Twigs vs. a spreadsheet: why families outgrow the doc
Almost every family tree starts as a document: a spreadsheet someone maintains, a PDF from a reunion, a poster in a hallway. It works, until it doesn't. The file goes stale, nobody knows who has the latest version, and the one cousin who maintains it moves on.
At a glance
Built for
A spreadsheet: Whatever the maintainer sets up
Twigs: The living family you have today
Privacy
A spreadsheet: As private as the last person it was emailed to
Twigs: Private by default: family password, your own address, no public profiles, no ads
Price
A spreadsheet: Free
Twigs: Free to start
Who keeps it current
A spreadsheet: One heroic family historian
Twigs: Everyone claims their own card and tends it
How it feels
A spreadsheet: Rows and columns
Twigs: A fluid, zoomable canvas that is lovely on a phone
| A spreadsheet | Twigs | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Whatever the maintainer sets up | The living family you have today |
| Privacy | As private as the last person it was emailed to | Private by default: family password, your own address, no public profiles, no ads |
| Price | Free | Free to start |
| Who keeps it current | One heroic family historian | Everyone claims their own card and tends it |
| How it feels | Rows and columns | A fluid, zoomable canvas that is lovely on a phone |
Where a spreadsheet or doc shines
- Free and familiar. Everyone can open a spreadsheet.
- Total flexibility in what you record.
- No new accounts or tools to learn.
Where Twigs shines
- The tree draws itself: couples, branches, and generations laid out automatically, zoomable on any phone.
- No stale copies: one living tree at one address, always current.
- Everyone maintains their own card, instead of one exhausted family historian maintaining everything.
- Photos and moments live with the people they belong to, with reactions from the family.
- Still private: a family password instead of a file forwarded around.
The honest verdict
Keep the spreadsheet as your archive if you like, but give the family a tree they'll actually open. Moving over takes minutes: start with yourself and branch out, or upload a photo of the old chart and let Twigs draft the tree for you.