Comparison

Forethought Personal vs If Required

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Forethought Personal

This app helps you securely organize and share essential information about people, places, and things. It allows you to provide instructions and ensures your data is protected. A premium subscription offers online backup and coordination with designated trustees.

Highlights
  • Secure information organization
  • Share instructions with others
  • Online backup (premium)
  • Coordination with trustees (premium)
  • Data security
Features
Read full description

Keep important information together, so it is easier to find when you need it. Forethought helps you organize documents, account details, contacts and helpful notes for yourself or someone you care for. Each person's information has its own place in the app, called a vault. ORGANIZE FOR YOURSELF OR A PARENT Keep your own information in one vault and a parent's information in another. Add a document, a contact or a note about an account. You can start with a few details and add more at your own pace. START WITH A FREE BASIC ACCOUNT A Basic account lets you organize information for yourself or a parent at no cost. Your information is automatically saved online with encryption to help protect it. Basic also includes VaultKeepers and 100 MB of storage for documents and photos. HELP LOVED ONES FIND WHAT THEY NEED Choose trusted people, called VaultKeepers, who can request access to a saved report of the information in your vault after your death. Forethought's unlock process determines when that report becomes available. Both Basic accounts and Premium subscriptions include VaultKeepers. SHARE INFORMATION WITH PEOPLE YOU TRUST With a paid Premium subscription, you can invite other Forethought users to a vault. You decide whether each person can only view the information or also help update it. People you invite can use a free Basic account. This lets you share information during everyday life, separately from the VaultKeeper process. KEEP PERSONAL VIDEOS ALONGSIDE YOUR INFORMATION Premium also lets you add personal videos and gives you 1 GB of storage in total for documents, photos and videos. You need to sign in and have an internet connection to save information online or share it. The app shows the price and terms of a Premium subscription before you purchase it. Apple Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

If Required

This app securely stores and shares vital personal information, instructions, and guidance with trusted contacts. It ensures that important details about accounts, documents, and even physical items are accessible when needed most, providing peace of mind for families.

Highlights
  • Store personal notes and guidance
  • Share account and document details
  • Provide location for physical items
  • Include pet care instructions
  • End-to-end encryption
  • Offline instruction support
Features
Read full description

Life happens. Leave nothing unsaid. If Required gives you a private place for the things your family may someday need to know — from the words you want to leave them to the everyday details only you know. Write a letter to your kids. Leave instructions for your family. Explain where important documents are kept. Tell someone where to find the spare keys, the safe, family photos, digital assets, or something tucked away that nobody else knows about. You don't have to put everything online. If something sensitive should stay offline, simply leave directions to where it can be found. You decide what to leave. You decide who receives it. You decide who you trust. Choose trusted confirmation contacts and require one, two, or three confirmations before your information is released. Your notes stay private until your conditions are met. And with Personal Follow-Up, there's another layer of reassurance: if receipt of your notes isn't confirmed, a real person — not AI — follows up with your chosen contact by email, text, and phone. Use If Required for: - Personal letters and messages - Things only you know - Important instructions - Locations of documents and valuables - Pet care details - Family photos and digital assets - Directions to information you prefer to keep offline You don't have to prepare everything today. Start with one thing they should know. Add the rest when you're ready. **For everything you know. For everyone you love.** Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Forethought Personal4 screens
If Required4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: If Required at 15.1 against Forethought Personal's 18.0. On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Forethought Personal sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and If Required sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $12.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Forethought Personal against 5.0 for If Required. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 2 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Forethought Personal ships an update weekly, If Required every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
Forethought Personal versus If Required: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterForethought PersonalIf Required
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Number of ratings22
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 9 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size78 MB33 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperMobileAnswer, Incorporatedmemhold inc

Customer experience

Forethought Personal

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

If Required

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Forethought Personal

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Premium Annual$29.991 Year
3 purchases

If Required

Subscriptions1
  • If Required$12.991 Year
One-time2
  • If Required$12.99
  • Premium features$34.99

Questions

Is Forethought Personal free?
Forethought Personal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is If Required free?
If Required is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Forethought Personal or If Required?
Forethought Personal and If Required are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do Forethought Personal or If Required have ads?
Neither Forethought Personal nor If Required shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Forethought Personal or If Required?
Forethought Personal ships an update weekly, and If Required every 9 days. Most recently, Forethought Personal was updated on October 6, 2026 and If Required on October 7, 2026.

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