How to Create a Free Online Memorial That Actually Lasts

In 2015, a family created a memorial page for their father on a popular free memorial site. They added photos, stories, a biography. Friends from across the country signed the guestbook. It became a real document of a real life.

In 2021, the site shut down. Everything was gone.

This is what happens to most free online memorials. The company runs out of money, gets acquired, or simply decides the product isn't worth maintaining. The "free" part turns out to be contingent on the company's survival.

Here's what to look for in a memorial platform that will actually last — and how to create one that does.

What Makes an Online Memorial Permanent

A few things distinguish temporary free services from genuinely permanent ones:

Data export. Can you download everything you've added, at any time, in a usable format? If a platform doesn't offer this, you're at their mercy.

Open data commitment. Has the organization publicly committed to what happens to records if they shut down? "We'll transfer everything to the Internet Archive" is a meaningful answer. Silence isn't.

No paywall on existing records. Some platforms let you create a memorial for free but then charge to view it later, or to keep it from expiring. This is a form of hostage-taking.

Institutional backing. Is the platform backed by something more durable than a VC-funded startup? University archives, government institutions, and nonprofits have better track records for long-term data stewardship than venture-backed companies.

Step-by-Step: Creating a Memorial on Eternaflame

Eternaflame is free, permanent, and built around data durability. Here's how to create a profile:

1. Go to eternaflame.org/create 2. Enter the person's name and life dates 3. Add a location — where they lived, where they were born 4. Write their story in the biography field — this doesn't have to be long. Two paragraphs capturing who they were is more valuable than a formal obituary 5. Add family connections — spouse, children, parents, siblings 6. Add interests, career, military service, education 7. Leave the privacy setting on "public" so the profile is searchable

The whole process takes 10–20 minutes for a basic profile. Family members can add to it over time.

What to Include (and What to Skip)

Include: Full name (including maiden name if applicable), birth date and place, death date, one sentence capturing who they were, key relationships, the places that mattered most to them.

Skip: Anything you're not sure about. Empty fields show nothing — there are no "Unknown" placeholders on Eternaflame. Better to have an incomplete record that's accurate than a complete one with guesses.

The most important thing: The personality summary. One or two sentences about who they actually were — not their job title or their achievements, but their character. "Known for her sharp wit and terrible puns" is worth more than three paragraphs of resume.

After You Create It

Share the link with family. Send it to people who knew them. Add it to the section of the family history you're keeping.

The profile is permanent and searchable. Their name will appear when someone searches for them. Their story will be there for grandchildren they never met, for researchers a hundred years from now, for anyone who wants to know that this person lived.

Create a free memorial →