Signing up and Starting the Search
Signing up for a MyHeritage account is as easy as as you would expect: basic details, email address, desired password. From then on you can explore the site are your own pace; not difficult to do given the intuitive interface. Everything (account details, family trees, family sites, search options) is accessible and laid out so it’s easy to find from the moment you log in. It also keeps a log of your recent activity so you can keep track of where you are on your research path. In many aspects MyHeritage feels like it straddles the line between genealogy research and social media networking; with its use of timelines, dashboards and user interaction to effectively urge you to use its service more.
Looking for Help When You Need It
Speaking of social media: if you ever feel lost or if you run into something you don’t quite understand, you can check out the various support options (email, FAQ, telephone) listed at the right of the bottom header of the site, but sometimes it’s easier to check official MyHeritage presences on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. The first two are very active when it comes to updates and discussion, while the latter contains tutorials that may be of help. Apart from those, MyHeritage also maintains user forums where you can reach out to other people in the community for ask for their advice.
Firing up the MyHeritage engine: SuperSearch
Even with over seven billion records–including family trees, historical documents, photographs and more–in its archive, what MyHeritage has to work with is still quite small compared to the raw resources of its closest competitors. However, its collection is steadily expanding at an estimated rate of one million records and two million names in family trees daily; and what it already has on hand includes vital records from over 45 countries.
What MyHeritage lacks in quantity, it makes up for in global diversity of content and the application of new technologies to give you more accurate search results. For example: when you search for a name, MyHeritage uses its Global Name Translation technology to automatically pool together results not only for your spelling, but for spellings of similar sounding names, too. To further narrow down the results, you can customize your searches further and use a combination of names, events, relatives and/or keywords. These features and several other advancements developed by MyHeritage have vastly cut down on the number of false positives returned after every search.
Building Family Trees with MyHeritage
To build a family tree on MyHeritage, you can do one of two things: import an existing GEDCOM (Genealogical Data Communication) file created in a different genealogy program and start from there, or start one from scratch. If you choose to do the latter, MyHeritage will prompt your to enter your basic details (full name, birthdate and birthplace) as well as those of your parents and both sets of grandparents. From there, it’s a hop, skip and a jump to the next step.
Family tree builders are available in various forms across most genealogy websites, and particularly for the top-rated ones, there is almost always this popular addition: a hint feature. For MyHeritage, just giving you hints isn’t enough; instead, you’re given a whole set of specialized tools all developed with the intent to help automate your research.
Breakthroughs Through Smart Matching
Within a few minutes of creating your family tree, you should receive notifications about your Smart Matches; it’s based on comparisons made between the names and details you’ve put into your family tree and content in other family trees all over the world, contributed by other MyHeritage users.
When MyHeritage finds an intersection of facts–regardless of minute differences in spelling, relationships, naming standards and even despite trees being in different languages–that connection is flagged and sent to you and the other user in the intersection as a Smart Match notification. You can find them by clicking on the Discovery tab on your homepage; email notifications can also be enabled, and you can use the MyHeritage mobile apps, too. From there you can review, and then confirm or deny the connection; as well as attach any source documents that turn up to your family tree.
Record Matching and Instant Discoveries
There are two other kinds of hints you can get from MyHeritage: Record Matches and Instant Discoveries. The former is what’s generally thought of as the standard when it comes to family tree building hint features; meaning that it notifies you when the site matches names in your family tree to historical records, for you to peruse and then either disregard or add as verifying documents to your research. Sometimes these Record Matches can even uncover previously unknown information, especially if you take the time to look at scanned documents when they’re available. Transcriptions can be incomplete or correct, so it never hurts to double check.
Instant Discoveries is a premium feature that sends you a notification about once a week, though MyHeritage allows new members to use it once to show them how it works. Basically, Instant Discoveries is Smart Matching taken to the next level. While Smart Matching allows you to add to your family tree one piece of information and one person at a time, Instant Discoveries makes it possible for you to copy an entire branch of someone else’s family tree (up to 40-50 people)–as long at you have the necessary intersection/s, of course–with a single click, along with all the photos, source citations, and everything else attached to it.
Connecting and Collaborating with Family
It is usually at this point when connecting with family, close or distant, begins to take shape. With Smart Matches and Instant Discoveries, it is a guarantee that both you and a relative will be notified; direct communication and eventual collaboration is up to you two. The member directory is also useful if you are looking for distant or previously unknown relatives to work with on family trees and family sites. To invite close relatives to participate, you need only to send them a link to your family site (where your family tree/s are housed).
If connecting for the purpose of educating and not collaborating is what you’re after, you can make use of this feature: MyHeritage-generated printable and customizable family tree-based charts, which you can order. These physical items can be given as gifts to future keepers of family history, or sent as reminders of a shared heritage.
Adding Your Own Photos and Stories
You can upload your own photos and videos to add context to your family tree. An added feature you may enjoy, should you do the former, is the Face Recognition technology MyHeritage applies to uploaded photos; the site does this to compare your photos to others already in its database, for possible matches to show you.
Another feature you can take advantage of, particularly during holidays and family reunions, is the ability of the MyHeritage mobile app to record oral interviews to be uploaded and attached to your family tree. With the mobile app, it’s also very easy to show photos and other information you’ve uncovered to your relatives, for them to provide additional comments or verification that you can then input at that moment–before it’s forgotten.
Uncovering Your Origins with MyHeritageDNA
Finally: for $79.00, you can take a leap and supercharge your family tree building efforts by availing of a DNA test producing results that MyHeritage will use to potentially connect you to relatives you might not even realize exist, from places you would never have expected them to be from. All that’s needed is for you to swab the inside of your cheeks twice, place the two swabs into vials, then mail the vials to the MyHeritageDNA lab. Once the samples arrive, it will take three to four weeks to process; and when the results are out, you will be notified by email and the information will be made available to you securely through the MyHeritage website.
MyHeritage Pricing – Paying for Premium Service Only
The good news is that the monthly cost of MyHeritage paid tier subscriptions is very reasonable, and even downright cheap with the right discounts applied. The bad news is that MyHeritage only bills annually, which means no month-to-month payments. At least a 12-month bulk payment is required to upgrade your membership from the basic free tier.
| Subscription Tier | Monthly* Discounted** | Monthly Regular Price | Annual Discounted** | Annual Regular Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic -Basic photo storage -Family tree of 250 people | Free | Free | Free | Free |
| Data Subscription -All collections in SuperSearch -All Record Matches -Save from SuperSearch/Record Matches to family trees -View Record Detective results | $7.96 | $10.61 | $95.52 | $127.36 |
| Premium -Family tree of up to 2500 people -Priority support -Family Tree Builder Premium -Special feature: Timeline -Enhanced Smart Matching -Two MyHeritage collections in SuperSearch | $5.00 | $6.67 | $60.00 | $80.00 |
| PremiumPlus -Family tree of unlimited people -Priority email support -Family Tree Builder Premium -Special features: Timeline and Timebook -Enhanced Smart Matching -All MyHeritage collections in SuperSearch -Instant Discoveries | $7.96 | $10.61 | $95.52 | $127.36 |
| Complete Plan -Data Subscription -PremiumPlus | $11.15 | $15.92 | $133.92 | $191.04 |
* All subscriptions billed annually. Monthly costs shown only to compare with other products.
**25% discount valid for the first annual billing only.
Should you still decide to upgrade, it is worth noting that only the Complete Plan subscription tier offers both upgrades to record access and family building tools and storage. It also happens to be the most expensive option. Look at what’s included in each tier carefully before choosing another one, though; you might find yourself paying for something you don’t need.
One way to get a better deal is to choose to pay for two or five years at once, as MyHeritage offers an added 20% discount for two-year bulk payments, and an added 30% discount for five-year bulk payments. On top of the first annual billing discount of 25%, the value for money gets higher the more years you pay for–but the payment upfront gets higher, too.
What's the Verdict on MyHeritage?
MyHeritage Review 2020 – Conclusion
MyHeritage is one of the best genealogy websites out there; a feat considering its limited, though still above average, archive of resources. Its approach to genealogy research is fun and easy to follow, and well complemented by its proprietary features; as well as adaptable and useful for both family-centric historians or hardcore genealogists. The true strength of MyHeritage lies in this ability to appeal to both sides of the spectrum, and even possibly act as a bridge from one to the other. By focusing on making family history searches easier (often to the point of being automatic), and by creating varied avenues for positive family connections and collaborations, MyHeritage seems to create a momentum that can instill a passion for genealogy in even the most casual of users.
Our advice: see how the basic free tier suits you–try to use your one free shot at Instant Discoveries to get linked to a massive family tree, for best results–and take it from there. Of course upgrading to a paid tier isn’t worth it if you’re not going to use MyHeritage for a whole year, but if you see yourself really getting into exploring your roots, the discounts offered make the subscriptions worth it.
2nd Place9.4 out of 10
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