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Why I built f-tree
A free family tree app that keeps your family on your own device, built so the people who come after us can still see how they are related.
I built f-tree because I didn’t want to forget my ancestors, and I didn’t want the generations after me to forget how they are related to everyone in the family.
Even after decades, a family stays close, and feels close, when its members can see how closely they are related and that they once shared the same ancestor.
What that turned into
A tree that expects gaps
Real families have a great-grandmother nobody named. In f-tree a person with no name is a normal person, so the tree can be honest about what the family does and doesn’t know, and filled in later.
An answer to “how are we related?”
The question every family asks at every wedding. f-tree names the relationship, in English or in Hindi, and shows the line of people it followed to get there.
A family record you keep
No account, no server, no ads. Your tree is a file on your own device in a documented format, so it can outlast any app, including this one.
Who is behind it, and how it is run
f-tree is made by Ankit Srivastava, an independent developer, and built in the open. Everything below can be checked.
- It is free, with no limit on people. There is no subscription, no trial and no paid tier. The apps are open source under the MIT licence.
- The history is public. The first commit was on 30 August 2026 and version 1.0.0 shipped on 30 September 2026. The changelog records every release.
- Every download is built in public. Each file comes from GitHub Actions and has a published SHA-256 checksum. More than 1,500 automated tests run on every change.
- Nothing about your family reaches me. There is no analytics, no tracking and no account. The privacy page lists every permission and what can touch a network.
- Problems are handled in the open. Report them on GitHub, or privately through the security policy, which commits to an acknowledgement within 7 days.
What is next
- F-Droid. f-tree is installed from a signed APK today. F-Droid, the app store for open-source Android apps, is the next place it is headed.
- More family words. Hindi kinship terms are in. Other Indian languages have a place waiting, and contributions from native speakers are the way they get added.
- Not built yet: GEDCOM import and export, a macOS app and an iPhone app. They are listed here so nobody has to find out the hard way.
Say hello
If f-tree helped you find a relative, or let you down, tell me on GitHub. The stories about how families use it are what shape what gets built.
Start with the oldest relative you can name
Free on Android, Windows and Linux, and nothing to sign up for.