RootsMagic vs Family Tree Maker

RootsMagic

rootsmagic.com

Analyzed October 12, 2026

Worth it

Confidence: Medium

Buy it if you're a serious hobbyist genealogist who wants a desktop family-tree database you own outright.

Read the full report

Family Tree Maker

familytreemagazine.com

Starting report…

Add this comparison to your site

RootsMagic earned a Worth it check in this comparison with Family Tree Maker.

The Family Tree Maker report is still in progress.

Put the badge on your site.

Visitors see the independent comparison.

The link points here, and search engines follow it.

This is the badge visitors see on your site.

Worth it RootsMagic Pending Family Tree Maker Independent comparison on Should I Use It

Badge code

<!-- Should I Use It badge. Keep this link. -->
<a href="https://shouldiuse.io/vs/rootsmagic/familytreemagazine" target="_blank" style="display:inline-flex;flex-direction:column;align-items:flex-start;gap:8px;max-width:420px;box-sizing:border-box;padding:14px 16px;border:1px solid #d5dde4;border-radius:14px;background:#ffffff;color:#111111;font-family:Segoe UI,system-ui,sans-serif;line-height:1.25;text-decoration:none;box-shadow:0 8px 20px rgba(17,17,17,0.08);">
  <span style="display:flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;min-width:0;">
    <span style="display:inline-flex;align-items:center;flex:0 0 auto;border-radius:999px;padding:4px 10px;font-size:11px;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:0.06em;text-transform:uppercase;line-height:1.3;background:#eef8f0;color:#3b7d42;">Worth it</span>
    <span style="font-size:15px;font-weight:700;color:#111111;overflow-wrap:anywhere;">RootsMagic</span>
  </span>
  <span style="display:flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;min-width:0;">
    <span style="display:inline-flex;align-items:center;flex:0 0 auto;border-radius:999px;padding:4px 10px;font-size:11px;font-weight:700;letter-spacing:0.06em;text-transform:uppercase;line-height:1.3;background:#eef1f4;color:#5a6c7d;">Pending</span>
    <span style="font-size:15px;font-weight:700;color:#111111;overflow-wrap:anywhere;">Family Tree Maker</span>
  </span>
  <span style="font-size:12px;font-weight:500;color:#516271;">Independent comparison on Should I Use It</span>
</a>

Text link

<a href="https://shouldiuse.io/vs/rootsmagic/familytreemagazine">RootsMagic vs Family Tree Maker on Should I Use It</a>

Paste one snippet. Keep the link as it is. A nofollow tag stops search engines from following it.

Pick RootsMagic when

Serious hobbyist genealogists
Offline-first, own-your-data users
Ancestry/FamilySearch users wanting a desktop copy
Windows and Mac households

When RootsMagic is not a fit

Casual users happy with Ancestry's free web tree
Anyone who refuses paid upgrades to keep integrations alive
Businesses or teams, this is consumer software
Linux users

Sources

RootsMagic Family Tree Software: Features and Pricingrootsmagic.com
official
Buy RootsMagic: Yours to Keep, No Subscriptionrootsmagic.com
official
RootsMagic 10, 8, and 7 reviewfamilytreemagazine.com
review
Rootsmagic + FTM Opinions : r/Genealogyreddit.com
review
Ridiculous requirement to upgrade to RM9community.rootsmagic.com
review
Tree Share with Ancestry is uselesscommunity.rootsmagic.com
review
RootsMagic Essentials vs full versionmedium.com
review
RootsMagic 10 patch status and CVEslavawall.com
security
Product security pagerootsmagic.com
security
RootsMagic 12 is here!blog.rootsmagic.com
news