FreeWill

What FreeWill does

FreeWill Co. is a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation headquartered in New York that operates a free, online self-service estate planning platform serving U.S. consumers across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Its core technology is a guided questionnaire that generates legally valid estate documents — wills, revocable living trusts (California), advance healthcare directives, durable financial powers of attorney, and beneficiary designations — reviewed by estate planning attorneys, with bank-grade encryption and SOC 2 Type 2 (AICPA) compliance. The consumer product is free to end users with no credit card required; users can revisit and revise documents indefinitely. The platform additionally offers a nonprofit suite (Planned Giving Suite, Smart Giving Suite covering stock and crypto gifts, Planned Giving Microsites, Featureships, and the acquired Grant Assistant AI grant workflow tool), and an enterprise platform for financial advisors called Estately launched in October 2024 with Mercer.

FreeWill's revenue model is freemium and structurally underpinned by a two-sided flywheel with more than 2,400 nonprofit and charity partners. Consumers do not pay; instead, nonprofit partners pay for B2B SaaS that helps them capture bequests, planned gifts, and tax-advantaged donations from platform users. Approximately one in six users include a charitable gift in their will, contributing to a stated $14.2B+ in cumulative bequest commitments routed through 1.5M+ wills created on the platform. Distribution is dominated by nonprofit partner referrals, content marketing and SEO, and earned media placement (NYT, Forbes, USA Today, AARP, Good Housekeeping), supplemented by direct B2B sales into nonprofits and, more recently, into financial advisor enterprises via Estately. The company has raised approximately $30 million in a 2022 securities offering led by Bain Capital Double Impact Fund, completed acquisitions of Cocatalyst.org (2021) and Grant Assistant (October 2024), and operates as a for-profit public benefit corporation with 101-250 employees.

Name

FreeWill

Legal name

FreeWill Co.

Website

https://freewill.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

FreeWill is a New York-based public benefit corporation offering a free online estate planning platform for U.S. individuals, supported by 2,400+ nonprofit partners who benefit from user bequests, with B2B SaaS tools for nonprofits and financial advisors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Estate Planning Software

NAICS

Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525), Other Grantmaking and Giving Services (813219)

akta.pro primary industry

Estate & Legacy Planning Advisory (FSAEAAAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Estate Planning & Trust Structuring Advisory (FSAEAKAC), Philanthropy & Foundations Advisory (Donor-Advised Funds, Endowments) (FSAAABAH), Trust & Estate Tax Planning & Compliance (FSAEAKAE)

Keywords

• Estate planning software
• Online will creation
• Planned giving platform
• Charitable giving tools
• Nonprofit fundraising software

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Nonprofit Partnership Revenue Model: FreeWill provides free estate planning tools to users, funded entirely by nonprofit organizations. Over 2,400 nonprofits partner with FreeWill, and one in six users include a charitable gift in their will. When users make bequests to charity through the platform, nonprofits receive those donations, which funds FreeWill's operations. This creates a sustainable model where the service remains free for users while generating charitable donations for partner nonprofits.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

FreeWill operates a free online platform that enables individuals to create estate planning documents — wills, trusts, healthcare directives, and powers of attorney — and connects users with more than 2,400 nonprofit partners for charitable bequests. The company additionally provides planned-giving and fundraising SaaS tools (Planned Giving Suite, Smart Giving Suite, Microsites) to nonprofits and financial advisors, and has extended into adjacent offerings such as charitable stock and crypto gifts, grant writing (Grant Assistant), and property-transfer tools (Estately).

Product overview

FreeWill is a free online estate planning platform offering a suite of tools for individuals, nonprofits, and financial professionals. For individuals, the core products include Last Will & Testament, Revocable Living Trust (California only), Advance Healthcare Directive, Durable Financial Power of Attorney, and Beneficiary Designations, all provided at no cost. The nonprofit suite includes Fundraising Solutions, Planned Giving Suite, Smart Giving Suite (featuring Charitable Stock Gifts and Charitable Crypto Gifts), Planned Giving Microsites, Featureships, and the acquired Grant Assistant platform. For financial professionals, FreeWill offers Estately, an estate planning platform developed with Mercer. The company is headquartered in NYC as a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation and is supported by over 2,400 nonprofit partners who help fund the free services while receiving bequest donations from users.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Grant Assistant: AI-driven platform that streamlines grant proposal workflows for nonprofits and international development organizations
• Estately
• FreeWill Fellows

Products and services

• FreeWill Wills
• FreeWill Trusts

Quantifiable outcome

• 1.5M+ wills created through the platform
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• MercercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 October 2024FreeWill launched Estately, an estate planning platform for financial advisors, in partnership with Mercer. The collaboration enables financial advisors to offer expanded estate services to their clients through FreeWill's technology.
• Grant AssistantcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 October 2024FreeWill acquired Grant Assistant, an AI-driven platform that streamlines grant proposal workflows for nonprofits and international development organizations. The acquisition expands FreeWill's employee footprint beyond the US and aims to enhance nonprofit funding efforts. Grant Assistant had operations in Washington, DC and Lahore, Pakistan.
• Second Harvest Food BankminorGTM or Marketing PartnerJoint campaign offering free wills to food bank supporters, expanding access to estate planning while raising awareness for both organizations.
• United Church of ChristminorGTM or Marketing PartnerParticipated in Make-A-Will Month campaign, offering free will-writing tool to UCC members and supporters.
• Arkansas Catholic OrganizationsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerDiocese and parishes partnered with FreeWill to offer estate planning services to Catholic congregants in Arkansas.
• Case Western Reserve UniversityminorGTM or Marketing PartnerOffice of Strategic Giving partnered with FreeWill to help university supporters create free wills.
• Seoul Saetbyeol SchoolminorGTM or Marketing PartnerFree support provided for AI math tool School Flat at Seoul Saetbyeol School in South Korea, eliminating educational blind spots.
• 2,400+ Nonprofit PartnerscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOver 2,400 nonprofits partner with FreeWill to ensure estate planning tools are free for everyone. These partners include religious organizations, educational institutions, community organizations, and charities across various causes including animals, arts, civil rights, community, education, environment, health, humanitarian, and human rights.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Trust & Will: Direct competitor offering online will-making and estate planning services to consumers. Closely comparable business model with paid tiers, state-specific documents, and a similar target customer base of individuals seeking DIY estate planning.
• Farewill: UK-based free online will-writing platform with a near-identical model: free to users, funded by charity partnerships, and a high conversion rate of users including charitable gifts. The closest international analog to FreeWill's freemium charity-funded model.

Emerging players

• GoodTrust: Digital estate planning platform offering wills, healthcare directives, and digital asset management. Targets a similar consumer segment as FreeWill with comparable online self-service estate planning tools.
• Cake: End-of-life planning platform offering wills, advance directives, and funeral planning. Overlaps with FreeWill on estate planning documents but differentiates with a stronger end-of-life and funeral planning focus.
• Everplans: End-of-life planning platform with wills, advance directives, and legacy planning tools. Adjacent competitor in the consumer estate planning category with a more curated approach to organizing end-of-life documents and information.
• Wealth.com: Estate planning platform specifically designed for financial advisors, directly comparable to FreeWill's Estately product. Serves the same enterprise advisor channel with technology-enabled estate planning solutions for client relationships.
• Vanilla: Estate planning software built for financial advisors and RIAs, with similar enterprise B2B positioning to FreeWill's Estately. Targets the same advisor market seeking to add estate planning capabilities to their service offerings.

Broad incumbents

• Rocket Lawyer: Subscription-based legal services platform with estate planning documents as part of a broader legal product portfolio. Competes with FreeWill on will creation but bundles it with ongoing legal counsel, business formation, and other legal services.
• LegalZoom: Established legal technology platform offering wills, trusts, and a wide portfolio of legal services. Competes with FreeWill in the estate planning category but as part of a much broader legal services suite, with significantly larger brand recognition and customer base.

Others

• Givinga: Planned giving and donor-advised fund technology platform for nonprofits. Comparable to FreeWill's nonprofit-facing planned giving suite and Smart Giving products but focuses more on DAF infrastructure than estate planning tools.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/freewill_hq
• Facebookfacebook.com/FreeWillHQ
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/freewill

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors9 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A2 records

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about FreeWill