Question 1

What is Inktally, in one sentence?

Accepted Answer

An encrypted vault for the documents, notes and credentials your people will one day need — paired with a release mechanism that decides who receives what, and when.

Question 2

Do I need a will to use Inktally?

Accepted Answer

No. Inktally is supplementary to your legal instruments, not a replacement for them. Many of our users have wills already; others use Inktally to keep the practical material their lawyer's letter doesn't cover (passwords, online accounts, instructions, letters).

Question 3

How long does setup take?

Accepted Answer

About fifteen minutes for a sparse account; an evening or two for a thorough one. There is no streak, no nag, no deadline — you can come back as often as you like.

Question 4

Can Inktally read my data?

Accepted Answer

In zero-knowledge mode (the default), no. Your master key is derived from your password on your device, using Argon2id, and never leaves it. Our servers see opaque ciphertext.

Question 5

What if I forget my password?

Accepted Answer

It depends on whether you set up recovery contacts. If you did, the trusted people you nominated can collectively help you regain access (we use Shamir secret-sharing, so no single contact can do it alone). If you didn't, we cannot recover your vault — that's the trade-off zero-knowledge requires.

Question 6

Is your cryptography open-source?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Our crypto core and the offline-decryption reader are public, so anyone can read exactly how the encryption works.

Question 7

Who decides when something is released?

Accepted Answer

You do. Each item in your vault can have its own trigger — a fixed date, a dead-man's-switch (inactivity threshold), executor-initiated release, or manual release at any time.

Question 8

Can a release be reversed?

Accepted Answer

Within the cooling-off period (default 48 hours), yes. Once the period elapses and the recipient has claimed the release, it is final and cannot be reversed by Inktally.

Question 9

What does the recipient see?

Accepted Answer

An email with your name and a short note from you (optional). They click through to a plain web page where they verify their email and set up an Inktally account to claim the shared content. All decryption happens in their browser — we never send them plaintext.

Question 10

How does Inktally deliver content when a trigger fires?

Accepted Answer

When a trigger fires, the released content is re-sealed to your recipient and they are emailed to claim it; exactly who holds the keys depends on the delivery mode you armed. Server-assisted (Track C): Inktally holds an encrypted copy of each shared content key — scoped to trigger-released items only — and re-seals it to the recipient after the trigger fires and they verify their email. Every delivery is logged in your audit trail. Executor-only (Track B): a designated executor holds the keys instead; the server never reads them. After a trigger fires the executor is notified, signs in, and their client finalises delivery. Track C is more convenient; Track B is stronger for privacy because even a subpoena cannot extract keys the server never held.

Question 11

Is there a free plan?

Accepted Answer

Yes — up to three documents (notes are unlimited), one recipient, and one account-wide trigger of any type (a dead-man’s-switch, a scheduled date, or manual release), with 100 MB of storage and recovery via a fixed pair of trusted contacts. Most users on the free plan eventually upgrade, but there is no time limit and no feature decay.

Question 12

What happens to my vault if I stop paying?

Accepted Answer

Your vault stays intact and your existing triggers continue to fire. You lose the ability to add new content above the free-plan limits. We never delete content for non-payment.

Question 13

What happens if Inktally shuts down?

Accepted Answer

We've committed publicly to a 90-day advance notice, full export of your vault in original formats, and an open offline-decryption format you can keep using forever. The full continuity policy is on the Continuity page.

Question 14

Can I leave Inktally and take my data with me?

Accepted Answer

Yes, at any time, in one click. The export is a tarball of your decrypted documents plus a JSON file describing your recipients and triggers, so you can rebuild elsewhere.

Question 15

What happens to my account when I die?

Accepted Answer

Your configured triggers fire as planned. Your nominated successor (under the DPDP Act in India, or your local equivalent) can request closure of the account once releases are complete.

Questions we hear often.

Getting started

Security & encryption

Recipients & release

Plans & billing

Continuity & exit