RootsMagic vs Family Tree Maker

RootsMagic costs less and Family Tree Maker stays closer to Ancestry

The short answer to RootsMagic vs Family Tree Maker turns on price and on where your tree lives today. Both programs are bought once, with no subscription, both keep the tree in a file on your computer and both work without a connection. RootsMagic is cheaper, offers a free edition and treats FamilySearch and Ancestry as equals. Family Tree Maker, published by Software MacKiev, centres on syncing with an Ancestry online tree.

We did not install either program. The comparison sets out what RootsMagic and Software MacKiev publish about their current versions, RootsMagic 12 and Family Tree Maker 2024, with a link beside each fact. We make Genogram Builder, a browser editor, and have no tie to either company.

RootsMagic is half the price and has a free edition

The RootsMagic purchase page lists a new licence of RootsMagic 12 at $39.95 and an upgrade for owners of an earlier version at $29.95, with a USB drive for $10 more. It says there is no subscription. RootsMagic Essentials is free with no time limit and no limit on people, events, notes or sources. It leaves out TreeShare for Ancestry, Ancestry hints, narrative reports, wall charts, PDF and Word export and opening more than one database at a time.

The Software MacKiev store sells Family Tree Maker 2024 at $80 as a download, $90 with a DVD and $100 with a USB drive. A Family Pack for up to three computers costs $20 more. The upgrade offer for owners of an earlier edition is $39.95, marked as half the regular $80, with no end date shown. The maker states no free trial of the program itself.

Both programs install on Windows and Mac and work offline

Platform does not decide RootsMagic vs Family Tree Maker, because both install on current Windows and Mac computers. RootsMagic 12 runs on Windows 10 or 11 and on macOS 12 Monterey through macOS 27 Golden Gate. Its Mac page says the Mac version is a native app that does everything the Windows version does. RootsMagic describes itself as working offline with no subscription.

Family Tree Maker 2024 runs on Windows 10 64-bit or later and on macOS 11 Big Sur or later, with 4 GB of memory on a Mac and 2 GB on Windows. The MacKiev support page says the tree is stored on your computer and the program works without an internet connection, while syncing, hints and web search wait for the connection to return.

Each program syncs with Ancestry, and FamilySearch support differs

The Family Tree Maker page says FTM 2024 syncs with an Ancestry online tree at no charge, lets you share that tree with relatives and keeps a tree synced on two computers at once. Software MacKiev states that FTM 2017, 2019 and 2024 are the only editions whose trees can sync with Ancestry. For FamilySearch, the program downloads an entire branch of the FamilySearch tree and shows hints from more than six billion FamilySearch records.

RootsMagic connects to both services. TreeShare for Ancestry uploads a tree to a new Ancestry tree or downloads one, then compares the two so that you accept each change. The help page warns that accepted changes cannot be undone, so keep a backup. FamilySearch Central works with the FamilySearch Family Tree once FamilySearch support is turned on, and FamilySearch lists RootsMagic among the programs that sync with its tree. Its WebHints come from Ancestry, FamilySearch, MyHeritage and Findmypast.

GEDCOM moves a tree between them, and RootsMagic reads Family Tree Maker files

Both programs import and export GEDCOM, the exchange format of genealogy software. RootsMagic goes further and imports Family Tree Maker files through FTM 2024, along with files from Legacy, PAF and TMG. Its own database is an RMTREE file. Software MacKiev says Family Tree Maker exports all or part of a tree in FTM or GEDCOM format. Software MacKiev does not say that Family Tree Maker opens RootsMagic files.

Photographs need care in a move. RootsMagic writes media to a GEDCOM file as links, not as the pictures themselves, says its export help. Software MacKiev notes that a manual backup of Family Tree Maker can include media while its automatic backups do not. Copy the media folder by hand whichever way you move.

Charts, books and the phone apps take different routes

RootsMagic lists more than 100 reports and charts, including bow-tie and hourglass fan charts. Its Publisher combines reports into a book with a table of contents, an index and a bibliography, saved as a PDF or a word processor file. The full version opens up to four databases at once and lets you drag people from one to another.

Family Tree Maker lists pedigree, descendant, bowtie and fan charts and dozens of reports, and a Photo Darkroom for pictures. A book is made with Family Book Creator 2024, sold separately at $48. The free FTM Connect app for Apple and Android lets invited relatives view the tree and leave hints. The free RootsMagic app for iPhone and iPad is a reader, loaded from a file exported through Dropbox.

A GEDCOM file from either program also opens as a chart in the browser

If you want a picture of part of the tree for a reunion, a class or a relative without either program, export a GEDCOM file and open it in Genogram Builder with Import a family file. The editor runs in the browser, shows how many people and couples it found before it places them and exports PNG, PDF and JSON with a free account. It does not search records, sync with Ancestry or write GEDCOM, so your research stays in RootsMagic or Family Tree Maker. The guide to family tree software sets both programs beside Legacy, Gramps and the online services.