CaringBridge Reviews

When my husband was first hospitalized after his stroke, I received too many text messages from concerned family members and friends to he able to reply. I tried creating text groups but I was overwhelmed. Creating a Caring Bridge was a one stop solution for communicating. But it became more. The process of journaling the journey was therapeutic for me. And the support he and I received through Caring Bridge carried our hearts and souls through the devastating events that took months to unfold. The many prayers that were offered, the hearts and comments all built a community of support that helped light up the darkness. When my husband died after 9 months of fighting I wrote our final post. I still look back at his site to remind me of his struggle and journey. But I’m also reminded each time that we were never alone.

CaringBridge is perfect for a care giver devulging news about a cancer patient who has a large network of loved ones, when you need a single portal place for everyone to access.

In other words, you never want to be there, but it’s a blessing when you are.

In this situation, trying to remember who needs texted, called, etc, is just one thing that can become overwhelming. The ability to share CaringBridge link and gather everyone to one place is a real blessing in that circumstance.

As the husband of a woman who had quite an ordeal and later went into remission, I found the journal invaluable in ways I did not expect at the time.

Obviously it helps provide immediate updates.
It’s a place to make immediate needs known.
Probably most valuable, the journal serves as a record of what you’ve been through when doctors and insurance are asking questions about what happened when, and the details of the ordeal are understandably blurry. The journal sorts each entry by chronological date, making it an invaluable reference to consult after the fact.

Caring Bridge is an amazingly useful app for people in a situation no one should be in. But if you are, download it and use it today. It’s a blessing in a difficult time.

This is the best app to utilize when you need to share news without excessive noise. In most situations the information being shared are extremely emotional and difficult, but necessary to keep others informed and prayers heading your way for healing. Telling the story to friends & family of what you or a loved one is going thru over and over again is intense. It can produce a lot of anxiety and lack of rest, which in many cases is much needed. this app is a wonderful place to come and share without having to retell a story a hundred times. It’s also therapeutic to type out your journey as if in a journal and even more exciting to read back your history when you’re on the other side of the situation. Thank you for all CB does to keep us connected in our time of need. ❤️

CaringBridge is very helpful in keeping family and friends updated on my infant sons leukemia journey . However , CaringBridge is very buggy and freezes up randomly . It does not notify you when someone has posted a comment or when you have replied a comment to someone. The tribute wording is very misleading and there is something to be said about that approach. CaringBridge is behind in terms of current tech and you don’t have to have a lot of experience to know that . It is not user friendly . The user experience and app could be improved a lot . I would literally pay a monthly fee for CaringBridge to be optimized and to not ask donors to pay tributes, when really they are misled into thinking they are donating towards us (the families). This website has way more than enough traffic that a solid app is absolutely expected. The interface needs major improvement , it’s 2021.

I am so thankful for the ability to stay updated on the medical condition of our sweet friends. I remember how stressful it was keeping family and friends informed when caring for my father for 8 months before he passed away through phone calls, texts, and social media. However, not everyone may see the posts or texts did not always go through. Many missed phone calls and having to call back at other times.
With this app you are able to make a post and those that are interested can visit the site, make comments, etc. The reason for postings are already taking a toll on you, not to mention the concern and care you are giving. this app gives you the opportunity to share and not feel guilty for not contacting others individually.

I was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and found myself quickly overwhelmed with trying to keep all my friends and family up to date on what was going on. Not only does this platform allow me to selectively share my story with those I choose, but it has also made it easier to bring others alongside me to help. From co-authors to a meal train, this app puts everything and everyone in a single location for updates and to sign up for ways to help. I have used both the website and CaringBridge to post updates and find both easy to use. I highly recommend this free platform to anyone walking through a challenging time. It has definitely made the communication and organizing support aspect of my journey easier.

I appreciate this tool so very much. My family and I are able to utilize it to keep our loved ones updated without overwhelming our personal messages. this app’s options like “tributes” and “well wishes” are a very thoughtful option for loved ones to leave special messages. this app has helped our family to streamline all communication and manage it in our own time while not being overwhelmed. It can feel overwhelming to update loved ones, even if their intentions are good, it’s hard to keep track of all the messages you get when a family member is going through something. So the reason I recommend CaringBridge and website is because it’s been the solution to that very issue. Thanks this app!

Our daughter is in the fight for her life and a lot of people continuously ask us for updates on her condition, this makes it so much easier. Also the well wishes section is a great feature where people can post messages that she will be able to read later to help her on her recovery.

The only thing that I think could be improved is the amount of donate buttons that are in the page and that sometimes get people confused into thinking that the donation is for the patient. I do not know if this is a non for profit or a regular company looking to maximize profits but I think that through fees and donation buttons that are not subject to interpretation the site could generate its revenue.

Just a suggestion, but great app. Thank you.

I’ve only been a follower of other friends on CaringBridge previously, but I’ve been on it for over 5 years, and for multiple people.

Now that I’m using it for myself, I really appreciate that it’s secure, so I can share info with friends and family all over the world, from different parts of my life, and can keep them informed but also keep it private at the same time. I’m not one to post this type of stuff on FB, and the fact that I can share the link easily but set up privacy levels to approve each individual gives me peace of mind.

If you or a loved one is in a similar situation, and you don’t want to rely on a telephone grapevine and concerns about someone being left out of the information loop, this is the way to go!

I love CaringBridge. It was made it so easy for me to share and update my personal journey with my family and friends near and far. I have followed and still follow others who are sharing their journeys. I find inspiration, encouragement, and Hope when others are so candid in their journal posts. I know it’s ok to be afraid, angry, hurt and discouraged. But you can’t live there. In order to move ahead you need to find the strength to move ahead in your own time. It keeps me updated on those I care about and their families. In these uncertain times and all the ugliness and hatred and in our world today I see love being shared and people truly caring for others. That’s what I want to focus on and be apart of. Caring Bridge has provided that for me and I am so grateful!!!

It lets you or someone you allow to communicate a journal or message to 20-30 people or more to keep everyone up to date on surgery or issues you are going thru ( like cancer or chemo), so you do not have to call, text or email 30 people to be sure everyone know what is happening. It takes so much stress off of the person and their family trying to call everyone and answer questions about what is happening that can be so stressful during difficult times. This is idea is a huge benefit and so easy to set-up and then send text or email invite and it is set-up and it helps you keep family and friends up to date on everything!!

I first started a CB journal for my husband shortly after he was diagnosed with ALS in 2008. This was a wonderful way to keep family & friends informed of his progress through the 3.5 years of his disease, especially to keep a 1,000 folks a day from asking, “How’s Phil?” (I work in a church. :) After he died his CB site almost became my diary, a place to work thru my grief as a widow & mother. Folks still read what I write - even 10 years later!

Since using CB for my husband, I also authored another site for my brother & his family after a devastating car wreck. And again when my sister was diagnosed with cancer. I’ve also helped others set up their own sites for their family members going thru an illness or accident.

I’m so grateful for this site and the good job it does in keeping people connected and providing a venue for those going through difficult periods of life and loss and terminal illnesses to write updates that loved ones and others can access without the affected parties having to rewrite to every single person what is happening. It seems to provide a very therapeutic outlet for all involved and the opportunity to respond in comments readily is also helpful! Even less close acquaintances who are interested can be apprised of things that are often very inspiring and for which to pray and glean from (or even if they don’t know the person). This is an invaluable service to Many!! Thank you Caring Bridge!

A huge and heartfelt “Thank you” for the peace of mind that your “Caring Bridge” site provides, as it updates me on friends and loved ones.

For those who may be suffering during the end 😥of a loved ones journey here on earth, it’s comforting to know so many care and to not have the need to individually update all who mourn and are grieving with them. For those able to push through towards recovery and healing ✨with a chance for living again, the progress updates bring them much needed support, cheering them on with love and often much needed help, plus the most important thing of all, prayers. “Caring Bridge”reaches so many and I certainly appreciate it immensely.

Thank you, Caring Bridge ! ✝️💝🙏🏼

Caring Bridge is a great app for people that need it to help stay connect with family and friends especially that is more than important now then ever I am glad that I read daily updates from the people that post to give updates on the person and that you your self can give a comment or and heart though I wish that you did not have to give an email though because when I first downloaded CaringBridge I did not have my email because of certain things and then I got my email back and got everything to get caring bridge and not use safari for caring bridge it is one less tab that I have to have in safari

Great app

When I was diagnosed with cancer in 2017, I wondered how we would be able to share information to so many family & friends. We were not going to be able to call or text everyone the information, which turned out to be A LOT, because that would be very time consuming. This application was a wonderful way for my husband (my co-author) & me to communicate the journey to many people. You can also post pictures, which seemed unlikely at the beginning, & we did! There are probably many other features I haven’t even used or know are available, but it has done what we had hoped to accomplish through communication. Highly recommend CaringBridge!!

My husband was diagnosed with Acute leukemia and instantly hospitalized. We were in shock, and exhausted just trying to get settled in the new normal. We are now almost 3 months in with 4 months to go. At a time when so many caring friends want to know and support us, this has been a life saver. We don’t have to keep repeating information, rehashing news that is hard to talk about. Our friends can quickly get updates without waiting for return calls. It has saved me tons of time that can then be spent being with and helping my husband. It’s also been great to reread early journal posts and helped us keep record of events and treatments. You’re mind is in a fog and this helps you clear the fog as you write it out.

I know what it’s like to be the communication hub for someone who is going through a recovery, it’s tough. Did I text this person that update? Did I remember to follow up with them?
Now being on the receiving end of updates, I understand how difficult it is to just wait for information. It’s so hard in the waiting to not be overly bothersome to the person with the information. Caring Bridge allows a singular private place for updates to be shared along with messages of support to be shared in a community that is centered around the love and support of the amazing person that is recovering.
No more random Facebook posts or mega text threads and phone trees. Thank you for caring, Caring Bridge.

I am so glad that I was told about CaringBridge. I use it as a journal where I document what it is like to have cancer and have all of the treatments that I am going through. It’s a way to share my journey with family and friends so that I don’t have to tell the same thing over and over again. One of the best parts is my followers can post comments that provide support and inspiration for me. I like the feature where I can allow only the people I want to have access and not open it up to the world to see. I find that putting it all into words is helping me. I highly recommend this to anyone going through a challenging life event.

I had not heard of CaringBridge until this wonderful young man as well as his family’s lives were turned upside down in a matter of hours all due to a stranger (or angle) telling Zane he didn’t look so good and needed to go see a Doctor. Caring Bridge has let my family as well as other people that care about all of them keep up to date on their situation. It also lets us know about the different ways we can help Zane and has the direct access to those options right there which makes things easier for those that truly want to help but have no clue how they should start. I am impressed by what I’ve experienced so far!

Caring bridge is an amazing site that really helped connect people with updates when a close family friend had some critical complications during childbirth. It was a great way to keep so many loved ones in the loop when it came to medical updates and prayer requests, but there was a large unmistakeable “Tributes” link on the page that says “Donate in honor of [our friend]”. The wording there led many of her loved ones to believe they were donating to the mother and her family to help financially support them, but NONE of that donation money went to our friend or her family; it went to the website. I totally understand that the site needs donations to stay free and running, but the wording on their donation link to the site seemed shady and deceptive, since many people donated hundreds of dollars to the website, thinking the money was going to the family for medical bills and childcare.

I have been using Caring Bridge for almost 18 months. My husband became very ill and for the first 10 days I was going out of my mind with worry for him and trying to keep family and friends updated of his condition. I tried setting up group text and email accounts but I would miss a group or someone with info. Finally someone suggested Caring Bridge and it took a load off my plate. My site has over 250 followers and has had over 8100 visits. I would have never been able to make that many contacts. And it’s easy.

I spent ages editing my first journal entry, and the editor locked up showing only the top bar with Cancel, the date, and Post. The bottom has the formatting command bar. The rest was a white space that would not react to input. Speech to text consistently aborts after 2-3 words (works fine in all other apps), and swiping to type (iOS 13 native functionality) often locks up and crashes CaringBridge .
There is no refresh option I can find other than throwing it off the stack and reloading CaringBridge .
The counts of comments often doesn’t match the number of comments shown even within the journal post itself.
I can’t see who left hearts but not comments.

**Last update removed the ability to add pictures to a journal post (tapping the add pics icon does nothing). **

The core functionality of the site is so useful. I wish CaringBridge was better able to support it.

Love CaringBridge ! I was in high school when a peer of mine was in a car crash. It was really easy to share the story with other classmates, gracefully avoiding confusion, rumors, and made it easy to reach out to the family. What an amazing way to stay connected to friends during tough times.

This is a wonderful app for keep friends and family abreast of how someone going through difficult health challenges is doing. Caregivers and patients appreciate the support, but it gets tough to stay in constant contact while dealing with life’s challenges. CaringBridge fulfills that job very well

I’ve been a long time user of this app but never really liked the old app. I was hesitant to update but... Holy Guacamole!!! The new version is beautiful and I can now keep up with friends and family while on the go. Thanks for listening to everyone’s feedback!

CaringBridge is slow. That’s the least of it’s problems. Extremely user UN-friendly. A lot of complaints from my followers also. After a lot of work, half an hour ago, I saved it as a draft. It is nowhere to be found. Trouble every time I use it. I haven’t seen a site this bad for 25 years! Shop for something different. It doesn’t even let me put in a nickname!!
Now that I spent hours screwing with this entry, there are no photos, no post button. Bit of a wasted day here.
Mary Kay Haugen

I love the concept and really want to love CaringBridge too, but it misses basic tenants of app design. Don’t force the user to sign up or sign in before showing something of value. Even when I tried to sign up with Facebook, I was put in an endless loop where it said I’d previously signed up with Facebook but didn’t allow me to proceed. I think a lot of good can from from CaringBridge and truly hope the developer can leverage a good UX designer to make it happen because it has great potential.

Caring Bridge has been a true lifeline to so many friends and family during major surgery and recovery for my wife! Being able to keep so many people informed during a difficult season of life was invaluable!

Thank you to the Caring Bridge Family!

Tom and Carol Abernathy

Super important app for sharing struggles with those who care and love. Allows continuing prayers for specific and current concerns! A special thank you to CaringBridge developers and all that made CaringBridge happen! Definitely 5+ Stars!

I've been using CaringBridge on and off for about six months, mainly on my iPad. I have not experienced very many problems at all. When I did have a question I used the live chat function and got my answer right away. CaringBridge has been helpful when my Dad has been hospitalized, it saves me lots of time so I don't have to give updates to twenty people, I can just post it on my journal and everyone can keep updated with accurate information. Once or twice it maybe was not the fastest at updating or refreshing but it eventually got it right. This is an awesome app from a great organization. Be sure to send them a contribution.

I follow a few people on this app and love the simplicity of CaringBridge. It has helped us all stay connected in a safe and secure way. No ads like Facebook!

CaringBridge allows me to stay in touch with family and friends during their health journeys. I love its design and navigation. A great app that I’ve supported with a donation.

I used the mobile site previously, but with this version, I am in LOVE with the mobile app!!!

Faster and I like the photo displays now.