Provider at a glance
- Category
- Key Recovery & Inheritance
- Entity
- Not verified
- Official website
- vault12.com
Independent rankingchecked How it works
Details
Scored 60 out of 100 under methodology 2026.10.18, from the evidence read in October 2026.
Vault12 Guard
Sharded seed-phrase vault
Key Recovery & Inheritance
#4 Overall
Ranked #4 of 9 key recovery & inheritance in the published ranking
60
ChainChoice Score
The ChainChoice Score, shown against 100: published scores run from 41 to 99.- High evidence confidence
Is Vault12 Guard right for you?
Look elsewhere if these come first
- If this company is gone in twenty years, can the person I chose still move the coins?5/10 here; Unchained scores 9
- What actually makes the handover happen — code, a contract, or somebody's goodwill? And who can start it without me?5/10 here; Bitkey (Block) scores 6
- If this fails, who is actually on the hook — and can I find their number in a register?5/10 here; Unchained scores 7
- What does this cost me every year until I die, and what happens to my heir if I stop paying?6/10 here; Casa scores 7
Not yet tested for your country. Markets it lists: Global.
to test where you can use it.
The rank above is the published one, the same for every reader. Find my best key recovery & inheritance service shows where it lands for you.
What will Vault12 Guard cost you?
Not priced on this basis
- Transactions per year
- 1k
How safe is Vault12 Guard?
- Evidence: verified4 of 4 criteria rest on quoted, sourced receipts. Read October 2026.
- LicenceMiCA (EU): no register record on file here.
Alternatives to Vault12 Guard
Compare all 4- 3Casa3 points above · stronger on recovery without the vendor (6 against 5)63
- 5Bitkey (Block)6 points below · stronger on trigger enforcement and wrongful release (6 against 5)54
- 6Unchained11 points below · stronger on recovery without the vendor (9 against 5)49
For your setup
Find out if Vault12 Guard fits you
The rank above is the published one — the same for every visitor. Answer the category's questions and this section shows where Vault12 Guard lands for you, which criteria your answers weight up, and which stated needs the record does or does not meet. The published rank stays beside it.
- A few questions
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- Ranking-blind: no commercial input
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Find my best key recovery & inheritance serviceNothing is inferred from clicks, popularity or commercial value.
Why this rank
Why Vault12 Guard ranks #4
Each strength is read from evidence on a 0–10 ladder and weighted as the published methodology states. The 32 objective points these produce (16.5 here) sit inside the score; availability, friction, trust record and measured data add the rest.
4 published criteria · Σ weight 100
CriterionWeightStrength · 0–10ScoreContrib.MedianBestRankEvidence
325+5.126.010#7/9Loading evidence…
285+4.485.09#5/9Loading evidence…
245+3.845.08#5/9Loading evidence…
166+3.077.010#6/9Loading evidence…
Hairline = best in this ranking · tick = its median · a missing bar is "not scored", never zero
Margin−3behind Casa, #3
RobustnessHoldsacross a one-point change to each of its 4 criterion scores, the re-run scores 58–62 and stays #4
Evidence4 of 4 scored4 quoted, 4 with a source link
What would move the rank
Each line is the ranking run again with one of Vault12 Guard’s criterion scores changed and every other value held: the smallest whole-point change on that criterion that moves its rank, and where the re-run puts it. Up to 4 climbs and 3 falls are listed, smallest change first. Nothing here is a forecast.
If this company is gone in twenty years, can the person I chose still move the coins? 5 → 7 on its ladder · passes Casa+264#4 → #3
What actually makes the handover happen — code, a contract, or somebody's goodwill? And who can start it without me? 5 → 7 on its ladder · passes Casa+264#4 → #3
If this fails, who is actually on the hook — and can I find their number in a register? 5 → 8 on its ladder · passes Casa+365#4 → #3
What does this cost me every year until I die, and what happens to my heir if I stop paying? 6 → 10 on its ladder · passes Casa+464#4 → #3
If this company is gone in twenty years, can the person I chose still move the coins? 5 → 2 on its ladder · Bitkey (Block) passes it−354#4 → #5
What actually makes the handover happen — code, a contract, or somebody's goodwill? And who can start it without me? 5 → 1 on its ladder · Bitkey (Block) passes it−453#4 → #5
If this fails, who is actually on the hook — and can I find their number in a register? 5 → 1 on its ladder · Bitkey (Block) passes it−454#4 → #5
Smallest climb: “If this company is gone in twenty years, can the person I chose still move the coins?” 5 → 7 passes Casa, #3.
Strengths
0 from the score dataWhere it leads
No scored criterion is at or within one point of the category best, so no strength can be stated from the data.
Tradeoffs
4 from the score dataWhere it trails
Not for readers who put first
- If this company is gone in twenty years, can the person I chose still move the coins? — 5/10 against a category best of 10/10
- What actually makes the handover happen — code, a contract, or somebody's goodwill? And who can start it without me? — 5/10 against a category best of 9/10
- If this fails, who is actually on the hook — and can I find their number in a register? — 5/10 against a category best of 8/10
- What does this cost me every year until I die, and what happens to my heir if I stop paying? — 6/10 against a category best of 10/10
Record watch-outs
- You will pay $29.99 a month — about $360 a year, roughly $3,600 a decade — for a promise whose single most important number, forty-eight hours, protects you only if you happen to open the app. The beneficiary activates inheritance by pressing a button; no death certificate, no physician's note, no affidavit is asked for anywhere on the site; and the only thing standing between a premature claim and your guardians being phoned is a 48-hour in-app notification to the very device an heir living in your house can plausibly reach. Then, when you actually do die — the event you bought this for — Vault12 has published nothing, on its pricing page or in its August 2026 Terms, about what happens to the vault, the shards or the beneficiary designation when the card on file stops working.
Competitive position
Where Vault12 Guard leads and where it trails
Rank on every objective dimension among the rows scored on it. A criterion in the top third of its pool is listed as a lead, the bottom third as a trail; the middle is neither. Popularity, size and commercial terms are not dimensions.
Availability#1 / 914.0 of 20 · pool best
Published criteria#7 / 912.4 of 30 · best 20.4
Friction#1 / 92.7 of 10 · constant here
Trust record#1 / 93.2 of 8 · constant here
Measured data#1 / 98.3 of 18 · constant here
Where Vault12 Guard leadsNo criterion in the top third of its pool.
Where it trails
- If this company is gone in twenty years, can the person I chose still move the coins?#7 / 9
Closest alternatives
The 3 nearest rows by score
Nearest by published score in either direction. Each card states the criteria on which the two rows differ and the cost difference under the same scenario inputs; the compare arithmetic below shows why the higher one ranks higher.
Casa#3 of 9 · score 63 · 3.0 points ahead
Vault12 Guard leads onNo scored criterion
Casa leads on
- If this company is gone in twenty years, can the person I chose still move the coins?6 vs 5
- What does this cost me every year until I die, and what happens to my heir if I stop paying?7 vs 6
Largest single reason Casa is ahead: published criteria (+2.9 display points).Scenario cost: Casa has no verified pricing for this scenario.
Bitkey (Block)#5 of 9 · score 54 · 6.0 points behind
Vault12 Guard leads on
- If this company is gone in twenty years, can the person I chose still move the coins?5 vs 3
Bitkey (Block) leads on
- What actually makes the handover happen — code, a contract, or somebody's goodwill? And who can start it without me?6 vs 5
- If this fails, who is actually on the hook — and can I find their number in a register?6 vs 5
Largest single reason Vault12 Guard is ahead: availability (+5.2 display points).Scenario cost: Bitkey (Block) has no verified pricing for this scenario.
Unchained#6 of 9 · score 49 · 11.0 points behind
Vault12 Guard leads on
- What actually makes the handover happen — code, a contract, or somebody's goodwill? And who can start it without me?5 vs 4
Unchained leads on
- If this company is gone in twenty years, can the person I chose still move the coins?9 vs 5
- If this fails, who is actually on the hook — and can I find their number in a register?7 vs 5
Largest single reason Vault12 Guard is ahead: availability (+20.8 display points).Scenario cost: Unchained has no verified pricing for this scenario.
Against the leader
81 vs 60 · gap 21.0Why Liana (Wizardsardine) ranks above Vault12 Guard
The compare workspace's arithmetic applied to these two rows. Each dimension's share of the gap is its weight × the difference, on the displayed scale — it reproduces the displayed gap of 21.0 to within rounding.
DimensionThisLiana (Wizardsardine)Gap share
Availability · 23% weight14.014.0same
Published criteria · 35% weight12.420.4−20.8, worse
Friction · 12% weight · constant here2.72.7same
Trust record · 9% weight · constant here3.23.2same
Measured data · 21% weight · constant here8.38.3same
Published criterionThisLiana (Wizardsardine)Points
If this company is gone in twenty years, can the person I chose still move the coins? · w32510−5.12, worse
What actually makes the handover happen — code, a contract, or somebody's goodwill? And who can start it without me? · w2859−3.58, worse
What does this cost me every year until I die, and what happens to my heir if I stop paying? · w16610−2.05, worse
Net6081−21.0
Your scenario
Vault12 Guard is not priced for this scenario
The cheapest published tier that covers your usage. List price before any discount; add-ons priced separately are excluded. Change an input and every figure recomputes from the published rate; the published rank does not move.
your cost/yr · default scenario — set your own
Transactions per year · your input1k
Rate read from the provider’s published pricing ↗ on 28 October 2026.
your cost/yrCost is stated as your cost/yr in USD; it is never a yield, never annualised, and it does not enter the score.
Not priced on this basis
Under the default inputs · USDCategory medianNot priced0 of 9 rows priced
Cheapest pricedNone pricedDifference not stated · availability not applied — set your country to filter
9 of 9 rows in this ranking have no verified rate for this scenario and are absent from the median, not counted as free.
Evidence
Evidence read 28 October 2026
One row per published criterion: the page each strength was read from, its source type by domain, the reading date and whether the file and the published table agree. Open a row for the quote and the receipt.
4 of 4 cells scored
Score evidenceVerified4 of 4 criteria reconstruct from receipts
4 of 4 criteria reconstruct from a quoted, sourced receipt equal to the published strength.Public receiptsReading…4 quoted with a source URL
The receipt file has not been read yet.Evidence confidenceHighcoverage and corroboration, never freshness
4/4 criteria scored, with 4 dated sources quoted.RobustnessHoldsrank #4 across every one-point re-run
Whether the position holds when one criterion score is changed by one point and the ranking is run again. It is always a re-run of the ranking, never an estimate.The newest evidence read on the platform is 3 November 2026; this category's reading is older. The scores stand as read on 28 October 2026.
Reading the evidence ledger…
CriterionSourceTypeReadFreshnessStatusReceipt
If this company is gone in twenty years, can the person I chose still move the coins?strength 5 · weight 32Report an error—28 October 2026*
Unknown
No reading date is recorded for this cell or its category.No receipt
A strength is published but no quote or source page is on file for it.What actually makes the handover happen — code, a contract, or somebody's goodwill? And who can start it without me?strength 5 · weight 28Report an error—28 October 2026*
Unknown
No reading date is recorded for this cell or its category.No receipt
A strength is published but no quote or source page is on file for it.If this fails, who is actually on the hook — and can I find their number in a register?strength 5 · weight 24Report an error—28 October 2026*
Unknown
No reading date is recorded for this cell or its category.No receipt
A strength is published but no quote or source page is on file for it.What does this cost me every year until I die, and what happens to my heir if I stop paying?strength 6 · weight 16Report an error—28 October 2026*
Unknown
No reading date is recorded for this cell or its category.No receipt
A strength is published but no quote or source page is on file for it.How you can lose money here, and what the ranking scores
- Control failure (Vault12 Guard 5/10): a key or vote changes the rules, freezes or mints.Scored by What actually makes the handover happen — code, a contract, or somebody's goodwill? And who can start it without me? · 28%
- Execution failure (Vault12 Guard 5/10): you get a worse price, later, or nothing.Scored by If this fails, who is actually on the hook — and can I find their number in a register? · 24%
- Exit failure (Vault12 Guard 5/10): you cannot get out at par, on time, or with what is yours.Scored by If this company is gone in twenty years, can the person I chose still move the coins? · 32%
Not assessed by this ranking: Custody failure, Key failure, Information failure. A high place says nothing about these; the Methodology tab says what each means. Also scored, as cost, quality or a summary of several families: What does this cost me every year until I die, and what happens to my heir if I stop paying? (16%).
Facts
facts, not scoresWhat the record publishes
- Pricing
- Read on https://
vault12 .com /pricing on 2026-09-28: GUARDIAN "Free forever" "(Invite only)"; BACKUP "19.99" "per month (30 day trial)"; INHERITANCE "29.99" "per month (30 day trial)". The feature row "Digital Inheritance*" is ticked only under INHERITANCE; its tooltip reads "Enables the Vault and assets to be inherited by a designated individual in the future." The row "Customise Number of Guardians*" reads "2 of 3". TRANSCRIPTION NOTE: the price text nodes carry no currency character — the dollar sign is drawn by the stylesheet rule .plan-price::before{content:"$"} — so the page displays a dollar price but writes no currency code anywhere. Worked example (ChainChoice arithmetic, not a vendor figure): INHERITANCE at 29.99 a month is 359.88 a year. A crypto-payment discount is published without a figure of record: "Receive a 50% discount on all plans if you pay with with VGT." (https:// vault12 .com /help /faqs /payments /vgt-subscription /). Nothing on the pricing page addresses cancellation, expiry, grace periods or what happens to the vault or the inheritance designation when payment stops.Vault12 Guard — official pricing page ↗ · 28 October 2026 - Prices published in
- USDVault12 Guard — official pricing page ↗ · 28 October 2026
- Licences held
- Not published
- Compliance level
- partial
- Regulatory note
- SCORED 6 — top of the 5-6 band: the artefact exists, is documented by the vendor and demonstrably works without Vault12's servers, but the vendor NEVER addresses its own disappearance on any page, and the artefact is produced BY the app rather than held before failure.
- Supported chains
- Chain-agnostic — the product stores seed phrases, private keys and other secrets rather than coins, and the pricing page caps 'the number of assets that can be secured in a Vault' at 3 / 10 / 100 by tier (https://
vault12 .com /pricing, read 17 August 2026) - Markets served
- global
- Primary markets
- Not published
- Restricted markets
- Not published
- Operating limits
- Not published
- Availability note
- STANDARD OFAC/SANCTIONS ELIGIBILITY REPRESENTATION — NOT a regional footprint, and it is the only geographic language on the site. From https://
vault12 .com /terms / (read 17 August 2026): 'you are not named on the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, or any equivalent list maintained by a governmental authority with jurisdiction over you or Vault12;' and 'you are not located in, organized under the laws of, or a resident of, any country or region subject to comprehensive U.S. sanctions; and' followed by 'Vault12 may suspend, restrict, or terminate your access to the Service at any time, without liability, to comply with applicable sanctions, export control, or anti-money-laundering laws.' That is the eligibility rule nearly every crypto ToS carries, applying everywhere, not a market restriction. NO country list, no geo-blocking, no 'not available in' language was found on any page loaded. Positive global signals on the same pages: the Terms grant 'a personal, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, non-exclusive and worldwide license to use the software'; https:// vault12 .com /technology / (read 17 August 2026) describes 'all the communications necessary to connect Owner and Guardian devices around the world.' One genuine friction the buyer should note, from the same Terms: 'These Terms shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, United States of America' with binding arbitration and a jury-trial waiver — a US-law forum for a worldwide product. A second, narrower geographic caveat sits on the recovery artefact rather than the service: the recovery-utility README's Legal Reminder states 'Exporting/importing and/or use of strong cryptography software, providing cryptography hooks, or even just communicating technical details about cryptography software is illegal in some parts of the world.' Distribution is otherwise via the Apple App Store and Google Play, whose own country availability could not be verified from a vendor page. - CCSS level
- Not on the register as read 15 October 2026 (absent from that page, not a finding that no audit exists)C4 completed CCSS audits register ↗ · 15 October 2026
No confirmed legal entity is on file for this record. Nothing is inferred from the brand name.
If something goes wrong with Vault12 Guard: where to complain, and where to report a scam
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How this page is reviewed
Reviewed means this product in this category was read against its sources on or after that date; every ranked category is re-read at least every 45 days. Models research, extract and parse. A deterministic engine ranks. Every quote passes an adversarial refute pass.
Accountable for this review: Mathias Siemonsmeier, Founder.
How we review · Review calendar · Corrections log · How we make money
History
What the record carries
Changes to published ranks are recorded in a ledger; every step and its cause is listed on the rank-history page. The entries below begin with the current verified snapshot, then the methodology versions whose changes applied to this category, newest first.
10 methodology entries
- 28 October 2026Current verified snapshot · methodology 2026.10.18Score 60, #4 of 9. 4 of 4 criteria scored. History starts here; earlier values are not interpolated.
- 10 October 2026
2026.10.8When nothing serves your country, the list shown for reference is the published ranking · platform-wide- fixed The reference list shown when nothing serves your country is the published order with the published scores, and a build check now fails any such list out of that order or with a score the ranking does not publish.
- fixed The explorer prints an overall rank only for a row the published ranking holds; a country entrant such as Coinbase Commerce for US merchants shows no overall rank.
- changed Published orders do not move. Country results change only where nothing serves the country: in India bill pay keeps Bitcoin Well first and now shows Strike second, as published; 35 such runs across all categories and countries now match the published list exactly.
- 10 October 2026
2026.10.7Forty-one more products are offered only where their own quoted terms serve- fixed 141 country exclusions on 31 rows, each the name of a country the row's own quoted terms exclude: for example Mercuryo Hungary, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Chile, Colombia and Morocco; Gemini Custody the United Kingdom, Australia and the EU after its wind-down; Backed xStocks the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, Nigeria, the Philippines and Venezuela.
- changed Thirteen rows list the only countries their terms serve: Coins.ph the Philippines, Spritz bill pay, Brex, Unchained, WisdomTree, Franklin BENJI and AnchorWatch the United States (with its territories for AnchorWatch), PRYPCO Mint the UAE, N26 crypto seven EU countries, Gemini Tokenized Stocks the EU, XNET the US, Canada and the UK, Coldbit Steel and MetaMask Card the countries they list.
- changed Published (no-country) orders do not move. Country results change: in India six categories each lose one row (bill pay, cards, off-ramps, P2P, seed backup, tokenised real estate), and bill pay there has no row confirmed available, so it shows the published order marked as such; country pages list 23 fewer rows (24,357 to 24,334). The grounding test now matches full country names in any case, which shows seven earlier exclusions were quoted all along: the named debt of unquoted exclusions falls from 40 to 33 pairs.
- 10 October 2026
2026.10.6A criterion you require re-scores the rows that meet it · platform-wide- changed The explorer sends each criterion you require, at any band, as fit_required with your other answers; region, licence, chain and fact filters stay filters. On /best, a required criterion joins For you as a marked preference does, which needs your country; Overall stays the published ranking, filtered.
- added Every published criterion has a golden case as the explorer sends it (require:<criterion>), so the order a requirement gives is replayed and gated as the published order is, and a change to it needs an entry here.
Methodology 2026.10.18, the same published run every visitor sees · receipt key_recovery:vault12:2026.10.18:9e23226e3510
Are you Vault12 Guard? Reply to this verdict, or send evidence, ask for a correction or claim the listing. Every message gets a public ticket number; none of it changes a rank unless a public page or a signed statement supports it.