Family Tree Builder (v2 preview)
A Family Tree With Photos, Voices and Stories — Not Just Names and Dates
Every person on your tree becomes a real page: their photographs, a video, a recording of their voice and the stories your relatives add. Start free with one memorial page; connect the generations into a family tree on the Pro plan. The kind of tree a grandchild can actually open and get to know someone.
- Memorial pages are free, no credit card
- Family tree view included in Pro
- Works on any phone — no app to install
- Private by default; you choose who sees it
- Whole family can add memories
What is a digital family tree with photos?
A digital family tree with photos is an online chart of your relatives where each person is a full page — photographs, video, voice recordings, dates, places and written memories — instead of a box with a name and two dates. On Scan2Remember each memorial page is free to create; the Pro plan connects those pages into a family tree, lets relatives add what they remember, and links any person to a QR memorial plaque at their grave.
Updated August 2026 · By the Scan2Remember team · Reviewed against 568 published memorial guides
A name and two dates is not a person
Genealogy sites are excellent at structure: who married whom, who was born when, which branch leads where. Open most family trees, though, and you meet a wall of names you never knew — accurate, and almost entirely empty.
The grandmother who made the house smell of cinnamon. The uncle with the impossible laugh. The great-grandfather who crossed an ocean with one suitcase. On a traditional chart each of them is a box with two dates in it.
A Scan2Remember family tree keeps the structure and gives back the people. The chart still shows how everyone connects. The pages show who they actually were — and they are written by the people who knew them.
Build it in five steps — about ten minutes to start
You do not need to be a genealogist or finish it in one sitting. Most families start with one person and grow the tree together.
Create a free account
Sign up with an email address. No credit card, no download — it runs in the browser on any phone or computer.
Start with one person
Yourself, a parent or the grandparent you have the most to say about. Add their name, dates and a favourite photo.
Add their people
On Pro, connect a parent, a partner, a sibling, a child. Each new relative becomes their own page, ready for memories whenever you have them.
Fill the pages with what matters
Photos from across their life, a video, the song they always played, a voicemail you saved. A few details bring a page to life.
Invite the family
Relatives add the stories only they have. Cousins fill in branches you never knew. The tree grows without you doing all the work.
Everything a chart leaves out
Photos across a lifetime
Unlimited photos on paid plans, organised into albums — the wedding, the holidays, the ordinary Tuesdays.
Their voice
Upload a voicemail or record a relative telling a story. The single most-requested feature by grieving families.
Video and animated portraits
Home videos, or bring an old still photo to life with respectful AI photo animation.
Stories from everyone
A guestbook where relatives and friends write what they remember. Each entry is saved with the person forever.
Dates, places, timeline
Born, married, moved, served, retired — a life-story timeline sits alongside the tree so context is never lost.
A QR link at the grave
Any person on the tree can be linked to a stainless-steel QR plaque on their headstone, so visitors scan and meet them.
Scan2Remember vs genealogy sites vs templates
Different tools solve different problems. If you want to discover unknown ancestors from records, a genealogy database is the right tool. If you want to preserve the people you actually knew, that is what we built.
| Feature | Scan2Remember | Ancestry / MyHeritage | FamilySearch | Canva / printable template |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full photo albums per person | Yes | Limited gallery | Basic | One photo per box |
| Voice recordings & video | Yes | Limited | Audio only | No |
| Relatives add stories & tributes | Yes, unlimited collaborators* | Yes | Yes | No |
| Historical records search | No | Yes (subscription) | Yes, free | No |
| Links to a QR plaque at the grave | Yes | No | No | No |
| Private by default | Yes | Configurable | Shared public tree | Offline |
| Free to start | Free pages; tree on Pro | 14-day trial, then paid | Yes | Yes |
| Built for grieving families | Yes | No | No | No |
*Collaborator limits vary by plan. Competitor details from their public websites, August 2026 — features change; check each site.
Four reasons families start a tree this week
After a loss
You have a phone full of photos, a voicemail you cannot delete and a funeral that is over. A tree gives all of it a permanent home — and gives the wider family a way to help.
Grandparents, while they are here
Sit with them. Record the stories now: how they met, the war, the first house. The tree is where those recordings live for the next generation.
Reunions and anniversaries
One link the whole family can open on their phones. Cousins fill in their branches; the tree becomes the reunion's guest of honour.
Children who never met them
A tree with faces, voices and stories is how a child meets a great-grandparent. A chart of names cannot do that.
One scan at the grave opens their whole branch
A headstone holds a name and two dates. A Scan2Remember QR memorial plaque ($49.90, 316 marine-grade stainless steel, free lifetime hosting) attaches to the stone and opens that person's page — photos, voice, stories, and the tree that shows who they belonged to.
Visitors decades from now will not need an app or a password. They scan, and they meet them.
Family tree builder FAQ
Is the Scan2Remember family tree builder free?
Memorial pages are free to create, with no credit card. The family tree view — connecting those pages across parents, children and generations — is part of the Pro plan, which also includes unlimited photos and video, background music, up to 15 family admins and multiple QR codes. Start free with one person; upgrade when you are ready to connect the family.
How do I make a family tree with photos?
Create a free account and add one person with their name, dates and a photo. On the Pro plan, connect their parents, partner, siblings and children — each relative becomes their own page where you and your family upload photos, video and stories. It takes about ten minutes to start.
Can I start without paying?
Yes. Creating memorial pages with photos and stories is free. The tree that links them is a Pro feature, and — unlike genealogy subscriptions — you are paying for storage and family features, not for access to records. Pages you created stay online if you later move back to the free plan.
What is the best family tree app for photos and memories?
For discovering ancestors from historical records, use FamilySearch (free) or Ancestry. For preserving the people you knew — photo albums, voice recordings, video and written memories for each person — Scan2Remember is built specifically for that, and it works in any phone browser with no app to install.
Do I need to download software?
No. Everything runs in your browser on iPhone, Android or a computer. Relatives you invite just open a link.
Can other family members add to the tree?
Yes. Invite relatives by link or email. They can add people, upload photos and write memories on any page you allow. You stay the owner and control permissions.
Is the family tree private?
Pages are private by default. You choose whether each memorial is visible to invited family only, to anyone with the link, or listed publicly.
Can I import a GEDCOM file from Ancestry or MyHeritage?
Not yet. Most families start a Scan2Remember tree with the two or three generations they knew personally, because that is where the photos and stories are. Deep ancestry from records is best kept on a genealogy site; link to it from a person's page.
What happens to the tree if I stop paying?
Your memorial pages stay online on the free plan; the tree view and other Pro features pause until you resubscribe. Pages linked to a QR plaque include free lifetime hosting, so a plaque at a grave never goes dark.
Can ChatGPT or AI draw my family tree?
AI can sketch a chart of names, but it cannot hold your photographs, a voicemail or the story your aunt tells about the wedding. Use AI to organise names if you like, then build the living tree here. Our AI photo animation can bring an old portrait to life on a person's page.
How is this different from a digital memorial page?
A digital memorial page honours one person. The family tree connects those pages — parents, children, generations — so a visitor can move from one life to the next and see how everyone belonged together.
How much does a family tree builder cost?
Genealogy subscriptions run roughly $10–$50 a month for record access. On Scan2Remember, memorial pages are free; the family tree is included in the Pro plan alongside unlimited media and family admins. A QR memorial plaque is a one-time $49.90 with no ongoing fee.
Start with one person. The family will do the rest.
Add a name, a date and a photo. Ten minutes from now there is a place your grandchildren can meet them.
- Free memorial pages, no credit card
- Tree included in Pro
- Private by default