KeePass Touch Alternatives for iOS: Offline Access Without the Headaches
The real problem isn’t OneDrive
KeePass Touch blocks on sync at startup. No network at launch means no vault. Tap cancel and the whole app closes. That’s a design flaw, not an unavoidable consequence of storing a password database in the cloud.
Two iOS apps handle this properly: KeePassium and Strongbox. Both read standard .kdbx files, meaning your existing KeePass database works without any format migration. They keep a local copy on the device and sync in the background. Open the app with no connection and it just opens.
KeePassium
KeePassium is the most direct drop-in replacement. The core features are free: .kdbx support, offline access, iCloud or local-file sync. A Pro subscription adds extras like Face ID on every open, YubiKey support, and AutoFill app groups. You don’t need Pro for solid offline access.
Switching is simple. Point KeePassium at your existing .kdbx file on OneDrive (it supports OneDrive directly), or move the file to iCloud Drive first. Either way works. iCloud Drive tends to behave more reliably on Apple devices because iOS manages the local cache at the OS level, which is precisely what makes offline access stable.
Strongbox
Strongbox is the other serious option. It supports .kdbx and the older .kdb format, handles multiple databases at once, and connects to iCloud, Dropbox, SFTP, WebDAV, and OneDrive. Pricing follows a similar freemium pattern.
One notable difference: Strongbox has a native macOS app. Apple Silicon Macs can also run the iOS version directly. For anyone who wants one app that works across every Apple device, Strongbox covers it.
Could switching from OneDrive to iCloud fix the original problem without changing apps?
Sometimes, yes. iOS gives iCloud Drive special treatment at the OS level, so apps can read from the local cache without a live network connection. Switching your sync location to iCloud Drive inside KeePass Touch might be enough to solve it.
Whether it works depends on how KeePass Touch talks to the underlying Files provider. Some apps block at the network layer regardless of which cloud service is selected. If the offline problem persists after switching providers, the app is the root cause and a replacement is more sensible than hunting for more workarounds.
Leaving the KeePass format entirely
Bitwarden is worth considering if you’re open to a different approach. It’s open source, has solid iOS apps, and offline access is built in from day one — the vault lives locally and syncs when a connection appears. The free tier is complete for most people. Importing from KeePass is supported via CSV export.
The tradeoff is real: Bitwarden stores your vault on its own servers by default. For users who want full control over where their data lives, that’s a dealbreaker, and KeePassium or Strongbox is the right call. If you’re comfortable with a hosted service from an open-source provider, Bitwarden removes the file-sync problem completely because it doesn’t rely on cloud-synced files at all.