Vaultek vs SecureIt: fast electronics against assembled steel

Vaultek and SecureIt come up together because they serve the same instinct: a buyer who wants firearms locked and reachable without buying 500 lb of safe. Beyond that they barely overlap. Vaultek is an electronics company that makes steel boxes; SecureIt is a steel company that fits locks to them.

We do not test safes. Everything below is each maker's published specification, linked at the value it supports and checked 2026-10-17. Both brands carry a dated CPSC recall search on their cards below.

The verdict

What neither brand has, stated plainly

Both companies are honest about this and both get misread by listings and reviews:

• No burglary rating. Neither brand cites a UL Residential Security Container listing on any product here. A UL RSC listing means the design resisted a timed hand-tool attack (UL's notice on the standard), and these are not that. Our UL RSC explainer sets out what you are giving up.
• No fire rating. Vaultek's own FAQ says its safes "are not fire rated," and the Slider spec sheet prints "Fire Rated: No." SecureIt states no fire rating on either product page. Nothing here protects documents.
• Weight that stops nobody on its own. 7.2 to 115 lb across these four products. Every one of them has to be anchored to be meaningful; see how to bolt down a gun safe.

That is the honest frame for this whole comparison: both brands sell access control, done to a good standard, in formats a vault cannot match. If you need burglary resistance, you are in gun safe territory, and gun safe vs gun cabinet draws the line.

The published numbers

The steel comparison is closer than the brands' positioning suggests. The Vaultek MX publishes a 12-gauge door on a 14-gauge body; the SecureIt Fast Box 47 publishes 14-gauge welded steel with a three-point lock and a full-length piano hinge. Both are a long way above the 16 and 18-gauge boxes elsewhere in the quick-access market, including Vaultek's own smaller models.

Locks and power: the real difference

Vaultek's MX is designed to live plugged in, with four AAA cells as backup, and the maker lists both as required rather than optional. That is a deliberate reliability decision: a mains-powered lock does not fail from a flat battery, and the batteries cover an outage. It also means one more cable behind the nightstand, and in a long power cut you are on AAAs you have not checked.

SecureIt fits its HSFA lock to both products: a backlit push-button keypad with a capacitive fingerprint reader, two override keys, and a USB-C port for external power on the Agile 52. Functionally that is the same package as Vaultek's, one step slower in practice because the box is bigger and the door is heavier.

If you want neither fingerprint nor battery, neither brand is your answer: that is a Simplex mechanical box, covered in best mechanical pistol safes, and it is what we recommend first for a household with children in best gun safes for homes with kids.

Mounting, renting and moving

This is where SecureIt wins outright and it is not close. The Agile 52 uses a patented slide-lock design that assembles in the room, which means it goes up a staircase or into an apartment in pieces. SecureIt even names the use cases on its own page: a home, an apartment, an office or an RV. For a renter who cannot bolt into concrete and cannot get 400 lb through a door, there is no Vaultek equivalent.

Vaultek's answer to mounting is different in kind: the Slider Series ships a VESA 75/100 mm plate so the safe mounts to a surface and authorized users can lift it off, with a separate car rail mount for a vehicle. That is a genuinely good idea for a box that moves between a nightstand and a car, and it is covered further in best car gun safes and how to store a gun in your car.

Warranty

SecureIt warrants its products for life against defects in material and workmanship, with two years on the electronic locks. Vaultek gives three years in total on metal safes: a two-year manufacturer warranty plus one more on registration.

On paper SecureIt's terms are much stronger, and the split tells you what each company thinks it sells. A welded steel box can be warranted for life because there is nothing in it to wear out. A safe built around a scanner, a motorised lock and a lithium pack cannot be, and Vaultek's two-year lock window is the same length as SecureIt's.

Who should buy which

Buy Vaultek if: the firearm is a handgun, you want biometric or keypad entry in under two seconds, you can keep it plugged in, and you understand there is no fire or burglary rating.

Buy SecureIt if: the firearm is a long gun, you rent or have an awkward staircase, you want the box under a bed or in a closet, or you want a lifetime structural warranty.

Buy neither if: documents are part of the job, or a burglar is the threat you are planning against. A rated safe plus a small fire chest is a different purchase; see best safes for guns and documents.