Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about Heritable.
That is honestly the most important question to ask. I feel the exact same way about my own family's data.
The best way to describe Heritable is like a secure digital safety deposit box. While the box lives in a "bank" (our database), the bank's architecture is built so that only people with your specific family key can open it.
We use something called Row-Level Security. This means that at the deepest level of the database, every single photo and document is stamped with your Family ID. Even if someone tried to ask the database for "all photos," the system would strictly refuse to show them anything that doesn't match their specific key.
On top of that, we don't scan your photos for advertising or train AI models on them. You are the customer, not the product.
You do. 100%. Heritable claims no ownership rights over your photos, videos, documents, or family tree data. We are simply the custodian you hire to keep it safe. We will never sell your data or use it for advertising.
The current base plan includes 1 terabyte (TB) of storage, which is enough for tens of thousands of photos. You can purchase additional TBs as needed from the Subscription page in your settings. If you have a massive archive that exceeds this, simply reach out to us—we can easily scale your storage capacity for a small adjustment in price. We want you to save everything.
Yes, invite them, no they don't have to pay! You can invite unlimited collaborators (aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, etc.) to view and contribute to your archive. They do not need to pay.
Your subscription covers the entire family archive, so you can share your history freely without asking relatives to pull out their credit cards.
A ? icon is available in the bottom-right corner at all times which allows you a quick way to reach out with questions or feedback. You can also email us directly at hello@heritable.cloud. We are a small, dedicated team, and we actually read and reply to every message.
You can upload almost any standard media format. The following formats can be easily previewed on Heritable without needing to download the original file:
- Photos: JPG, PNG, HEIC, WEBP, etc.
- Videos: MP4, MOV, MKV, AVI, etc.
- Audio: MP3, M4A, WAV (great for oral history recordings).
- Documents: PDF, TXT (for letters, diaries, and records).
Just about any other format you can think of can be uploaded and downloaded, but a preview may not be available immediately in the web interface.
Note: Individual files are currently limited to 5GB each.
Yes! You can export your family tree from those services as a GEDCOM file and import it directly into Heritable. This will instantly build your tree structure so you can start attaching photos, videos, and stories to the right people immediately. See our step-by-step GEDCOM import guide for detailed instructions.
Yes. You can upload from any device—phone, tablet, or computer—using the same account. Everything stays perfectly in sync across your family archive.
No. We do not use your personal photos, videos, or documents to train generative AI models. Any AI features we build (like transcription or face detection) run privately on your specific data to help you organize it, and aren't used to build models for anyone else.
We believe your memories should never be held hostage. If your subscription ends, we will keep your data safely stored for one full year. During this time, you can renew your subscription to regain full access, or you can request a full export of your data. After one year of inactivity, we permanently delete the data to protect your privacy.
Yes, at any time. We have a "Download All" feature that generates a single ZIP file containing:
- All your original photos, videos, and documents.
- Your complete family tree in the standard GEDCOM format (compatible with Ancestry, MyHeritage, etc.).
You are never locked in.
Two main differences: Context and Privacy.
- Context: A folder of files doesn't tell a story. Heritable links your media directly to people and events that you can search or view in a family tree layout. A photo isn't just a file; it's a memory attached to "Grandpa Joe" and the "1985 Reunion" event.
- Privacy: Big tech companies often scan your photos in order to develop advertising profiles based on your data. We don't. We charge a fair price for storage so we don't have to monetize your data.
Absolutely. Heritable is designed for families to contribute together—whether that's siblings uploading photos simultaneously or relatives across the world adding their pieces of history.
We are building Heritable to last for generations, but we also plan for the worst-case scenario. We designed Heritable specifically so you are never "locked in," regardless of what happens to us as a company:
- Ample Notice: In the unlikely event we shut down, we would provide a long window for you to use our "Download All" feature to retrieve your archive.
- Standard Universal Formats: We don't convert your data into strange, proprietary file types. Your files come back in the format they were uploaded, and your family tree can be exported as a GEDCOM file. This means you can take your export and immediately open it on any computer, or move it to another service without losing a thing.
- Sustainable Business Model: Unlike free apps that rely on investor money or selling ads (and often disappear when that dries up), Heritable is a paid product. Your subscription directly pays for the storage and maintenance of your archive, which builds a much more stable foundation for the long term.
No. We store your files exactly as you upload them. While we generate smaller "preview" versions to make browsing the website fast, the original file remains untouched in our secure vault. When you download a file, you get back the exact byte-for-byte copy you put in.
Only if you let them. As the account admin, you can control what permissions other users have. You can invite family members as "Editors" (who can add, edit, or modify files in the archive) or "Viewers" (who can only look and comment). You can also upgrade anyone else to be an admin if you want to share these superpowers with someone you trust.
Heritable is a "Progressive Web App," which means it works beautifully in the browser on your phone, tablet, or desktop computer without needing to download or update a separate app. You can even save it to your home screen for instant access.
We believe in open standards and transparency. Heritable is built on top of industry-leading infrastructure to ensure your data is secure, encrypted, and portable.
- Storage: Your files are stored using S3-compatible Enterprise Object Storage (Backblaze B2), ensuring redundancy and durability.
- Database: We use PostgreSQL (via Supabase), the world's most advanced open-source database. This ensures your family tree data is stored in a standard, structured format, not a proprietary black box.
- Security: All uploads are encrypted in transit and at rest. Access is controlled via Row Level Security (RLS), ensuring that your data is isolated at the deepest architectural level.
- Payments: All financial transactions are handled by Stripe. We never see or store your credit card information.
- Infrastructure: Our servers are hosted in secure, ISO-certified data centers (Hetzner), compliant with strict data protection regulations.
We don't just store your photos on a hard drive. We use Enterprise Erasure Coding (via Backblaze B2). Every file you upload is split into encrypted shards and distributed across multiple physical servers. Even if multiple hard drives failed simultaneously in the data center, your file would remain perfectly intact. This architecture provides 99.999999999% durability (that's eleven 9s), and effectively prevents bitrot in a way no normal hard drive can.