Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Ancestry vs Family Tree*

Ancestry 4.8★ · Free to download 80
Winner Ancestry
Family Tree* 4.6★ · Free + IAP 30

Ancestry is the clear winner, offering a more robust and established platform for genealogical research despite its cost, while Family Tree* is plagued by complaints about its pricing model and limited functionality.

Full reviews: Ancestry · Family Tree*

Ancestry provides extensive tools for family history research and DNA analysis, with many users praising its ability to help them discover their heritage. Family Tree* faces significant criticism for its aggressive in-app purchases and limited free functionality, leading many users to feel it's a scam.

Head to head

Features & Depth of Information edge: AncestryR3R5R9R10
Ancestry Ancestry users appreciate the extensive information available, including historical records and DNA matches, allowing them to trace family lines back centuries and connect with relatives R5. Some users, however, report issues with incorrect DNA traits or difficulty accessing paid DNA results R3R9R10.
Family Tree* Family Tree* users who manage to use the app report finding ancestors and enjoying the discovery process . However, many users complain about extremely limited functionality in the free version, often only allowing a few family members to be added before requiring payment R81R90.
Ease of Use & Navigation edge: AncestryR4R5R12R13
Ancestry Many Ancestry users find the app easy to use and navigate, especially for those with experience R5. However, a significant number of users describe it as user-unfriendly, hard to understand, or difficult to search R4R13. Recent updates have also caused issues with chronological order and missing features R12.
Family Tree* Family Tree* users frequently struggle with the app's usability, reporting difficulties entering data, making corrections, or even signing in . Some users also mention a lack of options, such as changing countries or submitting feedback R66.
Reliability & Performance edge: AncestryR1R16R18R25
Ancestry Ancestry users report various reliability issues, including the app losing tree ownership or DNA data, failing to save added family members, network errors, and frequent crashes or lags R1R16R18R25. Some updates are also cited as introducing glitches .
Family Tree* Family Tree* users describe the app as not functioning at all, being unable to add to or use the tree, and having issues with data not sticking .
Price & Value edge: AncestryR7R14R18R27
Ancestry Ancestry is widely criticized for its high cost, with users mentioning subscription fees of almost $40, $99 every three months, over $500 a year, and additional charges for connecting with family members or accessing DNA data R7R14R18R27. There are also complaints about cancellation fees R7.
Family Tree* Family Tree* is overwhelmingly criticized for its aggressive pricing model, with users calling it a 'scam' or 'rip off' . Many users report being charged $50 annually, $4.99 a week, or other fees without clear consent, even after canceling R61. The free trial is often described as very limited or non-existent R61R81.
Support & Customer Service tieR29R55R66R112
Ancestry Ancestry users report difficulties contacting support or accessing help when facing account issues, such as being locked out or having unauthorized charges R29R55.
Family Tree* Family Tree* users mention not receiving responses from developers after emailing them about cancellation issues R112. Some users also report no option to submit feedback within the app R66.
Pick Ancestry if

you are serious about in-depth genealogical research, are willing to pay for a comprehensive service, and want access to a vast database of records and DNA matching capabilities R5.

Pick Family Tree* if

you are looking for a very basic, simple family tree builder and are extremely cautious about in-app purchases, or if you are specifically looking for the 'Family Search' app by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which some users confuse this app with .

Evidence note: Reviews for Family Tree* are heavily skewed towards negative experiences related to pricing and perceived scamming, making it difficult to assess its features and usability fairly for those who do pay. Many positive reviews for Family Tree* appear to be from users who are actually referring to 'Family Search' or 'Ancestry', indicating confusion between the apps .

Frequently asked

Is Family Tree* truly free to use?
No, Family Tree* is not truly free; while it is free to download, almost every desired feature, including adding more than a few family members (often just 4), conducting in-depth research, or even starting a tree, requires payment, with users reporting charges of $50 annually or $4.99 per week R61R81R88R90.
How much does Ancestry cost and what are the common complaints about its pricing?
Ancestry's subscription fees vary, with users reporting charges of almost $40, $99 every three months, or over $500 a year, and common complaints include the high cost, additional charges for connecting with family members or accessing DNA data, and unexpected cancellation fees R7R14R18R27.
Can I cancel my Family Tree* subscription easily?
Many users report significant difficulty canceling their Family Tree* subscriptions, with some being charged even after canceling before a free trial ended, or after deleting the app, and others stating there is no clear place to cancel within the app R78R110R111R112.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 119 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R3] Ancestry 3/5 · US Traits!?!: I appreciate learning about all the amazing people I’m related too and seeing my tree expand. Since my families don’t know too much where they came from, etc. But the traits we should have a way to let you know you are wrong/incorrect. More than 60% of my traits are incorrect and the parent you base them off is the wrong parent. Being a perfectionist this has been driving me absolutely
  2. [R5] Ancestry 5/5 · US The Good😊The Bad😠& The Ugly🥴= Me: Love History and Real Life. Can’t get enough of Ancestry. I have been working on my family history since the 1980’s and that was all done in Court Houses, Public Libraries and knocking on on doors. Meeting strangers for anything they could confirm/ deny/ embellish/ or add to! It was fun but Ancestry has confirmed for me all of that ground work decades ago. In my
  3. [R9] Ancestry 3/5 · US Access to tests: Why can I not get access for the two DNA test that I have paid for ..??..
  4. [R10] Ancestry 2/5 · US Confused: It seems that you have to subscribe to find out anything. My DNA results are in and I have no idea how to view them
  5. [R4] Ancestry 1/5 · US Family trees: Very user unfriendly, not able to change trees at will…
  6. [R12] Ancestry 3/5 · US Ancestry organization: A recent update in Ancestry has lost the chronological order in proposing children in the review of families in hints. Why? The order is helpful in comparing, for example, marriage date of parents with birth dates of children. Using birthday of first child should be sufficient rather than having to look at the complete list of kids
  7. [R13] Ancestry 1/5 · US AJ: You make it too hard to search!
  8. [R1] Ancestry 1/5 · US Ancestry Lost me as my Tree Owner and my DNA: How can Ancestry mess up so badly? I am the tree owner, but now, after 1500+ people on my tree, they lose my DNA AND ME. I AM NO LONGER ON MY TREE that I created??? Wow!
  9. [R16] Ancestry 1/5 · US Importantance of history and being correct and not corrupt for money!: Network error and I just payed for services!!
  10. [R18] Ancestry 3/5 · US Easy, expensive, yet unreliable performance: I’ve used Ancestry for years. It keeps getting more and more expensive. It’s frustrating when trying to add hints to a record and have the program not work or give incorrect messages, like I need to contact the owner of the tree for access, then give me my contact information.
  11. [R25] Ancestry 1/5 · US Terrible app: I keep adding my family members to my tree, and it won’t save it. It’ll look alright, but wipe it all after I close out the app. Such a waste.
  12. [R7] Ancestry 1/5 · US Cancellation Payment: Yesterday I had a charge on my bank account for almost $40 which is the subscription fee. I decided I wasn’t ready to get into the ancestry of my family, moneys tight, can’t afford it right now, I’ll do it when things are more stable, and then I was charged a $25 cancellation fee. Now, I will never come back to this. Good riddance.
  13. [R14] Ancestry 4/5 · US Disappointed: I have been paying for years, times are harder, I see almost nothing of my trees, why can’t prices go down so people can start working on their ancestry, why can’t you give back to your customers who are having a rough time in this economy
  14. [R27] Ancestry 3/5 · US Updates: I don’t care for the last couple of updates. I also, want to express my concerns for the high cost for Ancestry. There are so many other companies with apps that do not have the outrageous price for a $500 year. I think it’s time to drop your prices. Just saying
  15. [R29] Ancestry 5/5 · US Trouble accessing: I have been trying to access my account for a little while now and when I couldn’t remember my passcode and asked for either contacting someone or going to the Help area, all I got was a screen with two parentheses. I went on. I went on my search engine to see if there was another way I could contact ancestry to let it be known that I cannot access my account. My account is abou
  16. [R55] Ancestry 1/5 · US Charged for World Access without my permission: I was charged $194 for World Access without my permission. When I tried to call to remedy the “fraud” the give me a long drawn out way to resolve it. Instead I will ask American Express dispute it and put it back in the people who made the error.
  17. [R66] Family Tree* 3/5 · US User friendly: No option to change country Could not submit feedback
  18. [R112] Family Tree* 1/5 · US Canceling subscription: I downloaded the wrong app. I emailed the developer and did not get a response. It was not what I thought it would be and there is no place to cancel the app on the app. Awful!
  19. [R61] Family Tree* 1/5 · US CW: It looks like I can’t use it without payment except for a 3 day free trial.
  20. [R81] Family Tree* 5/5 · US Not free at all: The app is available for free, but almost every desired feature within the app comes with a price tag. For instance, you can only add a limited number of family members before being required to start paying. Additionally, if you want to conduct in-depth research on your family, you have to make a payment. It would be more straightforward for the app to have an initial download fee
  21. [R88] Family Tree* 1/5 · US Terrible: This is bad you have to pay to even do anything Not worth it
  22. [R90] Family Tree* 1/5 · US This app is not it: This app only lets you add 4 people to your tree before another screen shows up telling you to pay for premium to add more people. You can’t do anything without premium except pick a background and add 4 people. (Not Exaggerating) Seriously unbelievable, anyone who has LIED and said that this was a great “free” app needs jail time.
  23. [R78] Family Tree* 1/5 · US Canceled Subscription: I canceled this before free trial was up and they keep charging me. Do not trust this app.
  24. [R110] Family Tree* 1/5 · US Refund: Very difficult after accidentally purchasing and try to cancel.
  25. [R111] Family Tree* 1/5 · US Didn’t want: I looked at this app but didn’t want to buy it. I was charged for it after a week and I had deleted it from my phone.

Synthesized from 119 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store