Best Online Obituary Sites in 2026: Where to Post an Obituary (Free and Paid)
The obituary is written. Someone has read it aloud once, cried a little, fixed a date. Now it needs to go somewhere — and the somewhere used to be obvious. You called the local paper, paid by the line, and it ran on Thursday.
That is no longer the default. The newspaper is now one option among eight or nine, and usually the most expensive one. Most families in 2026 post the obituary online first and treat print as an optional extra, if they do it at all.
This page compares the places you can post an obituary online — by what it costs, who will actually see it, and how long it stays up. The free options come first. If you are still writing the thing, start with how to write an obituary and come back when you have a draft.
Quick Comparison
| Site | Free? | Who sees it | Stays up | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Funeral home website | Usually included | Anyone Googling the name in the first weeks | Until the home changes vendor | Service details, livestream, flowers |
| Echovita | Yes | Anyone searching the name | Indefinitely, on their terms | Zero-cost visibility |
| Ever Loved | Yes | People you share the link with | Free forever | Obituary plus a funeral fundraiser |
| GetMemorial | Yes | People you share the link with | Permanent | A memorial page with the obituary at the top |
| Facebook / social | Yes | People already connected to you | Until the account is lost | Reaching the people who know, fast |
| Legacy.com | Usually via newspaper fee | Anyone searching the name; newspaper readers | Years, not guaranteed | Being found by people who look up a name |
| Newspaper's own site | Cheaper than print, rarely free | Local readers | Often years | Local reach without the print bill |
| Tributes.com | Paid tiers | Partner-paper readers | Varies by tier | Newspaper-style publishing without the paper |
Now each one in more detail.
1. Your Funeral Home's Website — Free, and Then Forgotten
Most funeral homes post the obituary on their own website as part of the service package, at no extra charge. The page typically carries the service time, directions, a livestream link, and a flower-ordering button. For the first two weeks it is the page people find first when they Google the name.
What it does well. It is free, it is fast, and the funeral director will usually write and post it for you if you hand them the text. For the service itself, it is the single most useful page on this list.
Where it falls short. After the service, nobody goes back. Funeral home sites are built for the week of the funeral, not the decade after. If the home changes its website provider — and they do — the page can quietly vanish, along with every guest book entry on it.
Post here almost always, because it costs nothing and the home will do it anyway. Just do not treat it as the permanent copy.
2. Echovita — Free Listing, Aggregated
Echovita works differently from everything else on this list. It aggregates obituaries from funeral homes automatically, so there is a fair chance your loved one is already listed before anyone in the family has posted anything. Families can claim the listing, edit it, and add a photo.
What it does well. It costs nothing and it is easy to find. Echovita pages rank well for name searches, which makes it a reasonable free substitute for the Legacy.com reach you would otherwise pay for.
Where it falls short. The page is theirs. It is funded by flower sales and advertising, so both are prominent. Photo handling is limited, there is no real space for tributes to accumulate, and the layout is the same for everyone. Some families are startled to find a listing they did not create — that is the model, not a mistake.
Post here if you want free visibility to strangers searching the name and do not mind the ads.
3. Ever Loved — Free Obituary and Fundraiser in One
Ever Loved gives you a free obituary page with the service details, an RSVP, and an optional fundraiser for funeral costs, all under one shareable link. The memorial pages stay up free, and there are no ads on them — we covered the pricing in detail here.
What it does well. It is the best all-in-one for the first two weeks. If the family needs to collect money for the funeral, having the obituary and the fundraiser on the same page removes an awkward second link.
Where it falls short. Ever Loved is built for the immediate aftermath. As a long-term memorial — the place where photos and stories keep arriving on birthdays five years on — it is plain and utilitarian, and there is no mobile app. Fundraising also carries a platform fee, as it does everywhere.
Post here if you also need to raise funds, or want RSVPs handled on the same page.
4. GetMemorial — Editor's Pick ⭐
GetMemorial is not an obituary syndication service, and it is worth being clear about that. It is a memorial page — free, with no ads — where the obituary sits at the top and photos, tributes, and stories keep accumulating underneath it long after the funeral. Family members can contribute without sharing a password, and the page gives you one link to paste into every other place on this list.
What it does well. Permanence and control. The page is yours, it does not depend on a newspaper's contract or a funeral home's web vendor, and it is built for the years after, not just the week of. The difference between a digital obituary and a memorial page is mostly this: one announces, the other holds.
Where it falls short. It does not push the obituary into newspaper search results. If being found by strangers searching the name matters, pair it with Legacy.com or Echovita — they do reach, this does permanence. There is also no built-in fundraiser, so if you need one, Ever Loved does that job.
Post here if you want the obituary to have a home that will still be there in ten years, with the photos and the stories around it.
5. Facebook and Social Media — Fastest Reach, Least Permanent
A post on the deceased's page, or your own, reaches the people who already know them within hours. Facebook can also memorialize the account so it stays visible but stops sending birthday reminders.
What it does well. Speed and reach to the right people. Nothing else here gets the news to two hundred friends before dinner.
Where it falls short. It should not be the only place. Social posts are not searchable by strangers, they disappear under the algorithm within days, privacy settings decide who can see them, and the whole thing depends on an account nobody may be able to log into next year. A memorialized profile is a museum with the doors half shut.
Post here for the announcement, with a link to wherever the permanent copy lives.
6. Legacy.com — Largest Reach, Tied to Newspapers
Legacy.com is the biggest obituary network in the United States, and it works by partnership: most local and regional papers publish their obituaries through it. In practice, that means you rarely post to Legacy.com directly. You buy the obituary from the newspaper, and it appears on Legacy.com as part of the package.
What it does well. If an old colleague hears the news a month later and searches the name, this is where they look. The name search works, the pages rank, and they carry the credibility of the newspaper masthead. The guest book is what families actually use — it fills with short messages from people who never made it to the service.
Where it falls short. Cost, mostly. Because posting goes through the newspaper, you pay newspaper rates, and the page is theirs rather than yours. You cannot redesign it, ads run alongside it, and long-term guest book access has historically been a paid add-on. The page will likely be there in five years, but nobody promises it.
Post here if name-search reach matters — a public figure, a long career, a wide social circle.
7. The Newspaper's Own Website — Reach Without the Print Cost?
Many papers now sell an online-only obituary at a lower price than print. Some still charge per line. Before you pay, ask what "online-only" actually means — for a large share of papers, it is a Legacy.com page under a different header, which you may already be getting through the funeral home.
What it does well. Local reach. The people who read that paper are the people who knew your loved one, and the page will usually stay up for years.
Where it falls short. It is rarely free, the cost structure is opaque, and you get no control over presentation. If you are paying, know what you are paying for.
Post here if the local community is where the person's life was, and print is more than the budget allows.
8. Tributes.com — Newspaper Feel, Without the Newspaper
Tributes.com sells obituary publishing in paid tiers with a newspaper-style layout, and syndicates to partner papers. It is closest in spirit to the traditional notice: formal, structured, print-ready, with printed memorial cards as an add-on.
What it does well. If the family wants the obituary to look like an obituary — the classic format, the formal tone — this delivers it without the per-line bill of a metro paper.
Where it falls short. The interface is older, the memorial features beyond the obituary are thin, and the paid tiers add up if you want the extras. It is a publishing tool, not a place to gather a family.
Post here if a formal, newspaper-style presentation matters and you want printed keepsakes to match.
How to Choose: The Two-Site Rule
Rankings do not help much here, because the sites do different jobs. What helps is a rule.
Post in one place for reach, and one place for permanence.
Reach is where strangers searching the name will find it: Legacy.com through the paper, Echovita for free, or the funeral home page for the first fortnight. Permanence is a page the family controls and can keep adding to — a memorial site. Most families need both. Many end up doing all eight by accident, in the confused first week, and then cannot remember where anything went.
The thirty-second version:
- Need to raise money? Ever Loved.
- Need it in print? The newspaper, which brings Legacy.com with it.
- Need to be found by name search? Legacy.com or Echovita.
- Need it to last? A memorial page you control — GetMemorial, or any site that lets the family keep adding to it.
- Need to tell everyone today? Facebook, with a link to the permanent copy.
Whatever you choose, keep one canonical version of the text. Post the same wording everywhere, and when a date changes, change it everywhere. Obituary examples can help you settle the wording before it spreads.
What It Costs: A Realistic Budget
| Option | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Funeral home website | Included in the service package |
| Echovita | Free |
| Ever Loved | Free (fundraising carries a platform fee) |
| GetMemorial | Free; optional one-time lifetime plan |
| Free | |
| Newspaper online-only | Often under $100, varies widely |
| Tributes.com | Paid tiers |
| Newspaper print (with Legacy.com) | Commonly a few hundred dollars; metro papers can run well over $1,000 for a longer notice with a photo |
The gap is the story. Print obituaries are priced by length, which is why they read like telegrams. Online, length costs nothing, and the obituary can be the full page the person deserved. If the budget is tight, there is no shame in skipping print entirely — the people who need to know will find it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I post an obituary online for free? Yes. The funeral home's website, Echovita, Ever Loved, GetMemorial, and social media all cost nothing. Only the newspaper routes and Tributes.com are reliably paid.
Do I have to use a newspaper at all? No. It still makes sense when the community is older, local, and reads the paper, or when the family wants the clipping. Otherwise an online notice reaches more people for less.
How long do online obituaries stay up? It varies. Legacy.com pages generally stay for years but carry no guarantee. Funeral home pages last until the home changes web provider. Echovita listings remain indefinitely, on Echovita's terms. A memorial page you control is the only option where the answer is simply "as long as you want."
Can I post the same obituary on several sites? Yes, and most families should. Keep one canonical text, post it everywhere, and link the reach sites to the permanent one.
What should the obituary include? Full name, dates, a short account of the life, the people left behind, service details, and where to send flowers or donations. The full checklist is in how to write an obituary.
Where It Lives Decides Whether It Lasts
The obituary is usually the last piece of public writing about a person. Where you put it decides whether a grandchild can find it in ten years, or whether it is a broken link on a funeral home's old website. Reach gets it read this month; permanence gets it read in a decade. Give it both. For the wider picture of memorial platforms beyond obituaries, see the best online memorial websites compared.
GetMemorial helps families build beautiful, lasting online memorials in minutes — a permanent home for the obituary, photos, and stories. Build yours at GetMemorial.com.
