Trust & Preservation
Built for the future. Honest about the unknown.
A capsule can wait ten, twenty or thirty years before it opens. Here's how we look after yours in the meantime, what protects it today, and how we've prepared for what no one can predict.
Why we built this
We're three brothers. Two of us became fathers and wanted to write something their daughters would open years from now — not a text they'd read in five minutes, but a message that would wait for them. That wait is the whole point. Instant messages are easy; a letter that arrives in 2045 changes how the future feels. We built Time Capsule because we wanted it for ourselves first.
Knowing a message is waiting for you in the future is its own kind of gift.
Three brothers. A family business.
No faceless platform here. Time Capsule is built and run by three brothers — Sébastien, a software engineer and CTO; Aurélien, a software engineer; and Nicolas, a math teacher. We keep our names on it on purpose: a promise means more when you know who's making it. It's operated by Reen Tech LLC, a registered company in California.
How we protect your memories
From the moment you seal a capsule to the day it opens.
The seal is real
The moment you lock a capsule, it's sealed and immutable until its opening date — you can't reopen or edit it early, and it's delivered automatically on the day. A time capsule you can open whenever isn't a time capsule — it's a folder. They're encrypted at rest. We don't read your capsules ourselves: automated safety checks run on a capsule's contents when you create it, before it's sealed, which is how the rules are enforced without a person going through your letters. Where they raise a concern we may block delivery or restrict the account — automatically only when repeated checks all reach the same conclusion. If a decision ever looks wrong to you, tell us.
Professional infrastructure
Your photos and videos are stored on Cloudflare R2, replicated across several data centres, and your capsule's details on Cloudflare D1, a database that can be restored to an earlier point in time if something goes wrong. It's the same infrastructure that quietly runs a large share of the internet. Everything is encrypted at rest and travels over encrypted connections.
Your files, as you gave them
We keep the original of every photo, video and recording you add: the same file, in the format it came in (JPEG, HEIC, MP4, MOV, MP3, PDF and other common formats). Nothing is converted into a proprietary format only we could open, so once downloaded, your files play on ordinary devices.
One payment, nothing to renew
There's no subscription: a capsule is paid for once, when you seal it, so nothing can lapse while it waits — no renewal, no expired card. Payments are handled by Stripe; we never see or store your card details.
Your recipients know it's coming
From the day a capsule is sealed, the people you address it to receive an email with its link and opening date, plus a calendar invitation they can keep. On the opening day we write to them again, and a recipient with an account can add the other addresses they use, because email addresses change over the years.
On opening day, it's yours
On the opening date, your capsule unlocks. You and your recipients can read the message and download every photo, video and recording as original files. It stays online for the period you chose, up to a year, then it's deleted: that download is the copy that lasts. We're the vault until the date and the messenger on the day; the long-term keeping is in your hands, by design.
Honest about the future
No company can promise it will still be here in thirty years. We can't either, and we won't pretend to. What we can do is plan for it, and share that plan with you now, while everything is running smoothly.
Keep it running
We keep Time Capsule deliberately lean, so the cost of running it stays low: that's the most practical way to make a service last. If keeping it going ever became hard, we'd turn to the people who use it for support before considering anything else.
Talk to us about supporting it →Hand it on
If we could no longer carry it ourselves, we'd look for someone able to continue the service, or open up the way capsules are delivered so they no longer depend on us. We can't contractually promise a successor, so we won't — but that's the path we'd take.
Deliver capsules early
If the service ever had to close, our plan is to open every pending capsule ahead of its date and let you and your recipients know, with as much notice as the circumstances allow. A memory that arrives early is better than one that never arrives. We can't predict how a closure would unfold, which is why we call this a plan, not a guarantee.
Our limits, said plainly
- Today, every capsule is stored with a single provider, Cloudflare. Its infrastructure is built for durability, but it's still one dependency, and we'd rather name it. Original files and our early-delivery plan limit what that dependency could cost you.
- Keeping digital files for decades is hard for everyone: formats age, links break, services change. The copy that lasts longest is the one you download and keep, which is why we make that easy on opening day.
Our commitment is simple: to give your memories the best possible chance of reaching the people who matter, when the time comes.
Your memories belong to you
Completely. Creating a capsule grants us a limited license to store and deliver it — nothing more. We don't sell your data, we don't use it for anything beyond running the service, and we don't read your sealed capsules. You can delete your account and personal capsules at any time; deleted data leaves our live systems immediately and our backups within 30 days. Event capsules, including anonymous guest submissions, and their delivery contacts survive account deletion. Those capsules keep their agreed expiration dates.
Quietly, the record so far
- Capsules
- 990
- Sealed hours
- 10.6M+
- Users
- 1.6k+
- Sealed files
- 1.4k+
- Privileged ones
- 1.6k+
- Shared memories
- 2214.6M+
Write something worth the wait.
Seal a message today; let the future open it.