# Is Ancestry.com worth the subscription? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 20, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ancestry-com-worth-the-subscription/482077 "2009-01-20T02:07:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![truthbot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@truthbot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthbot)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ancestry-com-worth-the-subscription/482077/1 "2009-01-20T02:07:57Z")
I would like to delve into my paternal side of the family. [Ancestry.com](http://Ancestry.com) seems to have a lock on all the DB’s pertaining to public records. Every time I hit a search, it leads to SIGN UP WITH US!!! at Ancestry. Kinda annoying, if you ask me. If it was just fifty bucks or so for a year, I wouldn’t mind so much. Before I sign up, I’d appreciate some opinions on their service. Are they the bees knees, or is there software that performs the same/better/crappier? Any/all geneology whizzes/fellow novices are invited to reply. ---
**Author:** ![missouri65](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@missouri65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missouri65)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ancestry-com-worth-the-subscription/482077/2 "2009-01-20T02:27:12Z")
I haven’t used it enough to comment on the value. If you decide it’s not worth the price or if you just want to try it out, you may be able to access it through your local library. Here you can only access it from the library, unlike some of the other databases, including HeritageQuest. It might be a good way to check it out, though. ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ancestry-com-worth-the-subscription/482077/3 "2009-01-20T02:29:30Z")
I know my dad used it and seemed happy with it but I don’t know exactly what comes with a membership. I do know that they will automatically bill you for another year once your subscription’s up, which didn’t make my dad happy at all. So be aware of that if you sign up. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ancestry-com-worth-the-subscription/482077/4 "2009-01-20T02:31:09Z")
I had a trial account, and I was not impressed at all. I have an unusual name, and would imagine that I’ve left a reasonably thick paper trail through my years of various jobs, divers schools and colleges, and once having actually responded to a census. But I don’t seem to exist, and neither does anyone else in my family. My father, and my patronymic grandfather and great-grandfathers were all in the US Army, in whatever war was going on at the time, but I can’t even find them. ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ancestry-com-worth-the-subscription/482077/5 "2009-01-20T02:41:58Z")
You can’t tell if it will be worth it or not for you personally without trying. I have found a few things about my own family on the site including a brother of my mom’s who she never knew existed. ( He was born after my mom but my grandma felt she had to give him up for adoption) One thing is that it’s not worth getting a whole year. Within a month or two you will find everything you can so it’s better to sign up for a couple months/ year. If I remember correctly you can either sign up for less than a year or cancel before the year is up. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelQReilly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@MichaelQReilly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelQReilly)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ancestry-com-worth-the-subscription/482077/6 "2009-01-20T02:46:27Z")
I want to echo what was said above. Check around with your local libraries, one of them probably has an account. Personally, I found some good stuff there, but I can imagine that the experience varies. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ancestry-com-worth-the-subscription/482077/7 "2009-01-20T03:31:04Z")
Another vote to check out your local library first. Most/many have the ancestry Library edition. I think that it contains everything you can access with a paid account. Also remember you may have a University nearby. They will let you come in and access things as a guest. At least, that’s my experience. Try these first. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ancestry-com-worth-the-subscription/482077/8 "2009-01-20T06:51:22Z")
I use it, and am very satisfied. It is very valuable for accessing scans of original documents such as censuses, immigration records, passport applications, and military records. For example, here are some of the documents I found for my family: [Ship passenger manifest listing my relatives when they immigrated from Sweden in the early 1900s](http://brookenelson.com/genealogy/nelsonhistory.html#immigration); [census records (1860-1930)](http://brookenelson.com/genealogy/coffeyrileyhistory.html#1860); [my great-grandmother’s passport application, which includes her photo with my grandfather as a baby](http://brookenelson.com/genealogy/nelsonhistory.html#passport); and [my great-grandfather’s draft cards for WWI and WWII](http://brookenelson.com/genealogy/nelsonhistory.html#military). These documents are invaluable to me, so yeah, I’d say it’s worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ancestry-com-worth-the-subscription/482077/9 "2009-01-20T13:12:47Z")
My experience was similar to **nyctea scandiaca’s**. I kept my subscription for a year and then let it go as it’s not really a regular budget item for us, but I sure did enjoy that year! ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ancestry-com-worth-the-subscription/482077/10 "2009-01-20T14:43:17Z")
Well, how much \*does \*it cost? ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Monk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/2acd7d/32.png) [@Electric\_Monk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Monk)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ancestry-com-worth-the-subscription/482077/11 "2009-01-21T00:47:39Z")
If you can’t find it at your library, try HalfPrice Books for the software CD. You can get last year’s version for less than $10 and it comes with a free trial subscription. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ancestry-com-worth-the-subscription/482077/12 "2009-01-21T02:08:03Z")
We’ve had it for a couple of years on a month-by-month. The normal price is $19.99/month, but I took advantage of an email offer for $12.95/month. Considering my hubby and I are both interested in it, and we’ve found out a whole lot of information we didn’t know, it’s been worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ancestry-com-worth-the-subscription/482077/13 "2009-01-21T02:14:29Z")
They don’t offer the free trial anymore? I found one information on one side of my family, but there was barely anything at all on the side I was mostly interested in, so I canceled my subscription before my free time was up. ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ancestry-com-worth-the-subscription/482077/14 "2009-01-21T03:15:06Z")
Warning: I don’t know if they have improved their policies, but back in the day, getting your account cancelled (and your credit card stopped being charged) was hell. They had quite a bad reputation, some say, it was easier to cancel an AOL account, and that my friend, is saying something. Check with some websites, maybe epionions or google [ancestry.com](http://ancestry.com) reviews complaints problems. Also, if they have a forum, you might be surprised at the information you can find from users there. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ancestry-com-worth-the-subscription/482077/15 "2009-01-21T03:20:24Z")
[Ancestry.com](http://Ancestry.com) is pretty much an absolute necessity for genealogy research. The main reason is the Census: they’re the _ONLY_ agency to have digitized all of the name records (i.e. even the Census Bureau employees use [ancestry.com](http://ancestry.com)) and they’re the only ones who are likely to any time soon. Digitization and annotation and the like are bloody expensive, you’re talking about hundreds of millions of names, and Ancestry has $100 million+ in annual revenue, so they’re about the only people with the resources. I’m generally pleased with them, but they have some majorly irritating aspects as well. (Their “improved” search mode isn’t nearly as helpful as their old one, for example.) Their Family Tree search is also a major timesaver: if a cousin who descends from your great-great-great-grandfather has been researching the same line (and has documented it) you can hook into his/her and take advantage of their research, freeing you up to work on brick walls. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2009, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ancestry-com-worth-the-subscription/482077/16 "2009-01-21T03:40:53Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > [Ancestry.com](http://Ancestry.com) is pretty much an absolute necessity for genealogy research. The main reason is the Census: they’re the _ONLY_ agency to have digitized all of the name records (i.e. even the Census Bureau employees use [ancestry.com](http://ancestry.com)) and they’re the only ones who are likely to any time soon. Many/most public libraries have Heritage Quest as a database. I can access it from home. For free. It has the same census data as [Ancestry.com](http://Ancestry.com). At least, the census thru 1920. The 1930 census, I have to go to the library to access. Now, Ancestry has many more things available than the census, but the census you can access from the beginning thru 1930 on Heritage Quest, as I provided above.