Kunbaa vs Geni: Your Family's Tree, or a Branch of Everyone's?
Your cousin in Toronto adds her twins; your uncle fixes Nana's birth year; nobody else ever sees it. Geni connects your family into one World Family Tree. Kunbaa keeps a private tree that your relatives build together, with the photos and stories beside it.
Geni is built to merge your family into one World Family Tree, with public profiles for deceased relatives. Kunbaa keeps a private tree only your invited relatives see and edit, never merged with anyone else's, with photos, stories, chat and events around it. Geni Basic is free; Kunbaa's tree is free and one person pays for Kunbaa Plus.
When is Geni the better choice?
When you want to connect your research into a global genealogy tree: find where your line meets others, merge duplicates, work with curators and projects, and move data in and out as GEDCOM. Kunbaa has no world tree and no merging.
When is Kunbaa the better choice?
When you want a tree that stays your family's: seen and edited only by the relatives you invite, never merged, with the photos, stories, birthdays and events right beside it. The tree is free for everyone, with no ads.
How do Kunbaa and Geni compare?
| Compared | Kunbaa | Geni |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | The living family — a private tree of the people you know, with the photos, stories, birthdays and events around it | Building one World Family Tree — more than 200 million profiles connected into a single tree |
| Owned by | Kunbaa, an independent family app | MyHeritage, which acquired Geni in 2012 |
| Your tree and others' | Your family's tree stays your family's. It is never merged with anyone else's tree | Duplicate profiles are merged so trees join the World Family Tree; merges into your tree need approval from someone in it |
| Who sees whom | Only the relatives you invite see anyone on the tree — living or passed | Living profiles are private to you, your Family Group and Geni Curators; deceased profiles, and anyone born over 150 years ago, are public |
| Around the tree | A family wall and Memory Lane for photos, stories and voice notes, and events with birthday reminders — on the web today, with family chat in the mobile app (coming soon) | Profiles with photos and documents, genealogy projects and discussions |
| Tree files (GEDCOM) | GEDCOM import on kunbaa.com, matched to your existing tree and confirmed first; GEDCOM export and tree merging are not switched on yet | GEDCOM import is free; export is capped relative to the profiles you added, with a higher cap on Pro |
| Price | The tree is free for everyone. Kunbaa Plus is $15.99/mo or $159.99/yr for the whole family (yearly is about $13 a month for the whole family), and one person pays | Basic is free. Geni Pro — Tree Matches, site-wide search, more editing — is a paid upgrade, and is included in MyHeritage's Omni plan |
What is the difference between Kunbaa and Geni?
Geni's promise is on its front page: join the World Family Tree and see how we are all related. More than 200 million profiles are connected into one tree, and duplicates are merged so your family becomes a branch of everyone's. MyHeritage has owned Geni since 2012.
Kunbaa makes the opposite promise. Your tree is your family's, and it stays that way — nobody outside the family sees it, and it is never merged into anyone else's. Around it sit the things a genealogy tree leaves out: this year's photos, the story behind Dadi's recipe, whose birthday is on Sunday.
Can I keep my family tree private on Geni?
Partly. Geni keeps living profiles private to you, your Family Group and Geni Curators, and it asks for permission before merging trees. But deceased relatives are public profiles — and so is anyone born more than 150 years ago — because the point is to connect them to the world tree. On Kunbaa, the people who have passed stay as private as everyone else.
Where is Geni stronger?
- Reach. A world tree of 200 million-plus profiles; someone may already have added your ancestors.
- Genealogy collaboration. Curators, projects and discussions for serious researchers.
- Tree files. GEDCOM import, and GEDCOM export within Geni's limits.
Where is Kunbaa stronger?
- A tree that is only yours. Invite-only, never merged, no ads, nobody's data sold.
- Built by the family together. Everyone you invite can add relatives and fix mistakes, and an invitation links each relative to the place you already made for them.
- Life around the tree. A family wall and Memory Lane, and events with birthday reminders — all on the web today, with family chat in the mobile app, coming soon.
- Everyone joins free. One person pays for Kunbaa Plus when the family wants room for the whole archive.
Which should you choose?
If you want to connect your line into humanity's family tree, Geni is built for it. If you want your family's tree to stay your family's — a private place the cousins, the grandparents and the in-laws all fill in together — start a Kunbaa tree.
Related: The Kunbaa family tree · Memory Lane · How to invite your family · Kunbaa vs MyHeritage · Best family tree apps in 2026
Kunbaa vs Geni: common questions
Is Kunbaa an alternative to Geni?
If what you want is a private tree for your own family, yes. Kunbaa keeps your tree to the relatives you invite and never merges it into a world tree, and it keeps the photos, stories, birthdays and events beside it. If you want to connect your line into a global genealogy tree, Geni is built for that and Kunbaa is not.
Who owns Geni?
MyHeritage. It acquired Geni.com in November 2012, and Geni still runs as its own brand. MyHeritage's top Omni plan includes Geni Pro.
Will my Geni tree be merged into the World Family Tree?
That is Geni's model: duplicate profiles are merged so that trees join one World Family Tree. According to Geni, trees are not merged without permission from someone in the tree, and living profiles stay private to you, your Family Group and Geni Curators. Deceased profiles are public.
Who can see and edit my tree on Kunbaa?
Only the relatives you invite, for every person on it — living or passed. Your tree is never merged with a stranger's, there are no ads and nobody's data is sold. Kunbaa is private by invitation, not by encryption: it is not end-to-end encrypted.
Can I import my Geni GEDCOM into Kunbaa?
Yes. Export your Geni GEDCOM (within Geni's export limits) and import it on kunbaa.com in a browser: Kunbaa matches it against the people already in your tree and writes nothing until you confirm. Keep your research tree on Geni if it lives there — Kunbaa reads nothing from Geni, and it does not yet export a GEDCOM.
How much does Kunbaa cost compared to Geni?
The Kunbaa tree is free for everyone. The one paid plan, Kunbaa Plus, is $15.99 a month or $159.99 a year on kunbaa.com — one person pays and the whole family joins free. Geni Basic is free, and Geni Pro is a paid upgrade — check Geni's site for the current price.
More questions? Read the full FAQ or how to build your family tree.
Start with the people you know. Invite the rest.
The tree is free for the whole family, on the web today. When you want room for the whole archive, one person takes Kunbaa Plus at $15.99 a month or $159.99 a year — about $13 a month for the whole family, paid on kunbaa.com — and everyone else joins free.