Compared on 1 November 2026, using MyHeritage's own website and help pages.
What's the main difference between Kumbaa and MyHeritage?
MyHeritage looks outwards. It finds your ancestors in billions of historical records, matches your tree with other members' trees, and sells DNA tests that find relatives you didn't know about. It's very good at that.
Kumbaa looks inwards. It's a private site for the family you already know: the tree, every photo with the faces named, and the stories behind them. Nobody outside the family sees it, and there are no records to search and no DNA.
Put simply: choose MyHeritage to find out more about your ancestors. Choose Kumbaa to keep what your family already knows, together, in one private place.
Kumbaa and MyHeritage side by side
| Kumbaa | MyHeritage | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A private website for one family's tree, photos and stories. | A genealogy service: family trees, historical records and DNA. |
| Price | 14 days free, then US$6.99 a month or US$69 a year, for the whole family. Everyone invited joins free. | Basic is free. Paid plans are yearly: Premium US$129, PremiumPlus US$209, Data US$189, Complete US$299, Omni US$399 (lower in the first year). |
| Free limits | No free plan; a 14-day free trial. | Basic: up to 250 people and 500 MB of storage. |
| People in the tree | Unlimited. | 250 on Basic, 2,500 on Premium, unlimited on PremiumPlus, Complete and Omni. |
| Photos | 10 GB. Faces found in your browser and named once; every photo someone is in, on their page. | Storage depends on the plan. Repair, enhance, colourise and animate photos on Complete, Omni or the Photo subscription. |
| Historical records | None. | Searching is free; viewing most records needs a Data, Complete or Omni plan. |
| DNA | None. | DNA tests, ethnicity estimates and DNA matches. |
| Who can see it | Only the people you invite. Closed to search engines and crawlers. | Living people are hidden from guests by default. Trees are included in MyHeritage's search engine unless you turn it off. |
| Family editing | Members edit their own branch of the tree. | Invited family members can contribute to the family site. |
| GEDCOM | Not yet. Import from a PDF, a document or a photo of a chart. | Import and export. |
Is MyHeritage's free plan enough?
For a small tree, it can be. A Basic site holds 250 people and 500 MB. A family with a few generations on both sides passes 250 sooner than you'd think, and then you need Premium (2,500 people) or PremiumPlus (unlimited). The photo tools that made MyHeritage famous, like Deep Nostalgia and In Color, are in Complete and Omni, or a separate Photo subscription.
Kumbaa has no free plan. It's one price for the family, US$6.99 a month or US$69 a year, with unlimited people and 10 GB of photos.
Who can see our family on each?
On MyHeritage, details of living people are hidden from guests by default, and only last names show. Your tree is included in MyHeritage's search engine by default so other researchers can find your ancestors; you can turn that off. That openness is how Smart Matches work, and it's useful if you want to be found.
A Kumbaa archive has its own private address, behind sign-in. Every page and every photo checks that whoever is asking belongs to that family. It's closed to search engines and crawlers, and never used to train AI models.
What about photos?
MyHeritage edits photos: it sharpens faces, colourises black-and-white photos and animates them. Kumbaa doesn't. Kumbaa organises them: it finds the faces as you add photos, in your own browser, and once you name someone it suggests them in the next photos. Each person's page gathers every photo they're in. If you've had a photo restored, add the old scan too and a slider compares the two.
Which should you choose?
Choose MyHeritage if…
- You want to search historical records for your ancestors.
- You want a DNA test, or DNA matches with relatives you haven't met.
- You want your tree matched with millions of other trees.
- You want AI tools to repair, colourise or animate old photos.
Choose Kumbaa if…
- You want a private place for the family you know, that strangers can't find.
- You want the whole family in, each filling in their own branch, at one price.
- You want everyone's faces named across hundreds of photos.
- You want "How are we related?" answered in plain words for any two people.
Where these facts come from
MyHeritage'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 MyHeritage'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.
- MyHeritage price list (checked 1 November 2026)
- Is MyHeritage free? (checked 1 November 2026)
- What types of subscriptions does MyHeritage offer? (checked 1 November 2026)
- What is the Photo Subscription? (checked 1 November 2026)
- What are the privacy options for my family site? (checked 1 November 2026)
- If my family tree and photos are in the MyHeritage Search Engine, are they protected? (checked 1 November 2026)
- How do I export a GEDCOM file of my family tree? (checked 1 November 2026)
MyHeritage is a trademark of its owner. Kumbaa isn't affiliated with MyHeritage.