Frequently asked

Questions, answered plainly.

What Mourning is, what it costs, what stays private, what it does for the family. If your question isn’t here, write to hello@mourning.io — a real person reads it.

About Mourning

What is Mourning?
Mourning is a private digital space that helps families navigate everything that follows a death. It combines a memorial page, a shared family workspace for planning the funeral, a document vault for paperwork like death certificates and the will, a guestbook for the wider circle, and a permanent archive of memories, photos, letters, and voice recordings. It is built specifically for the weeks and years after a loss, not for general project management or social media.
Who is Mourning for?
Mourning is for the family member, partner, or close friend coordinating the response to a death — usually one adult who finds themselves holding too much: the funeral planning, the family group text, the paperwork, the questions from the wider circle. The workspace then opens to siblings, partners, helpers, and the extended family.
Is Mourning affiliated with funeral homes or insurance companies?
No. Mourning is independent. We have no affiliations with funeral homes, cemeteries, insurance providers, or estate firms. We do not refer families to partners, we do not take commission, and we do not have a sales team that contacts grieving families.
Where is Mourning based and how big is the team?
Mourning is a small independent team. The product is built and run by people who have lost someone themselves and felt the absence of a tool like this. You can write to hello@mourning.io and a real person reads it.

Pricing

How much does Mourning cost?
Mourning is free for the first weeks. The free tier covers the memorial page, the family workspace, tasks, the document vault (up to 1 GB), RSVPs, the guestbook, AI-assisted writing drafts, and up to 25 memories in the archive. If you want to keep the memorial permanent, the one-time price is $199 per memorial — paid once, never again.
Is there a subscription?
No. Mourning does not offer subscriptions. Pricing is either free or a single one-time payment of $199 per memorial. We made this choice deliberately: a recurring charge tied to a memorial archive is the wrong economics for this product.
What does the $199 unlock?
The one-time $199 payment unlocks: unlimited memories, photos, audio, and video; voice interviews with transcripts; the AI-assembled life story; anniversary and on-this-day reminders; family invites with roles; a 25-year hosting commitment from the date of purchase; and the right to export the entire archive as a JSON + PDF zip at any time.
What happens if Mourning shuts down?
If Mourning is ever acquired, sunsetted, or otherwise ceases to operate, every paying family receives a full archive export with 90 days notice and a one-time stipend toward storing the archive elsewhere. We will not take your memorial with us. This commitment is on the public pricing page.

Privacy and sharing

Who can see the memorial page?
You choose. Each memorial has three privacy modes. Private means only you, the owner, can see it. Invite-only means anyone with the direct link can see it but the page is not advertised or indexed. Public means the page can be linked to anywhere. You can change the privacy mode at any time.
Is the family workspace ever visible to the public?
No. The family workspace — tasks, messages, vendors, documents, the calendar — is visible only to the people you invite. It is never visible on the public memorial page and is never indexed by search engines.
Does Mourning sell or share my data?
No. Mourning does not sell data, share it with advertisers, or use it to train external AI models. Memories, photos, documents, and family messages stay in your workspace. The brand position is that we ask nothing of you, and the data practices follow that.
Are there ads on Mourning?
No. There are no ads anywhere on Mourning — not on the workspace, not on the memorial pages, and not on the marketing site. The product is funded by the one-time $199 fee paid by families who choose to keep their archive permanent.

Using Mourning

Do I need to know how to use software like Notion or a CRM?
No. Mourning is built for someone who is exhausted and grieving, not for a power user. The workspace has gentle defaults, a pre-built checklist that knows what comes next, and a sidebar with clear named sections. Most families use it from a phone in the kitchen.
Does Mourning replace a funeral director?
No. A funeral director arranges the body, the casket, the service venue, and the certificate paperwork. Mourning is the place you and your family use alongside the funeral director — to track decisions, coordinate vendors, share the memorial page, gather memories, and keep the archive after the service is over.
Can I write the obituary in Mourning?
Yes. The AI writing assistant inside the workspace produces drafts of an obituary, a eulogy outline, a thank-you note, or a memorial post. You answer a few guided questions about who they were, what they were known for, who survives them, and the tone you want. The output is always yours to edit, rewrite, or discard.
Can I invite collaborators? How does that work?
Yes. Add anyone by name and email and pick a role: family, helper, or viewer. An invite email is sent automatically. Once they sign in, the workspace appears on their dashboard. You can change roles or remove collaborators at any time.
Can I export my archive?
Yes. Permanent (paid) memorials can export the full archive — memories, photos, audio, video, documents, transcripts, messages, and the timeline — as a single zip with a readable JSON manifest and a printable PDF. No questions asked, at any time.

Still uncertain? That is also a place to be.