My Favorite Genealogy Related Websites

All genealogists have their own favorite websites for research, and there are a lot to choose from.  Here is my list of my favorites and most used.

ancestry.com

Ancestry.com is the site I use the most for my research.  With the basic free membership, you can search the free databases and create your own tree.  You will also have access to articles in the Support Center, educational videos in Ancestry Academy, the message board and DNA activation and results.  There are 3 levels of paid memberships that range in price from $24.99 per month to $49.99 per month.  If you pay every 6 months, there is a discount, and the range is $99.00 to $198.96.

FamilySearch.org

This website is run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  They have a huge database, and it is free, for the most part.  You will come across documents that you can only see if you are a church member or at one of their libraries.  One thing about this site is that any member can make changes to the information you put there, and the changes are not always correct.

Family Search has an option to volunteer and transcribe documents and earn the right to see some of their exclusive documents that they save for church members and family libraries.

FindAGrave.com

This site, in my opinion, is one of the best sites to find family members. It is now owned by Ancestry, but membership is still free. If you find an entry that has no picture, you can request one and one of their many volunteers will find the grave and post a picture.  There are some volunteers that go a bit further and find close family, an obituary or family history and post that as well.

The option to volunteer for this site is open to all, which I think is perfect for those of us that love wandering around cemeteries.

BillionGraves.com

This site is pretty much just like Find a Grave. With a free account, you get access to over 29 million graves, a 4 generation Billion Graves Tree, you can request photos and you can submit and edit your own photos.

You can choose to pay for the Plus Plan, where you get a Full Generation Billion Graves Tree, you can see nearby plots, get family notifications, priority support and access to partner discounts. The yearly plan is $59.99 per year ($5.00 monthly) or the option to pay monthly is $9.99 per month.

Ancestors Portal

In my opinion, Antenati is, by far, the best place to research Italian ancestors and it is 100% free.  I have found many new branches to my tree with actual scans of original documents.   It is not completely indexed, but they are working on it.  I have needed to look at each document for some family I am searching for, but I think that is a huge benefit of genealogy!  While looking through citizenship records for the town my family came from, I came across records for Benito Mussolini’s request for citizenship in 1924!

All of the records are organized by region, then then state and finally city.  The records for each city and its area are sorted by year.