Create a Family Tree Online
Start with yourself, add parents and grandparents, then invite the family — everyone gets their own place in the tree and their birthday on it, with an archive for the photos and stories beside it.
- Free for the whole family — nobody needs a card to join.
- Photos and stories are kept with the names, the place and roughly when written in the caption, so nothing becomes a mystery file.
- Invite-only from day one: no public profiles, no ads, no data sold.
Add your name, birth year, and the branch you want to build first.
Build the core structure before you expand to cousins, in-laws, and side branches.
Family members claim their own spot and fill in the names, dates, and stories from their side.
How to create a family tree the family will actually keep updating
Begin with yourself, your parents, grandparents, siblings, and partner so the first version feels complete fast.
Even partial details help relatives recognize the right person and avoid duplicate branches later.
When relatives open the tree and see memories instead of just names, they contribute — and they come back.
Ask one family member from each side to verify names, relationships, and the stories only they remember.
What matters when you create a family tree online
A good tree tool helps you start with a few people and grow gradually, instead of dropping you on a blank canvas with no guidance.
Family history is personal. Kunbaa is invite-only family spaces, not public profile pages — nobody outside the family sees anything.
Photos, voice notes, and small family stories belong beside each person, so the answer to “who is this?” is never lost.
Start small today, then add generations, invite more relatives, and attach new memories as the tree fills out.
- Full names and the nicknames people actually use
- Birth years or approximate ages when exact dates are unknown
- Parents, partners, children, and sibling relationships
- Cities, villages, or countries connected to each branch
- A few photos, letters, or notes to add meaning
- Questions to ask older relatives the next time you speak
Most families start their tree in notes, chat threads, or spreadsheets. That works for collecting names, but it gets messy fast once you need to show who belongs where — and it does nothing for the photos.
The group chat is where the family talks, and it should stay that way. But a chat shows a photo once and buries it: photos sent through messaging apps are compressed substantially, and chat media can expire from the servers, so an old photo may fail to re-download if the sender no longer has the original. A tree gives the people and the originals a home behind the chat.
And if your family has looked at Ancestry, MyHeritage, or FamilySearch: those are research tools for records, DNA, and historical trees. Kunbaa does the other job — a private tree for the living family, where the relatives you actually know carry their own photos and stories.
Frequently asked questions
Clear answers for families who want to start a private family tree with less friction.
Create a Family Tree Online guide
Create a family tree online without losing the story behind the names
When families search for a way to create a family tree online, they are usually trying to solve two problems at once: they want the structure — who belongs where — and they want somewhere for the old photos, the grandparents' stories, and the context future generations will need. Kunbaa is built for both: a real tree holding who everyone is and how they connect, and beside it an archive where each photo and story is kept with the names, the place and roughly when written in the caption — not filed in an album or lost in a thread.
Instead of treating genealogy as a solo research project, Kunbaa makes the tree something relatives build together. Start with a few immediate family members, add relationships over time, and attach memories as you go — the tree stays useful because it holds the family, not just the names. Everyone in the family joins free; see pricing for what the one paid plan adds.
Start small, then expand with confidence
The fastest way to create a family tree is to begin with what your family already knows: yourself, your parents, grandparents, siblings, and children. Once that foundation is clear, it becomes much easier to invite cousins, uncles, aunties, and elders to fill in the missing branches — the invite guide shows how. A tree becomes valuable the moment it helps your family remember relationships and keep stories together, not when it is complete.
If you want the full method first, read how to build a family tree, or sketch the structure with a simple template before you start.
Start free, invite relatives, and keep your family history in one calm private space.