If you're searching for a "family loan app," a "family loan tracker," or "family loan management software," you've already made the important decision: you're lending to a relative and you want to do it properly — with a real note, real payments, and clean records — rather than on a handshake. The category changed in 2025, when its best-known app shut down. Below is what family-loan software should do, what happened to Pigeon, how the surviving options compare, and where Family Matters fits.
What family-loan software should do
A loan to a relative has the same moving parts as any loan — it just has to stay a loan in the eyes of the IRS, and it has to keep the relationship intact. Good software handles five jobs:
- Document the promissory note. Capture the parties, principal, rate, term, and repayment terms in a signed agreement — the single most important evidence that this is a debt, not a gift. The free Promissory Note Generator produces an editable family loan agreement from your details.
- Set the right interest rate (the AFR). Pull the correct Applicable Federal Rate for the loan's term so the loan clears the IRS minimum and isn't treated as a disguised gift. For July 2026, Rev. Rul. 2026-12 sets the annual AFRs at 4.00% short-term (three years or less), 4.35% mid-term (over three, up to nine years), and 4.98% long-term (over nine years). The IRS updates AFRs monthly — check the current AFR table before you sign.
- Keep payments on schedule and on the record. Build the amortization schedule and track every payment against it. Tools differ here: some process the payments themselves; Family Matters instead logs payments as they land in connected bank accounts, so the ledger reflects what actually happened — and the money never passes through the software.
- Prepare the records your CPA needs. Track interest paid and principal remaining through the year — the lender reports interest received as income (a 1099-INT keeps it clean), and any below-AFR shortfall gets flagged as a gift.
- Support optional covenants. For debt-rescue loans especially, let the lender attach conditions — a required emergency fund, a freeze on new borrowing — so the help actually sticks.
You can preview the math for free right now: the Family Loan Calculator shows the payment, total interest, the correct AFR for your term, and any gift-tax flag, with a full amortization schedule.
Pigeon shut down — what its users moved to
For several years the most-recommended app for informal friends-and-family lending was Pigeon (usepigeon.io), the Y Combinator-backed startup. That era ended in late 2025: the platform went read-only in September 2025 and completed its wind-down by December 2025. Its website now describes itself as a memorial and states plainly that "Pigeon operated from 2020 to 2025," citing thin margins and the rising operational requirements of the category.
A platform shutting down changes nothing about the debt itself. The borrower still owes, interest still accrues under the note's terms, and the lender still reports the interest income. What disappears is the system of record — and that is worth fixing promptly. If you had a loan on Pigeon:
- Preserve the record. The payment history is the evidence that the loan is a loan. Gather bank statements covering each payment, any ledgers or statements you exported before the shutdown, and a copy of the signed agreement.
- Re-paper the note if needed. If the only signed copy of the agreement lived inside the app, put a fresh promissory note in writing — the free Promissory Note Generator builds an editable agreement from the original terms.
- Rebuild the schedule and pick a new home. The Family Loan Calculator regenerates an amortization schedule from the principal, rate, and term; the surviving tools below are the candidates for tracking it going forward.
Family loan software compared: the real options in July 2026
There are only a handful of genuine tools for documenting and tracking an intra-family loan — most "loan apps" are lenders putting up their own capital, which is a different thing entirely. Here's how the documentation-and-tracking options stack up now.
National Family Mortgage
The dominant brand since 2010, and the right call for a secured loan. It documents IRS-compliant, real-estate-secured intra-family mortgages with AFR-based promissory notes, and offers optional third-party loan servicing with annual IRS reporting support. It is fee-based: one-time setup fees per loan (current amounts are published in its Products & Pricing section) rather than a subscription. Excellent for a down-payment mortgage — see the family loan for a house guide — but heavier than you need for an unsecured personal loan to a sibling.
ZimpleMoney
Still operating as of July 2026, with published subscription pricing: roughly $23/month for up to three loans, $47/month for up to twenty, and $77/month unlimited, each with a one-time $23 setup fee per loan and possible additional transaction fees. It is a servicing tool for any loan type between friends and family — ACH-based payment collection, auto-posted ledgers, and reminders. What it doesn't do is sit inside the family's wider financial life or hold your hand on the AFR and gift-exclusion rules; you bring your own note and your own understanding of the tax side, and it runs the payments.
Family Loan Tracker
A lightweight tracker at familyloantracker.com, built by an independent solo developer. It handles interest calculations, shared dashboards, and payment reminders, and links out to Venmo, PayPal, or Zelle for the actual transfers. As of July 2026 it lists a $99 one-time lifetime price (described as a limited-time offer) alongside a $6.99/month subscription. A genuine, focused record-keeping aid — but it's a tracker, not end-to-end documentation, covenant, and tax-record support, and as a one-person product it carries the same continuity question the Pigeon shutdown just made concrete.
Spreadsheets
Free, flexible, and what most families actually use — but a spreadsheet doesn't draft a note, doesn't look up the AFR, doesn't notice a missed payment, and prepares none of the records your CPA needs. Nothing about it keeps the loan a loan in the eyes of the IRS; it just tallies numbers you maintain by hand, and it's the easiest setup to let slip.
Where Family Matters fits. Family Matters is the family-native option: it keeps the promissory-note record at the right AFR for the term, builds the amortization schedule, and logs every payment automatically from connected bank accounts, so lender and borrower watch the same balance fall. Optional covenants — an emergency-fund floor, a freeze on new debt — ride alongside the loan, and the year-end interest records are ready for the CPA. If part of the loan is ever forgiven, the forgiven amount flows straight into the family's gift ledger and the draft Form 709 worksheet. Only you lend the money. Family Matters documents the note and logs every payment.
Family loan vs. a gift — the tax note that decides everything
Software only helps if you've chosen the right structure. Charge at least the AFR and keep a real schedule, and it's a genuine loan with no gift-tax issue. Charge below the AFR and the forgone interest is a gift under the §7872 below-market loan rules; never collect, and the whole "loan" can be reclassified as one. If you don't actually expect repayment, a documented gift may be cleaner — and under the annual exclusion ($19,000 per recipient in 2026, or $38,000 for a married couple electing gift-splitting) it needs no filing at all. Forgiving a loan later is a gift in the year forgiven — the forgiving a family loan guide walks through it. The family loan vs. gift guide covers the tax difference, and the Gift or Loan tool helps you pick the structure before you sign.
Free tools to set up your family loan
Use these to document and price the loan now — no account required.
Frequently asked
Is there software to manage a loan to a family member?
Yes, though the list changed in 2025 when Pigeon — the best-known friends-and-family loan app — shut down. The remaining options include Family Matters, ZimpleMoney, National Family Mortgage (for real-estate-secured loans), Family Loan Tracker, and DIY spreadsheets. Family Matters is the family-native option: it documents the note at the right AFR, logs payments from connected accounts, and keeps the records your CPA needs — only you lend the money.
What happened to Pigeon?
Pigeon (usepigeon.io) wound down in 2025 — read-only from September, closed by December — after concluding that thin margins and rising operational requirements made the business unsustainable; its site now stands as a memorial. Existing loans are unaffected as legal obligations. Former users should preserve their payment history, re-paper the note if the only signed copy lived in the app, and move tracking to one of the options above.
Do I have to charge interest on a family loan?
For most loans above $10,000, the IRS expects at least the Applicable Federal Rate (AFR) for the term. Charge at least the AFR and it's a genuine loan; charge less and the forgone interest is generally treated as a gift to the borrower. Loans of $10,000 or less are generally exempt under the de minimis rule, and for gift loans of $100,000 or less the imputed interest is generally limited to the borrower's net investment income (treated as zero if that income is $1,000 or less) — though the gift-tax side of the rules can still apply. The Imputed Interest Calculator shows the numbers, and the family loan interest and taxes guide covers who reports what.
How do I track repayments and taxes on a family loan?
Collect payments on a fixed schedule and keep a running record of principal and interest. At year-end the lender reports the interest received as taxable income — a 1099-INT keeps it tidy. Family Matters logs each payment from connected accounts and keeps the running balance and year-end interest totals current, so nothing is reconstructed from memory.
Can I roll a relative's debt into one family loan?
Yes — that's one of the most common uses. Pay off the high-interest balances and replace them with a single documented loan from you at the AFR, with a real schedule and optional covenants (an emergency fund, a freeze on new debt) so the help sticks. See how to help a relative out of debt without a tax surprise.
This guide is general information, not tax, legal, or financial advice, and references to other products are for comparison only. AFR and gift rules change; verify current figures with the IRS and consult your CPA or attorney before structuring a loan.
Software that keeps the whole loan on the record.
Family Matters documents the note at the right rate, builds the schedule, logs every payment from connected accounts, and keeps a balance both sides can see — the money stays yours, the busywork doesn't. Be the first to try it.
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