Install cryptomator with Homebrew Cask

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

No executable aliases were found in the local package database.

Project history

Sebastian Stenzel began active development in 2014 after finding existing cloud-encryption tools insufficient for his need for transparent, cloud-compatible encryption. The project was open source from its outset so that its cryptographic design and implementation could be inspected.

Early GitHub releases appeared in 2015, and Cryptomator 1.0 launched on March 9, 2016. Subsequent development added mobile clients, new vault formats, virtual-drive integrations, recovery features, and Cryptomator Hub for organizations.

The core desktop workflow has remained deliberately storage-provider-neutral: encrypted vault files live in a user-chosen directory, while Cryptomator exposes decrypted content through a local virtual drive.

Adoption history

Early releases and the 2016 CeBIT Innovation Award for Usable Security and Privacy brought recognition to Cryptomator's effort to make transparent client-side encryption approachable.

The project expanded from its desktop application to Android and iOS clients. It reported reaching one million downloads in 2020, while its mobile applications also became open source.

Cryptomator Hub later extended the ecosystem toward centrally managed team vaults. The project's official tenth-anniversary account describes use by individuals, journalists, NGOs, researchers, and organizations.

How it is used

A user creates a vault in a local or cloud-synchronized directory, assigns a strong password, and optionally records a recovery key. Cryptomator writes encrypted vault data to that directory.

After unlocking, Cryptomator mounts a virtual drive or directory so files can be handled through the normal file manager while encryption and decryption occur transparently.

Cryptomator does not perform cloud synchronization itself; the encrypted directory is synchronized by software such as Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive.

Vault passwords are not stored on disk by default. Users can optionally save them through a supported operating-system keychain.

Why package nerds care

Cryptomator is a prominent open-source answer to encrypting files before they enter vendor-controlled cloud-sync directories. It is provider-agnostic because it operates on local directories instead of implementing a single cloud service's API.

Its vault format, virtual-filesystem architecture, reproducible public source, and desktop availability through systems such as Homebrew, Flatpak, PPA, and AUR make it especially relevant to users who want inspectable encryption tooling without abandoning ordinary sync clients.

Timeline

• 2014: Active development began.
• 2015: Early public releases appeared and the project received initial recognition.
• 2016-03-09: Cryptomator 1.0 launched.
• 2017: The ecosystem added Android 1.0, a community forum, and Cyberduck integration.
• 2020: The project reported one million downloads and released a major desktop update with a new interface and vault format.
• 2021–2023: The iOS application became open source and Cryptomator Hub introduced managed team vaults.
• 2024–2025: The project expanded integrations and published a post-quantum roadmap.

Related projects

• Cryptomator for Android
• Cryptomator for iOS
• Cryptomator Hub
• Cyberduck
• Mountain Duck
• FUSE
• WebDAV

Sources

• https://cryptomator.org/blog/2026/03/09/10-years-cryptomator/
• https://docs.cryptomator.org/desktop/
• https://docs.cryptomator.org/security/architecture/
• https://github.com/cryptomator/cryptomator#readme