Genogram Builder vs GenoPro | Windows Desktop or Browser

At a glance

Genogram BuilderGenoPro 2020

PriceFree plan. Pro is $12 a month or $99 a year.$49 for one user, paid once.

Where it runsBrowser on any computer or tablet.Windows. A Mac needs CrossOver or a second system.

Drawing a familyBy hand, or drafted from notes and reviewed.By hand, one symbol at a time.

Trying itOne genogram with no account, five with a free account.A 14-day evaluation key.

Files it readsGEDCOM, GenoPro, Gramps, Mermaid, spreadsheets.Its own .gno files.

Where work livesIn the browser, then in your account.In files on that computer.

GenoPro draws by hand, and Genogram Builder can also draft from notes

In GenoPro a chart is built one symbol at a time with the mouse, which suits a genealogist who already knows the family and wants precise control over every placement. The program keeps the chart as a file on that computer, and the file can grow to hold photographs, documents and custom reports.

In Genogram Builder the same chart can be drawn by hand with the Person and Connect tools, or it can be written. A few sentences of notes name the people, their dates and how they are related, and the assistant proposes a draft in which every person and every line is listed with the sentence that supports it. Each item can be kept, edited or removed before anything is added to the chart, and the chart is arranged by generation as it grows, with no line crossing a name.

Your notes

Ellie Hawkins, born 2009, is the client, a sixth form student with generalised anxiety disorder. Her brother Jack, born 2006, is an apprentice plumber and is close to Ellie. Her parents, Paul Hawkins, born 1971, and Helen Hawkins, born 1974, married in 2003 and are distant from each other.

Found in the notes

Ellie Hawkins, 2009
Jack Hawkins, 2006
Paul Hawkins, 1971
Helen Hawkins, 1974
Paul and Helen, married 2003
Jack and Ellie, close
Paul and Helen, distant

On the chart

The example family on the home page, from the notes to the chart drawn beneath them. The full draft lists eleven people, four marriages, twelve parent lines and five emotional lines.

Both record the ties that a family tree leaves out

Both products record emotional relationships and health, which is what separates a genogram from a family tree. Genogram Builder draws the emotional lines of the standard notation, from close and fused to distant, hostile and cut off, together with conditions, life events and household groups, and prints a key on every chart so that a reader never has to guess what a line means. GenoPro describes a medical history panel and lets users define their own icon labels, which is useful for families with many conditions to track.

The difference is in how the information gets there. In Genogram Builder a sentence such as "Carol and Neil are in conflict" becomes a line between two adjacent symbols during a draft, and a later sentence such as "Walter died in 2021" becomes a change with its own card and an undo. In GenoPro each of these is a manual edit.

Fused

Distant

Hostile

Cutoff

Five of the emotional lines that Genogram Builder draws, taken from its notation reference. Each is drawn by the editor itself.

GenoPro is bought once, and Genogram Builder is free or subscribed

GenoPro sells licences by the number of users, from $49 for one user to site licences of $395 for academic use and $1,795 for enterprise use, and its purchase page says that the receipt includes a permanent registration key. An upgrade from an earlier version is $15, and a free 14-day evaluation key enables every feature.

Genogram Builder has a free plan with no card. Pro is $12 a month or $99 a year, and Max is $29 a month or $228 a year. Over several years a single GenoPro licence costs less than Pro, while the free plan of Genogram Builder costs nothing at all. Which is cheaper therefore depends on how often you draw and on whether drafting from notes saves you time.

A GenoPro file opens in the browser in a few steps

Genogram Builder reads GenoPro files, so a chart that began in GenoPro can continue in the browser. The import reads the individuals, families, dates and notes, shows how many people and connections it found, lists anything it could not read before anything is placed, and lets you put the family beside an existing chart or on a new one. Emotional relationships that GenoPro stored in its own fields are read into the standard lines where the format allows.

A file of up to 50 people opens without an account. A free account keeps the limit at 50 people in each genogram, and Pro removes it. In the other direction, a chart made in Genogram Builder exports as PNG, PDF, SVG or JSON for use elsewhere.

Feature by feature

Each row states what the two products offer in their own terms. Checked on 20 October 2026 on genopro.com and on this site.

Feature	Genogram Builder	GenoPro 2020
Where it runs and what it costs
Mac	Included. In Safari, Chrome or Firefox.	In part. Through CrossOver or a multi-boot utility, as its purchase page describes. Native Mac and iOS versions are planned as part of GenoProX.
Price for one person	Included. Free, or Pro at $12 a month or $99 a year.	Included. $49 once, with a permanent registration key.
Drawing the family
Drafting from notes	Included. Five drafts a month on the free plan, each reviewed before it is added.	Not included. Not offered.
Standard notation	Included. McGoldrick, Gerson and Petry, 59 symbols and connections, with a key on every chart.	In part. Its own symbol set, including a medical history panel and custom icon labels.
Emotional relationship lines	Included. Close, fused, distant, hostile, cut off and the rest of the standard set.	Not stated. Not described on the pages read.
Files
Reads	Included. GEDCOM, GenoPro, Gramps, Mermaid and spreadsheets.	In part. Its own .gno format. The home page lists no other.
Exports	Included. PNG and PDF on the free plan, SVG on Pro and Max, JSON for everyone.	Included. HTML reports, picture albums, PDF and interactive SVG.
Where work is kept	Included. In the browser until saved, then in your account from any computer.	Included. In files on the computer where the program is installed.

IncludedOn a paid planIn partNot includedNot stated

Sources: genopro.com, the GenoPro purchase page, Genogram Builder plans.

Before you decide

Running GenoPro on a Mac

GenoPro states that the Windows program can be run on a Mac through CrossOver or a multi-boot utility, and that native Mac and iOS versions will arrive with GenoProX, for which it gives no price or date. Genogram Builder runs in Safari, Chrome and Firefox on macOS without any of this.

Whether GenoPro is the cheaper choice

For one person who draws for years, a $49 licence costs less than a subscription of $99 a year. For someone who draws a few charts a term, the free plan of Genogram Builder costs nothing. The comparison turns on how often you draw and on whether the time saved by drafting from notes matters to you.

Keeping both

Nothing prevents it. A .gno file from GenoPro opens in Genogram Builder, and a chart made in Genogram Builder exports as PNG, PDF, SVG or JSON for use anywhere else.

Draw a genogram in the browser now, or import a GenoPro file and continue it here. No account is needed to begin.

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