# Kumbaa > Kumbaa is a private website for one family's tree, photographs and stories. Each family gets its own private address (.kumbaa.app); only the people it invites can see anything in it. Faces are found in every photo and named once, "How are we related?" says any two people's relationship in words, and the whole family is invited free. Facts an answer may need: - **What it is:** a walkable family tree (parents above, spouse beside, children below; tap anyone to re-centre), a page per person (portrait, dates including year-only and "circa", birthplace, life story, every photo they're in), albums with a full-screen viewer, a before/after slider for restored photos, a decades timeline, a map of where everyone was born and lived, and "this month" (birthdays, anniversaries, anniversaries of deaths). - **How are we related?:** pick any two people and Kumbaa names the relationship (first cousin once removed, great-aunt, …) and spells out the path ("Rahul's father's father's sister's daughter"). - **Faces:** found in the browser as photos are added (photos aren't sent anywhere for this); name a face once and Kumbaa suggests that person in other photos. - **Both sides of the family:** someone who married in can start their side of the family as a linked archive of its own; members of both step from one tree into the other at that person. - **Import:** a family tree from a PDF, a document, or a photo of a hand-drawn chart is read into people and links, checked before anything is added. - **AI apps:** a remote MCP server at https://kumbaa.app/mcp (OAuth sign-in) works in ChatGPT, Claude and other MCP clients. It can do only what the signed-in member can do on the website. Ask Kumbaa, a built-in assistant, does the same inside the site. - **Privacy:** archives are behind sign-in, closed to search engines and crawlers, and never used to train AI models. - **Pricing:** per family, not per person. A 14-day free trial (card taken at the start), then US$6.99 a month or US$69 a year. Everyone invited joins free. Details: https://kumbaa.app/pricing - **Not:** a DNA test, a records search (census, immigration, newspapers), or a public tree shared with strangers. - **Who makes it:** Sanjay Bhagia, in Sydney (Arigato Consulting Pty Ltd). Support: support@kumbaa.app. The name is from the Urdu and Persian *kunba*, "the household". ## Product - [Kumbaa: a private family tree with photos and stories](https://kumbaa.app/): A private website for your family's tree, photographs and stories. Faces found in every photo, "How are we related?", and the whole family invited free. - [About Kumbaa: why a private family archive](https://kumbaa.app/about): Kumbaa is made in Sydney by Sanjay Bhagia. Why it exists, what it promises your family about privacy, and how to reach the person who makes it. - [Family tree in ChatGPT: the Kumbaa app](https://kumbaa.app/chatgpt): Connect your family's Kumbaa archive to ChatGPT: ask who's in a photo or when someone was born, and add relatives by describing them. Same rights as on the website. - [Family tree in Claude: the Kumbaa connector](https://kumbaa.app/claude): Connect your family's Kumbaa archive to Claude: ask who's in a photo or when someone was born, and add relatives by describing them. Same rights as on the website. - [Kumbaa pricing: one plan per family, 14 days free](https://kumbaa.app/pricing): Kumbaa costs US$6.99 a month or US$69 a year per family, after a 14-day free trial. Everyone you invite joins free. Unlimited people, 10 GB of photos. - [Kumbaa support: help and contact](https://kumbaa.app/support): Help with Kumbaa: signing in, inviting family, adding photos, connecting ChatGPT or Claude, billing and cancelling. Write to support@kumbaa.app. ## Features - [Features: family tree, photos, faces and stories | Kumbaa](https://kumbaa.app/features): Everything in a Kumbaa family archive: a walkable tree with photos, faces named once, "How are we related?", tree import, albums, backups and private invites. - [Both sides of the family, linked by one person](https://kumbaa.app/features/both-sides-of-the-family): Someone who married in can start their side of the family as a linked archive. Members step from one tree into the other, and each family keeps its own photos. - [Face recognition for family photos, kept private](https://kumbaa.app/features/face-recognition): Name a face once and Kumbaa suggests that person in your other family photos. Faces are found in your own browser, so photos aren't sent off to be scanned. - [Family tree with photos: a private family tree app](https://kumbaa.app/features/family-tree-with-photos): Kumbaa is a private family tree app with photos: walk the tree, tap anyone, and see their dates, story and every photo they're in. Invite the family free. - [How are we related? Relationships in plain words](https://kumbaa.app/features/how-are-we-related): Pick any two people in your family tree and Kumbaa says how they're related, like "second cousin once removed", and spells out the path between them. - [Import a family tree from a PDF, document or photo](https://kumbaa.app/features/import-family-tree): Bring an existing family tree into Kumbaa from a PDF, a document, or a photo of a hand-drawn chart. You review the people and links before anything is added. - [Restored family photos beside the original scan](https://kumbaa.app/features/photo-restoration): Keep a restored family photo next to its original scan, with a before/after slider to compare them. Crop, rotate and re-tone photos in Kumbaa's Curate. - [A private family website, only for who you invite](https://kumbaa.app/features/private-family-website): Each family gets its own private website address. Only invited members get in, it's closed to crawlers, never used for AI training, and you can export it all. ## Who it's for - [Who Kumbaa is for: families, elders and reunions](https://kumbaa.app/for): Kumbaa is for families who want their tree, photos and stories in one private place: families spread across countries, grandchildren, and reunion organisers. - [A private family tree for families abroad](https://kumbaa.app/for/families-abroad): For families spread across countries: one private place for the tree, the photos and the stories, so cousins abroad know who's who and what to call them. - [A shared family archive for your family reunion](https://kumbaa.app/for/family-reunions): Before a family reunion, build the tree together. After it, put everyone's photos in one private archive. Invite the whole family free, from every branch. - [Save your grandparents' stories and old photos](https://kumbaa.app/for/grandparents-stories): Record your grandparents' stories and gather the old family photos while they can still tell you who's in them. Keep it all in one private place for the family. ## Free tools - [Free family tree tools: relationships, cousins, templates](https://kumbaa.app/tools): Free family tree tools: a relationship calculator, a cousin chart, a printable family tree template, and relationship names in Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi. - [Cousin chart: first, second and removed cousins](https://kumbaa.app/tools/cousin-chart): A free cousin chart showing every relationship from your great-great-great-grandparents down: first cousins, second cousins, and once and twice removed. Printable. - [Free printable family tree template (4 generations)](https://kumbaa.app/tools/family-tree-template): A free printable family tree template: you, your parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, with room for dates and places. Print it or save it as a PDF. - [Relationship calculator: how are we related?](https://kumbaa.app/tools/relationship-calculator): Free relationship calculator: find whether someone is your first cousin once removed, second cousin or great-aunt, with the path spelled out. No sign-up. - [Relationship names in Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi](https://kumbaa.app/tools/relationship-names): Family relationship names in Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi with English meanings: chacha, tau, mama, mausi, bua, khala, phuphi, devar, nanad, saala and more. ## Guides - [Family history guides: photos, trees and stories](https://kumbaa.app/guides): Practical guides to family history: digitizing and organizing old photos, making a family tree, interviewing grandparents and working out cousin relationships. - [Cousin relationships explained: removed, second, half](https://kumbaa.app/guides/cousin-relationships-explained): What first and second cousins are, what "once removed" means, great- versus grand-, half-cousins, double cousins and in-laws, with worked examples and a chart. - [How to digitize family photos: a practical guide](https://kumbaa.app/guides/how-to-digitize-family-photos): How to scan old family photos: scanner or phone, what dpi to use, file formats, naming, captions, dating photos, backing up and sharing with family. - [How to make a family tree: a step-by-step guide](https://kumbaa.app/guides/how-to-make-a-family-tree): How to make a family tree: start with yourself, ask relatives, record names, dates and places, mark uncertain dates circa, note sources, and share it. - [How to organize family photos: a simple system](https://kumbaa.app/guides/organize-family-photos): A simple way to organize family photos: one master library by date, albums for events and people, dating, naming people, removing duplicates and what to keep. - [55 questions to ask your grandparents about their life](https://kumbaa.app/guides/questions-to-ask-grandparents): 55 questions to ask your grandparents, grouped by topic, with tips on recording the conversation and keeping their stories safe for the rest of the family. ## Comparisons - [Compare Kumbaa: MyHeritage, Ancestry and more](https://kumbaa.app/compare): How Kumbaa compares with MyHeritage, Ancestry, FamilySearch, Google Photos, Heritable, Storyworth and Remento: what each is for, and what each does better. - [Ancestry alternative: Kumbaa vs Ancestry compared](https://kumbaa.app/compare/ancestry): Kumbaa vs Ancestry: records, hints and DNA, or a private site for your family's own tree and photos. Prices, privacy and who each one suits. - [FamilySearch alternative: Kumbaa vs FamilySearch compared](https://kumbaa.app/compare/familysearch): Kumbaa vs FamilySearch: one free, shared world tree with billions of records, or a private tree and photo archive for your own family alone. How they differ. - [Google Photos alternative for families: Kumbaa compared](https://kumbaa.app/compare/google-photos): Google Photos shared albums and WhatsApp family groups vs Kumbaa: where family photos end up, who can see them, and keeping everyone's faces named for good. - [Heritable alternative: Kumbaa vs Heritable compared](https://kumbaa.app/compare/heritable): Kumbaa vs Heritable, two private family archives: 1 TB with video and GEDCOM, or a tree-first archive with faces named and family editing their own branch. - [MyHeritage alternative: Kumbaa vs MyHeritage compared](https://kumbaa.app/compare/myheritage): Kumbaa vs MyHeritage: records and DNA, or a private family site with faces named in every photo. Prices, free limits, privacy and what each does best. - [Storyworth and Remento alternative: Kumbaa compared](https://kumbaa.app/compare/storyworth-remento): Storyworth and Remento turn a parent's answers into a printed book. Kumbaa keeps the whole family's tree, photos and stories. How they differ, and using both. ## Policies - [Kumbaa privacy policy](https://kumbaa.app/privacy): How Kumbaa handles your family's photographs, stories and account: what we keep, who processes it, what we never do with it, and how to get it out or delete it. - [Kumbaa terms of service](https://kumbaa.app/terms): The terms for using Kumbaa: accounts, family archives, what you may upload, plans, trials and cancelling, and our responsibilities to you.