---
title: "Best Genealogy Software 2027: 12 Tools Compared"
description: "Ancestry, FamilySearch, MyHeritage, Findmypast, WikiTree, RootsMagic, Family Tree Maker, Legacy, Gramps, MacFamilyTree, Transkribus and KleioBase, compared on what each one is, how you pay and who it..."
canonical: "https://kleiobase.com/blog/best-genealogy-software-2027"
last_updated: "2026-11-04"
---

# Best Genealogy Software 2027: 12 Tools Compared

Ancestry, FamilySearch, MyHeritage, Findmypast, WikiTree, RootsMagic, Family Tree Maker, Legacy, Gramps, MacFamilyTree, Transkribus and KleioBase, compared on what each one is, how you pay and who it suits, with the 2026 changes that affect your choice for 2027.

Claims about Ancestry, FamilySearch, MyHeritage, Findmypast, WikiTree, RootsMagic, Family Tree Maker, Legacy Family Tree, Gramps, MacFamilyTree, Transkribus, Family Historian, 23andMe and FamilyTreeDNA last verified 2026-11-01.


Your Ancestry renewal email arrives, or your old copy of Family Tree Maker stops syncing, and you start to wonder whether you are using the right tools. Then you search for a comparison and find a dozen "best of" lists that disagree with each other, several of them written by a company ranking its own product first.

We are one of those companies, so this guide puts KleioBase in the table with everything else and states its limits as plainly as anyone else's. Everything below was checked against each company's own website on 1 November 2026.

**The short answer.** There is no single best genealogy program for 2027, because the tools do different jobs. A record repository (Ancestry for the US, Findmypast for Britain and Ireland, MyHeritage for continental Europe, and FamilySearch free for everywhere) is where you find new records. A desktop program (RootsMagic, Family Tree Maker, Legacy, Gramps, or MacFamilyTree on a Mac) keeps your tree and source citations on your own computer. A DNA test confirms relationships and finds living cousins. An AI research companion such as KleioBase connects the documents you already hold into one archive. You will usually want one tool from each of two or three of these groups.

## All twelve tools fit in one table

Prices change, often with a promotion running, so the table describes how you pay. The sections further down give the list prices we read.

| Tool | What it is | How you pay | Best for | Main trade-off |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Ancestry | Record repository and online tree | Monthly or six-month subscription; building a tree is free | US records, and AncestryDNA cousin matches | Cost, and international records need a higher plan |
| FamilySearch | Nonprofit record repository with one shared world tree | Free | Records from around the world, many browse-only | Anyone can edit the shared tree |
| MyHeritage | Record repository, tree builder and DNA | Free tree up to 250 people; records need a Data, Complete or Omni plan | Continental Europe and Israel | Five paid plans, and only three include records |
| Findmypast | Record repository | Subscription in three tiers | England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland | Thinner outside Britain, Ireland, Australia and North America |
| WikiTree | Free shared world tree run by a small company | Free, with no premium tier | Collaborative, sourced profiles | No record collection of its own |
| RootsMagic | Desktop program for Windows and Mac | One-time purchase, or the free Essentials edition | Citations, reports, and syncing with Ancestry and FamilySearch | You manage your own backups |
| Family Tree Maker | Desktop program for Windows and Mac | One-time purchase | Researchers who keep their main tree on Ancestry | The current edition dates from 2024 |
| Legacy Family Tree | Desktop program for Windows | Free | Detailed reports at no cost | Windows only, and no new major version since 2024 |
| Gramps | Free, open-source desktop program | Free | Keeping your data in an open format on your own machine | A less polished interface |
| MacFamilyTree | Desktop program for Mac, with a separate iPhone and iPad app | One-time purchase | Mac users who want a native app | Apple only |
| Transkribus | Handwriting recognition platform | Free monthly credits, then paid plans | Reading long runs of pages in one hand | It reads pages; it does not build a tree |
| KleioBase | AI research companion that turns your records into one connected archive | Free Explorer plan, plus paid plans (see [pricing](/pricing)) | Document-heavy research, especially records in other languages | No record collection of its own |

DNA tests do a different job from everything above, so they have their own table.

| DNA test | Best for | Worth knowing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| AncestryDNA | Finding cousins, in what Ancestry calls the world's largest consumer DNA network | Results connect to your Ancestry tree |
| MyHeritage DNA | Testers who build their tree on MyHeritage | Y-DNA results from the same kit need a Complete or Omni plan |
| 23andMe | Ancestry and health reports together | Owned since July 2025 by a nonprofit, now the 23andMe Research Institute |
| FamilyTreeDNA | Y-DNA and mitochondrial tests for one line | No longer accepts uploads of recent AncestryDNA or MyHeritage results |

## The 2026 edition is out of date in six places

Each of these changes something [the 2026 edition of this guide](/blog/best-genealogy-software-2026) told you.

**The big platforms built their own AI.** In its recap of RootsTech 2026, Ancestry listed a Transcribe button that reads handwritten or typed records, Photo Insights, a Get Ideas research assistant on each person's profile, and full-text search inside records that were historically harder to search. It added that some of these features "may require an additional membership". MyHeritage launched Scribe AI on 5 March 2026, which transcribes and translates a document image; a limited number of images are free, and further use needs a Complete or Omni plan. In January 2026 FamilySearch said it would expand its Full-Text Search during the year to read old handwriting in more languages.

**Ancestry switched off its old connection for desktop programs.** On 5 May 2026 RootsMagic told its users that Ancestry had moved to a new API and that "the previous API has been turned off". If a desktop program stopped syncing with your Ancestry tree around then, updating the program is the first thing to try.

**RootsMagic 12 rebuilt its sources.** Released on 8 October 2026, it replaced a list of more than 400 source templates with 18 based on *Evidence Explained*. We looked at what that means for your existing citations in [which genealogy software handles source citations best](/blog/genealogy-software-source-citations-compared).

**Family Historian started selling subscriptions.** With version 8, released in October, you can pay monthly or yearly and always have the latest version, as well as buying the usual one-off licence.

**MyHeritage lists five paid plans.** Its pricing page shows Premium, PremiumPlus, Data, Complete and Omni, and only the last three include historical records. Omni dates from 2024, and our 2026 edition left it out. The page now puts the collection at 41.4 billion historical records and family tree profiles.

**FamilyTreeDNA closed its door to newer uploads.** Its help page says it does not accept AncestryDNA results received from October 2025 onwards, or MyHeritage tests processed as low-pass whole genome sequencing. Our guide to [where you can still upload your DNA](/blog/gedmatch-alternatives-where-to-upload-dna) goes through the other sites.

## Record repositories are where new records come from

Every other tool in this guide works with records you have already found. These are where you find them.

### Ancestry

Ancestry's company facts page says it has 71 billion records online from more than 80 countries of origin, more than 3 million paying subscribers and over 150 million family trees. Its hints suggest records for the people in your tree, and in our judgement its search tools are the most mature of any platform here.

The trade-off is cost. On 1 November 2026 Ancestry's US offer page listed U.S. Discovery at $24.99 a month, World Explorer, which adds international records, at $39.99, and All Access, which adds Fold3, Newspapers.com Publisher Extra and four extra family accounts, at $59.99. A six-month commitment, billed monthly, lowers those to $21.99, $32.99 and $49.99. Prices differ by country. You can build a tree for free, but you need a subscription to view most of the records.

### FamilySearch

FamilySearch is free. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provides it to everyone, regardless of religious affiliation. Its company facts page, updated on 6 October 2026, counts 16.93 billion searchable names in historical records, 5.92 billion digital images and 1.96 billion people in its Family Tree. On 13 October 2026 it reported more than 138 million new records from 26 countries.

Volunteers do much of the indexing, so coverage is uneven, and many collections can only be browsed image by image. Full-Text Search reaches into some of those. FamilySearch's own explainer, dated October 2025, lists it as covering English, Spanish and Portuguese records, so it can help with a Mexican or Brazilian parish register as well as a New England deed. The Family Tree is one shared tree that anyone can edit, so in our view it is worth keeping your own copy of your tree somewhere else.

### MyHeritage

In our judgement MyHeritage is strongest in continental Europe and Israel. It combines records, a tree builder and DNA on one site. You can build a tree of up to 250 people for free. Premium and PremiumPlus are tree plans; to view records you need Data, Complete or Omni, and Omni is also the plan that opens the full newspaper images on OldNews.com. Prices vary by country, so check the pricing page from where you live. Some of what Data unlocks is FamilySearch material that is free on FamilySearch itself, which we set out in [what a MyHeritage subscription buys that FamilySearch does not](/blog/myheritage-vs-familysearch-what-you-pay-for).

### Findmypast

Findmypast describes its collection as "billions of British and Irish genealogy records", and has been owned by DC Thomson since 2007. Its UK subscriptions come in three tiers. Discover costs £9.99 a month and includes the national UK censuses up to 1921, and the 1939 Register. Explore adds millions more records, from £10.83 a month billed half-yearly, and Everything adds the newspaper archives, from £14.16 a month billed half-yearly (on offer at £9.91 when we checked). Findmypast now also covers Australia and North America, but its depth is in Britain and Ireland.

### WikiTree

WikiTree is the free alternative to FamilySearch's shared tree. Founded by Chris Whitten, it opened in 2008, and it is hosted by a small business, The WikiTree Company, with "no premium memberships". Anyone who helps grow the tree must agree to its mission and its nine-point Honor Code. On 1 November 2026 its home page counted more than 46.6 million ancestors and cousins and 1.4 million community members.

## Desktop programs keep your tree on your own computer

A desktop program gives you offline access, detailed citations, printable reports and full control of your file. In exchange you manage your own backups, and sharing means sending a file.

### RootsMagic

RootsMagic 12, for Windows and Mac, costs $39.95, or $29.95 as an upgrade, and the price includes free updates to version 12 with no subscription. A free edition, RootsMagic Essentials, has no time limit and no limit on people or sources. The paid edition works with Ancestry and FamilySearch while your tree stays on your computer, and its WebHints search Ancestry, FamilySearch, MyHeritage and Findmypast. It imports Family Tree Maker files up to the 2024 edition, Legacy and PAF files, and any GEDCOM file.

### Family Tree Maker

Family Tree Maker, now made by Software MacKiev, is the closest fit if Ancestry is your main tree. MacKiev says FTM 2017, 2019 and 2024 are the only Family Tree Maker editions that can sync with an online Ancestry tree, and the sync is free. The current edition is FTM 2024 for Mac and Windows, last updated to version 25.0.2 in December 2025, at $80 as a download from the US store. It also draws hints from FamilySearch.

### Legacy Family Tree

Legacy Family Tree, owned by MyHeritage, has been free since version 10 was released on 3 June 2024. It runs on Windows only (on a Mac, only an Intel Mac running Windows), and it hints from Findmypast, FamilySearch, GenealogyBank and MyHeritage. Its revision history lists no build newer than October 2025, so do not expect new features soon.

### Gramps

Gramps is free, open-source and runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. The current stable version is 6.0.8, released on 9 April 2026, with version 6.1 in beta. Its project describes it as "created, developed and governed by genealogists". There is also Gramps Web, a free web app for browsing and editing a tree together with other people, which syncs with the desktop program. Gramps suits researchers who care most about long-term access to their own data.

### MacFamilyTree

MacFamilyTree, by Synium, is the native option for Mac users. Version 11.3.4 came out on 19 October 2026, and the list price for a new customer is $69.99 (it was half price when we checked). It searches FamilySearch, imports GEDCOM files, and syncs between your Apple devices through iCloud. The iPhone and iPad version, MobileFamilyTree, is a separate purchase.

**Family Historian is a Windows alternative made in Britain.** Calico Pie's store prices version 8 at £52.46 for a perpetual licence, or £4.96 a month or £24.13 a year as a subscription. It now fully supports FamilySearch, including user trees, and its AI Connector lets an AI assistant update your project for you.

## AI tools read and connect the documents you already hold

The AI now built into Ancestry and MyHeritage reads the records those companies host and the images you upload there. The tools below work on your own documents, wherever they came from. For what any of them can and cannot read, see our guide to [AI handwriting recognition for genealogy](/blog/how-ai-is-transforming-genealogy).

### Transkribus

Transkribus, run by the European cooperative READ-COOP and hosted in Austria, is a handwriting recognition platform for long runs of pages. Its free plan gives 50 credits a month, and recognising a handwritten page costs one credit. The Scholar plan is €99 a year for 900 credits. Its newest model, Text Titan II, released on 25 June 2026, cuts character error rates by around 47 per cent on average compared with Text Titan I across Latin scripts, according to Transkribus, which recommends it as the default starting point for most Latin-script documents. If you have hundreds of pages by one clerk, training a model on your own corrected pages is the strongest option in this guide. You get a transcription back, and building the tree is still your job.

### KleioBase

KleioBase is ours. It is an AI research companion that turns scattered historical records into one connected family archive. You upload a photograph, scan or PDF, review what was read from it, and confirm the people, and each person is then linked across every record that names them. Its limits are set out near the end of this guide.

## DNA tests confirm relationships that documents cannot

A DNA match tells you that you share an ancestor with someone. It does not tell you who that ancestor was, so you still need documents.

**AncestryDNA** has more than 30 million people in its database, by Ancestry's count. On 8 October 2026 Ancestry doubled its ancestral regions, from 146 to 302.

**MyHeritage DNA** puts its database at 9.6 million people. Since 17 August 2026 most existing kits can also report a Y-DNA haplogroup for the paternal line, and those results need a Complete or Omni plan.

**23andMe** now operates from 23andme.org as the 23andMe Research Institute. That is the new name of TTAM Research Institute, the nonprofit founded by Anne Wojcicki, which completed its purchase of 23andMe's consumer business on 14 July 2025. Its kit prices change with frequent sales, so check the shop before you buy.

**FamilyTreeDNA** is the specialist in Y-DNA and mitochondrial tests, which trace your direct paternal or maternal line. Its Family Finder autosomal test lists at $79.

## The right combination depends on where your ancestors lived

These combinations are our own judgement.

**Ancestors in the United States.** Ancestry for records, AncestryDNA for cousins, and Family Tree Maker or RootsMagic if you want your tree on your own computer. Add FamilySearch, which is free and holds records Ancestry does not.

**Ancestors in England, Wales, Scotland or Ireland.** Findmypast first, FamilySearch second, and RootsMagic or Family Historian as the desktop program.

**Ancestors in continental Europe or Latin America.** MyHeritage and FamilySearch. MyHeritage says it published 450 million records in September 2026 alone. Expect records in Latin, Spanish, Polish, Italian or Portuguese, which is where an AI tool that reads them earns its place.

**A budget of nothing.** FamilySearch for records, WikiTree or Gramps for the tree, and Legacy or RootsMagic Essentials if you want a desktop program.

**A Mac.** MacFamilyTree, RootsMagic or Family Tree Maker. Legacy and Family Historian are Windows only.

Whatever you choose, check that you can get your tree out again. A GEDCOM export is the standard way, but [what survives a GEDCOM export](/blog/gedcom-export-what-survives-which-software-loses-data) varies from program to program, and notes and citations are what usually go missing.

## What KleioBase does in this line-up, and what it does not

We are a tool in this space, so read this as disclosure.

KleioBase is an AI research companion that turns scattered historical records into one connected family archive. Reading a document is the first step. When you upload a record photo or a PDF, it pulls out every named person, date, place and relationship, and once you confirm them, the same person is linked across every record that names them. Duplicate matching runs in the background, the [family tree](/docs/family-tree) marks the gaps, and the [Research Companion](/docs/research-companion) answers questions about your whole archive, such as what is still missing for a great-grandfather. You can also connect Claude or ChatGPT to the same archive, as described in [which AI assistants can connect to your family tree](/blog/which-ai-assistants-can-connect-to-your-family-tree).

The Explorer plan is free, with 10 credits a month and up to 200 people; a credit processes one record. Paid plans start with Researcher at $15 a month. GEDCOM import and export are included on every plan.

There are three honest limits.

**It has no records of its own.** You bring the documents, or import a tree from a GEDCOM file. The Research Companion can search the public web for archives likely to hold a missing record, but it cannot search inside Ancestry, FamilySearch or MyHeritage.

**A GEDCOM import does not bring your sources across.** Your people, families and events come in, but the source records and citations in the file are left behind, so keep the original file.

**It is newer and smaller than everything else here.** It runs in the browser, needs an internet connection, and has a far smaller community than RootsMagic or Gramps to learn from.

## Where to start before your next renewal

Write down the three places your ancestors lived longest, and check which repository holds the records for each one before you pay for anything. FamilySearch's catalogue is free to search and lists the record collections it holds for each place.

Then export a GEDCOM from whatever you use now and open it in one other program, free ones included. If your notes and citations come through, you can switch whenever you like. If they do not, you have found out before it mattered.

The software will change again before 2028. The records it helps you read were written by parish clerks, registrars and census enumerators, and they will outlast every program in this table. Choose tools that let you take your work with you.

Canonical: https://kleiobase.com/blog/best-genealogy-software-2027