KeepsakeKeepsake vs Google Drive
A folder called "Documents" in Google Drive is what most families actually use, and it is not a stupid choice: it is free, it is backed up, and it is already there. It is also readable by Google, unsearchable when you need it, and completely silent about deadlines.
Is Google Drive good enough for family documents?
It is good enough for storage and nothing else. Google can read what you put there, a folder cannot tell you that a passport expires in three weeks, and finding the right scan means remembering what you named it. Keepsake encrypts every document on your device — Google then holds ciphertext it cannot read — while adding offline OCR filing, extracted identity fields and expiry alerts, from £19 a year, using the same Drive you already pay nothing for.
| Keepsake | Google Drive | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Document vault with intelligence | General cloud storage |
| Can the vendor read them? | Never — encrypted before upload | Yes — Google holds the keys |
| Cost of storage | Uses the Drive you already have | Free 15 GB, then Google One tiers |
| Finding a document | Search inside the text, on-device | Filename search; cloud OCR on their servers |
| Expiry alerts & renewals | Yes — 30/7/lapsed, calendar feed | None |
| Identity fields lifted | Yes | None |
| Family access control | Key-based, per category | Link and account sharing |
| Proof a document is unchanged | Document Notary, hash-anchored | None |
| Works with no internet | Fully | Partly, if you set it up |
| Price | Free / £19 yr Premium / £29 Family / £79 Teams | Free, or a Google One subscription |
Keepsake prices are in pounds sterling (£); Google Drive's are its own published list prices, quoted in their original currency and unconverted.
When Google Drive is the better choice
- It is free and you already have it. For a handful of non-sensitive files, a folder is fine and a vault is overkill.
- You want to share a document with anyone in two clicks, without them installing anything.
- You want Google's reliability and your own zero effort — which Keepsake also gives you, because it can sync through Drive.
When Keepsake is the better choice
- Privacy that does not depend on a policy: Google can read a Drive folder, and cannot read a Keepsake vault stored in that same folder.
- The documents become useful — read on your device, filed by category, dated, with the passport number and expiry lifted out and an alert before it lapses.
- A house-fire answer: printed Recovery Kit, printable archival binder, split-key legacy access. A Drive folder has none of that if you lose the account.
Questions
Does Keepsake replace Google Drive?
No — it uses it. Sovereign Sync writes an encrypted vault into a Drive app folder you own, so you keep Google's reliability and remove Google's ability to read anything. OneDrive, WebDAV, a NAS and a USB stick work the same way.
Google already OCRs my documents. Isn't that the same?
It is the same capability with the opposite custody. Google's OCR runs on Google's servers over your plaintext; Keepsake's runs on your device and nothing is uploaded for recognition.
What if I lose my Google account?
With a Drive folder, you lose the documents. With Keepsake, the vault also lives on your devices, the format is published, and the printed Recovery Kit opens it — losing the cloud account costs you sync, not your paperwork.
The honest verdict
Keeping documents in Drive is the default, and the honest verdict is that it is fine until it is not: until you need proof, until you miss a renewal, until someone else needs access, or until you think about who else can open that folder. Keepsake is not asking you to leave Drive. It sits on top of it, makes the contents unreadable to everyone but your family, and does the reading, filing and warning that a folder was never going to do.