Guides
Learn and compare
Start here if you're deciding whether a dead man's switch is worth setting up.
How they work
What is a dead man's switch?
The plain definition, how a check-in cycle runs, and where the phrase comes from. Start here if the term is new to you.
What happens if a dead man's switch fires by mistake?
Four days on a trail with no signal, or a week in hospital with your phone in a locker. How a misfire happens, how many things have to fail before one can, and the part nobody can undo afterwards.
How to send a message after you die
Four ways people do it. A letter left with your executor, a scheduled email, the legacy contact setting already inside your Apple, Google or Facebook account, or a check-in app. Where each one falls short, and why scheduled email fails most quietly.
Choosing one
Best dead man's switch apps in 2026, compared
Seven products, this one included, read against their own public pages. What happens on a false alarm, whether a person can stop it, what you can send, encryption, price and platform. Where a company publishes nothing on a point, the page says so rather than guess.
Every claim about another product comes from that company's own published pages, dated so you can check them. Where a different product is the better answer, we say so by name.
Dead man's switch alternatives
If you already use one of these and have started looking for the exit. What deadmansswitch.net gets right, what its pages do not document, where else people in that position go, and what to get out of an account before you close it.
Digital legacy apps: what they do and how to choose
One label covers products built for different jobs, and it is easy to buy the wrong one.
Nothing sends unless you miss several check-ins in a row. You set how many.
Free during early access. No card, no phone number. Four minutes to set up, and you can delete your account whenever you want.