Online Memorial Walls (Kudoboard and Similar): How They Work, Costs, and Moderation Tips

When someone you love dies, the first wave of decisions can feel relentless. You might be coordinating a service, answering messages, updating relatives who live hours away, and trying to keep space for your own grief at the same time. In that swirl, a simple shared place for memories can be surprisingly grounding. A thoughtful online memorial wall gives friends and family one place to post photos, stories, and grief messages online—especially when people can’t gather in the same room.

In practice, these memorial walls often become the modern version of a guest book and a scrapbook at once. Some families use them like a group sympathy card online that everyone can sign. Others build something closer to a digital archive, a lasting digital remembrance wall that continues to grow after the service. The “right” approach depends on your family’s needs, your privacy comfort level, and how much moderation you want to manage.

What an Online Memorial Wall Actually Is

An online tribute board (sometimes called a memorial wall, digital guest book, or celebration board) is a shared space where multiple people can contribute. Depending on the platform, guests can post short notes, longer stories, photos, videos, and sometimes reactions or comments. In many families, it fills a gap that traditional services can’t: it captures the stories that surface when someone has time to sit with a memory, rather than trying to remember the “right thing” to say in a quick line at a visitation.

It can also be a practical tool. If you’re planning a service, a digital wall can gather names of out-of-town relatives, confirm who wants updates, or collect photos for a slideshow. Funeral.com has a helpful guide on how traditional guest books work—and how digital alternatives can make it easier to preserve messages from remote loved ones—in Funeral Guest Books: What to Choose, What to Write, and Digital Alternatives That Actually Work.

And if you’re holding a memorial that includes both people and pets (which is more common than many families expect), a shared digital space can gently hold those memories together. You might appreciate Funeral.com’s guide on designing a digital memorial page that includes both human and pet loved ones, because it addresses the emotional reality that love and loss don’t always fit into neat categories.

How Platforms Like Kudoboard Work, Step by Step

If you’ve looked up a Kudoboard memorial (or a similar service), you’ve probably noticed the same basic promise: set up a board, share a link, and let people contribute. In real life, the process is simple, but the details matter—especially if you want the page to feel safe and calm rather than chaotic.

Most families start by choosing a layout and deciding what kind of contributions they want. Some people prefer short notes because it reduces pressure on guests. Others specifically want photos and stories because they’re hoping to build something lasting. Then you share the board with a small circle first—usually the people closest to the person who died—so the tone is set early. After that, you widen the link to coworkers, neighbors, extended family, and communities that cared about them.

Where it gets important is what happens next: privacy and moderation. Kudoboard, for example, offers privacy and moderation features that vary by board type and plan, and it publishes those details in its support materials and pricing comparisons. On its pricing page, Kudoboard lists a dedicated Memorial board option and highlights features such as moderation, downloads, and privacy controls across tiers. You can see the current pricing structure directly on Kudoboard.

The features that matter most (privacy, approvals, downloads/printing)

Before you choose a platform, it helps to decide what you actually need. A memorial wall can be a quick comfort or an ongoing archive, and those are different jobs. The features below tend to matter most—especially if your goal is to prevent spam or unwanted posts while keeping things easy for guests.

• Privacy controls (invite-only links, password protection, or the ability to lock the board when you’re ready).
• Approvals (pre-approval moderation so posts don’t appear until an admin reviews them).
• Multiple admins (so one grieving person isn’t the only gatekeeper).
• Download and printing options (so the board can become a keepsake book or downloadable archive).
• Ease for guests (minimal friction—ideally no complicated sign-ups for distant relatives).

If you’re specifically focused on moderation, Kudoboard documents “proactive moderation” as a way to approve posts before they appear live, and notes that it can be enabled by a board creator or admin for certain board types, including Memorial boards. The step-by-step instructions are published by Kudoboard.

Costs: What Families Usually Pay (and What to Watch For)

Families often assume memorial pages will be either “free” or “expensive,” but the reality is more of a spectrum. Some services are truly free and supported by optional fundraising features. Others charge a one-time fee for a board. Others use subscriptions. The best approach is to choose based on what you want to keep long-term, because the real memorial board cost isn’t only dollars—it’s also time, stress, and whether you can preserve the messages later.

Kudoboard’s public pricing page lists single-board options (including Lite, Premium, Milestone) and a dedicated Memorial board priced separately; at the time of its posted pricing table, it lists Lite at $5.99 per board, Premium at $8.99, Milestone at $19.99, and Memorial at $99 per board on Kudoboard. Those price points can be helpful if you want a simple, contained celebration of life board that can be shared widely and then saved.

If your priority is a free memorial website experience, some well-known providers explicitly state that the memorial pages themselves are free. Ever Loved’s help center says its standard memorial websites are free, and it explains that donations may have processing fees but no platform service fee on their end. That information is published by Ever Loved. GatheringUs similarly states that creating an online memorial is free and that there is no platform fee for the memorial page itself, per its FAQ on GatheringUs.

If you’re supporting a community that already uses charity-based memorial platforms (especially in the UK), MuchLoved states that its tribute service is “completely free” on MuchLoved. And if you want a more traditional memorial “website” model with templates and modules, Online-Tribute describes an activation option (a one-time fee) or a monthly subscription, noting $95 to activate or $8 per month on its overview page at Online-Tribute.

Across all of these options, the wisest mindset is: pick the platform that matches the kind of memory-keeping you want to do. If you want something quick and contained, a board-style tool can work beautifully. If you want something that functions more like an ongoing memorial website—life timeline, obituary, and sections for stories—a full memorial page service can fit better.

Moderation Tips to Prevent Spam and Protect the Family

Most people don’t think about moderation until something goes wrong. The hard truth is that public links can be shared beyond your intended circle, and once a page exists online, it can attract unwanted attention. That doesn’t mean you need to be anxious. It just means you’ll feel calmer if you treat moderation settings memorial page decisions as part of the planning, not an afterthought.

Start with a simple question: do you want posts to appear instantly, or do you want a review step? Instant posting feels warm and spontaneous, but it can also create stress for the family if something inappropriate appears at 2 a.m. If you expect a large audience, or if there are complicated family dynamics, proactive moderation is often kinder to the people closest to the loss.

Kudoboard describes proactive moderation as an option that lets a creator or admin review posts before they show live. Their support article on enabling proactive moderation walks through the toggle in settings and clarifies that it applies in certain plans and board types, including Memorial boards, via Kudoboard. That kind of “approve before publish” workflow is one of the simplest spam-prevention steps you can take.

Next, distribute the work. Even when moderation is easy, it can be emotionally draining. If the platform allows multiple administrators, assign at least two people: one person who understands the family’s boundaries, and one person who is simply dependable and calm. That way, moderation doesn’t fall on a single grieving adult who is already managing logistics.

Then set expectations gently. A short “welcome” message at the top of the page can do a lot: it can invite stories, encourage kindness, and clarify whether you want guests to avoid certain topics. If you’re not sure what to ask, Funeral.com’s Memorial Guest Book Prompts offers questions that invite meaningful memories—prompts that work equally well in a physical book or a digital board.

Finally, think about timing. Many families find it calming to “close” contributions after a certain point—not because the person is forgotten, but because the memorial becomes complete. If your platform allows you to lock a board or stop new posts, consider doing that after a meaningful milestone (after the service, after the first month, or after the first birthday). You can always reopen later if it feels right.

Turning Messages Into a Keepsake (Downloads, Printing, and “Forever” Storage)

One of the most meaningful parts of a memorial wall is what happens after the rush of condolences passes. If you’ve ever looked at a paper guest book months later, you know how grounding it can be to see those names and notes again. The digital version can be even richer because it includes photos, stories, and messages from people you might never meet in person.

For that reason, it’s worth prioritizing platforms that let you export or download what people share. Kudoboard explains its digital download flow (using a “Download or print” option) in its support documentation on Kudoboard. It also describes how to turn a board into a printed book in another support article on Kudoboard. Those options matter if your long-term goal is to create something tangible for children, grandchildren, or family members who want a physical keepsake.

Even if you choose a platform that says your memorial page will remain online, consider saving an offline copy anyway. Families change email addresses. Platforms evolve. A downloaded file, a printed book, or a saved archive is a form of protection for the memories themselves.

How an Online Tribute Fits Into Funeral Planning and Cremation Choices

An online memorial wall is often one piece of a larger puzzle. Families are also deciding how to hold a service, what to do with remains, and how to create a lasting tribute that fits the person who died. Those decisions are shaped by real trends: cremation is now the most common disposition in the United States, and projections continue to rise. According to the National Funeral Directors Association, the 2025 cremation rate is projected at 63.4% (with a longer-term projection that continues upward), and its statistics page also includes recent median cost figures for funerals with burial versus funerals with cremation. The Cremation Association of North America also publishes industry statistics, including a U.S. cremation rate figure for 2024 and forward projections.

For many families, that means memorialization shifts from a single physical graveside location to a mix of places: a home memorial, a scattering site, a columbarium niche, and—more and more—a digital space where memories can be shared. A memorial wall can hold stories while you make practical decisions about remains, especially if you’re still deciding between a full-size urn, something smaller, or shared keepsakes.

If you’re navigating cremation choices, Funeral.com provides several practical starting points. For families looking for a traditional centerpiece memorial, you can browse cremation urns for ashes. If you want something more compact for a shelf or for travel, small cremation urns can be a natural fit. And if multiple relatives want to share a portion of remains, keepsake urns are designed for that kind of family reality.

For people who want a wearable tribute, cremation jewelry—especially cremation necklaces—can provide comfort in a very personal way. Funeral.com’s Cremation Jewelry 101 guide is especially helpful if you’re trying to understand how these pieces work and what “capacity” means in practical terms.

And when the loss is a pet, families often want a memorial that feels just as intentional. Funeral.com’s pet cremation urns include many styles, while pet figurine cremation urns can feel like art that also holds meaning. If more than one person wants a small portion of ashes, pet keepsake cremation urns are built for shared remembrance.

Online memorial walls also intersect with the question of where ashes will live. Many families choose keeping ashes at home for a time, even if they plan a scattering later. If you’re weighing that decision, Funeral.com’s guide to keeping ashes at home offers practical, respectful guidance that can reduce anxiety. And if you’re considering water burial, you may find it helpful to read water burial guidance that explains what families typically do and what the ceremony can look like.

All of this is part of funeral planning, and cost is often part of the conversation. If you’re trying to build a budget without losing what matters emotionally, Funeral.com’s overview of how much does cremation cost (and how families compare options) can help you ask better questions and avoid surprises.

In a sense, a memorial wall becomes the bridge between logistics and meaning. While you decide what to do with ashes and how to gather people, the messages and photos collect in one place, forming a living portrait of the person you’re honoring. If you want ideas for next steps once cremation is complete, Funeral.com’s guide on what to do with ashes can be a calming resource.

A Calm Way to Choose the Right Online Memorial Wall

If you’re trying to decide quickly, it can help to match the tool to the moment you’re in. If you want a “sign the card” experience—fast contributions, easy sharing, and the option to download or print later—board-style tools like a Kudoboard memorial may fit well, especially since Kudoboard’s pricing page explicitly describes single-board and Memorial board options on Kudoboard. If you want a broader memorial website experience (obituary-style structure, ongoing page, and possibly fundraising), free memorial page providers like Ever Loved and GatheringUs may be worth comparing based on what they state about cost and features on Ever Loved and GatheringUs. And if you’re in a community where charity-based memorials are familiar, MuchLoved’s “tributes are free” model is clearly stated on MuchLoved.

No matter which platform you choose, the goal is the same: create a shared space that feels safe for the family and easy for the community. When the technology stays in the background, what remains is the part that matters—the stories that help a life feel seen.