Best Trust & Will alternatives in 2026

Trust & Will charges $199 for a will package and $499 for a trust. You get state-specific legal documents, the process takes about 15 minutes, and it works. But it only covers the legal side. No vault for passwords. No place to leave a letter to your kids. No way to tell your family where the life insurance policy lives.

If you're comparing Trust & Will competitors because of pricing, scope, or the sense that legal documents alone don't cover enough ground, here are seven alternatives worth looking at.

Quick comparison: Trust & Will alternatives at a glance

Service	Creates wills	Creates trusts	Document vault	Legacy letters	Pricing	Annual fee
FreeWill	✓	Limited	✗	✗	Free	None
When I Die Files	✗	✗	✓	✓	Free to start	None
LegalZoom	✓	✓	✗	✗	From $99	Varies
Quicken WillMaker	✓	✓	✗	✗	$99 one-time	None
Everplans	✗	✗	✓ (5 GB)	✗	$99.99/yr	$99.99
Tomorrow	✓	✓	✓	✗	Free basic; premium $199	None
Estate attorney	✓	✓	Depends	✗	$1,000-$3,000	None

What you actually need depends on where you are in the process. Someone with no will at all needs a different tool than someone who has legal documents but no way to share passwords and personal messages with their family.

FreeWill: best if cost is your main barrier

FreeWill is funded by nonprofit partnerships, which means the basic will-creation tool costs nothing. You answer questions about beneficiaries, guardians, and asset distribution, then get a state-specific will to print and sign.

The catch: it handles straightforward estates well but runs out of room fast. If you need a trust, complex asset splits, or business succession planning, FreeWill won't get you there. No attorney review is built in.

My neighbor Sarah used FreeWill last year after her second kid was born. She'd been putting off a will for three years because every option felt expensive. Twenty minutes later she had guardianship documented. Not perfect, not comprehensive, but infinitely better than nothing.

Pricing: Free for basic wills. Trust planning available through partner services at additional cost.

Where it falls short: No trust creation, limited customization, no storage or personal message features.

When I Die Files: best for everything after the legal paperwork

Full disclosure: this is our product. We built it because we kept hearing the same thing from people who already had a will — "OK, but where do I put everything else?"

When I Die Files doesn't compete with Trust & Will on legal documents. We pair with tools like Trust & Will, FreeWill, or whatever creates your will. What we handle is the rest: a vault for account credentials and important documents, a letter-writing system with guided prompts, family access controls so the right people see the right things, and message delivery timed for when you choose.

Your will says who gets the house. We're where you explain why. Where you store the login to the retirement account. Where you write the note your daughter reads on her wedding day.

Pricing: Free to start. One-time pricing, no subscription. Create an account.

Where it falls short: No legal document creation. You still need a will from somewhere else.

LegalZoom: best for people who need multiple legal services

LegalZoom has operated in the online legal space since 2001. Their estate planning includes wills (from $99), trusts, and various add-ons. But estate planning is one product among dozens: they also do LLC formation, trademarks, and business filings.

The will workflow is functional but less focused than Trust & Will's. If you only need estate documents, Trust & Will's experience is smoother. If you also need to form an LLC or register a trademark, LegalZoom keeps everything under one roof.

Attorney review is available as an add-on, which is a meaningful differentiator for people who want professional eyes on their documents without paying full attorney rates.

Pricing: Basic will from $99. Premium plans with attorney support run higher. Pricing changes frequently so check their site.

Where it falls short: The estate planning experience feels secondary to their business services. Interface can feel dated compared to newer tools.

Nolo's Quicken WillMaker: best one-time purchase

WillMaker has existed in various forms since the early 1990s. It's now available as both desktop software and an online tool. For $99 one-time, you get will, living trust, healthcare directive, power of attorney, and other documents, plus Nolo's plain-English legal guidance (which is genuinely excellent for self-education).

The structural advantage over Trust & Will: no annual renewal. You pay once for the current edition. The structural disadvantage: no attorney review, no hand-holding, and the user experience feels like productive software rather than a modern web app.

I've recommended WillMaker to three friends who are the type to read instructions thoroughly and don't mind figuring things out independently. All three were happy with it. I would not recommend it to my dad, who would call me six times during the process.

Pricing: $99 one-time for the current annual edition. Covers all 50 states.

Where it falls short: DIY only; no professional review. The interface isn't as polished as newer platforms. New editions released annually require repurchase if you want updates.

Everplans: best for document storage and family access

Everplans doesn't create legal documents at all. It's a digital vault: store your will, insurance details, account credentials, medical wishes, funeral preferences, and anything else your family might need. The "deputy" system lets you assign contacts who gain access either immediately or after a configured waiting period.

The free tier stores up to 10 items. Premium ($99.99/year) gives unlimited storage, deputies, and 5 GB of document space. The annual pricing stings compared to one-time alternatives, especially since vault storage costs providers very little to maintain.

What's missing: no letter-writing features, no story prompts, no way to leave personal messages for individual family members. It's an organizer, not a legacy tool.

Pricing: Free (10 items) or $99.99/year for premium. See our full Everplans alternatives breakdown.

Where it falls short: No legal document creation. No personal message or letter features. Annual subscription for what amounts to cloud storage with access controls.

Tomorrow (Ethos-owned): best free option with both legal docs and storage

Tomorrow started as a free estate planning app and was acquired by Ethos (a life insurance company) in 2022. The free tier includes will creation and a basic vault. Premium adds trust creation and more storage for $199 one-time.

The business model is clear: they offer free estate planning to cross-sell life insurance. If that doesn't bother you, it's a capable tool. The app is mobile-first, which some people prefer and others find limiting for complex document work.

Pricing: Free basic (will + vault); Premium $199 one-time (adds trusts). Life insurance products offered alongside.

Where it falls short: Mobile-first design limits complex workflows. Owned by an insurance company, so expect cross-selling. Smaller user base means less community documentation.

Estate planning attorney: best for complex situations

When your estate involves a business, property in multiple states, blended family custody concerns, significant assets, or charitable structures, no software replaces a person who can anticipate problems you haven't thought of.

Most estate planning attorneys charge $1,000-$3,000 for a full package: will, trust, power of attorney, healthcare directive, and asset funding guidance. According to the American Bar Association, an attorney will also review beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance, something online tools consistently miss.

A middle path: use an online tool for initial document creation, then pay an attorney $300-$500 for a one-time review. You get professional validation without the full-service cost.

Pricing: $1,000-$3,000 full package; $300-$500 for document review only.

Where it falls short: Cost. And finding a good one requires research. The National Association of Estate Planners & Councils maintains a directory if you need a starting point.

How to decide which Trust & Will alternative fits

Three questions to ask yourself:

Do you need legal documents created? If yes, FreeWill (free, basic), WillMaker ($99, comprehensive), LegalZoom (flexible, pricier), or Tomorrow (free with insurance cross-sell) all handle this. Trust & Will remains a fine choice here too.

Do you need somewhere to store documents and share access with family? Everplans and When I Die Files both do this. When I Die Files adds personal messages and guided letter writing. Everplans focuses purely on organized storage.

Do you need help with the personal side — letters, stories, messages? That's specifically what When I Die Files was built for. No other tool on this list offers guided legacy letter writing or timed message delivery.

Most people benefit from pairing two tools: one for the legal documents and one for everything else. A will tells your family what happens to your assets. A legacy tool gives them the human context that paperwork never captures — the explanations, the passwords, the stories, the love notes.

If you're ready to handle the personal side, When I Die Files gives you a place to write the letters and store the details your family will actually need day-to-day after you're gone. Start for free here.