Legacy Credits Explained: How Your Subscription Covers Your Custodians Later
Legacy Credits are how Echovault pays for your Echo after it passes to the people you chose. Every month you pay for Echovault earns one Legacy Credit, and each credit gives your custodians one month of access at the same tier you paid for. A month of Echo Prime earns a month of Prime, and a month of Echo Voice earns a month of Voice. If you keep Prime for four years, your custodians get 48 months of Prime access when your Echo is released to them, and they pay nothing during those months.
I set it up this way because of how subscriptions normally work. The person who builds something pays for it, and when they stop, access stops. For most apps that's fine. For an Echo, it would mean the people you built it for get a bill on the first day they can use it. Legacy Credits move that cost into the years when you're the one using Echovault, so your custodians can spend their first months with your Echo without having to decide whether to pay for it.
How you earn Legacy Credits
Every paid option earns credits. Echo Voice is $12 a month and adds your real voice, and each month earns your custodians a month of Voice access. Echo Prime is $18 a month and keeps live video with your avatar available, and each month earns a month of Prime, which includes voice.
The Video Avatar Setup is a one-time $99.99 purchase that trains your avatar and includes three months of Prime. Those three months count, so the purchase alone earns three months of Prime access. After that it continues at $18 a month, and every month you keep it adds another.
You don't have to do anything to earn credits. There's no balance to manage, no points, and nothing to redeem. Legacy Credits are a running record of the months you've paid for.
Echo Seed, the free tier, doesn't earn credits because it doesn't need them. Your text Echo stays available to your custodians at no cost.
What happens at release
Your Echo stays private while you're active. If a full year passes with no Check-In and no login, Echovault releases your Echo to your custodians and emails them. Their credited months start at that point. None are used while your account is still active, so every month you earn is waiting for them at release.
How the months are shared
You can name up to three custodians. They share the total months you've earned, and while your account is active you decide how usage is split between them. One person can get a larger share than another.
You also choose each custodian's access level: text only, voice, or full video. For example, your partner could get full video while your brother gets text only. You make these decisions yourself, with time to think them through.
If you stop paying
Months you've already earned stay. If you keep Prime for two years and then cancel, your custodians still have two years of Prime waiting for them. Cancelling only stops new months from being added.
When the credits run out
Once the earned months are used up, your custodians still have your text Echo on the free tier and can keep having text conversations with it. If they want to keep voice or video, they can subscribe themselves.
A worked example
Say you buy the Video Avatar Setup and then keep Prime for another 21 months before cancelling. That's 24 months of Prime: three from the setup and 21 from your subscription. You name two custodians, give your partner full video and your brother voice, and give your partner the larger share of usage.
If your account later goes a full year without a Check-In or login, both custodians get an email and the 24 months begin, divided as you set them. When the months run out, they keep text conversations with your Echo for free, and either of them can subscribe to continue with voice or video.
What your credits pay for
Credits cover access, but what your custodians get from that access comes from your Check-Ins. Every Check-In adds to what your Echo can draw on, so the months you fund are only as useful as the stories behind them. If you're not sure where to start, here's what a Check-In actually looks like, and these are the questions your family is most likely to ask your Echo. For the bigger picture, my guide on how to build a digital legacy covers the whole process, and what to leave your family besides money explains why this is worth doing.
Legacy Credits FAQ
Do my custodians have to pay anything when my Echo is released? No, as long as you've earned credits. Their access at your paid tier is covered for as many months as you paid for. After that, the text Echo stays free.
Do credits expire if I cancel my subscription? No. Months you've earned stay. Cancelling only stops new months from being added.
Do the three months included with the Video Avatar Setup count? Yes. They earn three months of Prime access for your custodians.
Are my credits used up while I'm still active? No. Your custodians' months only start when your Echo is released after a full year of inactivity.
Do all my custodians get the same access? Only if you set it that way. You choose whether each custodian gets text only, voice, or full video, and how usage is split between them.
What happens when the credits run out? Your custodians keep the free text Echo. They can subscribe to continue with voice or video.
Can I spend or transfer Legacy Credits? No. They aren't a currency or a rewards balance. They're a record of prepaid future access for the people you name.
Start with your first Check-In
Every month you spend building your Echo is also a month your custodians won't have to pay for. Start free with text Check-Ins, and add voice or video when you're ready.
