Death Plan Switch
Dead man's switch in Privacy & security
Self-hosted dead man's switch that alerts contacts if you miss check-ins, useful for solo operators' succession planning. Critics note the encryption problem after death and the website's AI-generated look.
Self-hosted dead man's switch that alerts contacts if you miss check-ins, useful for solo operators' succession planning. Critics note the encryption problem after death and the website's AI-generated look.
13 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 11
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 85%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 11 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 5.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Succession plans for solo operators
“I can't miss it because I'm selling my clients the death plan in my contracts.”
Comment from 20 Oct 2026 in “Show HN: Death Plan Switch, a self-hosted dead man's switch for solo devs” “I've put my 2IC in place and I'm meeting with my lawyer soon to add her.”
Comment from 20 Oct 2026 in “Show HN: Death Plan Switch, a self-hosted dead man's switch for solo devs” “Sick idea, folks that don't have humans on payroll need this”
Comment from 21 Oct 2026 in “Show HN: Death Plan Switch, a self-hosted dead man's switch for solo devs” - Comment from 20 Oct 2026 in “Show HN: Death Plan Switch, a self-hosted dead man's switch for solo devs”
Useful, better than no plan
“It's better than not having a plan for me.”
Comment from 20 Oct 2026 in “Show HN: Death Plan Switch, a self-hosted dead man's switch for solo devs” “I find it very useful, thanks for sharing.”
Comment from 20 Oct 2026 in “Show HN: Death Plan Switch, a self-hosted dead man's switch for solo devs” Interesting, well-liked concept
“Nice, i have similar idea for a while, with some additional features”
Comment from 20 Oct 2026 in “Show HN: Death Plan Switch, a self-hosted dead man's switch for solo devs” “I liked the project by the way, even if it's a bit trivial.”
Comment from 20 Oct 2026 in “Show HN: Death Plan Switch, a self-hosted dead man's switch for solo devs” “interesting concept. feels high gain at 1/wk.”
Comment from 20 Oct 2026 in “Show HN: Death Plan Switch, a self-hosted dead man's switch for solo devs”
What people recommend instead
The same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Death Plan SwitchThis page | 11 | 2 | 85% | 1 | — | — |
| Google Inactive Account Manager | 5 | 1 | 83% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
14 of the 16 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Sick idea, folks that don't have humans on payroll need this”
“I find it very useful, thanks for sharing.”
“The problem is how to de-e2ee when the person is gone.”
“I've put my 2IC in place and I'm meeting with my lawyer soon to add her.”
“It's kinda high maintenance all on it's own.”
“I think you may wanna de-slop the website since it pretty looks like ai-generated.”
“feels like you've been out of the software industry for a decade or two”
“It's better than not having a plan for me.”
“my clients are loving the plans”
“I liked the project by the way, even if it's a bit trivial.”
“interesting concept. feels high gain at 1/wk.”
“Nice, i have similar idea for a while, with some additional features”
“I can't miss it because I'm selling my clients the death plan in my contracts.”
“it seems likely that I would overlook replying to the email and everyone will panic when they get notified”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.