Review Insights · App Store
Ancestry: Family History & DNA
Ancestry.com · 620,509 ratings · ★ 4.8
4.8
★★★★★
620,509 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 56 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"family"
12 negative reviews mention this · 21% of all complaints
★★★★★ "The worst ux and search I’ve ever used. My aunt has made a really great family tree for our family. It is IMPOSSIBLE to find. I can’t search for it within the app, I can’t search within “family trees” and I can’t find it from google. I can’t figure out how to save it or favorite …" - djNYC12345
2
"tree"
11 negative reviews mention this · 20% of all complaints
★★★★★ "The worst ux and search I’ve ever used. My aunt has made a really great family tree for our family. It is IMPOSSIBLE to find. I can’t search for it within the app, I can’t search within “family trees” and I can’t find it from google. I can’t figure out how to save it or favorite …" - djNYC12345
3
"information"
10 negative reviews mention this · 18% of all complaints
★★★★★ "The worst ux and search I’ve ever used. My aunt has made a really great family tree for our family. It is IMPOSSIBLE to find. I can’t search for it within the app, I can’t search within “family trees” and I can’t find it from google. I can’t figure out how to save it or favorite …" - djNYC12345
4
"find"
9 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "The worst ux and search I’ve ever used. My aunt has made a really great family tree for our family. It is IMPOSSIBLE to find. I can’t search for it within the app, I can’t search within “family trees” and I can’t find it from google. I can’t figure out how to save it or favorite …" - djNYC12345
5
"free"
9 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "The worst ux and search I’ve ever used. My aunt has made a really great family tree for our family. It is IMPOSSIBLE to find. I can’t search for it within the app, I can’t search within “family trees” and I can’t find it from google. I can’t figure out how to save it or favorite …" - djNYC12345
6
"expensive"
8 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Over 500$ a yr and the app doesn't work right. App constantly crashes , lags and fails to load. Things you shouldn't have to deal with for a subscription this expensive. This app should be flawless with how much these ppl charge. Don't subscribe to this. Do the most you can without payi…" - AbsoluteCinema!
7
"money"
8 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Over 500$ a yr and the app doesn't work right. App constantly crashes , lags and fails to load. Things you shouldn't have to deal with for a subscription this expensive. This app should be flawless with how much these ppl charge. Don't subscribe to this. Do the most you can without payi…" - AbsoluteCinema!
8
"site"
8 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "The worst ux and search I’ve ever used. My aunt has made a really great family tree for our family. It is IMPOSSIBLE to find. I can’t search for it within the app, I can’t search within “family trees” and I can’t find it from google. I can’t figure out how to save it or favorite …" - djNYC12345
9
"account"
8 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Expensive. They keep taking 29.99 even though I canceled do not take another penny from my account pretending not to get my cancellation bet you’ll see this famfinder lets you find out so much more one more time CANCEL MY TRIAL TODAY" - Fayleewaylee
10
"subscription"
7 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Over 500$ a yr and the app doesn't work right. App constantly crashes , lags and fails to load. Things you shouldn't have to deal with for a subscription this expensive. This app should be flawless with how much these ppl charge. Don't subscribe to this. Do the most you can without payi…" - AbsoluteCinema!
11
"trial"
7 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "The worst ux and search I’ve ever used. My aunt has made a really great family tree for our family. It is IMPOSSIBLE to find. I can’t search for it within the app, I can’t search within “family trees” and I can’t find it from google. I can’t figure out how to save it or favorite …" - djNYC12345
12
"ancestry"
7 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Lost my information. I bought dna tests for others and Ancestry lost all the information that I had entered for myself. It’s very frustrating! This app doesn’t work well." - Wwho-2022
📋 All 56 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
Over 500$ a yr and the app doesn't work right
App constantly crashes , lags and fails to load. Things you shouldn't have to deal with for a subscription this expensive. This app should be flawless with how much these ppl charge. Don't subscribe to this. Do the most you can without paying them. It is not worth the money
The worst ux and search I’ve ever used
My aunt has made a really great family tree for our family. It is IMPOSSIBLE to find. I can’t search for it within the app, I can’t search within “family trees” and I can’t find it from google. I can’t figure out how to save it or favorite it. We’ve agreed as a family we don’t want to be on listed on the tree for privacy reasons, but we
Should still be able to access and contribute to the historical data. It’s a completely useless site that assumes that everyone is starting from scratch, but the ux is actually shockingly bad if you’re trying to access an existing tree. I was prepared to pay for a subscription and instead I cancelled during my free trial because I was so mad. Make the default ux much simpler. Improve the search and information hierarchy. Add the ability to follow and share more easily. All of this amazing data is completely unusable through your interface
Should still be able to access and contribute to the historical data. It’s a completely useless site that assumes that everyone is starting from scratch, but the ux is actually shockingly bad if you’re trying to access an existing tree. I was prepared to pay for a subscription and instead I cancelled during my free trial because I was so mad. Make the default ux much simpler. Improve the search and information hierarchy. Add the ability to follow and share more easily. All of this amazing data is completely unusable through your interface
Expensive
They keep taking 29.99 even though I canceled do not take another penny from my account pretending not to get my cancellation bet you’ll see this famfinder lets you find out so much more one more time CANCEL MY TRIAL TODAY
Lost my information
I bought dna tests for others and Ancestry lost all the information that I had entered for myself. It’s very frustrating! This app doesn’t work well.
History
It helps to find family, however I’ve been a member off and on. For so many years, and each time i log back in i to put all the information back in and why is some other peoples information on my tree and giving wrong dates for my family wrong family members. And i cant find my other accounts. It’s either my maiden name Keluche or married name + maiden name. Makes it very frustrating to search and the majority of my ancestors are Native American I did the DNA and I can’t find that WHY!
Now all paywalled
I used to love using this site/app but lately everything is behind a paywall. I created my account in 2010 to try to keep track of my family tree and I used to be excited when it said I had a new possible family member but now it won’t even let you look at the new hint unless you pay $40 a month. I have even paid for and used one of the DNA kits to try to help with pin pointing future relatives but more and more it is stripping down this site. It’s almost unusable unless you want to pay a fortune. I wouldn’t suggest anyone to use this anymore. Also anymore when it says that there is a possibility of a trait from my DNA it is the opposite of what it says it should be.
My DNA test
Hello,
I still haven’t received my DNA test results. I mailed my saliva sample following the instructions, but I haven’t received any update or response.
I still haven’t received my DNA test results. I mailed my saliva sample following the instructions, but I haven’t received any update or response.
Crashes constantly
Can’t even load without saying “failed to load”
Website
Difficult to navigate & find my information
Fix this App!
This app is great if you want to look at your DNA or view a tree that has already been built. But this app is absolute garbage if you want to build a tree or update a person. Updates don’t show up and when you contact support they tell you to just use the desktop version. This is a ridiculous solution for an app that costs over $300 annually. I have been complaining about this for years, and yet it is still the same garbage app. Fix it.
I keep LOOSING INFO
Not happy with the way this APP keeps loosing info that I have put under my tree !!!!
Huge disappointment and a waste of money. Deleting my account asap.
When I did my family tree 10 years ago, I was able to see source documents and when I marked something as true it filled in the next generation automatically. This version I cannot find birth certificates, death certificates, census, travel to US records, marriage certificates, etc. It just shows me the interpretation of the records and doesn’t show me the mother’s name or the father’s name or census information. Basically it’s a waste of time and money and out sucks.
Rev
They suddenly take away your access without explanation and no longer allow you to sign in!
It’s not about how much money you make. It’s how you do it. F off
It’s not about how much money you make. It’s how you do it. F off
App is worse than ever!
I have contacted Ancestry several times over the past year. The app is very glitchy and I frequently get error messages. Also, whenever opening a photo the app crashes. Each time I contact Ancestry they have me follow all these steps, such as deleting and it never helps. Today, I cannot access the app at all. I'm trying to look at DNA and it keeps switching over to my tree listings. I reopen and try to look at a tree and it just goes back to my tree listings. I have now called customer support twice today only to get calls that break up or an agent that just. Please tell me what I am paying such an exorbitant price for. It has to be among the worst apps I have ever used and the worst customer service I have ever dealt with.
Explore options
The app has removed several basic filters to use like shared DNA to Explore without to pay for premium services.
Expensive AF
It’s too expensive. And the free stuff it does is very limited.
Can’t get to account
Lost my apple phone now I can’t get signed into years with of family tree research
There’s a cancellation fee - for an APP. They f-ing charge you extra to cancel
Forgot to cancel my free trial so they charged for the first month. All good that’s my fault. But there is also a $25 cancellation fee!! - to click a button to cancel a subscription. So appalled by this policy and will never try ancestry again.
Disappointed
Everything disappears randomly on your site. I put so much work into looking for my family just to have the emails deleted.
Very Misleading Pricing
I signed up for the free week trial period. Forgot to cancel before the charge date-no problem. That’s on me. I went to cancel going forward and a $25 cancellation fee was charged to me. They sign you up for a 6 month plan but the fee comes out monthly. The refused to take the charge off. Idk just felt a little icky to me.
Looking for my family
I used to be able to see people who are matches and now it wants me to pay for everything including to be able to see who are other matches on my paternal side. I can’t see anything except what I have added.
Overpriced
The charges for understanding your ancestry is very gouge
Unexpected charges
You sign up to get a dna kit and supposedly in the fine print youre signing up for a membership. I had no idea and all of a sudden $162 comes out of my account, they charged me for the most expensive family plan. I have no family that is using it with me so i know i didnt sign up for it. Not to mention i bought the kit through capital one shopping, so i NEVER put my card info into ancestry, they just somehow have my information. Something fishy. They “cant do anything about it”
Watch out for automatic membership subscription
SCAM! Bought a DNA test and it was fine, but unless you read the fine print you are automatically subscribed to a membership that bills $149 every 3 months. I happen to catch this reviewing my bank account and called customer service. They offered to refund one month but not both months that I didn’t agree to. Deceptive practices. I’d definitely recommend 23 and me over this immoral company.
Not East to Navigate and Absolutely TOO Expensive!
I am exploring or attempting to explore the app. I get messages to click buttons that are not labeled. For instance, where is the “Home” button? Something as main land as the home button should be easy to find don’t you think?
Yet another Increase in prices
Just to “preserve” something you’ve already paid them for
DNA
All of a sudden all of my DNA relatives are missing. It’s asking me to start a free trial. I have already purchased a DNA kit years ago. Just recently everyone has been removed
Unhappy Customer
Subscriptions are too expensive! You have taken away privileges that were free, and now I can no longer afford to get any closer to finding out who my biological father is. I was an avid user until the price increase. I’m so disappointed!
Pulled a Switcheroo!
I’m really disappointed having had paid for this initially when signing up and at the time, was able to see how my matches and I were connected by mom or dad, now there is a lock on that information and in order to see it, I have to pay a subscription fee. So the app is now basically useless unless I pay money that I originally did not have to pay extra for.
No naturalization records
Search function is not great and I cannot find any naturalization records on this site
Unusable app
Half the time I open the app nothing works, nothing loads, I can’t see any information. Regret ever buying
Duplicate Billing, duplicate accounts
Once your billing becomes automatic, they take money out every week for them. I canceled one account and now I have two accounts that I paid for one monthly and one every week. I don’t understand it. They don’t have a telephone number either so that you can call them, So you can call them and have these issues corrected.
Endless prompts for free trial
Been using the app for 10 minutes and already prompted for the free trial 4 times.
No
No
Scam charges
Keeps changing even after stopping
Unsatisfied
Not satisfied with ancestry, you just want money for everything
Never works, paywalls
I’ve used this for a while now, even paid for a dna test. Now everything, including potential ancestors, are locked behind a paywall. This app is virtually useless and unusable now. It also never works because it’s so buggy and they never do the problems. Enjoy the death of your app and website because you wanted to remove previously free features and force users to pay for the most basic of things.
Site breaks down each day
Site keeps showing I don’t exist as a member. It will not let me go anywhere to contact you to fix it this glitch
Canceled
Still charged
Site working terribly
This site is working terribly. I get an error every time I try to perform a function, and it keeps logging me out repeatedly. I don’t even have two-step verification enabled, yet it asks me to verify every time I log back in. The service has become worse despite paying for a monthly subscription
No results
Sorry company. I have called multiple times to get my results which was not processed due
To their error since December 4 2025. They keep sending a new kit but it will not activate. After much frustration they still have not resolved my concern.
To their error since December 4 2025. They keep sending a new kit but it will not activate. After much frustration they still have not resolved my concern.
Can’t access my family tree
The site has become very hard to navigate and very frustrating !
DNA Compare search doesn’t work
I’m trying to break through a genealogy brick wall by using DNA Compare with my matches, but it doesn’t let you search for matches to add…I can see them individually but I’m trying to compare all of our journeys at once. I really do not want to scroll all the way to add them one by one. PLEASE FIX I BEG
Unusable - constantly crashes!
I have been using the app for about two years. I now have almost 2,000 ancestors in my tree. The app used to be pretty fast, but has become increasing slow. The worse thing is that I can now do almost nothing without the app crashing. It crashes every couple of minutes. I suspect that the problem is related to the number of people in my tree. I wish there was a way to turn off hints and updates. The hints are mostly useless, and I don't need continual updating.
Not able to see my close matches profile
When I first got this I was able to have more access now I have almost no access access pay
STOP WITH THE FREE TRIALS
I like this app and gets me new information about my family but the free trials gets on my nerves because you have to subscribe just to see your family history and that gets on my nerves because who would buy this app just to subscribe to a free trial to research their family, even the FamilyTree app don’t forces you to subscribe to a free trial.
Cost
I like the information I get but it is frustrating when you try to find more it cost to do it. Like they send you sparse information to tease you and then won’t let you find out anything about the information they send they want you to pay more for it.
Returning customer
Very confusing. No log out? Too many plan options. Difficult instructions. And so on and so on.
Too many payment options
I’ve been a member for a while and this site has went from helpful and resourceful to just a pain to find and link up with relatives. Truly sad because I don’t see how any tariffs are making this happen.
Accuracy
THE DNA MATCHES ARE NOT ACCURATE MOST THE TIME.
+ 6 more in the clipboard copy
Sentiment summary
95%
Positive (4-5★)
3%
Neutral (3★)
2%
Negative (1-2★)