Trustworthy organizes your family’s important documents in one place. AbsentKey encrypts individual secrets and shares them with timed, request-based access. One is a filing cabinet, the other is a controlled vault. They solve different problems, and some people need both.
Different products, overlapping audience
Both Trustworthy and AbsentKey serve people who are thinking about what happens to their information if they’re unavailable. But the approach is different. Trustworthy is a family document organizer. AbsentKey is a controlled sharing tool with per-person access rules and timers.
If you’re doing digital legacy planning, you’ve probably come across both. Trustworthy calls itself the “Family Operating System,” and that’s a fair description. It’s built for families who want one place to store insurance cards, estate plans, financial accounts, and medical records. AbsentKey is built for people who want to share specific secrets like passwords or crypto keys with specific people on their own terms.
This post covers what each product does, where they differ, and when you’d pick one over the other.
Quick comparison
# category trustworthy → family document organizer absentkey → controlled sharing vault
# access model trustworthy → immediate, once shared absentkey → request-based, timer per recipient
# surface trustworthy → web only absentkey → ios + android
# pricing trustworthy → ~$8/mo or ~$60/yr absentkey → $0.99/mo or $9.99/yr (receiving free)
What Trustworthy does
Trustworthy is a web platform for organizing your family’s important documents. It gives you 50+ card categories for different types of records: insurance policies, estate plans, bank accounts, property documents, medical records, vehicle titles, tax returns, and more. The idea is simple. Gather everything in one place so your family isn’t scrambling to find it later.
The platform supports family sharing. You add family members, and they can view and contribute to the shared workspace. Trustworthy also lets you invite professional advisors like financial planners or estate attorneys to access relevant sections. That makes it useful for families who are already working with professionals on estate planning.
They have life event checklists that walk you through what to organize when you buy a home, have a baby, or lose a family member. Document scanning helps digitize physical paperwork. The whole experience is built around the organizing problem: how do you gather, categorize, and make information findable?
Trustworthy has been covered by Forbes, AARP, and other outlets in the estate planning space. Their free plan covers basic functionality. Premium runs around $8/month or $60/year, though pricing has changed over time.
What AbsentKey does
AbsentKey takes a different approach. Instead of organizing documents, it lets you share specific secrets with specific people under controlled conditions.
You create a secret a password, a crypto seed phrase, a file, or a note. You assign it to a recipient and set a waiting time for that person, from 1 to 365 days. When the recipient needs access, they open AbsentKey and send a request. You get a push notification. You can approve right away, deny the request, or let the timer run. If you don’t respond before the timer expires, the recipient gets access automatically.
One tool answers where everything is. The other answers who can hold it, and when.
Nothing happens until someone asks. There is no monitoring, no check-ins, no scheduled delivery. The system stays idle until a recipient makes a request. This is what makes it useful for emergency access scenarios. Your recipients know they can request access if something happens, and the timer gives you a window to respond if the request was premature.
Each secret is independent. Your spouse might have a 14-day timer on financial passwords. Your co-founder gets server credentials on a 7-day timer. Your sibling has a crypto wallet seed on a 90-day timer. Different people, different secrets, different timelines.
Everything is end-to-end encrypted with zero-knowledge architecture. The server never sees plaintext. The mobile client is source-available so anyone can verify the crypto implementation.
Receiving is free. Creating and sending secrets requires premium: $0.99/month or $9.99/year.
Key differences
Organization vs. controlled sharing
Trustworthy helps you gather and organize your family’s documents. AbsentKey helps you share specific secrets with specific people under time-based access rules. They are different workflows that solve different parts of the same problem.
Trustworthy answers: “Where is everything, and can my family find it?” AbsentKey answers: “Who gets this specific piece of information, and under what conditions?” If you’re putting together a digital estate planning checklist, Trustworthy covers the organizational side. AbsentKey covers the controlled handoff.
Always-accessible vs. request-based
When you share something on Trustworthy, family members can see it right away. There is no waiting period, no approval step, no timer. You add someone, and they have access.
AbsentKey works on a request-and-wait model. Recipients see that a secret exists but can’t read it until they request access and the timer runs out (or you approve early). This is the core of how AbsentKey lets you share passwords without giving access upfront. It is more restrictive by design. That makes it useful for high-sensitivity items but less convenient for everyday document sharing.
Web platform vs. mobile app
Trustworthy is entirely web-based. There is no native mobile app. It works in any browser, on any device, but you won’t get push notifications for time-sensitive events.
AbsentKey is mobile-only, with no web app or desktop client. Push notifications arrive instantly when someone requests access, which matters when a timer is running. If you prefer to manage sensitive information from a laptop, Trustworthy fits better. If your phone is your primary device, AbsentKey is the more natural choice.
Family accounts vs. free receiving
Trustworthy requires accounts for all family members. Premium features require a paid subscription, so your family’s access depends on your plan staying active.
AbsentKey separates sending from receiving. Your recipients download the app for free, accept your invitation, and they’re set. They never pay. The cost is on the person who creates and sends secrets. This matters if you’re sharing with people who wouldn’t sign up for a paid service on their own.
Broad document management vs. encrypted secrets
Trustworthy handles a wide range of document types: insurance cards, property deeds, medical records, vehicle registrations, and tax documents. It is built for breadth. The categories are meant to cover your entire family’s paperwork.
Trustworthy describes “bank-level encryption” without published primitives. AbsentKey publishes its stack and ships a source-available client. Different transparency, different audience.
AbsentKey handles a narrower set of items: passwords, crypto keys, sensitive files, and private notes. It is built for depth on the security side, with zero-knowledge encryption and per-recipient access controls. Trustworthy claims “bank-level encryption” but hasn’t published cryptographic details or made zero-knowledge claims. AbsentKey publishes its encryption stack (XSalsa20-Poly1305, X25519, HKDF-SHA256) and makes the client source-available for auditing.
To see how these tools fit into a broader plan, read how to prepare your digital legacy.
When Trustworthy makes more sense
Trustworthy is a better fit if you need a central place for all family documents. Insurance policies, estate plans, medical records, property documents. Its 50+ card categories are designed for that kind of broad organization.
It also works well if you’re coordinating with professional advisors like estate attorneys, financial planners, or accountants. The advisor access feature lets professionals see relevant sections without giving them access to everything.
If your whole family needs to collaborate, with multiple people adding and updating documents together, Trustworthy’s shared workspace handles that. And if you prefer browser-based tools you can access from any device, it fits that too.
When AbsentKey makes more sense
AbsentKey is a better fit if you need per-person, per-secret control. Different secrets for different people, each with their own timer and access rules. That granularity is AbsentKey’s core feature.
It also works well if you want request-based access instead of always-on sharing. Information stays locked until someone asks for it, which gives you a response window before access is granted.
If zero-knowledge encryption matters to you, AbsentKey publishes its crypto primitives, makes the client code source-available, and the server never sees plaintext. When you’re sharing crypto seed phrases or passwords, the encryption details matter. See what is password inheritance for more on why this approach exists.
Receiving is always free. Your trusted contacts download the app and accept an invitation. They never pay and never manage a subscription.
FAQ
Can I use Trustworthy and AbsentKey together?
Yes. Use Trustworthy to organize your family’s documents: insurance, estate plans, property records. Use AbsentKey for high-sensitivity items that need controlled, timed access like passwords, crypto keys, and private files. They cover different parts of the same problem.
Does Trustworthy have zero-knowledge encryption?
Trustworthy claims “bank-level encryption” but has not published cryptographic details or made zero-knowledge claims. AbsentKey uses XSalsa20-Poly1305 with X25519 key exchange and publishes its client code for verification. If encryption specifics matter to your decision, compare what each product has made public.
Is Trustworthy a dead man’s switch?
No. Trustworthy has no automatic triggers, no inactivity monitoring, and no timed delivery. Sharing is manual: you add someone and they can see what you’ve shared. AbsentKey isn’t a dead man’s switch either, but its request-and-timer system gives recipients a way to get conditional access that only activates when they ask.
Which is cheaper?
AbsentKey costs less. Premium is $0.99/month or $9.99/year, and receiving is always free. Trustworthy’s premium is around $8/month or $60/year. Trustworthy has a free tier that covers basic features. AbsentKey’s free tier lets you receive secrets but not create them.
Bottom line
Trustworthy organizes your family’s documents so nothing gets lost. AbsentKey controls who gets specific secrets, when, and under what conditions. One is about finding information. The other is about releasing it.
If you need to gather all your family’s paperwork in one place, start with Trustworthy. If you need to share passwords or crypto keys with someone on a controlled timeline, start with AbsentKey. Many people will end up using both.
Try AbsentKey, free to receive, available on iOS and Android. Try Trustworthy, free tier available, web-based.
