Dead Man's Switch alternatives: which one do you actually mean?

Which "Dead Man's Switch" do you mean?

Three products share the name, and reviews and ratings for one are regularly mistaken for another. Check which one you are using or reading about first.

• deadmansswitch.net (the web service)

  A long-running website where you write emails, choose recipients and answer periodic check-in prompts by email, an Android check-in app, Telegram or browser push. Its site describes reminders over several weeks and release 60 days after your last check-in by default, with intervals you can change. The free account sends only to your own address as a test; real recipients, more messages and attachments are on paid plans. Payloads are emails, so it is text first.

• Dead man's switch app (Deadmanswitch.com Inc, iOS)

  An iPhone-only app from a Toronto company that builds an encrypted "package" on your device and uploads it. Its listing says presence is detected by steps, email or SMS, that a compliance team contacts you before delivery, and that the package is end-to-end encrypted apart from operational metadata. It is paid with in-app purchases, and no Android version is listed.

• Safety-alert apps and other listings using the same name

  Search an app store for the phrase and you will also find safety-alarm apps, such as a Google Play app that calls or texts your contacts if you stop moving. These are personal-safety tools with no payload to deliver.

Why do people look for a Dead Man's Switch alternative?

• It is paid or a subscription

  Both the web service and the iOS app charge for sending to real recipients. A switch may sit untouched for years, and some people would rather not keep a subscription alive for it.

• The payload is email-only

  An email is fine for a letter but a poor container for account logins, a scanned document or a voice note. Without attachments you end up pasting sensitive content into a message body.

• There is no native mobile app, or only one platform

  Checking in from a phone is what stops a switch firing by accident. A web-only service, or an iPhone-only app, leaves half a household out.

• Encryption is not under your own key

  Several services say content is encrypted; what people increasingly want is a key they generate and hold, so the provider cannot read messages even if it wanted to. The dead man's switch versus password manager comparison explains why this matters for credentials.

• Recipients need an account or an app

  The person opening your messages may be grieving, not technical, and on a borrowed laptop. Registering or installing something first is friction at the worst moment.

• You want files, not just text

  Photos, PDFs, insurance documents, a recorded message. Many people want one box that holds the letter, the logins and the documents together.

What should you look for in a Dead Man's Switch replacement?

Use this checklist against any alternative, including PostMortem.

• A trigger you can predict

  Inactivity timers are easy to reason about: a fixed interval, reminders before it runs out, release when it does. Multi-signal "alive detection" and human review add judgement calls you cannot test yourself. You should be able to say exactly when release happens and why.

• Reminders you will notice

  Push and email, more than once, spread across the interval. A single email that lands in spam is how switches fire by accident. See what happens when you miss a check-in.

• The content types you need

  Text, credentials, files, financial notes. If a tool handles only one, you will split your legacy across several tools and have to keep them all current.

• Encryption on your device, with your key

  Ask where encryption happens and who holds the key. Content encrypted on your phone before upload, with a key only you and your recipients hold, is different from a server encrypting data at rest.

• No account for recipients

  An email link that opens in any browser, plus a simple way to prove they are the intended person, beats a signup flow.

• A way to test the whole path

  You should be able to watch a release happen end to end, to your own inbox, before trusting it with anything real.

• Honest limits

  No switch makes a message legally a will, and no provider can promise an email is read. Prefer tools that say so.

Is PostMortem a good Dead Man's Switch alternative?

PostMortem is a free dead man's switch app for iOS (15.6 or later) and Android, with no subscription or paid tier today. You create message boxes, each with its own check-in interval, and check in with one tap in the app; reminders arrive by email and push at about 60%, 70%, 80% and 90% of the interval, the last marked as final. One check-in resets every active box. Intervals run hourly, daily, weekly or monthly, or custom from one hour up to twelve months.

Each box holds up to three text messages of any length, as many login credentials and financial records (debts or assets you want known) as you like, and up to five files of 20 MB each: images, PDFs, Office documents, text or CSV, and audio (mp3, wav, aac, m4a). A box needs at least one recipient, with no maximum, and you choose per box whether recipients get an introduction email in advance.

Messages, passwords, file names and contents, and debt details are encrypted on your phone with AES-256 before upload and decrypted in the recipient's browser, using a personal access key you generate and save to your photo gallery. The box name, recipient addresses and check-in schedule stay readable so reminders and delivery work. Managed protection is coming; today you hold the only key, which is also what keeps PostMortem out of your data.

Recipients need no account and no app. On release they get an email link, scan the access key card you gave them earlier with a phone camera or upload the image, and everything decrypts in the browser, with a PDF and a ZIP of files to download. Unopened boxes get a reminder every 14 days, up to twelve times. Release happens exactly when you set it, after four reminders, so pick an interval you will keep and use the one-tap test box first: it runs on a one-hour interval to your own email and releases a sample message, credential and financial record. PostMortem works in English, Spanish, German, French, Russian, Portuguese and Arabic, and a released box can be deleted if it was a false alarm. The how it works page walks through setup.

What other alternatives to Dead Man's Switch are worth knowing?

A few other tools cover part of the same ground. Each line comes from the vendor's own site or listing; plans change, so check before relying on one.

• Google Inactive Account Manager

  Free and built into every Google Account. After an inactivity period you choose, up to ten trusted contacts can be notified and receive selected account data, and the account can be deleted afterwards. It covers Google data only, not a letter to your family or passwords for other services.

• Password-manager emergency access

  Bitwarden's emergency access lets a trusted contact request your vault; you approve, or access is granted after a wait time you set. It is a paid-plan feature and the contact needs a Bitwarden account. 1Password relies on its Emergency Kit and family recovery rather than an inactivity trigger. Both carry passwords, not messages or files; see passwords after death.

• LastSend

  A web and mobile service with an inactivity timer, a text-only free tier, and paid plans adding photos, recordings and documents. Trusted contacts can be asked to confirm before delivery.

• AbsentKey

  An on-device encrypted vault for iOS and Android. Instead of check-ins, a recipient requests a secret and receives it if you do not respond within a per-recipient waiting window. Sharing is paid; recipients do not pay.

Dead Man's Switch alternatives side by side

• deadmansswitch.net

  Web plus Android check-in app. Inactivity timer, multi-channel reminders. Email payloads; attachments on some paid plans. Free tier sends to yourself only.

• Dead man's switch app (iOS)

  iPhone only. Presence by steps, email or SMS, with human review before delivery. Encrypted package; paid with in-app purchases.

• PostMortem

  Free native iOS and Android. One-tap check-in, one hour to twelve months, four reminders. Text, credentials, financial records and files in one box, encrypted on your phone with your own key. Recipients open in any browser with a key card, no account. Seven languages. Test box.

• Google Inactive Account Manager

  Free, Google data only, up to ten contacts.

• Password-manager emergency access

  Passwords only; contact requests access, wait time or manual approval; usually paid and the contact needs an account.

• LastSend / AbsentKey

  Timer with contact confirmation (LastSend) or request-and-wait per recipient (AbsentKey). Free tiers limited; sharing and rich payloads paid.

How do you migrate from Dead Man's Switch to a replacement?

Moving a switch is mostly about moving its contents carefully and proving the new one works before you switch the old one off. The digital legacy checklist helps with the inventory step.

• 1. Copy the messages out

  Open each message in your current service and save the text somewhere private. Reread it: letters written years ago often need a line updated.

• 2. List recipients and what each should get

  Name and email per person, and which messages, logins or files belong to them. In PostMortem this becomes one box per group of recipients, each with its own interval.

• 3. Rebuild the boxes

  Add text, credentials, financial records and files. Pick an interval you can keep honestly; monthly is a common choice.

• 4. Run the test box

  Create the one-tap test box, let the hour run out, and open the release email in your own inbox with your key card. You will see exactly what recipients will see.

• 5. Share the key cards

  Hand each recipient their access key card in person or through a channel you trust, and tell them what it is for. PostMortem cannot recover a lost card, but you can issue a new one while alive, so keep your own copy.

• 6. Retire the old switch

  Once the test box works and the cards are out, cancel the old service so a stale letter does not fire later. Review the new boxes yearly.

Frequently asked questions

• Are deadmansswitch.net and the Dead man's switch app the same product?

  No. deadmansswitch.net is a long-running web service that sends emails after you stop checking in. The Dead man's switch app is an iPhone app from Deadmanswitch.com Inc in Toronto that uploads an encrypted package and detects presence by steps, email or SMS. Reviews and pricing for one do not apply to the other.

• Is there a free dead man's switch alternative?

  Yes. PostMortem is free on iOS and Android with no subscription, and Google Inactive Account Manager is free for Google data. Other services offer free tiers that send only to yourself or carry text only, with real recipients or attachments on paid plans.

• Which alternative suits leaving files, not just emails?

  Look for a tool that stores files inside the switch and encrypts them on your device. PostMortem holds up to five files of 20 MB per box, including images, PDFs, Office documents and audio, alongside text messages, credentials and financial records.

• Can an alternative tell the difference between me being dead and just busy?

  No switch truly can. The switch responds to silence, which is the point: if you are in hospital, your family gets what they need; if it was a false alarm, you delete the box and tell them. Reminders and an interval you will actually keep are what prevent accidents.

• Is using a dead man's switch legal?

  Using one is ordinary and legal in most places; the cautions are about what you put in it and local rules on sharing account access. A message is not a will. See is a dead man's switch legal. This is general information, not legal advice.

• How long should the check-in interval be?

  Long enough that a holiday or hospital stay does not trigger it, short enough that messages still arrive in time to be useful. Many people settle on monthly. PostMortem supports one hour to twelve months and sends four reminders before release.

• What happens to my data if I delete my PostMortem account?

  Deletion is done in the app and removes every box, including released ones. If a box has already been released, let recipients download their PDF and ZIP of files before you delete, since the link stops working afterwards.