Private · Self-hosted · Yours forever
A living museum of your family history
Your family’s history,
preserved for generations
Family history is more than names and dates on a tree. It is the stories, photographs, documents, recipes, memories, and voices that define who we are. We build your private archive on your own server and hand you the keys — you own it outright, forever.
“A private, self-hosted archive — owned by your family, not a corporation. A place to gather everything that matters: the faces in old photographs, the handwritten recipe cards, the documents tucked in drawers, the stories only a few people still remember, and the voices that should never be forgotten.”
Our goal: future generations can not only discover their ancestors, but see their faces, hear their voices, and read their stories.
Everything in one place
Built for real families
Not a scrapbook. Not a social network. A structured, private archive that grows with every generation.
Photo Gallery
Full-screen lightbox with swipe gestures, person tagging with bounding boxes, comments, and captions. Photos link to people, stories, and timelines automatically.
Voice Memories
Record directly in the browser or upload audio files. Voices are attached to person profiles and preserved forever — the one thing photographs can’t capture.
Interactive Family Tree
Zoomable, pannable canvas with profile photos. Tap any person to instantly see exactly how they’re related to you — down to second cousin twice removed.
Family Stories
Rich long-form articles with cover photos, linked people, gallery photos, places, recipes, and documents. A home for every war story, immigration journey, and funny memory.
Family Cookbook
Structured recipes with sectioned ingredient lists and step-by-step instructions. Family members leave tips, substitutions, and voice memories alongside every dish. Heart your favorite recipes and export them into a print-ready cookbook PDF to keep or share.
Memorial Pages
A dedicated, dignified space for family members who have passed. Tribute text, photo gallery, and a guestbook for the family to share their memories.
Document Vault
Upload certificates, letters, immigration records, and scanned originals. Organise into folders and link documents directly to the stories and recipes they belong to.
Life Timelines
An interactive timeline for each person — pan and zoom through decades of births, marriages, milestones, and events, all in one view.
Private & Self-hosted
Login required for everything. Your data lives on your server, in a single portable SQLite file. No subscription. No algorithm. No corporation owns your family’s history.
How it works
We set it up. You own it.
A one-time setup on your own server, then it’s yours to run independently — with no ongoing dependency on us.
You purchase
Pay once and tell us your domain and server details. No subscription.
We deploy
We configure everything, set up SSL, and seed your archive on your VPS.
We hand off
You get your admin login, a walkthrough, and full ownership of the system.
You add memories
Invite your family. Upload photos, record voices, write stories — forever.
Family tree
See how everyone fits together
The tree is zoomable and pannable on any screen. Each node shows a profile photo and name. Memorial frames distinguish family members who have passed.
The standout feature: tap any person and instantly learn how they’re related to you. The engine traces paths through the entire family graph and returns plain-English labels — not just “related,” but exactly related.
Relationship examples
Ownership & privacy
Your family’s history belongs to your family
Every photo, voice recording, and story lives on a server you control. There is no cloud subscription, no algorithmic timeline, and no third party with access to your family’s most personal memories.
The entire database is a single portable SQLite file. Back it up with one command. Restore it the same way. Move servers whenever you want — your data moves with you, and the software keeps working even if we disappear.
Login required
Every page, every route. Nothing is public except the splash page.
Unlimited members, by role
Invite your whole family — no per-seat fee, ever. Each gets a role: Owner, Admin, Contributor, or Viewer.
Two-factor authentication
Optional per account, or required site-wide. Authenticator-app codes with backup recovery codes.
Self-hosted on your VPS
One-command Docker deploy. Caddy handles SSL automatically. Runs on a ~$10/month VPS.
Automatic daily backups
Scheduled backups with one-click restore — plus an automatic safety snapshot before every restore.
Portable SQLite database
One file. Human-readable, widely supported, no separate database server required.
How it compares
Own it, don’t rent it
A one-time purchase you own outright — not another subscription.
Services like Ancestry are for researching ancestors (records, DNA). Private Family Archive is for preserving and owning what your family already has — privately, forever. See the full comparison →
One price
Pay once. Own it forever.
No tiers, no subscriptions, no add-ons. One complete deployment.
Deployment & Perpetual License
$5,000
one-time · paid once
- Complete software, fully deployed on your server
- Unlimited family member accounts — no per-seat fee
- Domain & automatic SSL configuration
- Database initialization and admin setup
- Automatic daily backups & one-click restore
- Perpetual single-family license — yours forever
- Handoff documentation & walkthrough
Want to see it first? Request a live demo
Sales are final once provisioning begins. See our refund policy and license terms.
Questions
Before you decide
Do I need to be technical?
No. We handle the entire server setup, SSL, and configuration, then hand you a simple admin login. You only need a domain and a VPS — we can guide you through getting both.
What exactly do I own?
Everything. The software runs on your server under a perpetual single-family license, and all your content — photos, stories, documents, voices — is a single portable database that belongs to you. It keeps working even if we disappear.
Is there a monthly fee?
No. The price is a one-time $5,000. Your only ongoing cost is your own VPS hosting, which runs around $10/month from providers like Hostinger or DigitalOcean.
How many family members can join?
As many as you like — there is no per-user fee, ever. Invite your whole family with single-use links and give each person a role: Owner, Admin, Contributor, or Viewer.
Can I bring my existing family data?
Yes. Import people in bulk from a spreadsheet (CSV) — names, dates, parents, and spouses — in one step, with a preview before anything is saved. Re-importing updates people instead of creating duplicates.
Can I see it before I buy?
Yes — request a live demo and we’ll stand up a fully-seeded, working instance for you to explore, then take you through it.
What happens to my data if I ever stop?
Nothing changes — it’s your server. Export the single portable database and your original files any time. There is no lock-in.
“Ensure that future generations can not only discover their ancestors, but see their faces, hear their voices, and read their stories.”
Self-hosted. Yours forever. $5,000, once.