Secure Storage Showdown: expo-secure-store vs react-native-keychain

Insight

Both expo-secure-store and react-native-keychain provide encrypted key‑value storage, but they target different workflows. expo-secure-store works out‑of‑the‑box in managed Expo projects and abstracts platform differences, while react-native-keychain offers deeper integration with iOS Keychain and Android Keystore, including biometric prompts. Choose expo-secure-store for rapid prototyping or when you need a simple API across iOS/Android. Opt for react-native-keychain when you require fine‑grained control, custom access groups, or biometric‑only retrieval.

Example

import * as SecureStore from 'expo-secure-store';

// Save a token securely
await SecureStore.setItemAsync('authToken', token, {
  keychainAccessible: SecureStore.WHEN_UNLOCKED_THIS_DEVICE_ONLY,
});

// Retrieve it later
const token = await SecureStore.getItemAsync('authToken');

Takeaway

Start with expo-secure-store for its simplicity; switch to react-native-keychain only if you need advanced features like biometric‑only access or shared keychain groups. This keeps your codebase lean while preserving the option to upgrade later.