Best Free Genealogy / Family Tree Software

This is a new category which is being created with a number of products already in frequent use and reviewed, and this article in progress. Please be patient and I will complete this as quickly as possible.

My top choice in terms of power and simple usability is Personal Ancestral File. This application is a Windows based, GUI, relational database with few if any limitations in size. The database input mechanism is hierarchical, showing the family relationships in a way that you can easily navigate to younger, or older generations simply by clicking links to the right or left. You can easily swap the partner in a relationship to

navigate their ancestry. Multiple partners are easily supported. It is very flexible and allows generating many different report types and creating web pages. The add on product PAF Companion allows creating graphical views of the family relationships. More information coming!

Simple Family Tree is just what it's name says, a tiny, truly simple, easy to use program that displays the family tree in graphical format and allows adding, deleting, changing and other basic data management functions. If you want a small, portable, and really easy to use program, this one may just be for you. More information coming!

Others to be added or considered for review here: GenoPro (shareware, but free with limits), Legacy, Family Tree Legends, Legacy Family Tree, Bygones, GEDTree, GEDView, GRAMPS (Linux only), Family Tree Maker (starter), and others

links:

http://www.genealogysearch.org/free/freeware.html

Product Details

Personal Ancestral File
Website: http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp
Download Link: http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp Note: "Registration" is required to access the download page, but only requires a first name, last name and email address. No validation is done that I am aware of to verify the email address is genuine, and no use is made of in requring the email address in order to download, or install the software. I have never yet been contacted by LDS, so I dot believe they make us of the email address for any undesirable purposes.
Author: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Current version: 5.2
Version date: February 8, 2008
License: Freeware
Download file size: 10.1Mb
Operating Systems Supported: Windows
Additional Software Required: None, however the free PAF Companion Basic is a good addition, and the enhanced version is available for $6.75 which provides additional chart types and other functions. There is also a free Palm OS viewer for PAF 5.2
64 Bit Capable: Not specified, 64 bit should function correctly using the existing installer
Portable Version Available: Not provided, but binaries can be copied out to a different directory
Non-English languages supported: Chinese, German, Japanese, Korean, Swedish

Simple Family Tree
Website: http://jdmcox.com
Download Link: http://jdmcox.com/Simple Family Tree.exe
Author: Doug Cox
Current version: 1.31
Version date: June 6, 2008
License: Freeware
Download file size: 229Kb
Operating Systems Supported: Windows
Additional Software Required: None.
64 Bit Capable: Not specified, 64 bit should function correctly using the existing installer
Portable Version Available: Not provided, but binaries can be copied out to a different directory
Non-English languages supported: None

Related Topics:

• Forum question: Free Family Tree?
•  

Below is a list of everything I have accumulated so far to be looked at and considered for review here. Please note this is not necessarily complete, and quite a few of these applications will probably be eliminated, or at least listed very briefly as supplemental tools. E.g. Many of them are not real genealogy databases, but tools for browsing the GED export text files that many of the databases use as a common data sharing mechanism. Many are also used by genealogists to convert their data into HTML format ready for publishing to a web page.

My Family Health Portrait - http://www.hhs.gov/familyhistory/download.html (US Dept of Health & Human Services)
PAF - http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp
GenoPro - http://www.genopro.com/
SImple Family Tree - http://jdmcox.com/
Bygones - http://home.rica.net/bygones/
Family Tree Legends - http://www.familytreelegends.com/
Family Tree Builder - http://www.myheritage.com/download-family-tree-builder
GenealogicaGrafica - http://home.versatel.nl/genealogicagrafica/
KStableau - http://home.zonnet.nl/KStableau/
Legacy - http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/
LifeLines - http://lifelines.sourceforge.net/
GeneWeb - http://cristal.inria.fr/~ddr/GeneWeb/

GEDReporter - http://www.gedreporter.dmcmartin.com/
GEDView - http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tmark/GedView.html
GEDTree - http://www.otway.com/family/docs/gedtree.html
UncleGED - http://gatheringleaves.org/content/view/54/89/
GEDBrowser - http://www.misbach.org/gedbrowser/
GEDCommander - http://www.winsite.com/bin/Info?500000007953

Online:
http://www.ancestry.com/
http://www.worldgenweb.org/
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/?cj=1&o_xid=0001365135&o_lid=000136513

This software category is maintained by volunteer editor Allan Marillier. Registered site visitors can contact Allan by clicking here.