This page gives links to many programs used to file genealogy information.

Included is a summary of the program history, features, and the latest available version.

I will be glad to publish the information for any genealogy program, but I do not have time to research all possible software.  Please email me with up-to-date info about any program you are using!

Ancestral Quest and PAF (at this site, click on "Order/Download products", then click on "Software Downloads/Free" - Ancestral Quest is an easy-to-use program similar in features to FTM and BK.  PAF (Personal Ancestral File) is the official program of the Latter Day Saints (LDS) church (which incorporates genealogy into its religious doctrine).  In 1999, a new, Windows version of PAF was announced by LDS.  It turned out that the new PAF was simply a customized version of AQ.  I don't know all the details of the customization, but I imagine that it includes special tags for LDS ordinances and so forth - extra features that non-LDS'ers can simply ignore.  For a review of PAF/AQ, see  Dick Eastman's newsletter site.  Look for his July 6, 1999 issue (with further info probably provided in the next few issues.)

As of Nov 2005, AQ 11and PAF 5.2.18 are advertised on their respective websites.  AQ is $35, but PAF is free.  Keep in mind that PAF may not have incorporated new AQ features since the programs diverged in 1999.

Brothers Keeper - You can download this shareware program from their web site.  You can try it for free, but they encourage you to pay a $49 registration fee if you keep it.  As of Novl 2005, version 6.2 was shown on the web site.
They also still have version 5.2G on the web site for users of Windows 3.1 with 8MB RAM.  Windows 3.1 seems pretty ancient these days, but if anyone out there still has it, this may be the only genealogy program that would run with this operating system and such limited RAM.

Family Tree Maker - The most popular genealogy program.  Their website shows "FTM 2006"; it sells for $29.95.   When I first started doing genealogy, FTM was the first program I used.  I liked it because it is easy to use and offers a lot of fancy types of charts/graphical reports.  However, as my genealogy researched deepened, I noticed that FTM has shortcomings compared to other programs in areas like tracking of Source information.  I eventually moved from FTM to Legacy.  I suggest that before buying FTM, you should try out a couple of other programs.  For example, PAF and Legacy standard edition are both available as FREE downloads.

Legacy - In 2000, the Legacy publishers announced that Legacy would be a  free download.  They also announced an even more powerful "Deluxe Edition", which they sell for $29.95.  I like the features it has, and I have switched to it as my main genealogy program.  Even the Standard/free version is pretty powerful; it has much better features for tracking sources, merging GEDCOM files, and creating web pages than FTM.  In the past, Legacy graphical style Reports were not as powerful as FTM.  But recent Legacy versions have beefed up the Report formats, and for those accustomed to some of the fancier FTM reports (e.g. Fan Charts), there are a couple of Add-On programs available for Legacy, such as Legacy Charting Companion and TreeDraw Legacy Edition, which generate elaborate chart reports from a Legacy database.

As of Nov 2005, version 6.0 is the latest version of Legacy.  The regular version is still a free download, and the Deluxe version is $29.95.

PAF - See above under Ancestral Quest.

Roots Magic - When Family Origins was acquired by Genealogy.com and then dropped in favor of Family Tree Maker, the original developer of FO started his own company and developed Roots Magic.  People who liked FO have generally said they find RM's interface and features to be even better.  You can download a demo version of the program, and the full version costs $29.95.  They are advertising Version 3 on their website in April 2005.

The Master Genealogist - TMG is generally the most feature-rich genealogy program.  TMG has far more features than FTM, for example.  The TMG web site includes a downloadable Excel chart which compares features of TMG and other genealogy programs.  In the past, the main complaints about TMG was that the program is not as easy to use and ran significantly slower than other genealogy programs.

TMG Version 5 onward is a true Windows program which is supposed to be faster and have an improved interface.  The TMG users in our genealogy group are very impressed it.  In 2005, they came out with Version 6, which is supposed to have even more improvements in the user interface.  As of Nov 2005, they show version 6.07 as current.

Because of all its features, TMG is generally the most expensive genealogy program.  The Gold edition is $59 and the Silver edition (which doesn't have as much report/publishing capabilities) is $34.  TMG must be ordered from the web, and can either be downloaded (at the prices just shown) or can be ordered on CD-ROM for $79 (which also includes a printed user manual).
 
 
 

Genopro - This seems to be a new program that I was made aware of in Feb 2004.  I haven't tried it yet, but the website does have a version available for FREE download.  It looks like this program is specifically for generating graphical style reports.

Genealogical Software Report Card  - Uses an objective scale to rate genealogy programs.  Keep in mind that you should not simply blindly buy whatever program scores the highest.  For example, I didn't see a criteria/score for "ease of use" (he does list which programs have "Advanced" features, but Advanced may or may not mean hard to use) or for speed (of importing, generating reports, etc).  And different people may find certain screen layouts subjectively better than others.  Still, this is an excellent site in terms of comparing features of different programs.

Cyndi's List - Genealogy Software  - Links to genealogy software from Cyndi's List.

GEDCOM Utilities - has over 75 utilities.  Unfortunately doesn't generally show web sites or current versions of the programs.  Hopefully after you install any of these programs, the program itself would point you back to its website from which you could check for program updates.
GEDCOM Utilities - at the time I checked it, only 2 utilities were listed on this page.
Windows 95 Utilities - This page is oriented towards Windows95, not genealogy, but it does include a couple of GEDCOM utilities.
For more general information on GEDCOM, see the list of GEDCOM references in our links page.
 
 
 
 
 

MacFamilyTree - For a brief review, see Dick Eastman's newsletter site.  Look for his Oct 29, 2001 issue.  I believe the review was of some vintage of Version 3, and as of Nov 2005 they are up to Version 4.  They advertise it for $49 with "MacFamily Classic" at $30.

Personal Ancestry Writer II - According to the author, "Consider PAWriter to be a possible next step in the development of Macintosh PAF had its develpment not been discontinued after release 2.3.1, i.e., 'what might have been.'  PAWriter is not meant to have the bells and whistles that are in the current crop of genealogical programs. The emphasis is on maintaining a genealogical database from which the user can write books and/or post web pages about a family."  The program is available for FREE from the author's website.

Reunion for Macintosh - I'm not a Mac person, but from what I have been told, this is the genealogy program against which all other Mac-based programs are judged.  Version 8 has been advertised as the latest version since at least April 2003 (which is two years ago at this present time).  A couple of websites where I priced this in April 2005 listed it in the $89 - 99 price range.
 
 
 
 

Linux genealogy software was reviewed in Dick Eastman's newsletter - look for his Nov 5, 2001 issue, which devotes a good portion to Linux as an OS in general.  The software listed in this section is specifically for Linux, notwithstanding that some Windows-based genealogy software may work under Linux via a Windows emulator.

LifeLines- A very old program with a command line interface; no graphics or mouse support.
Ftree- Runs in an X-windows environment; does have mouse support, but is not really graphical.
Gramps - According to Eastman, "Gramps seems to have more features available than the other Linux genealogy programs but still does not yet approach power of the free Windows programs: Legacy and PAF."
 
 

Ancestors and Descendants - From their web page: "We, the owners and management of Adventures In Ancestry, have decided to suspend the marketing and sale of Ancestors and Descendants® (A&DTM).  This is to allow us to devote our full resources and attention to research and development efforts.  This change in company strategy became effective on December 1, 2000."

Family Origins  - This was the program that Don Thompson, GCSGA President, had recommended as the best program for beginners.  Unfortunately, it has been discontinued.  From their web page: " As you may know, Genealogy.com created Family Origins in collaboration with a third party developer. We regret to announce that the third party has chosen to discontinue development of the software. Because of this decision, Genealogy.com will be unable to continue support of Family Origins products as of June 30, 2003."
My personal opinion is that it was moreso because Genealogy.com also owns FTM, which sells better and thus is more of a cash cow, that the decision was made to drop FO.  In fact, the web page which announces FO's end also tries to get users to switch to FTM.
A bit of good news is that the original developer of FO has formed his own company and created an entirely new genealogy program called Roots Magic.  See the regular section above on this web page for more info about it.

Generations Family Tree - I am pretty sure this program has been discontinued.  This program was developed by Sierra and then acquired by Broderbund, which at the time owned FTM.  Just as they discontinued UFT, I think their approach likewise was to stop all efforts on Generations in favor of FTM.  At the present time (2005), I cannot find an official support page for Generations on any company's website.
I still see Generations Grand Suite Version 8.0 for sale at a few places like Amazon.com, but they must be selling inventory that is several years old.  For instance, the web page I saw at Amazon said that Generations runs on Windows 95 & 98.  No mention was made of Windows ME or XP, implying that this version of Generations was produced in the 1998/1999 time frame.

Ultimate Family Tree-  This was a very full-featured genealogy program, but in May 2000, it was announced that further development on UFT was being stopped.  (See this notice in genforum.)  Reading between the lines, the company that owned FTM had acquired UFT, and they decided that FTM was more popular and thus a better money maker than UFT, so all the development efforts would go into FTM.  It was really too bad, because UFT was a much more fully-featured program than FTM.  But FTM had been marketed better and was considered easier to use, thus appealing to more beginner-level genealogists (where the mass market is for retailers).