Looking for a CaringBridge alternative?

How KeptWell compares to CaringBridge

Most families looking for a CaringBridge alternative want something more private and more focused on the medical record itself. Here's how KeptWell compares to CaringBridge across the things families ask us about most.

Why families switch

When KeptWell is the better fit

CaringBridge does one thing well: it lets a family broadcast updates to friends and receive support back. The questions below are the ones we hear from families who realized they needed something different.

1. 01

   You want to keep the records, not just write updates

   KeptWell ingests the actual documents. Lab PDFs, discharge summaries, imaging reports, photos of paper records from the binder, audio recordings of what the oncology nurse said on the phone. The AI reads every page, summarizes it in plain English, and pulls out the structured details (lab values, medication changes, diagnoses, procedures) so they're searchable and chartable over time. CaringBridge is a place to tell people how you're doing. KeptWell is a place to keep track of what's actually happening.

2. 02

   You want to ask the chart questions, not write a post

   After a few months of cancer care, no one remembers what the platelet count was at the last cycle or which medication was the one that caused the rash. KeptWell's chat has read every document in your circle and answers in plain English, with citations back to the exact page in the exact document. Ask "what was the last A1C" or "what did the discharge summary say about follow-up" and you get a real answer, not a blank text box waiting for you to type an update.

3. 03

   You want private by design, not private by setting

   CaringBridge sites can be set to private, but the underlying model is still "a site you publish to." KeptWell circles have no public page and no audience mode. The only way to see anything in a circle is to be invited by an admin. There's no toggle to flip the wrong way, no "oh I thought that was private" risk. For families who want their medical information to never be a post, the structural choice matters.

4. 04

   You want the medical mess organized, not the emotional update

   Cancer care is a paperwork problem on top of a medical problem on top of an emotional problem. CaringBridge organizes the emotional layer beautifully: updates, well-wishes, community. KeptWell organizes the paperwork layer: documents, lab trends, medication histories, appointment prep, who said what when. Many families use both, because they solve different problems. If the part that's overwhelming you is the binder full of records and not the family group chat, KeptWell is the one that helps.

Honest tradeoffs

Where CaringBridge still wins

We won't pretend KeptWell is a CaringBridge replacement on the things CaringBridge has been doing well since 1997. Here's where their product is genuinely the better tool for the job.

The public journal is the whole point

For families whose strength comes from broadcasting updates and receiving messages back from a community, CaringBridge's open-by-default journal is the entire reason to use it. KeptWell has no equivalent. We do not do public posts, guestbooks, hope messages from strangers, or a place where extended family and friends can rally. If that is what you need, CaringBridge is the right tool.

Mobilizing volunteers, meals, and rides

CaringBridge's Planner lets a family coordinate meals, rides to chemo, visits, and other concrete help from a network of friends and neighbors. KeptWell does not do scheduling or volunteer coordination. If the help your family needs to organize is people-and-tasks rather than documents, CaringBridge handles it natively and we don't.

Two decades of community muscle memory

CaringBridge has been the default for sharing health updates since 1997. Friends, neighbors, and extended family already know how to find a CaringBridge site, sign the guestbook, and leave a message. KeptWell is new and inward-facing. There's no equivalent shared convention for a family member to send their college roommate a KeptWell link. CaringBridge wins on familiarity in a way we won't catch up to soon.

Other comparisons families have asked us about

• KeptWell vs PicnicHealth →

  If what you actually want is a private medical record hub and not a family update journal, see how KeptWell compares to PicnicHealth, the closest functional competitor on the record-keeping side.

• KeptWell vs Trustworthy →

  If the binder you want to solve is broader than medical records (IDs, estate documents, insurance, healthcare directives) see how KeptWell compares to Trustworthy, the family operating system for every household document.

Common questions

What are the best CaringBridge alternatives?

Start with the part of CaringBridge you're replacing. For health updates to friends and family during cancer, MyLifeLine from the Cancer Support Community is free and adds a calendar for help requests and moderated peer forums. For meals, rides, and other tasks, Lotsa Helping Hands has a free care calendar with announcements, Meal Train is built for meal schedules, and Give InKind combines updates, a care calendar, and wishlists on one free page. Those tools are built for updates and help, not for the medical records themselves. If the part you need is the lab reports, discharge summaries, and medication changes, that's what KeptWell reads and organizes.

Is CaringBridge free?

Yes. CaringBridge is a nonprofit and has been free since 1997, funded by donations from families and supporters. KeptWell is also free today, and we are not building a family subscription. If KeptWell needs revenue, we expect it to come from organizations such as employers and patient advocates rather than from the families using it.

Can I use both KeptWell and CaringBridge?

Many families do. CaringBridge handles the public-facing updates and the community-support side: posts to friends, guestbook messages, mobilizing meals and rides. KeptWell handles the private record-keeping side: documents, lab trends, medication histories, AI-assisted questions about the chart. They solve different problems and don't overlap in a way that creates duplication.

Can I keep my CaringBridge site private?

Yes. A CaringBridge author picks one of three privacy settings, and the most private one makes the site invitation-only. The author can change that setting later. A KeptWell circle has no public setting to switch to: only the people an admin invites can see what's in it.

Does CaringBridge store medical records?

No. CaringBridge is a journal platform: text posts, photos, comments. It does not store, parse, or analyze medical documents like discharge summaries, lab results, or imaging reports. If you have been pasting lab values into CaringBridge posts because there was nowhere else to put them, that is the gap KeptWell fills.

What does KeptWell do that CaringBridge does not?

Upload medical documents (PDFs, scans, photos of paper, audio recordings) and KeptWell reads them. It extracts structured information like lab values over time, medication changes, diagnoses, and procedures, and lets you ask questions in plain English about the entire record with citations back to the source document. CaringBridge has no equivalent because that is not what it is built to do.

Will KeptWell ever add a public-journal feature like CaringBridge?

No. The point of a private medical record hub is that nothing in it is ever broadcast, even with a privacy setting. If we wanted to compete on public journals, we would have built something that looks like CaringBridge. We are deliberately building the opposite shape, because that is the gap families have told us is unfilled.

Where can I see KeptWell and CaringBridge side by side?

The dedicated head-to-head page goes deeper: feature-by-feature comparison table, when to pick each one, and the genuine cases where CaringBridge is the right tool and KeptWell is not. See /compare/keptwell-vs-caringbridge for the full side-by-side.

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