maple is shutting down, here’s what to do (and why it can’t happen to us)

📢 BREAKING NEWS 📢

The Maple family app, one of the biggest VC-backed names in the family organization technology arena (more affectionately known as “FamTech,” a term I literally learned today, and instantly fell in love with) has announced that it’s shutting down. It’s over, Johnny. It’s over.

As of December 31, 2026, Maple is gone, and as per their shutdown announcement, every bit of user data goes with it.

I was genuinely shocked by this news, because Maple had a serious pedigree: Strong founders (ex-Shopify execs), a slick product, and actual money ($5M in seed funding). I considered them one of the main players in the FamTech (I love that we have that term now) space.

Based on internet reports (which can always be believed), the Maple team was acquired by Wander, a company that’s not in the family space at all. Maple was acquired for their team, and Wander apparently has no interest in keeping the app running, so it’s lights-out. Unfortunately, that’s how these stories end sometimes. I wish the best to their team.

the facts, for those in a hurry. laid out in beanie form.

For Maple users: First things first - get your data out

If you’re a Maple user, here’s what matters right now:

• Your account (and Maple itself) is up until December 31, 2026
• After that, it’s over. User data is permanently deleted, with no way to get it back.

Export your data ASAP, including your calendars, lists, notes, and whatever else you can, before the end of the year. Don’t leave it until December, however tempting that may be.

Not for nothing, but hey - this is exactly the thing I’ve been going on about

Not to say I told you so (I would never do that), but I wrote a whole guide about local-first apps. One of the main reasons to choose local-first is this exact scenario - your favorite software company disappears, and poof! Your data goes with it.

When your data lives on someone else’s servers, your family’s entire life, activities, schedules, notes, medications, and whatever other little details you spent your time painstakingly cultivating are a business decision away from being jettisoned to oblivion.

Now, here we are. Real families, real data, and a real deletion date on the horizon.

So getting to the point: I actually liked Maple - what do I do now?

From what I could tell (although I never truly used it in anger) Maple seemed like a genuinely nice family hub - a shared calendar, chores, grocery lists, meal plans, AI, and all that. Some of what beanies does was inspired by Maple. It’s the stuff I also think is important to share the mental load, and keep a household from falling apart.

Now, here comes the pitch, so get ready. You knew this was coming.

beanies.family does all that, but goes even further into areas Maple never touched - money, linking your family life with your financial life, accounts, budgets, goals, etc. Also, travel plans (bolstered by AI), lists, family data, allergies, medications, recipes. Even (coming soon) meal plans that can be shared with your family, and lots more. It’s a secure, private place, where your whole family can gather and your data is yours.

The real difference is where your data lives. Unlike Maple (and most family organization apps) beanies.family is local-first and fully encrypted, meaning your family’s precious personal data lives on your storage, not mine. I can’t read it, sell it, or lose it, because I never had it in the first place.

Check out how we measure up:

	Maple	beanies.family
shared family calendar	✅	✅
chores, to-dos & the mental load	✅	✅
grocery & family lists	✅	✅
AI helping out	✅ (school-email import, meal ideas)	✅ (invites, travel plans, more on the way)
meal planning	✅	coming soon (in testing now)
travel plans	nope	✅
family medications, allergies, care	partially (with notes)	✅ (clear schedules and data)
a cool family scrapbook	nope	✅
family finances (accounts, budgets, goals)	nope	✅
track assets and loans	nope	✅
price	maple+ subscription	✅ free (well, for now)
where your family’s data lives	not with you. maple’s servers	✅ your own storage, encrypted
still yours if the app shuts down	not anymore. deleted as of dec 31, 2026	✅ it was always yours. and always will be.

But.. wait? What about…?

And yeah, I know what you’re all probably thinking: “greg, you’re one cool dude, but what happens if YOU go away?”

Ok, first of all, thanks for thinking I’m cool. And also, how dare you? Like that would ever happen.

But, second of all, yeah, that’s kind of the whole point. Let’s say I got hit by a bus tomorrow (by the way, why is the go-to IT metaphor for losing somebody always getting hit by a bus? A bit macabre, but sure, let’s go with it). Anyway, let’s say that I do, in fact, get clobbered by a speeding bus, my body careening across the highway, my bones crushed to a fine powder, bringing the life of an unassuming IT engineer to a violent end. Your data is still not going anywhere. It was always yours. And you’re invited to my funeral. There will be cake.

That’s what local-first means, and it’s what would have saved every Maple family from the scramble they’re in now.

So yeah, Maple families, you’re welcome here.

If you’re lost and looking for somewhere to go, give beanies.family a shot. You’re welcome here.

It takes roughly five minutes to set up, your data stays with you, and it’s free to start (it’s actually free altogether, for now, until some point at which it stops being economically feasible for me to continue burning a hole in my wallet by hosting it myself, and I start charging at the very least to cover my costs.)

No deletion date, no acquisition surprises, and no ads for life. That’s the beanies guarantee, which I made up just now. But it’s true.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go finish the essay I was actually planning to post tomorrow and reschedule it for next week, providing some even bigger FamTech news doesn’t break again a day before the posting date.

Speak soon my beans, and I’m looking forward to welcoming some lost Maple app souls to the beanies family. We’re friendly. You’ll like it here.

greg

ps - if you’re still not sure if beanies is right for you, have a chat with us (or me) on discord.