Comparison

Choosing an app for your digital legacy

There is no single best tool — but there are criteria that separate a solution you can rely on from one you cannot. Here they are, in the order that matters.

1. The release logic is the whole point

Storing data is the easy part. The hard question is when and how it reaches someone else. Look for a documented, testable release: a time delay with a veto window, a notification to named people, or immediate access for someone you already trust today.

  • Can you see and test what will happen, before it happens?
  • Can you cancel a release during a defined window?
  • Can different people receive different things?

2. Encryption you can describe in one sentence

If a provider cannot explain who can decrypt your data, assume the provider can. That is not automatically wrong — but it must be stated plainly instead of hidden behind marketing words like “bank-grade security”.

Erbnis is honest about this: data is encrypted at rest and in transit on European infrastructure, and there is no full client-side zero-knowledge encryption.

3. Where the data lives and which law applies

  • Hosting inside the EU, with a data processing agreement
  • Clear statement about sub-processors and backups
  • A named legal entity you could actually write to

4. What happens if the provider disappears

A legacy tool has to survive longer than a funding round. Ask for an export that is readable without the app, and check whether a paper fallback exists.

  • Full export as a PDF or plain file, at any time
  • No lock-in through a proprietary format
  • Documented behaviour if payment stops

5. Categories at a glance

  • Password manager: excellent for credentials, weak on wishes, documents and structured release
  • Cloud folder plus a text file: free, but no release logic and easy to forget
  • Digital estate app: covers accounts, documents, wishes and release together — judge it on the four criteria above
  • Notary or lawyer: unbeatable for the will itself, not built for changing passwords

In practice the strongest setup combines them: a password manager for credentials, a handwritten or notarised will for succession, and one place that ties everything together and releases it at the right moment.

Everything in one safe place with Erbnis

Erbnis keeps passwords, accounts, documents and wishes encrypted, and releases each item to the right people at the right time.