Ancestry.com boasts the biggest name recognitions in the family history field. This company, with headquarters in Utah and offices worldwide, has been the leader in delivering cutting-edge products to its subscribers since 1983. The early days of Ancestry were spent as a publishing company specializing in publishing family histories and magazines. In 1996, the digitization and online publishing of records began and Ancestry.com became a leader in digital records available for genealogical purposes.

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The Good

Records
Mobile app
Publishing options

Ancestry.com is perhaps the biggest name in genealogy work and for good reason. Some highlights include:

Billions of records available to search from
Ability to upload images, documents and attach them to family trees
Mobile app works on all platforms
Relevant blog articles giving up-to-date information
Social Media presence with helpful tips and useful research information: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr
Instructional YouTube videos for beginners as well as more advanced research tips to more seasoned genealogists
Community message boards and opportunities to collaborate with others sharing common ancestors
Comprehensive learning center
Differing levels of membership based upon your individual needs
Customer service representatives available 7 days per week from 9AM-11PM Eastern Time
Publishing options for your findings
Software and books available
Industry-leading software which is easy to use
Ancestry.com DNA tests are cutting edge and link members to their ethnic backgrounds, but to relatives also taking the tests. Adopted individuals have flocked to take these tests and many have found their birth families through Ancestry.com DNA matching.

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The Bad

Pricing
Load time

Ancestry.com is expensive and their pricing may be out of reach for some. The most comprehensive membership option has a hefty price tag of $199/annually. Pages can be slow to load, depending on the traffic on the site. Additionally, there are regular late-night upgrades to the service which make the site inaccessible at those times. (The times and dates for updates are published on the site as a bar across the top of pages.)

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The Bottom Line

For those able to afford an Ancestry.com membership, the quantity and quality of what is available surpasses the records by the for-profit competition in the field. Ancestry.com is a solid company with the resources to back up their claims and is constantly looking for new ways to innovate and stay on top of the competition. We recommend Ancestry.com and are confident they will help with your genealogy needs. When purchasing a membership and setting up an account, setting privacy options can be tricky. One should explore the privacy policies very carefully and determine which settings are appropriate for their needs. Maintaining more private settings make collaboration more challenging (even impossible in some cases), so this information should be carefully considered.

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User Reviews

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4.1

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506 Reviews

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Chris P Katy, TX

They just want my money. I did the DNA test and then 1 year of membership. At that point I spent $424. I accidentally let it auto-renew for 6 months of "all access" (the most expensive). I called them 3 weeks after my $211 PREPAID 6 months and begged for a refund or at least prorated refund. Nothing, no help, did not care. The agent just kept repeating "we're sorry sir, the process won't allow a refund". I asked to speak to his supervisor. Same answer. Their Customer Service won't even help me a little bit. I'm so bummed and now feel cheated and taken advantage of. I wanted to like Ancestry but they act like a massive organization that won't work with me.

1 month ago

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peter harmatuk Poolesville, MD

I infrequently use this site/service but my sister is heavily engaged in family tracing both for our immediate family and for a service called "find a grave" where she tags gravesites with their GPS coordinates so that relatives can find where their families past generations are buried. Their on-line tools are easy to use and understand

2 months ago

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Valerie Beus Richland, WA

I’ve used Ancestry in connection with Family Search and the two together have been so great in helping me locate my ancestors. Ancestry will often contain information that I couldn’t find on other sites and it is pretty easy to use. You may need to play around the site for a bit to figure it out but it shouldn’t take too long and then you’re good to go!

3 months ago

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Kent Fuge Phoenix, AZ

I love the automation that goes on behind the scenes to help me find information about my progenitors. It's not the only family history site I use but it's what I always use when I am trying to track down an ancestor or a piece of documentation for what I might be currently working on.

3 months ago

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Katrina Breithaupt Provo, UT

Ancestry.com offers a unique interface that displays the family tree in a very personal way, complete with profile pictures of the ancestor and how they are connected to you. It also provides good documents if you're looking for more sources on a specific ancestor.

3 months ago

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Hannah McGuire Los Angeles, CA

Ancestry is awesome when is comes to searching for documents! They have the best online library in my opinion of documents. Very easy to use, very accessible, and your account with ancestry can connect with your family search account.

3 months ago

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Jake Mecham Lehi, UT

At first I thought Ancestry.com was just a company that would help me identify my ancestors. I was very wrong. They have their own TV shows too! I love watching their shows and I also can identify with the feelings of those characters as I have reconnected with my family too.

3 months ago

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Mary Alice M. Orem, UT

I have found a lot of helpful information on Ancestry while trying to do my family history. It is good to use as many websites as you can in order to find the most information, but the one thing I really like about Ancestry is it seems like they have a lot of census records that I couldn't find anywhere else.

3 months ago

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Jared Provo, UT

I have used Ancestry.com multiple times as I've searched for information about my ancestors. My searches through Ancestry.com have helped me get valuable information that wasn't available anywhere else. Very happy with their service!

3 months ago

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CoasterRider Show Low, AZ

Ancestry is my favorite online research site for genealogy research. Fabulous resources and very organized in a user friendly way.

2 months ago

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Whitney Wilkins West Valley City, UT

Ancestry.com makes it so easy and fun to learn all about your family history. It's so cool to look at my genealogy and I love being able to trace my family tree.

2 months ago

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Lex Midway, UT

I have an account but I don't use it very often, it is interesting to look at and pretty easy to use, they make it very esay to see your family tree and connect with others in your family

3 months ago

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Taylor Hall Los Angeles, CA

Ancestry.com is fabulous! There are features that I didn’t even know I needed. It is like treasure hunting for my family! I would highly recommend it and I’ve never had any issues.

3 months ago

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Jason Burt Riverton, UT

Ancestry.com has a lot of great records, such as census records that really make family history work great! I have an account with Ancestry and often search these records to identify my ancestors. I have also had a DNA test done, which was great and gave me some very cool information!

3 months ago

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Brandon Farrow Gilbert, AZ

Ancestry has been an awesome experience for me not only in learning about my ancestors but also in connecting with family that I haven’t had contact with before from around the country.

3 months ago

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Crystal Logan, UT

I love this app. I use it often. My favorite is when they send me an email showing information about an ancestor. I received the WWI registery of my great grandpa who I knew and visited often as a child. I saw the hand writing, it was beautiful. I told my grandmother about it(his daughter) and she told me my great grandma must have filled it out.😜

6 months ago

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Victoria Fayetteville, AR

I got the ancestry test as a gift from my father for Christmas a few years ago. Not only did I do it, but my whole family did. I really enjoy this because I learned a lot about family members I did not even know I had and I got to reach out to them and learn about what my ancestors are like. If you are thinking about trying this, trust me it is worth it.

6 months ago

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Denise Tornga Wyoming, MI

I was very surprised to find my family roots. We moved to a bedroom community in 1984 called Ada, and then 20 yrs later moved further out into the country to Vergennes Twnsp. I was given my Ancestry acct for my birthday. I found my GG Grandparents farm in Ada,not 1mi from my former home. They bought the property in 1860 from the Indians along the Grand River. I found my GGGGrandparents in Vergennes Twnsp, arriving in1852. Their farm is 2mi due west of my present home. When we moved here, I really felt as if I finally was home. Now I know why. There is so much history in this part of my family, I could go on and on. I was so proud to have come from such hard driven good people.

5 years ago

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Mary Chillicothe, MO

I have been a member of Ancestry.com since 2007, sometimes paying for the membership (last 3 yrs) and sometimes not. I just read the reviews of the 3 people that has posted and had to comment. You have to read everything when purchasing anything online, even the fine print!! It tells you that if you dont cancel, you will get charged! The membership is a lil pricey but what price would you be paying if you had to drive or order a copy of something that Ancestry already offers at their site that is included in the membership fee. (example: my 4x grandfathers marriage certificate from Ohio, its on Ancestry, if i were to drive their, 9 hrs one way + gas + food + place to stay-over-night + 9hrs to get home + gas + food) this doesn't even include the expense of any copies you want from the count house or library or historical society. It is already adding up! $ ! I have 7 different family trees on Ancestry, only 2 is mine, the other 5 are friends that ask me to help find their families lost past. In the 7+ yrs that I have used Ancestry.com, i have never encountered any problems with the site itself or their information they offer. Ancestry.com is always my go-to site for anything related to genealogy!!!! Everyone should visit Ancestry.com at least once in their lifetime. **Incredible discoveries awaits you at Ancestry.com** Thanks!!!!!

6 years ago

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applebutteranna Butler West Wendover, NV

Ancestry is very thorough with their access to historical records. They are also very helpful and will give you notifications with potential family matches.

3 months ago

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Mark Troxel Provo, UT

I have used a subscription service for Ancestry, much information was available but I have found that there is some information that requires additional subscriptions fees. I like the hints and the ability to see document and links. I don't like the cost for additional services.

3 months ago

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Cindy H Gilbert, AZ

I have limited member access to this site and i have used it to search many times but i rarely find additional information that doesn't require more fees (upgraded membership) before i can see it. It is very frustrating and i prefer to use familysearch instead.

3 months ago

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Mason Allen Provo, UT

An excellent site for family history research. The interface is easy to navigate and the family tree view is a fun way to connect with your family history.

3 months ago

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Myah Freeman Jacksonville, FL

What I like best about Ancestry is their ability to help me uncover my ancestors. One difficulty I didn't like much is the uncertainty of not knowing for sure if the connection was correct. Black Ancestry is a different battle because we have no confirmation past the 1870 Census.

4 months ago

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Dizzy Norcross, GA

Ancestry DNA has a large database which helps match me my relatives. I like being able to know what my ethnicity is and comparing DNA percentages with my relatives estimates. It has been helpful to figure out the connection.

6 months ago

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Mary Talladega, AL

Ancestry has A LOT of information BUT you will pay dearly for it. I had used Ancestry to make my "free family tree" quite a while back. I quickly realized that I couldn't do much more than what I knew of my extended family because I would have to pay for a subscription (no problems!) So i purchased a disk (thats how long ago we talking here) and was able to start the tree. A few years later i wanted to work on tree again...its like $20 a month! WTH! I love the info but that's a lot of money!

6 months ago

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STurner Saratoga Springs, UT

This is the best available company for genealogy I have found. It has millions of records and it’s users friendly. I love that they include links to their source. Very good company. I have free access to it from Family Search by LDS Church. They have a partnership which makes the two a very powerful source for looking up names.

7 months ago

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Dre35 West Valley City, UT

great user interface with the family tree, so much information on the family. Such a wonderful tool to find more out about my family's history! I especially love the screenshots of the actual historical documents, ie ship passenger records, census, draft cards, marriage docs, etc.!

8 months ago

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Will T

Ancestry.com continues to roll outr new innovations, such as a kind of rating system for each of its hints that the user can check off various factors indicating why he or she approved, questioned, or dismissed the hint. (This feature is selectable by the user). With advances in DNA technology, new data is continually pushed out to assist users in locating relatives, which has ben a very useful feature. Overall, the web site is highly interactive and can provide a wealth of information.

1 year ago

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Glenda Channel Kansas City, KS

I have been a subscriber to Ancestry since the very beginning and have generally found it to be excellent. However, the recent changes to the search function appear to have been implemented for the sole purpose of "looks" not for ease of use. Were any end users involved in this change????? Also, the print function is ridiculous. I have not seen printing like this (small picture in the middle of a full sized page) since the late 1980s when vendor software was in the early development stages. Is this printing problem because the new Ancestry is not compatible with Family Tree Maker (the software I use)? Sometimes changing for the sake of change (or appearing to change) is not as helpful as you might imagine.

5 years ago

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Charlotte Gogola Houston, TX

I've spent many pleasurable, fascinated hours on ancestry.com. I traced my ancestors back to English royalty, assuming the links that I borrowed from other people's trees are accurate. And that's the only gotcha on ancestry.com: you have to be careful whose links you adopt in your tree. Otherwise I have nothing but good things to say about ancestry, and they seem to be getting better with age.

5 years ago

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Susie Labry Hammond, LA

I love ancestry.com and have had it since 1999, when I created my tree and have been adding to it since then. Love their photos, stories, and citations. Very manipulative and love their technology, networking, and connectivity I love their leads and they do perform miracles and enabled me to do what I did. Their leaves are the most fascinating thing in the world to me. A great place to keep my records, history, stories, etc. It is beautiful. It is the best! Mary S. Susie Labry (Migneault dit Labrie)

5 years ago

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Thomas C Saint Petersburg, FL

I have been a member of ancestry.com for a few years now. I thoroughly enjoy utilizing this product. First, I have learned a great deal about my family tree. I've obtained a lot of valuable information via the U.S. Census, state census records (mostly from NY, NJ, and PA), military records. However, it is quite frustrating that death records are not available unless your purchase them (such as NY death certificates). Second, I've met many distant cousins via ancestry.com. We've exchanged information, as well as old family photos. This has been very exciting to catch up with relatives I never even knew or thought existed. I recently became acquainted with the new release of ancestry.com, which incorporates historical data into your family tree. This is an excellent feature, and a great addition to ancestry.com. However, where is the "share" on Facebook feature? It appears to be gone. I called the ancestry.com customer service number, and they were unable to assist me with locating the option to share my ancestry.com information on Facebook. In my view, this is a lost opportunity for free marketing and advertising for ancestry.com. Basically, I am happy with the ancestry.com product. Of course, as any novice genealogist, I hit dead ends in my researching efforts. However, the benefits far outweigh the costs and frustrations associated with this unique product.

5 years ago

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Linda Smith Daytona Beach, FL

My mother passed away approximately 20 years ago and at that time, I didn't know of any living relatives that I had ever met or known. I was curious and so I tried Ancestry.com on the free trial basis. I could never find anyone this time, so I left a message asking that if anyone had any info regarding my mothers' family to please contact me - so I left my email. I waited but I never saw any response, so I gave up. Then 10 years later, my daughter got on Ancestry.com and put my mothers' name in and she saw my message along with a message from someone with information. She told me about it and so I got on it again - never found the message she was telling me about; however, I did come across something that opened the secret door. I contacted this person by email and gave some specifics about the family. She contacted me back and asked some questions that I answered. I hit the jackpot!! She gave me access to her family tree and when I got on it, I couldn't believe my eyes. I never saw so many relatives - from my Great Great Grandfather all the way down to 3rd cousins. I was able to contact one of my 2nd cousins that lived only 3 hrs from my home and we met for the very first time. I couldn't believe how much she and my mother resembled each other. From this point, I met her children and also drove up North to Vermont to meet other relatives at the Family Reunion they have every two years. I highly recommend Ancestry.com as it is very informative and easy to use.

5 years ago

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Sharon Howell Colorado Springs, CO

I LOVE Ancestry.com! I have been able to trace my, and my husband's, line back to Charlemagne. I have first cousins I did not know were out there. I found that the stories I was told since I was a child of family coming over on the Mayflower are actually true! Not only that they're true, but my ancestor was one of the captains. We have had some financial problems with our business so I can't afford Ancestry right now, but I can't wait until I can renew my membership again. I've gotten LOTS of hints I want to see. Sharon Howell

5 years ago

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Sue Vest Tyler, TX

I was able to find my moms father and the sisters and brothers she never knew she had because of this company. I have found a lot about my fathers moms side of the family and well really I have learned a great deal. I do think it is worth the money. To me it is sad to think that all those who I am a part of are forgotten. But they are important to me for with out them .... So it is great to find my way back in time and sort of meet with family.

5 years ago

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Steve Anderson Lindon, UT

I have used Ancestry.com for several years now and I am 100% head over heals in love with this company. They have literally changed my world. They offer two different services. First, they are am AMAZING record collections service. I use Ancestry in conjunction with FamilySearch. The two of them can help me find almost anything. I have extended my ancestral lines back many generations because of Ancestry.com The second service they offer is their DNA testing services. Doing my own family research, I found out that me and my 8 brothers and sisters are not the biological children of the man who raised us. Yes, that was a real shocker to all of us. Through the use of AncestryDNA, I was able to locate the families of all but 2 of us 9 children. This is a truly amazing company. By the way, their customer support is great. They were so helpful and pleasant to work with.

2 years ago

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Tami Allen Gilbert, AZ

I have used Ancestry.com for years to find out more about my ancestors and my history. But recently, I had the opportunity thanks to my kids, to use Ancestry DNA testing. This was a really cool experience, to go to the website and see my DNA, and see people who also had their DNA tested and are related to me. I also found out that I was wrong about where many of my ancestors came from, and it gave me new information that I could search that would point me in the right direction. Ancestry is great for searching your family history, finding your ancestors, and connecting with ancestors you might not even know that you had! I love it.

2 years ago

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Kurt Lucas Olney, MD

I wanted to explore deeper into my genealogy. I found Ancestry the easiest way to look at my family history. I was pleased the results came back quickly.

2 months ago

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Sharon ,

Lots of information but mostly for beginners. Trying to search land records, wills . Indian, war deeds, and etc. Is more difficult.

3 months ago

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Joannetta Jarman Secaucus, NJ

I like the great way you can lay out the family tree and it pops up suggestions. Found a lot of connections to relatives using their DNA kit too.

3 months ago

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Marniwho ,

I love ancestry.com they make doing family history fun and exciting. I love the hints they send and the emails telling me about my ancestors

3 months ago

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N Oakland, CA

I was able to find an Aunt and set of family I had no clue that was out there. I also found out I had a cousin who only lived 10 miles away!

3 months ago

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Jen Smithfield, UT

I love that you can find your ancestors on ancestry.com. I love that they've made it a great place for anyone to go and search their history and find out more about their relatives. Thanks for all you do!

6 months ago

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Ryan Harpenau Fayetteville, AR

I liked being able to trace my heritage back and learn more about where my family is from. It was very informative and I enjoyed reading the attached documents on some of my ancestors. I wish there was a way to ensure that the ancestry is accurate, but I am not sure how this could be accomplished.

6 months ago

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Dan Whiting American Fork, UT

I used Ancestry.com to research my family tree for free. Their record database is huge, and easy to use. It made the process of researching my genealogy fun and interesting. 10 out of 10. Awesome.

7 months ago

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Patrick Curry Salt Lake City, UT

Love the ease and user friendly feel of the site. Has been a great tool to track down family and locate family I never knew we had. Had many help articles that where beneficial to us in helping us build our family tree

8 months ago

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Eddie Rios Ogden, UT

Ancestry.com is the leader in genealogy programs. It provides with in depth results that change the game. I have been so impressed with level of detail, that no other service comes close. Relevant info and documents are a real treasure when doing this kind of research. And Ancestry.com does it best!

1 year ago

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Arlene Cleet

Good. In the beginning they sent me names of possible connections. I have been communicating back and forth giving them info and they send me back info. Now whenever they find someone who could be related to me, I get the info and follow up on it.

1 year ago

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Tanner Cook Gilbert, AZ

I got my mom a six-month ancestry membership for her birthday, and since then her and I have been addicted to tracing back our family tree and see as far back as it goes. It’s really cool to see where my family is come from, and this was well worth it!

2 years ago

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