Self-hosted alternatives to Ancestry
Want family trees and genealogy records without handing your data to Ancestry? These 5 self-hosted apps run on your own server. Cheapest estimated hosting starts at about $5/month.
About Ancestry: Commercial genealogy service with family trees and historical records.
| App | Health | Stars | License | Docker | RAM (est.) | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| webtrees | Active | 839 | GPL-3.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| GeneWeb | Active | 408 | GPL-2.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Genealogy | Active | 369 | MIT | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Gramps Web | Active | 230 | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Genea.app | Maintained | 286 | MIT | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
The options in detail
1. webtrees
Leading online collaborative genealogy application on the web.
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. 5 releases in the past year. Latest release 1.7.2 (2016-12-05). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
2. GeneWeb
Genealogy software that can be used offline or as a Web service.
Active Last commit 2026-11-03. 5 releases in the past year. Latest release v7.1.0-beta2 (2025-12-25). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
3. Genealogy
Record family members and their relationships and build a family tree.
Active Last commit 2026-10-10. Latest release v6.4.2 (2026-09-29). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
4. Gramps Web
Web app for collaborative genealogy, based on and interoperable with Gramps, the genealogy desktop application.
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release v3.25.1 (2026-10-31). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
5. Genea.app
Genealogy tool designed with privacy in mind that anyone can use to author or edit their family tree. Data is stored in the GEDCOM format and all processing is done in the browser.
Maintained Last commit 2025-12-12. Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
Why self-host instead of Ancestry?
- Own your data — it lives on a server you control, with backups you decide on.
- Predictable cost — a small VPS often replaces per-seat pricing for a whole team or family.
- No lock-in — open-source licenses let you keep running the software even if a vendor disappears.
The trade-off: you are responsible for updates, backups and security. Pick an app marked Active (a commit in the last 90 days) and with Docker support for the easiest ride.
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Ancestry is a trademark of its owner; this site is not affiliated with it. Listings come from the community-maintained awesome-selfhosted list.