Comparison of genealogy software

This article compares several selected client-based genealogy programs. Web-based genealogy software is not included.

General information

Software

Latest version

Initial release

Latest release

Free to use

Free software

Software license

Windows

macOS

Linux

Android

iOS

|

6.1

2002

2025-09-08


(up to 40 Person is Free)

| Ages!

2.2.1

1999

2026-03-17


(Free demo, 50 person limit, watermarked reports)

| Ahnenblatt

4.35

2001

2025-10-04


(Free without support and updates, Paid with additional features)

| Ancestral Quest

16.0.11

1994

2022-03-19


(Basics version)

| Ancestris

13

2009

2025-11-30

| Brother's Keeper

7.6.2

1988

2026-01-08


(Unreg. ver.)

| FamilyGTG

1.3.9

2018-03-03


(Free ver.)

| Family Historian

7.0.24.1

2002

2024-10-17


(30-Day Free Trial)

| Family Tree Builder

8.0

2003

2016-08-12


(Free ver.)

| Family Tree Maker

2019 (24.2.2)

1989

2023-09

| GEDitCOM II

2.3

1998

2016-11-17


(15-Day Free Trial, Read-Only afterwards)

| Genbox Family History

3.7.1

1992

2007-11-17


(30 Day Free Trial)

| GenealogyJ

1998

| GenoPro

2016, 3.0.0.7

1998

2016-01-27


(25 Person Free Trial)

| Gramps

2001

| Heredis

2023

2022-09-20


(50 Person Free Trial)

| Kith and Kin Pro

3.3.0

1999

2019-09-14


(30-Day Free Trial)

| Legacy Family Tree

10.0.0.271

1997

2025-10-30

| LifeLines

1992

| MacFamilyTree

11.0

1998

2025-01-28


(Free Trial, but you cannot save or export your entries)

| My Family Tree

16.2.0

2011

2026-06-03

| Personal Ancestral File

5.2.18.0

1983

2002-07-23 (discontinued 2014)

| Reunion

14.0 (build 250702)

1988

2025-07-02


(Free demo, 50 person limit, no import/export, watermarked reports)

| RootsMagic

11.0.1

2003

2025-09-15


(Essentials)

| The Master Genealogist

9.05.0000

1993

2014-12-03 (discontinued 2015)


(30 Day Free Trial)

General features

Genealogy software products differ in the way they support data acquisition (e.g. drag and drop data entry for images, flexible data formats, free defined custom attributes for persons and connections between persons, rating of sources) and interaction (e.g. 3D-view, name filters, full text search and dynamic pan and zoom navigation), in reporting (e.g.: fan charts, automatic narratives, relationship between arbitrary people, place of birth on virtual globes, statistics AbOUT number of children per family), validation (e.g.: consistency checks, research assistants connected to online genealogy databases), exporting (e.g.: export as web page, book or wall chart) and integration (e.g.: synchronisation with tablet version). Some software might include also fun and entertainment features (e.g. quizzes or slideshows).

Name

Individual view

Family view

Pedigree view

Chronology view

Ancestor charts

Ancestor narrative reports

Ancestor pedigree reports

Descendant charts

Descendant narrative reports

Fan charts

Research Manager

DNA charts

Research Guidance

Mapping

| Agelong Tree

| Ages!

| Ahnenblatt

| Ancestral Quest

| Ancestris

| Brother's Keeper

| FamilyGTG

{{?}}

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| Family Historian

| Family Tree Builder

| Family Tree Maker

| GEDitCOM II

| Genbox Family History

| GenealogyJ

| GenoPro

| Gramps

| Heredis

| Kith and Kin Pro

| Legacy Family Tree

| LifeLines

| MacFamilyTree

| My Family Tree

| Personal Ancestral File

| Reunion

| RootsMagic

| The Master Genealogist

Genealogical features

Besides exchange between systems (e.g. GEDCOM support for import and export), flexible data handling (e.g. custom attributes and multiple kinds of relations between people) is relevant.

Name

Unicode Support

Single parent family

Same [...] marriage

Witness to events

Name variants

Conflicting evidence

Source surety

Adoption & foster parent

non-standard calendar
in date fields

| Agelong Tree

| Ages!

| Ahnenblatt


christening and marriage only

| Ancestral Quest

| Ancestris

| Brother's Keeper

| FamilyGTG

| Family Historian

| Family Tree Builder

| Family Tree Maker

| GEDitCOM II

| Genbox Family History

| GenealogyJ


One partner's gender mislabelled

| GenoPro

| Gramps


One partner's gender mislabelled

| Heredis

| Legacy Family Tree

| LifeLines

| MacFamilyTree

| My Family Tree

| Personal Ancestral File

| Reunion

| RootsMagic


(paid version)

| The Master Genealogist

Languages

Available user interface languages

Name

English

Afrikaans

Danish

Dutch

French

German

Italian

Norwegian

Polish

Portuguese

Russian

Spanish

Swedish

| Agelong Tree

| Ages!

| Ahnenblatt

| Ancestral Quest

| Ancestris

class="table-rh" |Brother's Keeper

class="table-rh" |FamilyGTG

class="table-rh" |Family Historian

class="table-rh" |Family Tree Builder

class="table-rh" | Family Tree Maker (Windows)

class="table-rh" |Family Tree Maker for Mac

class="table-rh" |GEDitCOM II

class="table-rh" | Genbox Family History

class="table-rh" | GenealogyJ

class="table-rh" | GenoPro

class="table-rh" |Gramps

class="table-rh" | Heredis

class="table-rh" | Legacy Family Tree

class="table-rh" | LifeLines

class="table-rh" | MacFamilyTree

| My Family Tree

class="table-rh" |Personal Ancestral File

class="table-rh" |Reunion

class="table-rh" | RootsMagic

class="table-rh" |The Master Genealogist
Notes

See Also

Genealone

Genealone is a web-based genealogy software. It is developed in the PHP scripting language and it...