What is the best obituary platform in 2026?

Disclosure: This comparison is published by Memorygram, which operates When Death Happens. All pricing and feature details below were pulled directly from each platform’s public pricing page and verified June 2026, and we have tried to represent every platform accurately, including where competitors are the better fit.

Creating an online obituary should be simple, but the platforms that offer it differ widely in what their free plans actually include, what they charge for a permanent memorial, and what they specialize in. This guide compares the four main options side by side so you can pick based on what your family needs.

Comparison at a glance

Which platform fits your situation

You need to raise money for funeral costs: Ever Loved. Ever Loved is built around funeral planning and fundraising, with a fundraiser integrated directly into the memorial page. None of the other three platforms offer this. Its free plan also allows unlimited photos, the most of any platform. The tradeoff is that free memorials display promoted vendor links unless you pay $199.99 to remove them.

You want a family tree built into the memorial: Keeper Memorials. Keeper is the only platform with genealogy features, and its $99 Plus plan is the lowest one-time price for a permanent memorial in this comparison, $12.95 less than Memorygram Lifetime. The free plan is limited to one page and 5 photos, and features like the AI Obituary Assistant and custom links require Plus, so most Keeper families should plan on buying the paid tier.

You want the widest theme selection from a long-established provider: Forever Missed. Forever Missed has operated for well over a decade and offers more than 100 memorial themes, far more visual variety than the others. Its free plan is limited to 5 photos, with music, video, and advanced privacy on paid plans. The lifetime plan is $159.95.

You want the most on a free plan, or the option to never pay at all: Memorygram. Memorygram’s free plan includes AI-assisted obituary writing, 50 photos, background music, embedded video, unlimited tributes and stories, privacy controls, and a custom link that never expires, with no ads or promoted links. It is the only platform in this comparison that includes AI obituary writing for free, and the only one offering memorials in both English and Spanish. If you later want unlimited media, the one-time Lifetime plan is $111.95. Memorygram also connects online memorials to physical keepsakes, including QR memorial medallions and printed tribute books.

Platform reviews

Ever Loved

Ever Loved approaches memorials from the funeral planning side. If a family is coordinating a service and needs to collect contributions, its integrated fundraiser is genuinely useful and unmatched here. The unlimited free photo allowance is the most generous in the group. The main drawback is monetization by promoted vendor links on free memorials, which some families find out of place on a tribute page, and the $199.99 price to remove them is the highest one-time cost in this comparison.

Forever Missed

Forever Missed is the veteran of the category, and its 100+ theme library gives families more design control than any competitor. Its track record will matter to families who want confidence the platform will still be around in twenty years. The free plan is thin at 5 photos with core features paywalled, so treat Forever Missed as a $159.95 product rather than a free one when comparing.

Keeper Memorials

Keeper’s family tree is a real differentiator for families who think of a memorial as part of a larger genealogy project, and its $99 Plus plan is the cheapest permanent option here. Like Forever Missed, the free plan is limited (one page, 5 photos, no AI writing, no custom link), so its value case rests on buying Plus.

Memorygram

Memorygram’s free plan includes what the other platforms mostly charge for: AI obituary writing, 50 photos, music, video, unlimited tributes, and a permanent custom link, with no ads. For families who want a complete memorial without paying anything, it is the strongest option in this comparison. The AI assistant turns a few short answers into a complete obituary draft in English or Spanish. Families who want unlimited media can upgrade once for $111.95, and those who want a physical connection to the memorial can add a QR medallion or printed tribute book. It does not offer fundraising or a family tree, so families who need those should look at Ever Loved or Keeper.