GenSoftReviews Award Winners 2022 - Sun, 1 Jan 2023

Happy New Year everyone.

GenSoftReviews is the website I created in 2009 to allow users to rate and review their genealogy software. The goal was for the site to be like a Tripadvisor for genealogists to allow them to see what others think of the various programs before they buy, and to allow the software developers to get feedback as to what their users like and don’t like about their programs.

Each year on January 1st since 2010, I have tabulated the programs that have achieved ratings of at least 4 out of 5. Those programs are displayed on GenSoftReviews a Users Choice Award sticker alongside their software listing.

Today I present the Users Choice Award winners for 2022:

1. Online Repository Assistant - rated 5.00 out of 5

2. webtrees - rated 4.99 out of 5

3. Familienbande - rated 4.98 out of 5

4. The Next Generation - rated 4.93 out of 5

5. The Master Genealogist - rated 4.93 out of 5

6. Personal Ancestral File (PAF) - rated 4.92 out of 5

7. Generations - rated 4.86 out of 5

8. Relatively Yours - rated 4.83 out of 5

9. Genealogie Online - rated 4.79 out of 5

10. FTAnalyzer (Family Tree Analyzer) - rated 4.74 out of 5

11. Brother’s Keeper - rated 4.72 out of 5

12. Family Book Creator - rated 4.70 out of 5

13. Ancestral Quest - rated 4.63 out of 5

14. Reunion - rated 4.63 out of 5

15. Family Historian - rated 4.59 out of 5

16. Famberry - rated 4.54 out of 5

17. Ahnenblatt - rated 4.45 out of 5

18. Oxy-gen - rated 4.44 out of 5

19. Ancestor Tree Manager - rated 4.44 out of 5

20. My Family Tree - rated 4.42 out of 5

21. Family Echo - rated 4.25 out of 5

22. MacFamilyTree - rated 4.03 out of 5

These awards are based on 231 user reviews during 2022 and 6,128 reviews from previous years.

Family Echo and MacFamilyTree both increased their rating in 2022 to be above 4.0 and this year have achieved the award.

One winner from 2021 dropped below 4.0, and six winners from 2021 did not get any reviews in 2022 so did not qualify.

The Wide Variety of Programs

How many of the above programs have you tried or even heard about? These programs help genealogists with different needs in many different ways.

There are a number of full featured programs in the list of 2022 winners that you can use to record and store your genealogical information.These include:

• Some free online programs:  Webtrees, Famberry, My Family Tree, and Family Echo.
• For Windows: Brother’s Keeper, Family Historian, and Ahnenblatt
• For Mac: Reunion
• For Windows or Mac:  Ancestral Quest
• Free for Windows, Mac or Unix: Familienbande
• and even a few no longer supported programs that people still use and love, including: The Master Genealogist (TMG), Personal Ancestral File (PAF), Generations, and Relatively Yours.

There’s programs specifically designed to create a website from your family data:

• The Next Generation (TNG)
• Genealogie Online
• Oxy-gen
• Ancestor Tree Manager

And then some programs are for special purposes:

• Online Repository Assistant, a Windows program with annual subscription.
• FTAnalyzer (Family Tree Analyzer), free for Windows or Mac
• Family Book Creator, for Windows

If those aren’t enough, check the GenSoftReviews site for other programs that may fit your needs. There are now 1,065 different programs for genealogists that are listed. Many are under-the-radar programs that are well liked but fewer than 10 people to date have reviewed them.

Also, feel free to find on GenSoftReviews  the programs you use or have tried, and be sure to add your own reviews and ratings. You will help others who might be interested in the program, and your rating will help decide the User’s Choice Award winners for 2023.