Opinions. Ancestry Vs Find My Past, FamilySearch, MyHeritage etc.

[manukarik]

You'll find different records on each and as others have said it will depend on which documents you are looking for and which countries. FindMyPast is good but doesn't have integrated DNA matching.

[rogerb]

If I were starting my online genealogy journey and could only pick one service - it would be Ancestry - for most of the reasons given above.  Unlike a lot of people I have also found the dreaded "other person's tree" feature quite useful in the past!

[phil57]

As above, it depends on your requirements. I find FMPs advanced search facilities far more powerful than Ancestry searches, and use it all the time. But I subscribe to Ancestry as well because some original documents, particularly parish registers, are only available for certain counties on Ancestry, and others only on FindMyPast.

You can check the Card Catalogue or collections searches on both to see who has what.

Essex registers for instance are referenced and transcribed on both, but the originals only viewable via Essex Archives, so for the last few years I have maintained a subscription with Essex Archives also.

Kent registers again referenced, but many original images are freely viewable on Kents' own Cityark archive.

It greatly depends on your particular requirements.

[coombs]

I still await the day Ancestry's new collections says "Suffolk, England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials 1538-1812" and "Buckinghamshire, England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials 1538-1812" and "Berkshire, England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials 1538-1812"

[Biggles50]

Easy answer stay with ANCESTRY.

Especially if at some stage you want to take a DNA test which I for one would suggest that you do now plus have siblings, cousins (maternal and paternal) and especially parents, aunts, uncles all tested.

Ancestry has 2x more DNA tested members than any other company.

There are many ifs and buts involved and at least download the Gedcom file for your tree which you can always upload it to FindMyPast, MyHeritage etc.

I have Roots Magic and sync all our various Ancestry Trees to their corresponding tree within the software, not all online trees can sync to  software.

[phil57]

You are approaching that simply from the POV of where to host a tree and DNA matching Biggles. In that sense I agree with you, but I am not reliant on any online site to host my research. From the outset I decided it was far preferable to keep all of my research and my tree on my computer. I regularly upload copies of the latest version to various websites for hint and DNA matching purposes. But you could say that my tree is for life, not just the length of an Ancestry subscription. It's also a lot easier to navigate, find and compare information, and run queries on

But which site is "the best" depends on my area of research at the time. FindMyPast is no good at all when I want to see original images of parish registers for Somerset. They are hosted on Ancestry. The opposite is true when I am researching Lincolnshire parish records, etc.

If you read the OP's original question, he was more concerned with record coverage (UK in particular) than tree hosting or DNA. The latter two didn't figure in his question at all.

[ffoxsake]

I know Find My Past now has the 1921 Census, but it is ridiculous priced (for my budget at least), so have brought the single pages I wanted/needed.

See if your local library has free access to FindMyPast including the UK 1921 Census on their computers. It works a treat for the occasional lookup and would give you an opportunity to compare.

[brigidmac]

I was originally going to switch between find my past and ancestry but found that learning my way round several sites was a bit complicated so have stuck with ancestry .I find that every year they have more records

I do sometimes go to the library but it takes me longer to get onto find my past than to do my look ups .

Recommend looking out for offers and do a free trial monthly trial with each before deciding

In years gone by I used Genes Reunited but when subs ran out I could no longer access things I'd put in shoebox
Also I used to take UK subs on Ancestry but every now and again treat myself to a month of worldwide access . Recently I've been getting the half price yearly worldwide offer

I upgraded one month to get newspapers but found it highly biased to American papers

[Biggles50]

You are approaching that simply from the POV of where to host a tree and DNA matching Biggles. In that sense I agree with you, but I am not reliant on any online site to host my research. From the outset I decided it was far preferable to keep all of my research and my tree on my computer. I regularly upload copies of the latest version to various websites for hint and DNA matching purposes. But you could say that my tree is for life, not just the length of an Ancestry subscription. It's also a lot easier to navigate, find and compare information, and run queries on

But which site is "the best" depends on my area of research at the time. FindMyPast is no good at all when I want to see original images of parish registers for Somerset. They are hosted on Ancestry. The opposite is true when I am researching Lincolnshire parish records, etc.

If you read the OP's original question, he was more concerned with record coverage (UK in particular) than tree hosting or DNA. The latter two didn't figure in his question at all.

The Op is already an Ancestry subscriber, and if they intend to go the DNA route then staying with Ancestry is imo the wisest course of action.

As it is, Ancestry and my Roots Magic family tree projects are Mirror images of each other.

Should we decide to cancel Ancestry then we have a fully working tree with all the media we shall wish for on our Computers, one copy on my PC and an identical copy on our Laptop.

Keeping a tree online gives belt and braces and should the Software become out of date and/or the company cease business then we will have an alternate.

I find it is always best to have a prime project and at least two Backup projects.