GatheringUs Alternatives: 7 Ways to Hold a Virtual Memorial for Less
Most people who search for a GatheringUs alternative have just seen the price list. The packages start at $750 for a livestream and climb past $2,000 for a fully produced service, and the reaction is usually not "that is too much" so much as "what exactly am I paying for, and can I do part of it myself?"
That is a fair question, and the answer depends on which part of the job you actually need done. GatheringUs sells three things bundled together: the technology to stream a service, a person to plan and run it, and a memorial page to hold the recording afterwards. Most families need one or two of those, not all three.
Below are seven alternatives, ordered by how much of the event they run for you — full-service first, do-it-yourself last. The label is on each one so you can check the ordering yourself. I work on one of them, and I have marked which.
What GatheringUs Actually Charges
Prices from the GatheringUs plans page as of September 2026. They change; check before you book.
| Package | Price | Length | Guests | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Livestream Only | $750 | 1.5 hours | up to 100 | A/V check, event program, unedited recording, memorial page |
| Core Experience | $1,400 weekday / $1,650 weekend | 1.5 hours | up to 100 | Planner, speaker prep, edited recording, one slideshow, RSVPs |
| Premium Experience | $2,100 | 2.5 hours | up to 500 | Core plus reception rooms, two slideshows, extended planning |
| Hybrid (in-person + online) | $1,600 to $2,300 | — | — | Core or Premium with an on-site partner |
Add-ons on the cheapest tier: a slideshow is $150 and an event facilitator is $150.
Two things worth knowing that the price list does not say. First, GatheringUs is now part of Keeper Memorials, and the memorial page you get is a Keeper page. Second, the numbers above are for the online event only. They sit on top of whatever the funeral home or cremation provider charges, which is the far larger bill — our breakdown of funeral costs covers that side.
When GatheringUs Is the Right Answer
It is not always wrong, and a $1,400 planner can be cheaper than the alternative.
Keep GatheringUs if:
- The service has six or more speakers across several time zones, and nobody in the family has the bandwidth to wrangle them
- You expect several hundred attendees and a dropped stream would be a disaster
- The person organising it is also the chief mourner, and paying someone to hold the technical side is what lets them be present at their own parent's funeral
Look at an alternative if:
- The service is under 50 people who mostly know each other
- The funeral home already offers a livestream, which most now do
- What you really wanted was a lasting page for photos and tributes, and the event was incidental
- The budget for the whole farewell is in the low thousands and $750 is a real share of it
The Seven, Full-Service to Do-It-Yourself
1. Your funeral home's livestream — Full-service (in person)
Start here, because you may already be paying for it. A large share of funeral homes now stream services as standard or for a modest fee, usually through a camera fixed in the chapel and a private link sent to the family. The funeral director handles the technology, and the recording is typically available afterwards.
What you do not get is a planner for the online side: nobody prepares remote speakers or moderates a chat. If the service is happening in a funeral home anyway, ask what they charge before you buy anything else. It is often the difference between paying $750 and paying nothing extra.
2. Ever Loved — Full-service (planning, not production)
Ever Loved does not produce livestreams, but it does the surrounding logistics well: a page with service details, RSVPs, directions, a link to whatever stream you are using, and a fundraiser for funeral costs. If what you liked about GatheringUs was the "event announcement with RSVP" line, this is the free version of it.
Pair it with a stream from option 1, 5 or 6 and you have most of the Core package for the cost of nothing. The memorial page is free with no ads, and the paid side is the fundraiser and add-ons. We wrote a fuller look at Ever Loved alternatives if you are also weighing that.
3. A freelance celebrant or officiant — Full-service (person, not platform)
The part of GatheringUs that is hardest to replace is the human being who runs the order of service. But that is a job, not a platform, and independent celebrants have been doing it for years. Many now offer online and hybrid services, will prepare speakers, and will hold the Zoom link themselves.
Fees vary widely by region and by how much writing and preparation the celebrant does, so ask for a quote. The point is that you can buy the planner without buying the production, and for a smaller service that is usually the part that matters.
4. GetMemorial — Memorial page (event hosted elsewhere) · Editor's Pick ⭐
This is our product, so weigh it accordingly.
GetMemorial is the third piece of the bundle on its own: a page for the person, with photos, a life story, and tributes that family and friends keep adding for years. Put the recording of the service on it, share the link on the order of service, and the page is still there long after the event has been forgotten. There is a free tier with no ads and a one-time lifetime plan rather than a subscription.
What it does not do, plainly: it does not stream anything, does not plan an event, has no RSVP or fundraising features, and the mobile app is iOS only with Android in development. It also does not send anniversary reminders. If you need the event run, use it alongside one of the options above rather than instead of them. The honest fit is a family that has the service covered and wants somewhere for it all to live afterwards.
5. Zoom or Google Meet, self-hosted — DIY (two-way)
The most common choice by a wide margin, and for a service under 100 people it works. Everyone can see and speak, breakout rooms give people somewhere to talk afterwards, and the recording is one click.
The costs are a paid Zoom plan for the host to lift the 40-minute limit on free meetings, and a few hours of somebody's time to run a rehearsal, mute latecomers and share the slideshow. That somebody should not be the person delivering the eulogy. Our virtual memorial service guide walks through the structure, invitations and etiquette step by step.
6. YouTube Live or Facebook Live — DIY (one-way)
If the service is in a room and you simply want distant relatives to watch, a phone on a tripod streaming to a private YouTube or Facebook link is free, has no attendee limit, and records automatically. It is one-way: viewers can comment but not speak.
The trade-off is production. Sound is the thing that fails, not picture; a cheap clip-on microphone near the speaker's lectern fixes most of it. Decide beforehand whether the link is unlisted or fully public, because a funeral broadcast to strangers is a real and avoidable outcome.
7. A recorded service, shared afterwards — DIY (no live event)
Sometimes the honest answer is that a live online event is the wrong shape. The people who could not travel are in Australia, the service is at 11am in Ohio, and a recording watched that evening with their own family is a better experience than a 3am stream.
Record the service, add it to a memorial page with the photos and the order of service, and send one link. Nobody has to be anywhere at a particular hour, and the recording is the same one they would have got anyway. If you are building the slideshow for it, our guide to memorial slideshows covers the tools.
Side by Side
| Runs the event | Streams | Lasting page | Typical cost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GatheringUs | Yes (Core and up) | Yes | Yes (Keeper) | $750 to $2,300 |
| Funeral home stream | Partly | Yes | Sometimes | Free to modest fee |
| Ever Loved | Planning only | No | Yes | Free page |
| Celebrant | Yes | Via your platform | No | Quote |
| GetMemorial | No | No | Yes | Free tier, one-time lifetime plan |
| Zoom / Meet | No | Yes, two-way | No | Paid host plan |
| YouTube / Facebook Live | No | Yes, one-way | No | Free |
| Recorded, shared after | No | No | Via a page | Free |
Prices and plan limits change more often than articles get updated. Check each site for the current numbers before you decide.
Putting Two of Them Together
Most families who leave GatheringUs do not replace it with one thing. They replace it with two:
- Something to stream the service — the funeral home's camera, or Zoom with a cousin at the laptop.
- Somewhere for it to live — a memorial page that holds the recording, the photos and the tributes, and that people can still find in five years.
That covers what the $1,400 package covers, minus the planner. If the planner is the part you cannot do without, buy that part: a celebrant, or the GatheringUs Livestream Only tier with the $150 facilitator add-on, which comes to $900 rather than $1,400.
Common Questions
Is GatheringUs free? No. There is a free 30-minute consultation, but every event package is paid, starting at $750 for a livestream-only service. The memorial page comes as part of a package rather than on its own.
Does GatheringUs still exist? Yes. It now operates as part of Keeper Memorials, and the memorial pages included with its packages are Keeper pages. The event services are still sold under the GatheringUs name.
What is the cheapest way to hold a virtual memorial service? A free video call for a small group, or a phone streaming to a private YouTube link for a larger one. Both are free. The cost that is worth paying, if any, is a paid Zoom plan so the host is not cut off at 40 minutes.
Can I get a recording of the service without a paid platform? Yes. Zoom, Google Meet, YouTube Live and Facebook Live all record. The difference with a paid service is editing: GatheringUs's Core tier delivers a professionally edited recording, the free tools give you the raw file.
How many people can join a Zoom memorial? A standard paid Zoom plan allows 100 participants in a meeting, which covers most family services. Larger gatherings need a webinar add-on or a one-way stream, which has no practical limit.
GetMemorial helps families build beautiful, lasting online memorials in minutes — a permanent home for the recording, the photos, and the tributes. Build yours at GetMemorial.com.
