EstateCanvas vs. free will kits
A free template can produce a valid will. What it cannot do is tell you when you have made a mistake.
Figures checked on August 4, 2026. Sources at the foot of the page.
The honest bottom line
A blank will form filled in carefully and witnessed correctly is a valid will, and a valid will beats no will every single time. If $15 is genuinely the obstacle, use a free kit tonight rather than putting it off again. What you are giving up is every check that catches the mistakes that actually invalidate wills — witnesses who are also beneficiaries, residue that does not add up to 100%, no backup executor, wrong witness age for your province.
Where a free kit wins
Yes, this section is on our website. A comparison that pretends the other side has nothing is not a comparison.
It costs nothing
If money is the reason you have no will, a free kit removes the reason. Many Canadian public libraries and some provincial resources offer them.
No account, no internet, no company
Nothing to sign up for and no third party holding your information. Some people simply prefer that, and it is a legitimate preference.
A valid will is a valid will
Nothing about being free makes a will less legally effective, as long as it is signed and witnessed according to your province's rules.
Where EstateCanvas wins
It stops you making the mistakes that void wills
The most common failures are structural, not stylistic: a witness who is also a beneficiary, so their gift is void. Residue percentages that add to 90% or 110%. No alternate beneficiary if the first one dies before you. A witness who is 18 in a province that requires 19. We check all of these before you sign.
It knows which province you are in
A generic template does not know that BC requires witnesses to be 19, that Alberta will not accept an electronically witnessed will, or that Ontario's preferential share is $350,000. Our rules engine applies your province's law as you answer.
Signing instructions specific to your province
More wills fail on execution than on drafting. You get step-by-step instructions for signing and witnessing in Ontario, BC or Alberta.
It stays current
A paper kit in a drawer is a snapshot of the day you filled it in. Yours can be updated free whenever something changes.
Feature by feature
| EstateCanvas | Free will kit | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | $29 (currently $15) | Free |
| Legally valid when signed correctly | ✓ | ✓ |
| Province-specific rules applied | ✓ | — |
| Warns you if a witness is also a beneficiary | ✓ | — |
| Checks residue adds up to 100% | ✓ | — |
| Prompts for backup executors and beneficiaries | ✓ | — |
| Province-specific signing instructions | ✓ | Generic at best |
| Typed, consistently formatted document | ✓ | Handwritten in the blanks |
| Free updates later | ✓ | Rewrite by hand |
| Stored and re-downloadable | ✓ | — |
“✓” means included at the base price. “—” means not offered. EstateCanvas price: $15 per will until October 31, 2026, then $29.
Decide for yourself.
Start the questionnaire and read your finished will before paying. If we are not the right fit, you will know before it costs you anything.