall — nothing hidden:

Free, forever: one KDBX vault; create, edit, organize entries, groups, and tags; iOS AutoFill; Face ID; storing TOTP secrets; viewing attachments; the password generator; search; and YubiKey unlock.

Pro ($2.99/month, $14.99/year with a 1-month free trial for new yearly subscribers, or $49.99 lifetime) adds exactly three things: multiple databases, adding/managing file attachments, and viewing & copying live TOTP codes. That's the whole gate.

So the practical split versus KeePassium: the feature people most often pay KeePassium for (YubiKey) is free in Kakuremi, while "multiple databases" is Pro in both. If you keep a single vault and want hardware-key protection, Kakuremi can cost you nothing.

Other KeePass-compatible options worth knowing

KeePassium and Kakuremi aren't the only choices. Because everything here speaks the open KDBX format, you can mix and match across the ecosystem:

• Strongbox (iOS + macOS) is the other big native player. It supports YubiKey Challenge-Response (KeePassXC mode) too, but that is a Pro feature — roughly $2.99/month, $24.99/year, or $124.99 lifetime. It's well-established and cross-platform within Apple.
• KeePassXC (Windows / macOS / Linux desktop) is free, open-source, and offers free YubiKey Challenge-Response — but it's desktop-only, with no first-party iOS app.
• KeePass is the original Windows desktop application that started the format.
• Bitwarden, 1Password, Proton Pass are excellent cloud password managers, but they follow a different model: a hosted account and automatic sync. If you specifically want local-first, file-based KDBX with no account, they're a different category.

A common, perfectly valid setup: KeePassXC on the desktop and Kakuremi (or KeePassium/Strongbox) on iPhone, all opening the same KDBX file via your own cloud storage.

So which should you choose?

Short version, honestly:

• Stay on / pick KeePassium if you need a Mac app, want the reassurance of a completed independent audit today, need MFi/Lightning YubiKeys, or want the most languages and longest track record.
• Try Kakuremi if you're on iPhone, you want free YubiKey unlock and free editing, you value a Rust, local-first, zero-telemetry design, and a single vault covers your needs.

Because Kakuremi is free to download and your data stays in a standard KDBX file you already control, the lowest-risk move is simply to try it on a copy of your vault — you can always go back without converting or exporting anything.

Frequently asked questions

Why would I switch from KeePassium?

The most common reason is YubiKey. KeePassium gates hardware-key support behind its paid Premium tier, while Kakuremi offers YubiKey unlock (and editing) for free. If you're iPhone-only and bought a key to protect your vault, Kakuremi can give you that without a subscription. If you need a Mac app or want a completed independent audit today, KeePassium is still the stronger choice.

Is Kakuremi's YubiKey support really free?

Yes. YubiKey unlock via HMAC-SHA1 Challenge-Response over NFC is in Kakuremi's free tier. Kakuremi's Pro upgrade only adds multiple databases, adding/managing attachments, and viewing/copying live TOTP codes — nothing else.

Does Kakuremi (or KeePassium) work with FIDO2, passkeys, or a 'Security Key'?

No. Both apps use YubiKey's HMAC-SHA1 Challenge-Response mode, not FIDO2/WebAuthn/passkeys. You need a YubiKey 5 series or NEO with a configured HMAC-SHA1 slot. FIDO2-only 'Security Key' models won't work. Always program a backup key with the same secret — a lost key with no backup means an unrecoverable vault.

Can I open my existing KeePassium .kdbx file in Kakuremi?

Yes. Both apps use the standard KDBX 3/4 format, so a vault created or edited in KeePassium opens in Kakuremi and vice versa. It's smart to test on a copy first, and note that a YubiKey-protected database must be opened with that same key.

Is Kakuremi on macOS, iPad, or Android?

Not currently. Kakuremi is iPhone-only. If you need a native Mac app, KeePassium or Strongbox cover iOS and macOS; for desktop, KeePassXC is free and cross-platform. They all share the KDBX format, so you can pair Kakuremi on iPhone with a desktop app on the same file.

Has Kakuremi been independently security-audited?

Not yet — this is one area where KeePassium is ahead, having completed a Cure53 audit of its iOS app in 2024. Kakuremi's core is written in memory-safe Rust and is fully local-first with no telemetry, but it has not had a third-party audit. If a completed audit is a hard requirement for you, that's a fair reason to choose KeePassium today.

Should I just stay on KeePassium?

Possibly — it's a great app. Stay if you want macOS support, the most languages, MFi/Lightning YubiKeys, or an audited app right now. Switch to Kakuremi if you're on iPhone and want free YubiKey unlock, free editing, and a Rust, local-first design with zero data collection.

Kakuremi is free on the App Store — create a vault, tap in your YubiKey, and see if it fits on a copy of your KDBX file before you ever pay a cent: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6761427915 Download Kakuremi free.