Free digital legacy platforms: document your life at no cost

Why look for a free digital legacy platform

Documenting your life story should not cost money. It seems like an obvious statement, but the reality of the market tells a different story. Most digital legacy platforms operate with aggressive freemium models: they let you create a basic profile with severe limitations and then ask for a monthly or annual subscription to access features that should be fundamental, like uploading more than five photos or making your profile visible.

This creates a considerable ethical problem. If the purpose of a digital legacy is to preserve a person's memory for future generations, that preservation cannot depend on someone continuing to pay a fee every month or every year. When you stop paying, your legacy disappears. And that contradicts the very essence of what a legacy should be: something permanent.

That is why we have analyzed the main platforms available, evaluating their free plans, their real limitations, and their suitability for documenting a complete life without having to open your wallet. This analysis is honest: we point out the strengths and weaknesses of each option, including Vestigia.

FamilySearch

What it is

FamilySearch is the largest free genealogical platform in the world, managed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It has billions of historical records and a genealogical database that allows building family trees of great depth.

Strengths

• Completely free: there are no paid plans or premium features. All content and tools are available at no cost.
• Colossal database: access to civil records, church records, censuses, and other historical documents from dozens of countries.
• Collaborative: multiple family members can contribute to the same family tree.
• Stable and well-funded: backed by an institution with resources and long-term commitment.

Limitations

• Exclusively genealogical focus: FamilySearch is designed to record genealogical data (names, dates, kinship relationships), not to document a person's life with biographical depth. You can indicate that your grandfather was born on a certain date and married in a certain year, but there is no space to tell his story, his achievements, his anecdotes.
• No public biographical profiles: there is no public profile where someone can read a person's complete biography.
• Religious affiliation: although use is completely open and does not require membership in any religion, the platform is managed by a religious institution, which may create hesitation for some users.
• Research-oriented interface: the user experience is designed for genealogists, not for people who simply want to document their life story.

Verdict

Excellent for pure genealogy. Not the right tool if what you are looking for is creating a complete biographical profile of a person.

ForeverMissed

What it is

ForeverMissed is a digital memorial platform that allows creating pages dedicated to people who have passed away. It has an international presence, particularly in English-speaking markets.

Strengths

• Thoughtful, emotional design: the memorial pages have a dignified and respectful visual appearance.
• Social features: allows family and friends to leave comments, share memories, and light virtual candles.
• Anniversary notifications: sends reminders on significant dates.

Limitations

• Only for deceased individuals: you cannot create a profile for a living person. This greatly limits its usefulness as a general digital legacy platform.
• Very restrictive free plan: the free version limits you to five photographs. To upload more photos, videos, or access advanced features, you need the premium plan.
• Premium plan starting at 6.99 dollars per month: the cost adds up over time. A memorial you want to maintain for twenty years would amount to more than 1,600 dollars in subscriptions.
• Permanence depends on payment: if you stop paying for the premium plan, the additional features disappear and the memorial is reduced to the basic version with five photos.

Verdict

A good option if you need a digital memorial with social features and are willing to pay. The free plan is too limited to document a life with the depth it deserves.

Mi Legado Digital

What it is

Mi Legado Digital is a Spanish platform focused on managing digital legacy from a patrimonial and testamentary perspective. It allows you to designate a digital executor, manage your online accounts, and leave instructions about what to do with your digital presence after your death.

Strengths

• Unique approach: it addresses an aspect of digital legacy that few platforms cover, the patrimonial and testamentary management of one's digital life.
• Practical tools: allows creating an inventory of digital accounts, designating executors, and leaving clear instructions.
• Oriented to the Spanish-speaking market: interface and support in Spanish.

Limitations

• Not free: plans start from 1.99 euros per year, which may seem inexpensive, but implies a recurring cost.
• Patrimonial focus, not biographical: it is designed to manage what happens with your digital accounts when you die, not to document your life story or create a public profile.
• No public profile: it does not generate an accessible page where anyone can learn about a person's life.
• Very specific niche: it solves a real problem, but a different one from what someone seeking to create a biographical legacy is looking for.

Verdict

Useful as a complement for digital testamentary management, but it is not a biographical legacy platform. If what you want is to document your life story in a public profile, it is not the right tool.

MuchLoved

What it is

MuchLoved is a British charitable platform that allows creating free tribute pages in memory of people who have passed away. It is linked to UK charities, and part of its model is based on facilitating donations to charitable organizations in the name of the person being honored.

Strengths

• Completely free: there are no paid plans. Tribute pages are created and maintained at no cost.
• Linked to charitable causes: allows channeling charitable donations in memory of the deceased person.
• Simple, respectful design: clean pages with space for biography, photos, and condolence messages.

Limitations

• Only for deceased individuals: profiles for living people cannot be created.
• Limited geographical focus: although technically accessible from any country, it is designed for the British market. The linked charitable organizations are British and the interface is designed for UK users.
• English only: there is no multilingual support.
• Basic biographical features: the space to document a person's life is limited. It is more oriented toward emotional tribute and donations than toward in-depth biographical preservation.

Verdict

A good free option if you live in the United Kingdom and want to combine a memorial with charitable donations. Limited for users outside the British environment or for those seeking a complete biographical profile.

Vestigia

What it is

Vestigia is a digital legacy platform where anyone can create a free public profile to document their life or the life of someone else. It is not limited to deceased individuals or to a genealogical or testamentary approach: it is an open biographical platform available to anyone.

Strengths

• Completely free, no premium plans: there are no paid versions or locked features. Everything is available to all users from the very start.
• For both living and deceased individuals: you can create your own biographical profile or create a managed profile in memory of someone who has passed.
• Complete public profiles: each profile includes an extensive biography, achievements, multimedia gallery, and all the information needed to document a life in depth.
• Multilingual: available in English, Spanish, and Chinese, with support for more languages in the future.
• No algorithms: your profile is public and directly accessible. There are no algorithms deciding who sees it or when.
• No advertising: the platform does not display ads or monetize user data.
• Clean, respectful design: a polished interface without distracting elements, designed so the focus remains on the person's story.

Limitations

• Young platform: Vestigia is a recent project, which means its user community is still growing. It does not have the historical database of FamilySearch or the track record of more established platforms.
• No advanced genealogical features: it is not a genealogy tool. If what you want is to build a family tree with thousands of ancestors, FamilySearch is more suitable.
• No testamentary management: it does not include tools for managing digital accounts after death. For that, platforms like Mi Legado Digital are more appropriate.

Verdict

The most complete option for anyone looking for a free digital legacy platform, without restrictions, with public profiles, and suitable for both living and deceased individuals. Its limitations are related to its youth, not to its model or features.

Comparison table

| Feature | FamilySearch | ForeverMissed | Mi Legado Digital | MuchLoved | Vestigia | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Free | Yes | Partial | No | Yes | Yes | | Profiles for living people | N/A | No | N/A | No | Yes | | Profiles for deceased people | N/A | Yes | N/A | Yes | Yes | | Public biographical profile | No | Yes (limited) | No | Yes (basic) | Yes (complete) | | Photo gallery | No | 5 free | No | Yes | Unlimited | | Multilingual | Yes | Yes | Spanish only | English only | Yes | | No algorithms | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |

How to choose the right platform

The choice depends on what you need:

• If your goal is pure genealogy, researching ancestors and building family trees, FamilySearch is the best choice and is completely free.
• If you need to manage what happens with your digital accounts after your death, Mi Legado Digital covers that specific niche.
• If you live in the United Kingdom and want to combine a memorial with charitable donations, MuchLoved is a solid option.
• If you want to create a digital memorial with social features and do not mind paying, ForeverMissed offers a good experience.
• If what you want is to document any person's life, living or deceased, in a complete public profile without paying anything, Vestigia is the platform built exactly for that.

What truly matters

Beyond comparisons and features, what matters is that you make a decision and take action. Every day that passes without documenting a life is a day when memories are lost, anecdotes are forgotten, and details fade.

There is no perfect platform. But there are platforms that allow you to start today, at no cost and without complications. What matters is not where you document your story, but that you document it.

That said, if you are looking for a platform that is truly free, that does not limit the photos you can upload, that allows creating profiles for both living and deceased individuals, and that offers a public space where anyone can discover another person's story, Vestigia is the option we have built for exactly that purpose.

Create your free digital legacy on Vestigia and start documenting what matters.