Best Lantern Alternative in 2026: What to Use Now That Lantern Has Shut Down

Lantern has shut down — what are your options?

If you are reading this, you probably used Lantern or were considering it. Lantern was one of the best end-of-life planning platforms available — a guided, step-by-step tool that helped families plan ahead and navigate loss. In 2023, Lantern was acquired by Wellthy, a broader caregiving platform. By September 2024, the standalone Lantern product was decommissioned entirely.

Former Lantern users now have several options, but none are exact replicas. Each alternative has a different focus, price point, and feature set. This guide compares the top alternatives so you can find the right fit for what you need.

The best alternatives at a glance

Five platforms serve the same general space Lantern occupied. Each approaches end-of-life planning differently:

Passings offers the most complete feature set of any direct-to-consumer platform. It combines guided checklists, an encrypted document vault, a provider marketplace, AI guidance, and legacy tools. Free to start.

Everplans is a digital vault for organizing and sharing end-of-life documents. It has a long track record and solid educational content. Costs $75 to $100 per year.

Cake uses a quiz-based approach to help you discover your end-of-life preferences. It includes online memorials and a legal will. Costs $96 per year for the full feature set.

Empathy excels at post-loss bereavement support with live care managers and grief tools. However, it is primarily available through employer or insurance benefits. Costs $64.99 per year if purchased directly.

GoodTrust focuses on legal document creation (wills and trusts) and digital legacy management (closing online accounts, scheduling posthumous messages). Costs $149 for the first year.

Which alternative is closest to what Lantern offered?

Passings is the closest match to Lantern's original experience. Both platforms share the same core philosophy: end-of-life planning should be guided, step-by-step, and designed for real people — not just professionals. Like Lantern, Passings covers both pre-need planning and immediate-need guidance after a loss, with structured checklists that tell you what to do and in what order.

Where Passings goes further than Lantern ever did is in three key areas. First, security: Passings uses zero-knowledge AES-256-GCM encryption for its document vault, meaning your files are encrypted on your device before upload. Lantern used standard encryption. Second, provider access: Passings includes a marketplace where you can browse and contact local funeral homes, attorneys, and celebrants directly — no unsolicited contact. Lantern's Funeralocity tool was more limited. Third, AI assistance: Passings includes an AI planning companion that can answer questions about any aspect of end-of-life planning in plain language. Former Lantern users rebuilding their plan from scratch will find the estate planning checklist and the end-of-life documents checklist useful companions — both help you identify every document and decision a complete plan should include. The cremation vs. burial costs guide is a practical resource when working through final arrangements preferences for the first time. For an overview of the full planning landscape, the end-of-life planning guide is a good starting point.

What about Wellthy — does it replace Lantern?

Wellthy absorbed Lantern's content and planning materials into its own caregiving platform. If you have access to Wellthy through your employer (companies like Best Buy, Hilton, Cisco, and Meta offer it), you can access some of what Lantern provided.

However, Wellthy is a broad caregiving platform covering health management, eldercare, and general family care needs. End-of-life planning is one component of a much larger offering, not the focused experience Lantern provided. Wellthy is also not easily accessible to individual consumers — it is distributed through employer and health plan partnerships.

For families who valued Lantern specifically for its end-of-life planning focus, Wellthy may feel diluted. A purpose-built platform like Passings maintains the single-minded focus on end-of-life planning that made Lantern valuable.

How to recover your Lantern data

If you had documents or plans stored in Lantern, Wellthy's support team can help you download them. Contact [email protected] and request access to your former Lantern care plan.

Once you have your files, you can upload them to whichever alternative you choose. If you move to Passings, the guided checklist system will ensure you do not miss any planning steps when rebuilding, even if your Lantern plan was incomplete.

Feature comparison for Lantern users

For families who valued specific Lantern features, here is where each alternative delivers:

Step-by-step guided planning (Lantern's core experience): Passings offers the most comprehensive guided checklist system with 270 tasks across 13 categories. Cake and Empathy also offer checklists, though less structured. Everplans and GoodTrust do not offer guided planning.

Document storage and sharing: All five alternatives offer document storage. Passings provides the strongest security with zero-knowledge encryption. GoodTrust and Everplans also have capable vaults.

Funeral provider search (Lantern's Funeralocity feature): Passings is the only alternative with a full provider marketplace. Cake has limited provider partnerships. The other three do not offer provider search.

Family collaboration: Passings, Everplans, Empathy, and GoodTrust all support inviting family members to view or collaborate on plans. Cake offers limited collaboration.

Post-loss checklists: Passings and Empathy both offer dedicated immediate-need workflows. Cake includes a basic post-loss checklist. Everplans and GoodTrust do not.

Educational content (Lantern's article library): All platforms offer educational resources, with Everplans and Cake having the most extensive article libraries alongside Passings' 40-plus free guides.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free alternative to Lantern?

Yes. Passings offers a free tier that includes guided planning checklists, family collaboration, a provider marketplace, and an AI planning companion. Cake also offers a free tier with basic planning and memorial features. Everplans, Empathy, and GoodTrust do not offer meaningful free tiers.

What happened to my Lantern account?

Lantern accounts were decommissioned in September 2024. Contact Wellthy's support team at [email protected] if you need to retrieve your stored documents or care plan data.

Can I get the Lantern experience without an employer benefit?

Yes. Passings provides the same guided, step-by-step planning experience that Lantern offered, plus additional features, available directly to any individual for free. Unlike Wellthy (which absorbed Lantern), you do not need an employer or insurance partnership to access Passings.

Which alternative has the best security?

Passings uses zero-knowledge AES-256-GCM encryption where documents are encrypted on your device before reaching the server. This is the strongest security model among all Lantern alternatives. GoodTrust uses 256-bit bank-level encryption. Everplans, Cake, and Empathy use standard at-rest and in-transit encryption.

Should I use multiple platforms?

It depends on your needs. Passings covers the broadest range of features as a single platform. However, some families combine tools — for example, using GoodTrust for legal will creation (which Passings does not yet offer) alongside Passings for guided planning, provider discovery, and encrypted document storage.

Disclaimer — For informational purposes only

This article is compiled from publicly available resources and is provided solely for general informational purposes. It does not constitute and should not be relied upon as legal, financial, tax, insurance, medical, psychological, or other professional advice. Passings is a planning and organizational platform, not a licensed advisory service, and no attorney-client, financial advisor-client, or other professional relationship is created by reading this content.

Laws, regulations, financial products, and professional standards vary by state and change over time. Passings makes no representations or warranties — express or implied — regarding the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or suitability of any information contained herein. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Passings disclaims all liability for any loss, damage, or harm arising from your use of or reliance on this content. Always consult a qualified, licensed professional — including an attorney, financial advisor, CPA, or licensed counselor — before making decisions specific to your situation.

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