Everything you need to know about Family Roots Center.
Sign up for a free account, then either start from scratch by adding your first ancestor, or import an existing tree using a GEDCOM or CSV file.
GEDCOM is the universal file format for genealogy data. You can export a GEDCOM file from Ancestry, MyHeritage, FamilySearch, or any other genealogy platform, then import it into Family Roots Center.
Free accounts support up to 50 members. Starter ($9/mo) supports 500. Family ($19/mo) and Legacy ($59/mo) plans are unlimited.
Yes. Use the Invite feature in the user menu to send family members a link. They can create their own account and access the tree.
In account settings, you can toggle your tree to public. This creates a shareable link anyone can view without logging in.
No. When a tree is made public, living people are automatically redacted before the data ever leaves the database. They appear only as "Living" with the structural links needed to draw the tree — no names, dates, places, photos, biographies, or contact details. Someone is treated as living if they have no recorded death date or burial place and were born within the last 110 years. The redaction runs inside the database, so the public view has no way to request the unredacted rows.
Someone is treated as living when they have no recorded death date, no burial place, are not explicitly marked deceased, and were born within the last 110 years. A person with no birth date at all is treated as living, because when the data is missing the safe assumption is the one that hides more. The 110-year convention matches FamilySearch and Findmypast; Ancestry uses 100 years. It is an inference, not knowledge — a living person whose record has a mistyped death date would be classified as deceased.
Yes. Ancestry, FamilySearch, MyHeritage, Findmypast, Geni, and WikiTree all hide living people from public view, and most do not let an ordinary user switch it off. FamilySearch is arguably the strongest: living people never enter the shared tree at all. This is table stakes in the industry rather than something unique to Family Roots Center. The narrower differences here are that a public tree is readable with no account at all, and that surnames are removed as well as first names.
No. There is no setting to disable it, which is a real tradeoff rather than only a benefit — you cannot use a public link to show your living relatives to your own sibling. To share living people with family, invite them into the tree as an authenticated member using the Invite feature instead of relying on a public link.
No, and this is the most common surprise when leaving any genealogy platform. GEDCOM was designed around vital records and carries people, dates, places, and relationships only. To get your photographs out, use the Everything (ZIP) export, which contains your GEDCOM, a full JSON backup, and your photo files together.
No. Every export is available on every plan, including Free, with no tier gate: GEDCOM, CSV, full JSON backup, printable PDF poster, vector PDF, Family Book PDF, Family Group Sheets, and the Everything ZIP archive. Downgrading never deletes data.
Classic Tree (hierarchical), Fan Chart (ancestor arcs), Radial (polar tree), Pedigree (chart), Timeline (lifespan bars), Migration Map (geographic), Sunburst (drill-down rings), Sankey (generational flow), Family (ego-centric), and Hourglass (ancestors above, descendants below).
Yes. From the Export menu you can save a printable PDF poster, the current view as a vector PDF, a Family Book (narrative register PDF), Family Group Sheets (PDF), GEDCOM (.ged) for other genealogy apps, a spreadsheet (CSV), a full JSON backup, and an Everything (ZIP) archive containing your GEDCOM, backup, and photos.
The AI chat lets you ask questions about your family in plain English. It can also generate a Legacy Letter (a letter to future generations) and a comprehensive Family Report.
Yes. All data is stored in a secure Supabase database with Row Level Security. Only members of your account can see your tree.
Yes. The Stories feature supports multiple types: memories, recipes (with ingredients and instructions), traditions, obituaries, and quotes.
Click any family member, then click the + button on their photo circle in the detail panel. You can also upload multiple photos in the photo gallery section.
A beautifully formatted digital version of the traditional family record page found in old Bibles, listing all births, marriages, and deaths chronologically.
Yes. Public trees can be embedded via iframe. Use the embed code generator to get a snippet you can paste into any website.
Go to Account Settings and click Change Plan. You can downgrade to the free tier at any time. Your data is never deleted when downgrading.
Yes. In Account Settings, scroll to the Danger Zone. Account deletion is permanent and requires triple confirmation.