List and Comparison of Virtual Memorial Cost and Features
If you anticipate a death in the family or if you’re in the funeral business, you might find it useful to have a list of virtual memorial/digital memorial/digital afterlife/end-of-life websites and apps. The attached free downloadable spreadsheet is the most complete, up-to-date list of virtual memorial services and related sites available on the web—now 88 entries. Each entry is categorized by type, as follows:
- Avatar creator
- Virtual memorial
- Online obituary site
- Life review site
- Funeral planning site
- Genealogy site
- Pet memorial site
- Postmortem messaging service
- Secure document storage service (storage of legal documents, such as wills and advance directives)
I’ve kept defunct sites (gray) on the list, since a lot of us are interested in which ones end up in the great digital beyond, and why. For easy comparison, we tell you whether the product has (green) or doesn’t have (red) each of the following features (premium features are designated in yellow):
- AVATAR CREATOR Offers an arguably creepy way to achieve digital immortality
- BIO/LIFE STORIES Provides space to record stories about the deceased, in addition to his or her obituary
- BUCKET LIST Lets users keep a bucket list (or shows which bucket-list items the obituee completed)
- DOCUMENT STORAGE Stores legal documents, such as wills (or indicates where such documents are stored)
- GENEALOGY FEATURES Includes a family tree, for example
- GUEST BOOK OR CONDOLENCES Lets visitors reach out to the grieving family
- IMAGES Features a gallery, collage, photo tree, or similar means of storing and displaying images
- LAST REQUESTS Records final wishes, such as suggested destination funeral locations
- LEGACY Helps people plan their digital legacy, such as the fate of their social media accounts
- MESSAGING Records/stores farewell messages for loved ones
- MUSIC Supplies music or allows other audio uploads
- NOTIFICATION Sends email or push notifications when someone dies
- PAYMENTS Facilitates crowdfunding or charitable donations
- PET MEMORIALS Offers pet memorials, usually in addition to people memorials; some folks might not want their tribute to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with an ode to a cocker spaniel
- RSVP Lets people RSVP for funeral or memorial services
- SIDEBAR Displays basic facts about the deceased, such as dates of birth and death
- TIMELINE Records milestones—either formative experiences in the obituee’s own life or events that shaped his or her generation
- VIDEO Allows video uploads
In the Comments section, we offer additional information, such as whether the site or app is still active. We also point out special features, such as sites that let you specify your organ donation preferences.
List of Virtual Memorial Websites and Apps (Excel)
CLICK HERE for a secure download of the spreadsheet. No registration required—no popups—no spyware, malware, adware, or crapware. No catch.
Corrections? Additions? If you see any missing or inaccurate digital afterlife services in this table, please drop me a line: [email protected]. I’ll update the list frequently, so check back often. And be sure to check out my Home page and read a few blog posts, such as this one on why telling stories is a better approach than using obituary templates.
Here are the three top blog posts to date:
