Parts of this article (those related to Latest version and releases) need to be updated. The reason given is: Latest version are not up to date but can't find release date.(June 2023) |
This article compares several selected client-based genealogy programs. Web-based genealogy software is not included.
Software | Latest version | Initial release | Latest release | Free to use | Free software | Software license | Windows | macOS | Linux | Android | iOS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Agelong Tree | 5.6 | ? | 2021-09-09 | No (40 Person Free Trial) |
No | Proprietary | Yes | Yes | Using Wine | No | No |
Ahnenblatt | 4.17 | 2001 | 2024-10-20 | No (Free demo, 50 person limit, watermarked reports; latest free version: 2.99p) |
No | Proprietary | Yes | No | Using Wine | No | No |
Ancestral Quest | 16.0.11 | 1994 | 2022-03-19 | Yes (Basics version) |
No | Proprietary | Yes | Yes | Using Wine | No | No |
Ancestris | 12 | 2009 | 2024-06-08 | Yes | Yes | GNU GPL | Yes | Java[a] | Yes | No | No |
Brother's Keeper | 7.5.15 | 1988 | 2024-03-31 | Yes (Unreg. ver.) |
No | Shareware | Yes | No | Using Wine | No | No |
FamilyGTG | 1.3.9 | ? | 2018-03-03 | Yes (Free ver.) |
No | Shareware | No | No | No | Yes | No |
Family Historian | 7.0.24.1 | 2002 | 2024-10-17 | No (30-Day Free Trial) |
No | Proprietary | Yes | using Crossover | Using Wine | No | No |
Family Tree Builder | 8.0 | 2003 | 2016-08-12 | Yes (Free ver.) |
No | Proprietary | Yes | Yes | Using Wine | Yes | Yes |
Family Tree Maker | 2019 (24.2.2) | 1989 | 2023-09 | No | No | Proprietary | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
GEDitCOM II | 2.3 | 1998 | 2016-11-17 | No (15-Day Free Trial, Read-Only afterwards) |
No | Proprietary | No | Yes | No | ? | Yes |
Genbox Family History | 3.7.1 | 1992 | 2007-11-17 | No (30 Day Free Trial) |
No | Proprietary | Yes | No | Using Wine | No | No |
GenealogyJ | 3.0[1] | 1998 | 2010-02-19 | Yes | Yes | GPL-2.0-or-later | Java[a] | Java[a] | Java[a] | No | No |
GenoPro | 2016, 3.0.0.7 | 1998 | 2016-01-27 | No (25 Person Free Trial) |
No | Proprietary | Yes | No | Using Wine | No | No |
Gramps | 5.2.3[2] | 2001 | 2024-07-13 | Yes | Yes | GPL-2.0-or-later | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Heredis | 2023 | ? | 2022-09-20 | No (50 Person Free Trial) |
No | Proprietary | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Kith and Kin Pro | 3.3.0 | 1999 | 2019-09-14 | No (30-Day Free Trial) |
No | Shareware | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Legacy Family Tree | 10.0.0.179 | 1997 | 2024-06-10 | Yes[b] | No | Proprietary | Yes | No | Using Wine | No | No |
LifeLines | 3.1.1[3] | 1992 | 2016-03-17 | Yes | Yes | MIT | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
MacFamilyTree | 10.3.1[4] | 1998 | 2024-04-03 | No (Free Trial, but you cannot save or export your entries) |
No | Proprietary | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
Personal Ancestral File | 5.2.18.0 | 1983 | 2002-07-23 (discontinued 2014) | Yes | No | Proprietary | Yes | No | Using Wine | ? | ? |
Reunion | 13.0 (build 220214) | 1988 | 2022-02-14 | No (Free demo, 50 person limit, no import/export, watermarked reports) |
No | Proprietary | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
RootsMagic | 10.0.2 | 2003 | 2024-09-18 | Yes (Essentials) |
No | Proprietary | Yes | Yes | Using Wine | No | Yes |
The Master Genealogist | 9.05.0000 | 1993 | 2014-12-03 (discontinued 2015) | No (30 Day Free Trial) |
No | Proprietary | Yes | No | Using Wine | No | No |
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 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
Ahnenblatt | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes |
Ancestral Quest | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
Ancestris | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Brother's Keeper | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
FamilyGTG | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | No | ? | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
Family Historian[a] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
Family Tree Builder | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Family Tree Maker | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes |
GEDitCOM II | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
Genbox Family History | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
GenealogyJ | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
GenoPro | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | No | Yes |
Gramps | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Heredis | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Kith and Kin Pro | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
Legacy Family Tree[b] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
LifeLines | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | ? |
MacFamilyTree | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Personal Ancestral File | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | No | ? |
Reunion | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
RootsMagic | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
The Master Genealogist | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | No | ? |
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 sex marriage | Witness to events | Name variants | Conflicting evidence | Source surety | Adoption & foster parent | non-standard calendar in date fields |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Agelong Tree | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Ahnenblatt | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial christening and marriage only |
Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Ancestral Quest | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
Ancestris | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No[a] |
Brother's Keeper | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
FamilyGTG | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | Yes | Yes |
Family Historian | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Family Tree Builder | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Family Tree Maker | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
GEDitCOM II | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Genbox Family History | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
GenealogyJ | Yes | ? | Partial One partner's gender mislabelled |
No | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? |
GenoPro | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Gramps | Yes | Yes | Partial One partner's gender mislabelled[5] |
Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes[a] |
Heredis | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Legacy Family Tree[b] | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
LifeLines | Yes | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
MacFamilyTree | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Personal Ancestral File | Yes | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
Reunion | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes |
RootsMagic | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (paid version) |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
The Master Genealogist | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Available user interface languages
Name | English | Afrikaans | Danish | Dutch | French | German | Italian | Norwegian | Polish | Portuguese | Russian | Spanish | Swedish |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Agelong Tree[a] | Yes | No[b] | No[b] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No[b] | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No[b] |
Ahnenblatt[c] | Yes | No[b] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Ancestral Quest[d] | Yes | No[b] | Yes | No[b] | Yes | Yes | No[b] | Yes | Partial | ? | No | Yes | Yes |
Ancestris[e] | Yes | No[b] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No[b] | Yes | Yes |
Brother's Keeper | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No[b] | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | No[b] | Yes |
FamilyGTG | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Family Historian | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? | No | No | No |
Family Tree Builder | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Family Tree Maker (Windows) | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? | No | No | No |
Family Tree Maker for Mac | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? | No | No | No |
GEDitCOM II | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | No | Yes | Yes |
Genbox Family History[f] | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | ? | Yes | Partial | Partial |
GenealogyJ | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No |
GenoPro[g][h] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Gramps[i] | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Heredis | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | ? | No | No | No |
Legacy Family Tree | Yes[j] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[k] | No | ? | No | public test |
Yes |
LifeLines | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | ? | No | No | Yes |
MacFamilyTree | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Personal Ancestral File | (v4.x/5.x) | No | No | No | (v4.x) | (v4.x/5.x) | No | No | No | ? | No | (v4.x) | (v5.x) |
Reunion[l] | Yes | No | No | Yes[l] | Yes[l] | Yes[l] | No | Yes[l] | No | ? | No | No | No |
RootsMagic | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? | No | No | No |
The Master Genealogist | Yes[m] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | No[g] | ? | No | No[g] | Yes |