Create a Free Online Family Tree

If you're looking to put your family tree online for Family History Month, you have a few free options.

You can create a Ancestry Family Tree without a paid subscription to Ancestry.com. Create a free account here and then start adding names to your tree! You will not be able to attach documents to your tree like you would a paid account but you can organize all of those names, branches, and dates. You can even add photographs to your tree.

Ancestry Member Trees are searchable in Ancestry's database or you can adjust the privacy settings so the tree is only visible to you.

MyHeritage allows you to create a free family website and family trees. You can add documentation, photographs, calendars and family events. There are multiple options for adding all kinds of biographical data to your entries. You can also invite other family members to view and share information on the site or in the tree. There is also free family tree software that you can download to your computer if you're not interested in working through a web browser.

Comparing the 'Big 4'

Ancestry, FamilySearch, findmypast, and MyHeritage are currently the four biggest genealogy databases available. Which one(s) should you be using? Are they worth purchasing a subscription?

At this year's RootTech, Sunny Morton compared the "Big 4" to help users understand which databases best fit their research needs. You can watch her discussion here.

Ms. Morton says that when choosing a database, you need to consider what you need right now. Remember that no one website will have what you need all of the time.

The biggest question you probably have is: Which site holds the historical records I want? Here is a brief overview of the databases:

Ancestry.com

• 80 countries -- particularly: USA, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, Mexico, and the UK

FamilySearch

• 96 countries -- strong global outreach with a unique collection of Central & South American, African, and Asian records

findmypast

• 7 countries -- focus is on UK and Irish records as well as US, Australia, and New Zealand

MyHeritage

• Claims to cover 'all' countries -- primarily Europe and global Jewish collections

For more information, watch Sunny Morton's informational presentation.