Compared on 1 November 2026, using FamilySearch's own website and help pages.
What's the main difference between Kumbaa and FamilySearch?
FamilySearch's Family Tree is one tree for everyone. Every user works on the same data, so your great-grandfather has one profile that anyone can add to or correct. It's free, it has a huge collection of records, and it finds possible matches for you. For research, it's remarkable.
Kumbaa is the opposite on purpose. Each family has its own tree, on its own private address, and only the people you invite can see or change it. It's for the photos and stories as much as the names and dates.
Kumbaa and FamilySearch side by side
| Kumbaa | FamilySearch | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A private website for one family's tree, photos and stories. | A free genealogy service with one shared, public Family Tree and historical records. |
| Price | 14 days free, then US$6.99 a month or US$69 a year, for the whole family. Everyone invited joins free. | Free. Provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. |
| Whose tree | Your family's own, seen only by people you invite. | One shared tree. Deceased people are public and editable by any user. |
| Living people | Private, like everything in the archive. | Private: in your private tree, or a family group tree shared with chosen family. |
| Photos and stories | 10 GB. Faces found and named once; albums, decades, map and this month. | Memories: photos, documents, audio and stories, private by default. Photos up to 15 MB each. |
| Historical records | None. | Indexed records, digitised records and online genealogies. |
| DNA | None. | None. |
| Who can edit | Curators, and each member for their own branch. | Any user, for deceased people in the shared tree. |
| GEDCOM | Not yet. Import from a PDF, a document or a photo of a chart. | Upload. No GEDCOM export from Family Tree itself. |
What happens when anyone can edit?
That's FamilySearch's strength and its catch. A shared tree means you can find whole branches someone else already researched. It also means a stranger can change your grandmother's dates or merge her with someone else, and you'll be checking changes you didn't make.
In Kumbaa, only the family edits. Curators can change anything; a member who is in the tree can edit their own corner of it, like their parents, brothers and sisters, and everyone below them. Curators see who changed what in Recent changes.
Where do the family photos go?
FamilySearch Memories are attached to people in the tree, and private by default. They're a good way to share a photo of an ancestor with every descendant who uses FamilySearch.
Kumbaa is built around the photos. As you add them, faces are found in your own browser. Name someone once, and Kumbaa suggests them in the next photos. Each person's page gathers every photo they're in, and you can browse the whole collection by decade or album.
Which should you choose?
Choose FamilySearch if…
- You want to research ancestors in records, for free.
- You're happy for deceased ancestors to be in a public tree others can edit.
- You want to find branches other people have already researched.
Choose Kumbaa if…
- You want a tree only your family can see and change.
- Photos and stories matter as much as names and dates.
- You want both sides of the family: someone who married in can start their side as a linked archive.
- You want relatives to fill in their own branch without learning genealogy software.
Where these facts come from
FamilySearch's facts are from its own website and help pages, checked on 1 November 2026. Prices are in US dollars, and they change and vary by country, so check FamilySearch's site before you decide. Kumbaa's are from our pricing page and the app itself. Spotted something out of date? Write to support@kumbaa.app.
- Is FamilySearch free to use? (checked 1 November 2026)
- What is the purpose of FamilySearch and Family Tree? (checked 1 November 2026)
- Who can see information about living relatives in Family Tree? (checked 1 November 2026)
- How do I upload memories to FamilySearch? (checked 1 November 2026)
- How do I upload my GEDCOM file? (checked 1 November 2026)
- Family Tree FAQs (checked 1 November 2026)
FamilySearch is a trademark of its owner. Kumbaa isn't affiliated with FamilySearch.