"Digital legacy app" covers very different products, and lists of estate planning and digital legacy apps tend to mix them together. Some hand your photos to a relative, some pass on your passwords, some store a folder of documents, and a few are built only for bitcoin. The useful question is not which one is best, but what each one actually delivers, to whom, and when.
We checked each vendor's own help and pricing pages on October 21, 2026. PingVaults is our product, and it's in the table with its limits.
| Tool | What your contact receives | How access is released | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple Legacy Contact | iCloud photos, messages, notes, files, backups. Not passwords (iCloud Keychain) or purchases | Access key you shared + death certificate, reviewed by Apple | Free |
| Google Inactive Account Manager | Selected Google data (Gmail, Photos, Drive and others) as a download | After the inactivity period you choose | Free |
| Facebook legacy contact | Can manage a memorialized profile; download only if you allowed it. No messages | Memorialization request from family or friends | Free |
| Microsoft | No legacy feature. Data only by subpoena or court order | Court process | — |
| Bitwarden Emergency Access | Read-only view of your vault, or full takeover | After a wait time you set, unless you reject | Premium or Families plan |
| Keeper Emergency Access | Read-only vault access, up to 5 contacts | After a delay you set (none to 3 months) | Consumer or Family plan |
| Proton Emergency Access | Your Proton account, up to 5 contacts | 1 to 30 days after a request, unless you deny | Paid Proton plans |
| LastPass Emergency Access | One-time copy of shared vault items | After a delay you set | Premium or Families |
| 1Password | No emergency or inheritance feature. Leave the Emergency Kit instead | — | — |
| Dashlane | Emergency contacts discontinued | — | — |
| Everplans | Documents and "after death" sections of your plan | A deputy reports the death; you can block during a wait you set | Free tier (3 items) or paid |
| Trustworthy | Full access to your family vault | Legacy contact uploads death certificate and ID; staff review | Free and paid tiers |
| GoodTrust | Account access for your legacy contact; optional check-in switch | After death is reported, or after 3 missed check-ins | Paid |
| PingVaults | One encrypted text vault (files on paid plans) | After every check-in email goes unanswered; contact answers your questions to decrypt | Free plan, paid for custom schedule |
| Casa / Unchained / Nunchuk | Ability to recover bitcoin held in their multisig setups | Casa: 6-month claim period. Unchained: probate papers. Nunchuk: timelock and inheritance key | Annual plans |
Built-in account tools
Apple Legacy Contact
You add one or more people in Settings, and each gets an access key. After you die, the contact sends the key and a death certificate to Apple, which then opens most iCloud data: photos, messages, notes, files and device backups. Apple's support page excludes iCloud Keychain, so saved passwords and passkeys are not passed on, and neither are purchased apps or media.
Google Inactive Account Manager
You choose how long your account must be inactive and up to 10 people to notify. Each can be given all your data or only some (for example, Photos but not Gmail). Google measures activity from sign-ins and use of its services, so there's no separate check-in. Without a plan, Google may delete an account that has been inactive for two years.
Facebook, Instagram and Microsoft
A Facebook legacy contact manages a memorialized profile, such as pinning a post or changing the photo, and can download your posts and photos only if you allowed it. They cannot log in or read messages. Microsoft has no legacy feature and releases account contents only on a subpoena or court order; inactive Outlook.com accounts are eventually closed.
These tools are worth turning on because they're free and the alternative is often a court order. But each covers one company, and none tells your family what else exists.
Password managers and password inheritance
A password manager with emergency access is the closest thing to handing over your whole digital life, because it contains the logins to everything else.
- Bitwarden: your contact needs a Bitwarden account. You choose View (read-only) or Takeover, and a wait time. You can reject a request during the wait. Bitwarden says the key exchange keeps it zero-knowledge.
- Keeper: up to five contacts, read-only access, delay from none to three months.
- Proton: up to five contacts with Proton addresses; access is granted automatically after 1 to 30 days unless you deny it.
- LastPass: still offered on Premium and Families. After the delay the contact receives a one-time copy of items, not control of your account.
- 1Password: no emergency or inheritance feature. 1Password suggests the Emergency Kit for your own recovery; many families keep a sealed copy with the will.
- Dashlane: its emergency contacts feature has been discontinued.
The catch: emergency access only works if your contact knows to request it, and the request usually goes to you first, so the wait time must be long enough to protect you but short enough to be useful. Password managers also don't explain anything. A list of 300 logins is not a plan.
Estate planning vaults and digital legacy services
Everplans, Trustworthy, GoodTrust and Prisidio store documents, account lists and wishes, and release them to someone you name. They differ in how release works:
- Everplans: a deputy reports your death; you get an email and can block it during a waiting period you set, from hours to 30 days.
- Trustworthy: the legacy contact uploads a death certificate and ID, and Trustworthy staff review it before granting access.
- GoodTrust: a legacy contact gets access after death, and an optional email check-in switch triggers after three missed check-ins.
- Prisidio: release after a verification review by Prisidio.
These digital legacy vault services are good for organizing paperwork. Check how each describes its encryption: most advertise encrypted storage, but few say the company itself can't read your files.
Dead man's switch services
A dead man's switch sends a message if you stop responding, without anyone having to prove a death. Dead man's switch services (deadmansswitch.net, GoodTrust's switch, PingVaults) all work by check-ins. The differences are what is sent and whether the service can read it.
PingVaults encrypts your instructions in your browser with answers to questions only your contact knows, so we only store ciphertext. On the free plan it waits 90 days, sends three reminders 14 days apart and releases around day 132 if every reminder goes unanswered. It is not a fast emergency alert, and it doesn't replace a will, a password manager or the Apple and Google settings above.
Crypto needs its own plan
None of the tools above can move cryptocurrency. They can only deliver instructions. For bitcoin held in self-custody, the specialist services are:
- Casa: multisig with inheritance included in every plan. Your heir files a claim and a 6-month period follows, during which you can cancel.
- Unchained: 2-of-3 multisig where Unchained holds one key; the executor shows probate or court appointment documents.
- Nunchuk: timelock-based inheritance; the heir needs a Magic Phrase plus the inheritance key.
Ledger Recover backs up a seed for the owner's own recovery and has no inheritance feature. For exchange accounts, see which platforms support beneficiaries in Can you add a beneficiary to Coinbase or Robinhood?
How to put it together
A realistic setup for most people:
- Turn on Apple Legacy Contact or Google Inactive Account Manager for your phone's account.
- Set up emergency access in your password manager, or leave its emergency kit with your will.
- Write a letter of instruction that says what exists and where everything is.
- Make sure that letter reaches someone: give a copy to your executor, store it in an estate vault, or use a switch that sends it.
- For crypto, add the recovery details your family will need, without putting the secrets in the letter.
Common questions
What is a digital legacy?
Everything you leave online or on devices: accounts, photos, messages, files, domain names, and digital assets such as crypto. Digital legacy planning decides who can reach which parts after you die, and how.
What is a digital legacy platform?
A service that stores your instructions, documents or account details and releases them to people you choose after your death. Some are general digital estate planning tools (Everplans, Trustworthy, GoodTrust); others cover one part, such as passwords or bitcoin.
What is the best digital legacy app?
There isn't one that covers everything. Apple and Google cover their own accounts, a password manager covers logins, and a vault or letter explains the rest. Choose by what you need to hand over and how much proof you want required before release.
Does Apple Legacy Contact give access to passwords?
No. Apple's support page says Legacy Contacts can't access iCloud Keychain, which holds passwords and passkeys.
Does 1Password have emergency access?
No. 1Password has no emergency access or inheritance feature. Its Emergency Kit is meant for your own recovery, though you can leave a sealed copy for your executor.
Can my family get into my accounts without a legacy setting?
Sometimes, but slowly. Most companies require a death certificate, proof of authority such as letters testamentary, and sometimes a court order. Some, like Microsoft, release data only by court order, and encrypted data may be unrecoverable.