What Find A Grave does

Find A Grave is a community-driven, free-to-use genealogical platform and the world's largest online gravesite database, operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of Ancestry since 2013. Founded in 1995 by Jim Tipton as a hobby site for cataloging famous graves, the platform has grown to host over 265 million memorials contributed by more than one million community volunteers, covering 622,530+ cemeteries across 252 countries. The core product consists of a web platform (findagrave.com) supplemented by native iOS (launched 2013) and Android (launched 2014) mobile applications, with a redesigned website released in August 2018 by Ancestry. Technical features include memorial pages with photos, GPS coordinates, family linkage systems, virtual flowers, photo request fulfillment via a volunteer network, and curated Famous Memorials and Necrology sections.

The platform serves a horizontal, consumer-facing user base of genealogy researchers, family historians, photo volunteers, and enthusiasts of famous historical figures. Find A Grave monetizes primarily through third-party display advertising on the free service, supplemented by two paid options: a recurring Site Sponsorship that removes ads and unlocks additional photo uploads, and a $10 one-time Memorial Sponsorship that removes ads from an individual memorial page. Revenue figures are not publicly disclosed; the company is financially supported by its parent Ancestry. Distribution is product-led and self-serve globally, with cross-promotion through Ancestry's family of genealogy sites (Fold3, Newspapers.com, Archives.com, We Remember) and integrations with sympathy commerce partners Bloom & Bridge and Legacy.com for flower delivery and memorial tree planting.

Name

Find A Grave

Legal name

Find a Grave

Website

https://findagrave.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Memorial and Cemetery Records Platform

NAICS

Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192)

akta.pro primary industry

Places of Worship & Religious Facilities Operations (Cemeteries, Retreat Centers, Pilgrimage Sites) (BPAGAJAL)

Keywords

• Gravesite memorial records
• Cemetery record database
• Genealogy burial search
• Ancestor grave finder
• Community memorial platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Salt Lake City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Advertising: The primary free service is supported by third-party advertising displayed to non-sponsoring users during site browsing.
2. Site Sponsorship: Users can become Site Sponsors to remove third-party ads from their browsing experience. Benefits include ad-free browsing, ability to add 2 additional photos to non-famous memorials, and no ads on profile page.
3. Memorial Sponsorship: Users can sponsor individual memorials for $10 to remove advertising from that specific memorial page.
4. Ancestry Financial Support: Since 2013, Find a Grave has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Ancestry, which provides financial support for operations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Find a Grave operates the world's largest online gravesite collection, hosting over 265 million memorials across 622,530+ cemeteries in 252 countries through a free web platform and iOS/Android mobile apps. Users can search burial records by name, date, and location; browse cemeteries; view famous-memorial biographies; upload headstone photos and GPS coordinates; leave virtual flowers; request and fulfill headstone photo requests via a volunteer network; and create virtual cemetery collections. The platform is monetized through third-party advertising, optional Site Sponsorship for ad-free browsing, and per-memorial Memorial Sponsorship at $10, with operational support from parent company Ancestry.

Product overview

Find a Grave operates as a community-driven genealogical platform centered around its core website and mobile applications. The platform comprises the main website (www.findagrave.com) providing access to over 265 million memorials across 622,530 cemeteries in 252 countries, along with native iOS and Android mobile apps for on-the-go access. The product ecosystem includes core features for searching graves, browsing cemeteries, and viewing famous memorials, complemented by community features such as the Photo Volunteer System for fulfilling headstone photo requests, Virtual Cemeteries for organizing memorial collections, and Virtual Flowers for leaving remembrances. Premium offerings include Site Sponsorship for ad-free browsing and Memorial Sponsorship for individual memorial pages. The platform integrates with Ancestry for authentication and record linking, social media platforms for sharing, and e-commerce services for flower delivery and memorial tree planting.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Find a Grave Website Platform Free web-based platform providing access to over 265 million memorials and 622,530+ cemeteries in 252 countries; enables users to search for graves by name, date, and location, browse cemeteries, view famous-memorial biographies, upload photos and GPS coordinates, leave virtual flowers, and create virtual cemetery collections.
• Find a Grave Mobile App Free native iOS and Android applications enabling users to find grave sites, search nearby cemeteries, fulfill photo requests, upload headstone photos, add GPS coordinates, create memorials, and manage their profile on mobile devices.
• Site Sponsorship Optional premium membership that removes third-party advertisements from the Find a Grave browsing experience for the sponsoring user. Includes benefits such as adding 2 additional photos to non-famous memorials and no ads on the user's profile page.
• Memorial Sponsorship Per-memorial sponsorship sold for $10 that removes advertising from a specific memorial page; previously sponsored or famous memorials are not eligible for sponsorship.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 265 million memorials in database
• +3 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Fold3minorOthersFold3 is part of the Ancestry family of sites, providing military records that complement genealogical research. Cross-linked with Find a Grave for historical figure memorials.
• Newspapers.comminorOthersNewspapers.com is an Ancestry subsidiary providing historical newspaper records including obituaries. Linked from Find a Grave memorial pages for users seeking additional genealogical context.
• Archives.comminorOthersArchives.com is a genealogy records site owned by Ancestry, complementing the family history research ecosystem alongside Find a Grave.
• Genealogy.comminorOthersGenealogy.com is part of the Ancestry family of genealogy sites, contributing to the comprehensive genealogy research ecosystem.
• We RememberminorOthersWe Remember is an Ancestry memorial site that complements Find a Grave's memorial platform within the Ancestry family.
• Bloom & Bridge (Sympathy.com)minorOthersFlower delivery partnership for sending flowers to memorials. Find a Grave memorial pages include links to bloom-bridge.com for flower delivery services.
• Legacy.com (Sympathy Flowers)minorOthersPartnership for plant memorial trees through Legacy.com's sympathy flower and memorial product offerings, linked from memorial pages.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• FamilySearch: FamilySearch, operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is a major free genealogy platform with extensive cemetery and burial records. It competes directly with Find a Grave on free access to genealogical and gravesite data.
• WikiTree: WikiTree is a collaborative, community-built family tree platform with free access and a strong contributor culture. It overlaps Find a Grave in collaborative genealogy and connects users to burial and memorial information.
• Geni.com: Geni is a collaborative family tree and genealogy platform owned by MyHeritage. It serves overlapping user needs around ancestry research and family history documentation, with partial overlap on memorial and burial information.
• BillionGraves: BillionGraves is the closest direct competitor to Find a Grave, operating a community-driven gravesite database with a strong mobile app for photographing headstones and recording GPS-tagged memorials worldwide. It competes head-to-head for the same contributor and researcher user base.

Broad incumbents

• MyHeritage: MyHeritage is a global genealogy platform offering family trees, historical records, and DNA testing. While broader in scope than Find a Grave, it competes for the same family history researcher audience and includes burial record search functionality.
• Ancestry: Ancestry is Find a Grave's parent company and the dominant paid genealogy platform. It overlaps on genealogy research workflows and serves as both a distribution channel and a broader competitor in the family history space.

Regional players

• Deceased Online: Deceased Online is the UK's largest central database of burial and cremation records, providing indexed burial data primarily across the UK and Ireland. It overlaps with Find a Grave's grave record discovery mission in a focused geographic market.

Emerging players

• Interment.net: Interment.net is a free online cemetery database cataloging memorials and transcriptions from thousands of cemeteries. It competes in the same gravesite data discovery niche but at smaller scale than Find a Grave.

Others

• Fold3: Fold3 is an Ancestry-owned military records archive cross-linked from Find a Grave memorial pages. While not a direct competitor, it is an adjacent data source for the same genealogy and memorial research workflow.
• BillionGraves (legacy note) / Newspapers.com: Newspapers.com is an Ancestry-owned historical newspaper archive linked from Find a Grave memorial pages for obituary research. It is an ecosystem partner within the Ancestry genealogy stack rather than a competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/FindaGrave
• Facebookfacebook.com/FindaGrave
• Instagraminstagram.com/findagrave
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/find-a-grave

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Find A Grave