AncestralFire · Questions
Questions people ask, answered plainly.
What is AncestralFire?
A partner for your family history. You ask about someone in your family in your own words, and it reads your family's tree, searches FamilySearch Family Tree once you connect it, and tells you who they were, with the source behind every fact. New to family history, or at it for years? Either way, you don't have to figure it all out yourself.
How much does it cost?
One plan with everything in it, $20 a month. Connecting your tree and trying it are free. There are no ads, and we never sell your data.
Can I try it first?
Yes. Your first 25 answers on our site are free, Connecting your tree included, with no card. After that it asks you to subscribe. Nothing you found is lost, and your tree is always yours to download.
Do I need a family tree already?
No. Tell it about one person in your family who has died, and your tree grows from there. If you already keep a tree in RootsMagic, Ancestral Quest, Legacy Family Tree, Ancestry or MyHeritage, bring its GEDCOM file and start from that instead.
How does FamilySearch fit in?
FamilySearch Family Tree is the largest shared family tree in the world, and it's free. Connect your FamilySearch account and your family there comes into your tree here. You sign in on the FamilySearch website, so we never see your password, and nothing changes in FamilySearch Family Tree unless you see exactly what will change and press Approve. AncestralFire is independent: it is not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by FamilySearch.
Is AI genealogy accurate?
It's as accurate as the sources behind it, so AncestralFire answers from your family's own tree and from FamilySearch Family Tree, says where each answer comes from, and says so when the record is silent. What happened around your ancestors is told as history, never as something they did. See a real conversation on How it works.
Can I use it in Claude or ChatGPT?
Yes. Create your account here first, then add AncestralFire to Claude (any plan, or Claude Code) or ChatGPT (Developer mode, depending on your plan) and sign in with it: the steps are on Use it in Claude or ChatGPT. It's the same family and the same answers, and answers there don't count toward the free ones on our site.
Can I bring my tree from Ancestry or MyHeritage?
Yes. Download your tree as a GEDCOM file, which every family-tree program can save (the guide What is a GEDCOM file shows how), and choose it when you start. Everything in the file comes in, and the file stays yours.
Do you do DNA?
No. AncestralFire doesn't sell DNA tests or read DNA results. It works from your family's tree, FamilySearch Family Tree and the historical record.
Can I share what I find with family?
Yes. A story, a page or a map your partner makes for you can be kept and shared by a link you control, and you can stop sharing it any time.
Which AI does AncestralFire use?
We use a variety of AI models, closed-source and open-source, from leading providers, and move between them as they improve. Whichever one answers gets only what a question needs. No training on anything, and only temporary retention, for abuse monitoring and caching. The providers are listed on the privacy page. Inside Claude or ChatGPT, that company's own model answers. The whole story, including what the AI sees and what it never does, is on How AncestralFire uses AI.
What about living relatives?
They're family too, and nobody in your tree is hidden from you. Nothing about a living person is ever sent to FamilySearch or searched for there.
Who can see my family's tree?
Only you. Your tree is kept in a database that is yours alone. We never sell it, never pool it with anyone else's, and show no ads. Anything you share, you share by a link you control.
Can I take my tree with me?
Yes. Download your whole tree any time as a GEDCOM file that every family-tree program opens, or delete your account and your tree from Settings.
How do I cancel?
From Settings. Cancel any time, and we refund the unused part of the period you have paid for.
Who makes AncestralFire?
CatalystFire. A person reads every message sent to support@ancestral-fire.com.
Something else? Write to support@ancestral-fire.com. New to family history? Start with the beginner guides.