A Family History App Built Around the People Behind the Names
Genealogy tells you who existed. Eterna preserves who they were — their stories, voice, values, traditions and the messages they'd want delivered later. Keep both.
A complement to genealogy, not a replacement for it
Record-based research is how families establish their lineage, and it is genuinely difficult, valuable work. Census entries, certificates and parish records can prove that a great-grandfather existed, when he arrived, and who he married.
What they cannot tell you is what he was like. No archive holds how he told a story, what he believed, what he'd say if you asked him for advice. That layer has always been passed down by conversation — which is precisely why most of it doesn't survive two generations. What a digital legacy is explains the distinction further.
Two layers of family history
What genealogy does well
Records, dates, places, lineage, documented relationships. This is real work and Eterna does not attempt to replace it.
What Eterna adds
Stories in a person's own words, captured through guided interviews rather than a blank page.
Voice
How someone sounded, attached to the story it belongs to. Cloned voice is a separate, consent-based Heirloom capability.
Traditions and personality
The rituals, phrases and habits that explain why a family behaves the way it does.
A tree that leads somewhere
People and relationships you can walk through, where each name opens onto that person's material.
Messages forward
Sealed letters and blessings set to open at a future graduation, wedding or birthday.
For the practical side of gathering material, recording a life story and preserving a voice are the two guides worth reading first.
The family tree as a door, not a destination
In most tools, a tree is the finished product: a diagram of names you can zoom around. In Eterna the tree is a way in. Each person can hold their own chapters, recordings, photographs with context, and the traditions they were responsible for.
That changes what a descendant finds. Instead of a dated box on a chart, they get a person they can actually read, hear, and — where an archive is rich enough — hold a conversation with, clearly labelled as generated from what that person shared. Can AI recreate a personality? sets out honestly what that can and cannot do.
Across the generations
Grandparents
Capture first-hand accounts of a world nobody else in the family remembers — while they can still be asked directly.
Parents
The decisions, moves and turning points that shaped the household you grew up in, in their own telling.
You
Your own legacy, built gradually. The generation most likely to be documented in photos and least likely to be understood.
Children and grandchildren
Recipients first, contributors later. Sealed messages give them something that arrives at the right moment.
If your starting point is a relative rather than yourself, preserving family memories is the better place to begin. For the broader overview, see Eterna as a digital legacy app.
Common questions
Is Eterna a genealogy service?
No. Genealogy research establishes names, dates, places and relationships from records. Eterna preserves what records cannot hold: stories in a person's own words, their voice, values, traditions and messages for later. The two work well together.
Does Eterna have a family tree?
Yes. Eterna includes a family tree with people and relationships, but it is a way into the people rather than the destination — each name can lead to stories, media, recordings and traditions.
Can I use Eterna alongside my existing genealogy research?
Yes. Eterna does not replace record-based research and does not import from genealogy services. Many families keep their documented lineage where it is and use Eterna for the story and voice layer on top of it.
Can I add relatives who have already passed away?
Yes. Families can build a memorial from the letters, photos, recordings and remembered stories they already have. Content about a deceased relative requires appropriate authority and is private by default.
Who can see our family archive?
Everything is private by default. You choose what is shared, who can see it, and when sealed future messages open. Content can be exported or deleted at any time.
Eterna. Your legacy. Their tomorrow.
Keep the records where they are. Start capturing the people. Free to start, and plans are there when you need more.