If you've ever wondered whether you need a document app at all when your iPhone already has Files, the honest answer is: maybe not. Apple Files with iCloud Drive is free, it's already on your phone, it scans documents directly, and with one setting it's end-to-end encrypted. For a lot of people, that's the whole job done, and done well.
So this page isn't here to talk you out of it. It's here to show what Files does better than Paperlock, where the two simply want different things from you, and how to tell which one fits the way you deal with paperwork.
What Files and iCloud Drive genuinely do well
It's built in and costs nothing extra. No app to buy, no account beyond the Apple Account you already have, no subscription to remember.
It scans in place. In the Files app, tap the More button, then Scan Documents, and place the page in view of the camera. In Auto mode it captures on its own, and in iOS 26 you can add flash or an image filter. You choose a location, tap Save, and the scan is filed exactly where you wanted it.
Folders you control. If you think in folders, Files is your tool. "Taxes 2025," "Car," "Kids' school" — you build the structure, and it stays the way you built it. Paperlock has no folders, on purpose, which is great if you hate filing and frustrating if you love it.
Any kind of file. iCloud Drive holds Pages, Keynote and Numbers documents, PDFs, Safari downloads, and "any other files manually or automatically saved to iCloud Drive." Paperlock is for documents, not spreadsheets, slide decks or your photo library.
Strong encryption, if you turn it on. By default, iCloud uses standard data protection, where Apple can decrypt your data on your behalf. Turn on Advanced Data Protection and Apple lists iCloud Drive as end-to-end encrypted, with the keys only on your trusted devices. That's a high bar, and Apple meets it for free. (The tradeoff: Apple can't help you recover that data, so your device passcode, recovery contact or recovery key becomes the way back in.)
Your files on your other Apple devices. Files in iCloud Drive aren't tied to one iPhone. If you live on a Mac or iPad as much as your phone, that matters a lot, and Paperlock is iPhone-only.
A Face ID lock is one long-press away. Touch and hold the Files icon, tap Require Face ID, and the app asks for your face before it opens. Locked apps also keep their contents out of search, Siri suggestions and notification previews.
If that list describes what you want, use Files. We mean that. Our step-by-step guide to storing scanned documents securely on an iPhone walks through the whole setup.
Where it starts to creak
None of these are flaws, exactly. They're the cost of a tool that stores files without knowing what's in them.
You are the filing system. Every scan needs a name and a folder, chosen by you, at the moment you're least in the mood: standing in a parking lot with a receipt. Skip it a few times and the folder called "Scans" fills up with files called "Scan 14."
It doesn't know what a document says. Files doesn't know that one PDF is your passport, that it expires next spring, or that another one is a $340 repair bill. Finding the answer to "how much was the car repair?" means opening PDFs until you hit the right one.
No reminders. Your insurance card can expire inside a folder and Files will never mention it. Any reminder is one you set up yourself, document by document.
The lock is coarse. Require Face ID covers the whole Files app, and only on that iPhone; Apple notes the locked status doesn't sync with iCloud, so an iPad needs its own lock. And unless you turn it on, Files opens like any other app.
The real difference: a filing cabinet vs. a memory
Here's the one-sentence version. Files keeps your documents where you put them; Paperlock keeps track of what your documents say.
When you save a document into Paperlock, by camera, from Files, from email or from your photo library, it reads it: what it is, who it's from, the dates, the amount, when it expires. It gives it a clear title ("Blue Bottle Coffee receipt — $14.20") and files it, with no folders and no naming. Even handwriting. With your permission, it can also look through your camera roll for documents hiding among the photos and let you pick which to import; the originals in Photos are never changed. (If that's where your documents live now, see Paperlock vs. the camera roll.)
Then you ask instead of browsing. "When does my passport expire?" "How much did I spend at the dentist this year?" You get an answer with the source documents attached, and if the answer isn't in your vault, it says so instead of guessing. Once you turn reminders on, anything with an expiry date gets a reminder 30 and 7 days ahead, and passports and IDs also get one six months out. You can read more about how it works.
Side by side
| Apple Files + iCloud Drive | Paperlock | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Built into iOS | Free for 25 documents; Plus is $4.99/month or $39.99/year |
| Organizing | Folders and file names you choose | Reads, titles and files each document; no folders, on purpose |
| Finding things | Browse your folders or search | Plain-English questions, with source documents attached |
| Reads dates, amounts, expiry | No | Yes |
| Expiry reminders | No (set your own in Calendar) | Yes, once turned on: 30 and 7 days before, 6 months for passports and IDs |
| Encryption | iCloud Drive end-to-end encrypted with Advanced Data Protection on; standard protection by default | Encrypted on the phone; optional iCloud sync keeps an encrypted copy in your own iCloud; reading happens partly on Paperlock's servers, not stored there |
| Lock | Require Face ID for the whole app, set per device | Face ID on open, relocks after about a minute away, blurs IDs until you confirm |
| Devices and file types | Any file, on your other Apple devices too | Documents only; iPhone only (iPad in compatibility mode) |
Two rows cut against Paperlock, and they're worth reading twice. On encryption, Files with Advanced Data Protection is the stricter setup: only your own trusted devices hold the keys to your iCloud Drive files. Paperlock reads documents partly on its servers, over an encrypted connection, processes them just long enough to answer, and doesn't store them there or use them for training. That's a reasonable trade for being able to ask questions, but it is a trade. And on devices, Files wins outright: if you want your documents on a Mac, Paperlock isn't that.
So which one, honestly?
Use Apple Files and iCloud Drive if you like folders, you want nothing to pay, you want end-to-end encryption you already have through Advanced Data Protection, or you need your documents on a Mac or iPad. It's a strong, private, free setup.
Consider Paperlock if your problem isn't storing documents but getting answers out of them: when the warranty ends, what the policy number is, how much you spent at the vet this year. The tell is the third time you open six PDFs called "Scan" to find one date. If you're coming from Notes rather than Files, the tradeoffs are similar, and we've written up Paperlock vs. Apple Notes scanning as well.
You can also use both: Files for the folders and the odd spreadsheet, Paperlock for the papers they'll need to ask about later. Files is a good cabinet. Paperlock is for the people who keep forgetting what's in it.