Best Genealogy Websites

Perhaps you would prefer to research your family tree on your own. I am often asked which websites for researching genealogy online I would recommend to genealogy researchers.

Ancestry.com is my all-time favorite website for genealogy records. They have records from the United States, Canada, Mexico, England, Ireland, Scotland, and pretty much every country in the world. This is a paid subscription site, and not the cheapest, but has a few levels of membership. I have the All Access subscription which includes basic Newspapers.com and Fold3, and all the international content.

familysearch.org is my all-time favorite free website for genealogy records. They have records from pretty much every country in the world. !

findmypast.com is one I use mostly for English and non-North American research.

newspapers.com This is my first go-to for obituaries, marriage announcements, and general news stories about ancestors and cousins. You can get the basic membership as part of your Ancestry.com membership.

fold3 My top website choice for military records. You can get this as part of a full Ancestry.com membership.

Myheritage Their city directories collection is an asset. They also have many records from countries other than the United States. For international searches in counties not as well represented at Ancestry.com this is a good choice.