Software Alternatives & Reviews

RootsMagic VS Ancestry

Compare RootsMagic VS Ancestry and see what are their differences

RootsMagic logo RootsMagic

RootsMagic Family Tree Software - Smart Computing Magazine calls RootsMagic 'the best genealogy program we've seen'. Free trial version.

Ancestry logo Ancestry

Discover your family history and start your family tree.
  • RootsMagic Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-06
  • Ancestry Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-20

RootsMagic videos

RootsMagic Review - 5 Things I Love

More videos:

  • Review - RootsMagic 8 Preview - People Page
  • Review - Download Ancestry Record Images with RootsMagic Essentials

Ancestry videos

AncestryDNA Test Review: Pros and Cons

More videos:

  • Review - REVIEW: Ancestry.com Genealogy Website
  • Review - My Ancestry Review

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to RootsMagic and Ancestry)
Family Tree
19 19%
81% 81
Family Social Media
26 26%
74% 74
Family Organizer
20 20%
80% 80
Online Services
31 31%
69% 69

User comments

Share your experience with using RootsMagic and Ancestry. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Ancestry seems to be a lot more popular than RootsMagic. While we know about 1059 links to Ancestry, we've tracked only 2 mentions of RootsMagic. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

RootsMagic mentions (2)

  • Best Family Tree Program?
    I'm not joking. Many ages ago when I started researching there were lots of apps and some had appalling user interfaces. I found one, Family Origins, that finally made sense. Then buyouts and regrets and recovery turned it into Roots Magic. The user interface still made sense but, recently, I've struggled with the newer updates. Source: about 1 year ago
  • Software Recommendations?
    From all the free software, I like Legacy, then Ancestrial Quest Basic, then RootsMagic. Gramps I found okay. Source: over 2 years ago

Ancestry mentions (1059)

  • Hacked results
    4 There should be alot of code, If it says error change the URL to your country code for example Ancestry.com (US) Ancestry.co.uk (UK). Source: 5 months ago
  • My True Ancestry! I'm a Modern Hungarian.
    It's quite easy. You just have to download your DNA file from ancestry.com and then upload the zip file to MyTrueHeritage (after signing up of course). Then in 10 minutes your results are ready! Source: 5 months ago
  • I found out im pretty much English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh with a tad bit of Icelandic... Why do I have such thick brown curly dry hair olive skin and brown eyes?
    Ill definitely keep that in mind I did do ancestry.com's test and was not exactly satisfied as it did not tell me what part of England or Ireland my family comes from as we are all very disconnected. Source: 5 months ago
  • The Ainu: Japan’s Nearly Forgotten Indigenous Peoples
    My sister did do an ancestry.com DNA test, but it was super underwhelming since it was just 100% Japanese, with no regional breakdown. I think 23andMe does a better job and at least has Japanese regions, but unfortunately we went with the budget option. Source: 5 months ago
  • My family won’t acknowledge they got their tan skin from my ashkenazi Jewish great-grandpa.
    That being said, my mom is 100% Ashkenazi (according to ancestry.com genetic testing) and as a little kid I used to ask her if she was black because her skin is so brown (I wasn't asking in a pejorative way I was just genuinely curious) and it is weird to me that people think that just because our families immigrated from Poland/Russia, that means we are of Polish/Russian ancestry; our ancestors were ethnic... Source: 5 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing RootsMagic and Ancestry, you can also consider the following products

Ahnenblatt - Ahnenblatt is genealogy software for Windows. (Use Portable Version for Linux with Wine)

Gramps - Research, organize and share your family tree with Gramps genealogy software.

MyHeritage - MyHeritage is a family-oriented social network service and genealogy website.

FamilySearch.org - Free Family History, Family Tree, and Genealogy Records and Resources from Around the World

WikiTree.com - The WikiTree community is growing a free worldwide family tree. The site is 100% free.

webtrees - webtrees - the web based Family History Software - is based on the popular PhpGedView ('PGV') application.