About the community
A private online community for adults who are ready to experience chosen extended family. The community is structured like a home, because that’s exactly what it is. A kitchen, a family room, a dining room, a back porch, and more — each space designed for the kind of everyday connection that makes life richer. Warm, inclusive, and open to anyone 18 and over, anywhere in the world. Want to see it for yourself? Watch our short explainer video here.
The first 200 Founding Family members join free. For life. Not in the first 200? No problem. Membership is just $5 a month. No long-term commitment. No complicated setup.
Yes. No long-term commitment. If you decide this house isn’t for you, you can leave anytime. We just don’t prorate or refund prepaid membership. At $5 a month, we think you’ll stay.
Only if you want to. We’d actually prefer you skip the last name entirely. This is a place to be family, and family has its own names. Choose something that feels right for who you are here. Cousin Layla. Favorite Uncle Joe. Boston Bro. Famous Piemaker. Mama Rose. Grandad. Whatever fits. We’ll remember it.
This family accepts you exactly as you are. Join when you feel ready and however you feel comfortable. You can participate in activities without showing your face or saying a word. You can write in the forums and never join a live event. You can change your mind as many times as you need to. There is no right way to show up here. There is only your way.
We envision a mix of joyful, everyday, and supportive moments — the kind of things families do together naturally.
Together, you might:
- Cook and bake together
- Share meals and happy hours
- Watch movies, sports, and whatever everyone’s into
- Talk about everything and nothing
- Cheer each other on during workouts
- Show off our pets
- Decorate the house for whatever the season brings and whatever your family celebrates
- Celebrate the occasions that matter to your family, whatever those look like
- Join peer-led support groups for grief, life transitions, and whatever the family needs
But honestly? This is your house and your family.
At the end of the day, you will decide what an average week looks like — because you’ll tell us what you want. The Founding Family especially will help curate the experience, because they’re first through the door. And yes, there are perks that come with being first.
This house will always listen to its family.
Yes. The community has clear conduct guidelines and active moderation. Zero tolerance for harassment, romantic solicitation, or anything that isn’t in keeping with the spirit of this house.
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About the App
A note before we begin.
We’re going to be radically transparent here, because you deserve that.
The Relative Choice™ app is done. It has been done. We are not waiting on technology. We are waiting on people.
An app that matches people by family role only works when there are enough people in it to make meaningful matches. We can’t release it and have someone in Minnesota with no options within a thousand miles, or someone in Boston matched only with people in Los Angeles. That’s not chosen family. That’s a disappointment.
So we opened the community first. Not as a placeholder. As the foundation.
The community and the app complement each other beautifully — one gives you a virtual extended family to belong to right now, the other will help you build your chosen family offline, one meaningful relationship at a time.
When we have the critical mass we need, the app launches. And the people who helped us get there — our community Founding Family and our beta testers — will have free access to the app for life. No matter what premium tiers we eventually introduce.
That’s our promise.
The name says it all. Relative Choice™ exists because we believe you can choose your relatives. Not just your friends. Not just your community. Your actual family — by role, by values, by choice. The app is for people who want to add chosen family to their lives and want total agency and control over how and who they add. You want grandchildren to spoil? We got you. You want the parent figure you never had? Done. You want a brother or sister? Yes and yes. If it’s got to do with family, we got it. And we got you. Want to see it in action? Watch our short explainer video here.
The app is done. We built it before we marketed it — because we don’t promise what we can’t deliver.
We’re not waiting on technology. We’re waiting on people.
An app that matches people by family role only works when there are enough people in it to make meaningful matches. We can’t have someone in Minnesota with no options within a thousand miles. We can’t have someone in Boston matched only with people in Los Angeles. That’s not chosen family. That’s a disappointment.
That’s why we’re starting with the community. Once we have the numbers we need to make real, meaningful matches, the app opens.
Beta testing begins Fall 2026.
Community Founding Family members are first in line — and their access will be free for life, no matter what premium tiers we eventually introduce.
US only at launch, on both iOS and Android. International expansion is planned but not confirmed for the first release.
The concept is the same. Just like a dating app, we ask you what you’re looking for, what you value, what you like and dislike, what area of the country you live in, and more. The difference — and it’s as big a difference as it gets — is that we aren’t matching for romance. Of any kind. Hard pass. Full stop. We are connecting family to family. You want a lover or a lifetime partner? There are plenty of apps for that and we ask you to download them. Family only here.
Grandparent figures, parent figures, siblings, aunts and uncles, adult children, and whole family units. You can specify the roles you’re looking for and the ones you’re happy to offer.
We ask you about your lifestyle, your values, your area of the country, and more. We ask you about the roles you’re looking for and the roles you’re willing to fulfill. Then we match you with people looking for the same. Simple. Intentional. Built around family.
The app will always have a free tier. It will be accessible to everyone, always. That said, there will be premium tiers with premium features. We’ll figure out what those look like and what they cost after beta testing. Beta testers will have free access for life, no matter what we decide.
Yes. You must be 18 or over to join either the community or the app.
Safety and trust
No. Relative Choice™ is an independent company. “We Are the Family You Need” — A Virtual Chosen Family Community by Relative Choice™ and the Relative Choice™ app are both Relative Choice™ products.
It depends on what they do. Just like in life, context matters. Speeding is not the same as robbery. For minor infractions, warnings are given. We believe in giving people the opportunity to course correct. For serious infractions — harassment, romantic solicitation, predatory behavior, or anything that threatens the safety of our family members — the response is immediate removal and a permanent ban. No second chances for behavior that puts people at risk. Creating new accounts after removal is prohibited.
Here’s the honest answer: our community is safer than going this alone.
We have moderation. We make sure people are real. We have clear rules — and we enforce them.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
- Every Founding Family member is personally vetted one on one to confirm they are a real person.
- Everyone who joins after that pays a membership fee — one of the most effective ways to keep bots out.
- We have clear House Rules to protect members from predatory behavior.
- We have human moderators.
- We use AI monitoring to flag concerning language for our live moderators to review.
Is it completely safe? Nothing is. But we believe our platforms are as safe — if not safer — than anything else out there. And they are absolutely safer than going it alone.
Keeping this family safe is not an afterthought. It is the foundation everything else is built on.
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General
Chosen family refers to the close relationships people build outside of biological or legal family – the people who show up for you, support you, and fill family roles in your life by choice rather than circumstance. For a deeper look at what chosen family is and why it matters, visit our research page.
Not quite. Friendship is wonderful, but most people who talk about chosen family are describing something more specific – a relationship that fills a particular family role. The grandparent figure who comes to the school play. The sibling who just gets it. The parent figure who gives you the kind of steady, unconditional support you never had. It’s a different kind of connection, and most people who need it know the difference.
Anyone 18 or over who is missing family connections in their life – whether through loss, estrangement, distance, circumstance, or simply never having had those bonds to begin with. And equally, anyone who has love, time, and connection to offer. Both sides of that equation matter here.
Most online communities are built around shared interests – hobbies, topics, activities. We’re the Family You Need is built around something different: the intention to be family for each other. The structure, the rooms, the way it’s moderated, the people who join – all of it is oriented toward that specific kind of connection. There’s nothing else quite like it.
Head to our contact page or email us at info@relativechoice.com. For media inquiries: media@relativechoice.com. For investor inquiries: investor@relativechoice.com.
Ready to come home?
The first 200 Founding Family members join free. For life. Not in the first 200? No problem. Membership is just $5 a month. No long-term commitment. No complicated setup. Just a warm, welcoming online home where you can drop in and feel at home.
Ready to come home?
The first 200 Founding Family members join free. For life. Not in the first 200? No problem. Membership is just $5 a month. No long-term commitment. No complicated setup. Just a warm, welcoming online home where you can drop in and feel at home.