Introduction
Genealogy software provides a method for recording the subjects of our research, e.g. their names, relationships, and events of their lives. Evidence (citations and sources) should be recorded to support the conclusions reached. They also print the reports and charts to show off the results of our labor.
This article reviews stand alone programs which run on your PC. If you are interested in web applications, see this companion review Best Free Online Genealogy or Family Tree Applications.
Several free applications in this review will do a reasonable job for the novice or advanced genealogist. Read also the Supported Features of these applications in a section of this page.
[Doakio Editor's Note: This article was restored from Gizmo's Freeware archives as a service to the freeware community. Gizmo's Freeware provided high-quality, volunteer freeware reviews for decades. They shut down in July of 2021.]
Rated Products
Gramps A cross-platform and open-source application to research, organize and share your family tree with outstanding features.
License: Free (Open source)
ScionPC A genealogical management system that is easy to use, fully featured and portable.
License: Free
MyHeritage Family Tree Builder Handy genealogy software for building your family tree, adding photos, historical records and more.
License: Free
Ancestry A handy app to access your Ancestry.com family trees.
License: Free (Limited features)
Legacy Family Tree Standard It is easy to use, flexible and has plenty of capabilities.
License: Free (Limited features)
Brother's Keeper Helps input and organize family history information with basic features.
License: Free (Limited features)
Ancestral Quest Basics Easily organize your family history with basic features and automatic searches.
License: Free (Limited features)
Supported Features:
The above applications support these features unless otherwise noted:
- They support unlimited entry of individuals, birth, marriage, death, burial, and other events together with their associated dates, locations, and source citations.
- Alternative names can be entered but are not necessarily searched.
- Marriages are not numerically limited, i.e. multiple spouses (sequential or polygamous).
- Polygamous relationships are not completely displayed, e.g. only one pair can be viewed at a time.
- Multiple parents are supported (adopted, foster, or other possibilities). However, only one pair of parents can be displayed at a time.
- Incest is supported, e.g. a child can be married to one of their parents and/or be both sibling and parent of another sibling.
- Same sex marriages and parents are supported by several of the recommended programs.
- Intersex and transsexual individuals are not supported.
- They support family group, pedigree, and descendant reports and charts together with the associated foot- or end-notes.
- They support multimedia attachments but not all support photos in reports.
- They support import and export of GEDCOM (GEnealogical Data COMmunication) format files.
Related Products and Links
Related Products
- GEDView is a portable viewer for GEDCOM files. Save your GEDCOM to a USB drive with this utility and you'll never be without access to your research. Provides name listing, individual screen, and pop up pedigree, descendant, Mitochondrial DNA, and Y Chromosome views.
- Ged2Web converts GEDCOM files to HTML files for uploading to a website. More features than PAF but either Legacy, Gramps, or ScionPC produce better formatted web sites. If you don't want to install Legacy, Gramps, or ScionPC then you might try this utility.
- “GeneaQuilts is a new visualization technique for representing large genealogies of up to several thousand individuals. The visualization takes the form of a diagonally-filled matrix, where rows are individuals and columns are nuclear families. The system includes an overview, a timeline, search and filtering components, and a new interaction technique called Bring & Slide that allows fluid navigation in very large genealogies.” I suggest watching the demonstration video if you're interested in trying this program.