Comparison
Monumize vs Legacy Headstones: design vs. buy
Legacy Headstones sells new headstones online. Monumize is a tool monument shops use to add inscriptions to stones already in the cemetery. Two different jobs.
Legacy Headstones (legacyheadstones.com) is an online monument retailer that sells new headstones online direct to families in the United States, with basic flat markers advertised from about $199 at the time of writing. As described on their site, families pick a monument shape from the online catalog, type the inscription, review a design, and the company ships a finished stone.
Monumize serves the next step in the cemetery lifecycle. Many American memorial stones are already standing in cemeteries, often installed at the time of a spouse’s death, with one side waiting for a second date or final inscription. That work is done by local monument shops, cutting on site. Monumize is the software those shops use: they photograph the stone, Monumize reads and matches the existing lettering, and the shop downloads to-scale cut files for the stencil. We don’t sell new monuments, and we don’t take orders from families.
This page is for a family deciding whether their job is a "buy a new stone" job (Legacy Headstones) or an "add to the existing stone" job (your local monument shop, which can use Monumize). The right answer depends entirely on what already exists at the cemetery.
Where Legacy Headstones is strong
- Buying a brand-new stone online when no monument currently exists for the deceased
- Direct-to-consumer pricing — flat markers advertised from about $199 at the time of writing
- A wide catalog of monument shapes — flat markers, slants, uprights, companion stones, benches
- Design previews of the proposed stone before ordering
- Shipping for stones you intend to install or have installed locally
Where Monumize is strong
- Adding to an existing stone via cemetery-side sandblasting — the job Monumize is built for
- Matching the existing lettering from a phone photo of the actual stone
- Showing the new date to scale on the shop’s own photo of the stone before anything is cut
- No shipping — the monument shop cuts the stencil and sandblasts at the cemetery
- Free planning tools for families — font preview, inscription text builder and cost calculator
Side-by-side comparison
| Feature | Monumize | Legacy Headstones |
|---|---|---|
| Core use case | Adding inscription to existing stone | Buying new headstone online |
| New stone sales | No | Yes — advertised from about $199 at the time of writing |
| Cemetery-side engraving | Done by your monument shop; Monumize supplies the cut file | Not advertised on their site |
| Photo analysis | Yes | Not advertised on their site |
| Preview type | To-scale outline on a photo of the actual stone | Design preview of the new stone |
| Inscription-only jobs | Yes — the focus | Not advertised on their site |
| Shipping required | No — work happens at cemetery | Yes, for new stones |
| Who you deal with | Your local monument shop | Legacy Headstones directly |
Based on publicly available information as of September 2026; features and prices may have changed — check each company's website.
Pick Legacy Headstones if
- No headstone currently exists for the deceased and the family needs to buy one
- You want to compare new monument shapes, finishes, and granite colors before ordering
- You have an entry-level budget and just need a basic marker
- You are coordinating cemetery installation yourself or with a separate installer
Visit: www.legacyheadstones.com
Pick Monumize if
- A stone already exists at the cemetery and needs a new line, date, or epitaph added
- You want to plan the wording and lettering with free online tools before talking to a shop
- You’d like your local monument shop to match the existing lettering from a photo
- The job is an inscription addition rather than a brand-new monument purchase
Frequently asked questions
- Does Legacy Headstones do second-date inscriptions on existing stones?
- Their site focuses on new-monument sales. Check their site directly for inscription services. Adding to an existing stone is usually done by a local monument shop on site, and shops can use Monumize to match the existing lettering and produce the cut file.
- Will Monumize ever sell new headstones?
- Not currently on our roadmap. We focus on the inscription job because it’s where photo-based lettering matching helps most.
- Which is faster?
- They are different jobs. An inscription addition depends on your monument shop’s schedule, the weather and cemetery approval — often a few weeks. A brand-new shipped stone has to be made and delivered, so check the seller’s stated lead times.
Design Mart, Legacy Headstones, eFinalDate, MagicCard, Gerber OMEGA, CorelDRAW, Adobe Illustrator, MonuCAD, FlexiSIGN, SignLab, Graphtec Cutting Master and other product and font names mentioned are trademarks of their respective owners. Monumize is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any of them.