Support what you can. Belong regardless.
Remembrance is never behind a paywall. DearestEllie is an independent service, not a subscription — a basic archive is free, stays free, and can always be exported. Contributions and sponsorships keep it running, and help another family archive theirs at no cost.
DearestEllie is not a 501(c)(3) organization, so contributions and sponsorships are not tax-deductible charitable donations.
Always free, for every family
- Create a family archive and keep it — no time limit, no storage clock on the basics
- Private by default, always, with full control over what is shared
- Invite family contributors, including children through a guardian
- Present mode, for sharing a life with the people you love
- A complete export anytime, in the open memory format — your memories are never held hostage
These 6 guarantees are written into our guiding principles as executable code — gating any of them behind payment fails our own test suite.
Ways to take part
Begin and keep an archive, free. This is the whole point.
- Create and keep a family archive
- Private by default, always
- Invite family contributors
- Full open export, anytime
- Present mode for the people you love
If you can help carry the cost, give what feels right.
- Helps keep DearestEllie free for everyone
- Funds storage, preservation, and the work of running it
- No feature is unlocked — nothing was ever locked
Fund free access for a family who cannot pay.
- Directed through the Family Memory Fund
- Low-income, hospice, sudden-loss, foster, and elder families
- Sponsors are recognized by name, with permission
Extra room for big video and audio collections.
- Supports larger-than-typical storage needs
- Never gates basic remembrance
- Basic archives always keep their space free
Hospices, libraries, senior centers, and nonprofits serving families.
- Sponsored access for the families you serve
- Referral and onboarding support
- Partners are recognized on the partners page
Where the money goes
Digital keepsakes — books, posters, and tribute videos your family composes — are free to create, with print-ready files yours to download. There is nothing physical to buy here: the only money that moves is voluntary contributions and sponsorships, which cover hosting, storage, development, and the work of running DearestEllie. See how DearestEllie is funded.
Start a free archiveNot sure what an archive becomes? See a living example — meet Ellie, our demonstration archive for a fictional grandmother.