Genealogy Basics
Free Genealogy Websites Worth Using First (and What Each Is Best For)
You can do a great deal of family history without paying for anything. Paid sites are useful later, but most beginners get further, faster, by learning the free ones first.
The free sites, and what each is best for
| Site | Best for | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| FamilySearch (familysearch.org) | Census, birth, marriage, death and church records from around the world; a shared family tree | Free account required. Run by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and open to everyone. |
| FamilySearch Research Wiki | Learning where records exist for a county, state or country | Look up a place before you search it. It tells you what survives and where. |
| Find a Grave (findagrave.com) | Gravestones, burial places, and often photos and short biographies | Volunteer-built. Check the photo of the stone, not just the typed transcription. |
| BillionGraves (billiongraves.com) | Gravestone photos with GPS locations | Good for finding a grave within a large cemetery. |
| Chronicling America (chroniclingamerica.loc.gov) | Digitized historic U.S. newspapers | From the Library of Congress. Obituaries, local news, legal notices. |
| National Archives (archives.gov) | Federal records: military service and pensions, immigration, land, census | Many records are indexed on partner sites; the Archives explains what exists. |
| USGenWeb (usgenweb.org) | County-by-county volunteer pages: transcriptions, cemetery lists, local histories | Quality varies by county, but some are gold mines. |
| State archives and historical societies | State censuses, vital records, local histories, maps | Every state has one. Many have free online indexes. |
| DAR Genealogical Research System | Revolutionary War patriots and the descendants already documented to them | Free and searchable, even if you never plan to join. |
| Internet Archive (archive.org) and Google Books | Old county histories, city directories, family histories | Search for the county name plus "history." |
Two ways to get paid sites for free
- Your public library. Many libraries offer Ancestry Library Edition and other paid databases free to use on their computers. Some offer access from home with a library card.
- FamilySearch Centers and affiliate libraries. Some partner sites' records can be viewed for free from these locations.
Ask a librarian. Genealogy is one of the most common reasons people visit public libraries, and many have staff who specialize in it.
How to use free sites well
- Start with FamilySearch, because it covers the most ground in one place.
- Look up the place in the Research Wiki before searching deeper, so you know which records exist for that county and time.
- Look at the image, not just the index. Indexes are typed by people reading old handwriting, and mistakes happen. The original image often shows more, like neighbors, witnesses or a note in the margin.
- Write down where you found each fact, including the site and the record name.
- Treat online family trees as clues. Use them to find leads, then confirm those leads in the records.
When paying makes sense
Paid sites earn their keep when you need a specific collection they hold, a large DNA match list, or easier searching across many record sets at once. Most of what beginners need in the first few months is free.
Bring the photos along
As you find names and dates, put them with the faces. A family's photos, labeled with what you've learned, are what bring the rest of the family into the project.
Put your own photos somewhere your family can see them
Heritage Flipbook turns a box of family photos into a flipbook your family can page through, with the backs of photos and notes on who's who. Your first flipbook is free.
Make a free flipbook