Digital legacy and posthumous message services: 2026 comparison

Posthumous message services differ mainly in two ways: whether the provider can read what you store, and how it decides you have died before delivering it. Some encrypt your content on your own device and require a death certificate; others run on an inactivity timer and protect your data on their servers. In this comparison we put Inheritans side by side with Mi Legado Digital, Soalma, Past Post, Dead Man's Switch, LastSend and Google's free tool, using the information each one publishes on its official website. Inheritans is the only one of the seven that combines encryption on your device, death verification with documents reviewed by people, activity verification with human contact before anyone is notified, and an asset type for crypto.

What should you compare in a posthumous message service?

Price and the number of messages are what people check first, but they do not decide whether the service does its job. We use six criteria:

• Encryption on your device. If content is encrypted before it leaves your computer or phone, the provider does not need to work with your messages in readable form. An SSL certificate protects the connection, not the stored content.
• How death is confirmed. An inactivity timer can fire by mistake if you spend a while offline. Document-based verification is slower but reduces the risk of wrongful deliveries.
• Jurisdiction and data protection. In the EU, the GDPR does not apply to the personal data of deceased persons (recital 27) and leaves that to each member state. Spain, for example, has specific rules on access to a deceased person's data and on a "digital will". Elsewhere the rules depend on your country, so where the company is based matters.
• The real price over several years, not just year one.
• Language support, for you and, above all, for your recipients.
• Crypto assets. If you hold crypto, the service should help you leave instructions without forcing you to store your seed phrase digitally.

How do the main services compare?

	Inheritans	Mi Legado Digital	Soalma	Past Post	Dead Man's Switch	LastSend	Google (Inactive Account Manager)
Content encryption	Encrypted on your device before it is sent	Only mentions an SSL certificate for the connection; does not describe how content is protected	Talks about full encryption, but describes it as encryption of the connection and of its servers; it does not encrypt on your device	"Encrypted, backed by blockchain and turned into an NFT to guarantee integrity"; does not say where encryption happens	Encrypted connection and backups; optional PGP on your side	Data on its servers and media encrypted at rest; photos and videos go through automated moderation	Not applicable: shares data from your Google account
Death confirmation	Activity verification (paid plans) or an authorised contact with ID and death certificate, reviewed by the team	Written confirmation from a trusted person plus a death certificate by post	Confidants you choose (you can require several to confirm) and the proof Soalma asks for, such as a death certificate	Trusted person who provides a death certificate	Inactivity only: by default, reminders at 30, 45 and 52 days and delivery at 60	Periodic check-ins; if you stop responding, one trusted contact confirming your death is enough, with no certificate	Inactivity only, with the period you set
Company and jurisdiction	Yoseyomo SL, Valencia (Spain, EU)	Bequest Digital Trust SL, Alicante (Spain, EU)	Fija Soalma SL, Madrid (Spain, EU)	J4PP SA de CV, Mexico (Mexican law, Mexico City courts)	A stochastic technologies project; country not stated	Brand Jet Media Private Limited, India (Indian law)	Google
Price	Free (Freedom) or €69.99 / €129.99 / €199.99 per year per capsule	Free, or €49 / €99 / €249 in year one and €1.99 / €4.99 / €9.99 after that	Free or paid plans (its pricing page currently shows two different rates)	1 free message; plans with insurance from MXN 799 to 5,799 per year, VAT included (ages 18 to 69)	Free (to your own address only) or Premium at $2/month billed yearly	Free (text only), $4.99 or $9.99 per month	Free
Languages	Spanish and English	Spanish	Spanish and English	Spanish	Website in English only	Website in English only	Spanish, English and others
Crypto assets	Dedicated asset type for crypto, exchanges and wallets	Not explicitly mentioned	Not mentioned	Not mentioned	No	Not mentioned	No

Each figure comes from each service's official website. Prices and terms change, so check the provider's site before you sign up.

Where does each service stand out?

Inheritans is the only service in this comparison that brings together the four things that matter most for a legacy to arrive safely: encryption on your device, document-based verification reviewed by people, activity verification with prior contact, and an asset type for crypto. The others cover part of that, and do it well:

• Mi Legado Digital has very low fees from year two onwards, according to its FAQ, and a broad catalogue: living will, digital erasure, memorial accounts and post-mortem paperwork support for families. It is a Spanish company (Muro de Alcoy, Alicante), so it operates under Spanish and EU law.
• Soalma, also Spanish, focuses on the emotional legacy: video, audio, photos and documents, with live recording. It separates practical and emotional legacies and lets you decide how many of your confidants must confirm your death (for example, 2 of 4). Recipients need to create an account to see it.
• Past Post fits if you live in Mexico: its annual plans include insurance with GNP Seguros and, separately, it offers a one-off notarised will that includes insurance. It supports video, audio, photo and text, and its death report form asks for the death certificate and mentions verification within 48 hours. Its terms are governed by Mexican law, with Mexico City courts.
• Dead Man's Switch is simple and has been operating since 2008, reminds you by email, Android app or Telegram and, on Premium, lets you choose intervals from a day to several years. According to its help page, once sent, a message is disabled rather than deleted, so you can review it and switch it back on if it fired by mistake. It is a good fit for alerts that do not depend on anyone certifying your death.
• LastSend is a simple, low-cost inactivity alert with a free text-only plan, delivering by email with a private page for each recipient. That page stays available for 15 days and is then deleted, and a single trusted contact confirming your death is enough for everything to be sent.
• Google's Inactive Account Manager is free and already part of your account. It lets you choose up to 10 people who will get an email from you and can download the data you pick, verified by their phone number. It only covers what you keep with Google.
• Inheritans is built for people who want nobody to read their messages too early and nothing delivered without reviewing documents: each message reaches only the people you choose, and only when it should.

Encrypting on the device has a trade-off worth knowing. Because during verification the team works with the documents your contacts provide and not with the content of your capsule, it cannot review your messages for you to check that they are complete or up to date. That part is yours: reread what you have left from time to time and keep your contacts' details current.

Inactivity timer or document-based verification?

This is the most important decision:

	Inactivity timer	Document-based verification
What triggers it	Not answering several check-ins within a period	A trusted person reports the death with documents
Main risk	Sending by mistake (hospital stay, long trip, new email address)	Nobody reports it if you named no one or that person cannot
Speed	Automatic once the period ends	Depends on documents being provided and reviewed
Examples	Dead Man's Switch, LastSend, Google	Past Post, Mi Legado Digital, Soalma

Inheritans combines both. With activity verification (included in the paid Basic, Plus and Lattice plans, not in the free Freedom plan), every login resets the clock; you choose 1, 3, 6 or 12 months; once the period ends we write to you and you have 5 days to confirm; then reminders follow and, if you still do not respond, the team tries to reach you before notifying your authorised contacts. That step exists precisely because of the timer's risks: a hospital stay or a changed email address should not be enough for your messages to go out.

Activation can also be started by an authorised contact with the capsule code, their ID and the death certificate. On paid plans the team reviews the documents before releasing anything, and works with what your contacts provide, not with the content of your capsule. On Freedom no documents are reviewed: the team only checks that the details match the ones you registered.

Which service fits you?

• You want something free and simple for your Google accounts: Inactive Account Manager.
• You want an automatic alert if you go quiet and do not mind the provider holding the text: Dead Man's Switch.
• You live in Mexico and want messages, insurance and a notarised will together: Past Post.
• You want a broad Spanish-language digital inheritance package with low fees after year one: Mi Legado Digital.
• You mainly want to leave video and audio memories, with several people confirming your death: Soalma.
• You want a cheap inactivity alert in English and are fine with recipients seeing the message for a few days: LastSend.
• You care that content is encrypted on your device, want death verification reviewed by people, and have assets to document, crypto included: Inheritans. You can start with the free Freedom plan (one message of up to 1,024 characters and one contact) and see the plans when you need more.

From what people who already use Inheritans tell us, the most common things to leave are access to a password manager, where they keep their Yoseyomo and their crypto wallets, and farewell videos for their family. If you hold crypto, no service should store your seed phrase. The prudent approach is to engrave it in full on a metal plate, such as a Yoseyomo, and leave the passphrase and where the plate is (without the exact address) in an Inheritans message. Inheritans includes an asset type for crypto, exchanges and wallets to document the rest.

Does a posthumous message service replace a will?

No. None of these services replaces a will: they complement it. A will distributes your estate under the law of your country; a posthumous message service gets words, instructions and access details to the right people. For any inheritance question, speak to a lawyer or notary where you live. If you want to start from the basics, read our guide to posthumous messages.

Related questions

What is the best posthumous message service? It depends on your priorities. If you care that the provider does not work with the content of your messages, look for encryption on your own device. If you worry about messages going out by mistake, look for document-based death verification. If you only want a simple free alert, an inactivity timer may be enough.

What is the difference between an inactivity timer and death verification? A timer sends your messages if you fail to answer several check-ins within a set period. Document-based verification requires a trusted person to provide the death certificate, and the service reviews it before releasing anything.

Are there laws on what happens to your data when you die? Rules on the data of deceased people vary by country. In the EU, the GDPR does not cover deceased people and leaves it to each member state. A posthumous message service does not replace a will: it complements it. For your estate, speak to a lawyer or notary.

Can I store my seed phrase in a posthumous message service? Keeping your seed phrase on any digital medium is not a good idea. It is safer to engrave it in full on a metal plate, such as a Yoseyomo, and use the posthumous message to explain where it is and how to use it.

Are there free options? Yes. Inheritans Freedom, Mi Legado Digital's and Soalma's free plans, Past Post's free message, Dead Man's Switch's free plan (which only sends to your own address), LastSend's text-only free plan and Google's Inactive Account Manager are all free, each with different limits.