Everyone else’s lock is a policy.
We wrote these comparisons ourselves, which is exactly why every claim about another company is a direct quote from their own site with the date we read it — and why each page also says plainly where they are the better answer for your family.
| What matters over eighteen years | Custodial kids’ apps | Bitcoin self-custody tools | Till18 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Can a parent withdraw early | Yes — usually marketed as flexibility | Yes — it is their own wallet | No. There is no withdraw button |
| Can the company move the funds | Yes, they hold them | No | No, and it was never built |
| If the company shuts down | Not addressed on any homepage we checked | Recovery exists, buried in docs | Printed kit, rehearsed in week one |
| Who receives it, and when | Transferred at the age the wrapper sets | Nobody — there is no beneficiary | The child, named at creation, on their 18th |
| Can relatives give without an account | Sometimes, via a gift link | Only if they use crypto | Yes, from any country we serve |
| Cost over a childhood | €650–2,600 in subscriptions | Hardware, plus your own time | €0/month · about €116 in fees |
| Crypto knowledge needed | None | A great deal | None, at any point |
Category summaries, not claims about any single company — the per-company pages below carry the quotes and dates. Subscription range computed from published pricing, July 2026.
One page each, written the same way every time.
Verdict, attribute table, what they do better, what we do that they cannot, the lock compared, what happens if they shut down, cost over eighteen years, and who should choose which.
Their 18th birthday is already on the calendar.
Setting one up takes ten minutes. We open capsules in small groups so every founding family gets a real conversation.
For parents and guardians (18+). A confirmation email and one reminder, then one when your capsule is ready — nothing else.
iPhone and Android apps arrive with the first capsules. Everything works in a browser on day one.