Free, with no paid plans
A free family tree maker for the whole family.
Build a family tree online with names, dates, photos and stories, then invite relatives to fill in what you don’t know.
Start your family treeFree. No paid plans, no trial.
Ilir Hasani
Born 1940
Drita Hasani
Born 1944
Arben Hasani
Born 1968
Mira Krasniqi
Born 1970
Era Hasani
Born 1996
A fictional family, showing how the connections come together.
A family tree builder that stays free
Many family tree builders let you start for free, then ask you to pay once your tree passes a few dozen people or you want to share it. Build a Family Tree has no paid tier at all. Every feature on this page is available to everyone, from the first person you add to the five-hundredth.
It runs in your browser, so there is nothing to install. You work on an interactive canvas: each person is a card, lines connect parents to children and partners to each other, and the layout arranges itself into generations. Zoom out to see four generations at once, or open a person to read their full story.
The tree is private by default. Only the relatives you invite can see it, and the people who can only view never see details of living relatives.
How to build a family tree online
- 01
Add the first person.
Start with yourself, a parent or the oldest ancestor you know. A name is enough to begin; everything else can come later.
- 02
Add their relatives.
Add parents, partners and children from each person. The canvas places every generation on its own row, so the tree stays readable as it grows.
- 03
Fill in the details.
Add dates, places, an occupation, photos and a life story. Partial dates work, so “born around 1921” can simply be the year 1921.
- 04
Invite your family.
Send email invitations to the relatives who remember the names and faces you don’t. Choose whether each one can edit or only view.
What you can record
Unlimited trees and people
Keep your mother’s side and your father’s side in separate trees, or start one for your partner’s family. There is no cap and no upgrade.
Real family structures
Link adoptive, step and foster parents as well as birth parents. Record partners with marriage and separation dates and places.
Names as people used them
Store a birth or maiden name and a nickname alongside the full name, so “Nana Lule” and “Luljeta Krasniqi” stay the same person.
Life events and stories
Build a timeline of each life: births, moves, marriages, deaths and burials. Write the story that belongs with the dates.
Photo galleries and comments
Give each person a gallery of photos. Relatives can leave comments to add a memory or correct a detail.
Reminders and tidy-up tools
Get email reminders before birthdays and anniversaries. Find and merge duplicate people when two relatives enter the same grandparent.
Tips for a family tree that lasts
Start with the oldest relatives
The people who remember the most are often the hardest to ask later. Sit with a grandparent and add the names they mention as they mention them. A rough birth year and a village name are worth more than a perfect date you never write down.
Write down where facts came from
Use the life story and comments to note who told you what, or which document you saw. When a cousin disagrees about a date, you will both know where each version came from.
Share the work
No one person knows a whole family. Read more about building a family tree together, or see how any two relatives are related once the tree is in place.
Free family tree maker questions
Is this family tree maker really free?
Yes. Build a Family Tree has no paid plans, no trial and no locked features. You can make as many trees as you like, add as many people as you need and invite relatives without paying anything.
What do I need to start a family tree?
Only one name. Most people start with themselves or a grandparent, then add parents, partners and children from there. Dates and places can wait until you find them, and a birth year on its own is enough.
Can my relatives help build the tree?
Yes. Invite them by email as editors, who can add and change people, or as viewers, who can look but not edit. Every change appears in the activity feed and can be undone.
Who can see the people in my tree?
Only the relatives you invite. If you create a public read-only link, living people show as names only, and viewers never see the details of living people. Deceased ancestors are shown in full.
Can I bring in a tree I made somewhere else?
Yes. Most genealogy programs can export a GEDCOM file, and Build a Family Tree imports GEDCOM 5.5.1 and most GEDCOM 7.0 files with up to 5,000 people per file. You can export your tree as GEDCOM at any time too.
Start with one name.
Your family tree is free to build, free to share and free to export.
More ways to build your family tree
- Collaborative family tree Invite relatives by email as editors or viewers and build the tree together.
- GEDCOM import and export Move a family tree in or out using a standard GEDCOM file.
- Family tree template Lay out your tree on a canvas, then export it as a PNG or PDF to print.
- Relationship calculator Find out how two relatives are related, from parents to third cousins.
Or go back to the Build a Family Tree home page.