Passings vs Empathy: How Two End-of-Life Platforms Compare in 2026

What is Empathy?

Empathy is a bereavement support platform founded in 2020, with R&D based in Israel and business operations focused on the US market. It combines AI-powered tools with human care managers to help families navigate the practical and emotional aftermath of a death. The platform handles tasks like closing accounts, settling estates, planning funerals, and providing grief support through meditations, journaling, and community resources.

Empathy has raised over $160 million in venture funding and partners with major insurance carriers (MetLife, Aflac, New York Life, Allianz) and employers (CarMax, Hilton, Cisco) to provide its services as an employee or policyholder benefit. It serves approximately 40 million people through these partnerships.

How do you access Empathy?

This is the most important distinction between the two platforms. Empathy is primarily a business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) product. Most users access it through their employer's benefits package or their life insurance carrier — not by signing up directly on the Empathy website.

If your employer or insurer does not partner with Empathy, you can subscribe individually at $8.99 per month or $64.99 per year. However, the direct-to-consumer path is secondary to Empathy's business model, and not all features may be available outside of an employer partnership.

Passings is direct-to-consumer by design. Anyone can sign up, start a plan, and access core features for free. There is no employer or insurance requirement.

How do the features compare?

Both platforms are feature-rich, but they emphasise different things. Empathy excels at post-loss support: grief resources, live care managers, account closure automation, and estate settlement guidance. Passings excels at holistic pre-need and immediate-need planning: guided checklists, encrypted document storage, provider discovery, and legacy creation.

Empathy offers an AI-powered obituary writer, care plan personalization, and 24/7 access to human care managers. Passings offers a provider marketplace, budget estimator, legacy studio (letters, voice notes, photos), and an encrypted vault with an optional zero-knowledge mode on every plan, including Free — features that Empathy does not include.

Where the platforms overlap, both offer guided checklists, family collaboration (a paid-plan feature on Passings), and AI assistance. Empathy has deeper grief support tools (meditations, breathing exercises, journaling, peer communities). Passings has deeper planning tools (checklists with thousands of tasks across 12 categories, funeral budget estimation, a local provider directory).

How does grief support compare?

Empathy leads in grief support. Its platform includes a library of articles, audio guides, guided meditations, breathing exercises, a journaling tool, and peer community forums. Users also have access to human care managers who can provide personalized emotional support.

Passings currently offers condolence resources and supportive content throughout the planning experience, with deeper grief and emotional support on the product roadmap. If comprehensive grief therapy tools are your primary need, Empathy provides more in this area today.

However, it is worth noting that Empathy's grief tools are designed for the post-loss period. Passings' planning tools are designed to reduce the logistical burden that often intensifies grief — by having a plan in place before a loss occurs, families experience less chaos and overwhelm during the most difficult days.

How does security compare?

Passings' document vault is encrypted at rest on every plan, and every plan, including Free, offers an optional zero-knowledge mode that uses AES-256-GCM encryption with client-side key derivation. With that mode on, documents are encrypted on your device before upload, so Passings staff and servers can't open your files.

Empathy's LifeVault provides secure document storage. Empathy's public materials do not describe a zero-knowledge design.

What about provider discovery?

Passings includes a marketplace where families can browse local funeral homes, florists, and celebrants and contact providers directly, using the details on each listing, at their own pace.

Empathy does not include a provider marketplace. While its care managers can help connect families with specialised advisors (attorneys, tax professionals), this is a concierge-directed process rather than a self-service marketplace families can browse independently.

What does each platform cost?

Empathy's individual pricing is $8.99 per month or $64.99 per year. However, many users receive Empathy at no cost through their employer or insurance carrier. If you have access through a benefit, Empathy is effectively free.

Passings offers a free tier with core planning features (checklists, a 500 MB document vault, provider marketplace, AI assistant); paid plans (from $99 a year or $11.99 a month) add family collaboration and more storage; the optional zero-knowledge vault mode is available on every plan, including Free. For families without employer-provided Empathy access, Passings provides comparable planning functionality at no cost.

Which platform is better for pre-need planning?

Passings is the stronger choice for planning ahead. Its pre-need checklist (thousands of tasks across 12 categories) is purpose-built for proactive planning, covering legal, financial, funeral, and legacy considerations in a structured, step-by-step format. Families working through the planning process often find it helpful to pair Passings with resources like the estate planning checklist and the end-of-life documents checklist to ensure nothing is overlooked. For families deciding between burial and cremation — a major early decision — the cremation vs. burial costs guide breaks down the real financial differences.

Empathy was built primarily for the post-loss experience. It has expanded into pre-planning with the LifeVault product, but planning ahead is not its core strength. Empathy's deepest functionality activates after a death has occurred.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use Empathy if my employer does not offer it?

Yes, but with caveats. Empathy offers direct subscriptions at $8.99 per month or $64.99 per year. However, the platform is primarily designed for its B2B2C channel, and the direct consumer experience may differ from the employer-provided version.

Is Passings a good alternative to Empathy?

Yes, particularly for families who do not have Empathy through an employer or insurer. Passings offers a broader set of planning tools (provider marketplace, budget estimator, legacy studio, and an optional zero-knowledge vault mode on every plan) and is accessible to anyone for free. Empathy offers stronger grief-specific support and live care managers.

Does Empathy offer a document vault?

Yes. Empathy recently launched LifeVault, a digital solution for legacy planning and document storage. Empathy's public materials do not describe a zero-knowledge design. Passings' vault offers an optional zero-knowledge mode on every plan, including Free, where documents are encrypted on your device so Passings staff and servers can't open them.

Which platform is better immediately after a loss?

Both are strong for immediate-need support. Empathy provides live care managers, account closure automation, and grief resources specifically designed for the post-loss period. Passings provides a dedicated immediate-need checklist that prioritizes tasks by urgency and walks families through what needs to happen first. If your primary need is emotional support, Empathy is stronger. If your primary need is logistical guidance and provider access, Passings is stronger.

Content is compiled from publicly available resources for general informational purposes only. It is not legal, financial, tax, medical, or professional advice. Passings disclaims all liability arising from reliance on this content. Consult a qualified professional for guidance specific to your situation.