Best Digital Estate Planning Tools Compared: Everplans vs. GoodTrust vs. DIY

Once you decide to organize your family's digital estate, the next question is: what tool should you use? The market has grown rapidly, and the options range from comprehensive SaaS platforms to simple printable worksheets. Each has genuine strengths and real limitations.

This guide compares the major approaches so you can pick the one that actually fits your family — not just the one with the best marketing.

The major platforms

Everplans

Everplans is the most comprehensive digital estate planning platform on the market. It functions as an online vault where you store everything: account credentials, insurance policies, medical directives, funeral wishes, legal documents, and instructions for your family.

Strengths:

• Encyclopedic coverage — guides for nearly every aspect of estate and end-of-life planning
• "Deputies" feature lets you designate trusted contacts who receive access after your death
• Built-in educational content helps you understand what to plan for
• Clean, professional interface

Limitations:

• Annual subscription cost ($75-150/year depending on the plan)
• Requires the senior to adopt a new platform and regularly log in
• All data lives online — if Everplans goes out of business, your vault goes with it
• Can feel overwhelming due to the sheer volume of information and options
• Assumes a level of tech comfort that many seniors don't have

Best for: Tech-comfortable families who want a single, comprehensive online system and are willing to pay ongoing subscription fees.

GoodTrust

GoodTrust takes a more modern, emotionally engaging approach. In addition to standard digital estate planning features, it offers AI-powered tools for preserving memories — including video messages and interactive legacy experiences.

Strengths:

• Emotionally compelling — focuses on memories and legacy, not just logistics
• Free tier available with basic features
• "Digital Executor" feature for designating someone to manage your accounts
• Integrations with major platforms for account management

Limitations:

• The AI/memory features can feel gimmicky if you just want practical organization
• Full features require a paid plan
• Relatively newer platform — less track record than Everplans
• Still requires online adoption and regular engagement

Best for: Families who value the emotional and memorial aspects of legacy planning, not just the administrative side.

Trust & Will

Trust & Will is primarily a legal document platform (wills, trusts, power of attorney) with digital asset planning as a secondary feature. It's the go-to for families who want to handle the legal estate planning and digital planning in one place.

Strengths:

• Legally vetted documents you can create online
• Covers the full estate planning spectrum, not just digital assets
• Affordable compared to an attorney ($159-599 for complete estate plans)
• Strong RUFADAA awareness in their digital asset sections

Limitations:

• Digital asset planning is a feature, not the core product
• Doesn't function as a credential vault or password manager
• Still requires a separate system for storing actual passwords and 2FA details
• Legal documents may not be valid in all jurisdictions without attorney review

Best for: Families who need legal estate planning documents and want to add basic digital asset provisions within the same platform.

Password managers with emergency access

1Password, Bitwarden, and LastPass all offer some form of emergency access or family sharing that can function as a lightweight digital estate planning tool.

Strengths:

• Excellent at what they do best: securely storing and sharing credentials
• Family plans allow shared vaults between family members
• Bitwarden's Emergency Access feature grants a trusted contact access after a waiting period
• 1Password's Emergency Kit provides offline recovery information
• Strong encryption and security practices

Limitations:

• They store passwords, not wishes or instructions
• Don't handle non-credential assets (insurance policies, funeral wishes, legal documents)
• Require all family members to use the same password manager
• If the master password is lost (common with cognitive decline in seniors), the vault is sealed
• Emergency Access features vary widely in quality and ease of setup

Best for: Tech-savvy families already using a password manager who need to add emergency access for credential sharing.

The DIY approach

Not everyone needs or wants a subscription platform. Many families — especially those with seniors who distrust putting sensitive information online — prefer an offline, self-managed approach.

Printable worksheets and templates

A structured PDF template provides the same organizational framework as a SaaS platform, but in a format that can be printed, filled out by hand, and stored in a physical safe or filing cabinet.

Strengths:

• One-time cost (typically $5-20), no subscriptions
• Can be printed and filled out without any technology
• No data stored online — immune to hacking, platform shutdowns, or forgotten login credentials
• Meets seniors where they are (paper is familiar and trusted)
• Can be updated by printing a fresh copy

Limitations:

• Physical documents can be lost to fire, theft, or misplacement
• Manual updates mean reprinting and re-entering information
• No automated features (no "dead man's switch," no auto-delivery to contacts)
• Quality varies enormously — some templates are just blank forms with no guidance

Best for: Families with non-tech-savvy seniors who want a practical, offline system with no ongoing costs or technical requirements.

Spreadsheets

Some families use a shared spreadsheet (Google Sheets, Excel) to track accounts and credentials.

Strengths:

• Free
• Easy to update
• Can be shared with family members
• Flexible format

Limitations:

• Security is a serious concern — spreadsheets are not designed for credential storage
• A shared Google Sheet with passwords is a single point of failure if the Google account is compromised
• No guidance on what to include or how to structure the information
• No platform-specific instructions or legacy tool walkthroughs

Best for: Families who want something temporary while they evaluate better options. Not recommended as a permanent solution.

How to choose

The right tool depends on three factors:

1. Your parent's tech comfort

If your parent is comfortable with technology, uses apps regularly, and is willing to set up a new account, a SaaS platform like Everplans or GoodTrust can work well. If they struggle with passwords, forget to log into things, or distrust putting sensitive data online, a printable system is far more likely to actually get used.

The best tool is the one your family will actually complete. An Everplans account that sits empty is worse than a printed worksheet that's filled out and stored in a safe.

2. Your budget and time horizon

Subscriptions add up. At $75-150/year, a SaaS platform costs $750-1,500 over a decade. If your parent is 75 and you're planning for a 10-15 year horizon, that's a significant commitment — and you're betting the platform will still exist that entire time.

A one-time purchase (printable kit or legal documents through Trust & Will) eliminates the ongoing cost question.

3. What you need beyond credentials

If you only need to organize passwords and account access, a password manager or simple template covers it. If you also need legal documents, a platform like Trust & Will makes sense. If you want everything in one place — credentials, wishes, documents, platform-specific instructions — you need a more comprehensive approach.

Our recommendation

For most families helping aging parents organize their digital lives, the most practical approach is a combination:

1. A password manager (Bitwarden or 1Password) for ongoing credential management, with emergency access configured
2. A structured offline inventory that documents every account, the person's wishes for each one, and step-by-step instructions for platform legacy tools
3. Updated legal documents that include digital asset language (a clause in the will granting the executor authority over digital assets)

The Digital Legacy Kit fills the second need — the structured inventory and instruction guide. It covers every account type, walks through each major platform's legacy settings, includes conversation guides for the awkward parent discussion, and organizes everything into a printable format that works for tech-averse seniors. At $14, it costs less than a single month of most SaaS alternatives.