Cisdem AppCrypt Alternative for Mac: Cloak vs AppCrypt (2026)

If you are looking for a way to lock apps on your Mac, two names come up quickly: Cisdem AppCrypt and Cloak. Both put a password or Touch ID in front of your applications. The difference is what happens to the data behind those apps, and how much you pay over time.

This is an honest comparison of the two, including where AppCrypt is genuinely strong.

What each one actually does

Cisdem AppCrypt is an app locker and website blocker. It can password-lock individual apps, re-lock them after inactivity, and on Mac it offers an allowlist mode that locks everything except the apps you approve. Its other half is web blocking: it can block sites, URL keywords, and whole categories across the major browsers, on a schedule, and it logs failed attempts. It is a well-built tool for controlling access to apps and websites.

What AppCrypt does not do is encrypt or hide your files. It guards the front door of an app, but the underlying files still sit on disk in the clear. Someone with another file manager, a Terminal window, or simply access to the disk can still reach them.

Cloak takes the protection down to the data itself. It does three things:

• Locks apps behind Touch ID or a password, the same as AppCrypt. See how app locking works.
• Hides apps completely so they are not just locked, they are gone from view. As far as anyone clicking around can tell, the app was never installed. See hiding apps on Mac.
• Encrypts folders with AES-256, in place, so the actual files are unreadable without your key, not just hidden behind a prompt. See encrypting files on Mac.

Cloak does not block websites. If website blocking is your main goal, AppCrypt is the better fit. If keeping apps and files genuinely private is the goal, that is where Cloak is built to go further.

Pricing

This is where the gap is widest over time.

• AppCrypt is sold as a yearly subscription (around $19.99 per year for one Mac) or a one-time license (around $39.99 for one Mac). Prices on its site reflect current promotions, so check before buying.
• Cloak is a single one-time purchase, starting at launch pricing for one Mac, with no subscription and free updates. You pay once.

Over a few years, a subscription quietly becomes the more expensive option.

Side by side

Which should you pick?

Choose AppCrypt if your priority is blocking websites and limiting access to apps, and you are comfortable with a subscription or a higher one-time price.

Choose Cloak if you want your apps and the files inside them to actually be private, not just gated, and you would rather pay once. Locking, hiding, and encrypting all run on your Mac, with no account and nothing uploaded.

Get Cloak for your Mac and protect your apps and files in about a minute.

Looking at more than two? Read AppCrypt alternatives for Mac. For all eleven points on every locker, see every Mac app locker compared.