Here's the thing most beginners don't realize when they start: the best genealogy research doesn't require a paid subscription. The databases, archives, and tools you need for the first several years of serious research are almost entirely free — if you know where to look.
These seven websites are the ones every beginner should have in their toolkit. Each one covers a distinct type of record or geographic specialty that the others don't. Together, they give you access to billions of documents without spending a dollar.
1. FamilySearch.org — The Largest Free Genealogy Database
What it is: Run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch holds over 13 billion historical records covering dozens of countries and hundreds of record types — U.S. census records, vital records, immigration documents, military records, land records, and much more. Access is completely free.
What makes it powerful: FamilySearch doesn't just have indexed records — it has the original images. When a transcription has a typo (they often do), you can view the actual document and read it yourself. The site also maintains a collaborative global family tree with hundreds of millions of entries, which can give you leads on documented ancestors.
Beginner tip: Start with a name search, but don't stop if you don't find a perfect match. Use the "Browse" feature to find collections by country, state, and record type — sometimes the record you need is in a collection that isn't fully indexed yet, and browsing the images directly is the only way to find it.
Our free lessons walk through using FamilySearch effectively — what to search first, how to read census records, and how to evaluate what you find. Start with Lesson 1: The Big Five Standards.
2. FindAGrave.com — Memorial Records and Cemetery Research
What it is: FindAGrave is a crowdsourced database of cemetery records and memorials, with over 250 million memorials contributed by volunteers around the world. Each memorial typically includes the person's birth and death dates, burial location, and often a photograph of the headstone.
What makes it powerful: Cemetery records are often the fastest way to confirm a death date and location — details that are foundational to finding vital records, probate records, and the next generation of research. Many memorials also include family connections that point you to parents, spouses, and children buried nearby.
Beginner tip: Search by name and cemetery location rather than just name alone. Headstone photographs often contain information not found in any online index — maiden names, exact ages, military service, even immigration details that were important enough to carve in stone.
3. USGenWeb.org — County-Level Resources for Every State
What it is: USGenWeb is a network of volunteer-maintained websites organized by state and county. Each county page aggregates local resources — transcribed records, locally-held databases, cemetery listings, church records, and links to county-specific archives that never make it onto national databases.
What makes it powerful: National databases index what they have. USGenWeb indexes what local researchers have contributed — which often includes records from small county courthouses, rural churches, and local historical societies that have no presence anywhere else online. For research in rural counties, it's sometimes the only finding aid that exists.
Beginner tip: Look up the county where your ancestor lived and browse the county page before assuming records don't exist. Many county volunteers have transcribed courthouse records, old newspapers, and local family genealogies that can jump your research forward by generations.
4. Chronicling America — Historical American Newspapers
What it is: Chronicling America (chroniclingamerica.loc.gov), run by the Library of Congress, provides free access to digitized historical American newspapers from 1770 to 1963. Over 21 million pages from hundreds of publications across every state are searchable by keyword and date.
What makes it powerful: Newspapers published things that no official record captured — birth announcements, wedding notices, obituaries, land sale advertisements, immigration arrival notices, and community news. An ancestor who appears in zero census databases might appear by name in a 1903 newspaper notice about a land purchase or a church event.
Beginner tip: Search for your ancestor's name in the newspaper published closest to where they lived. Obituaries from the early 1900s are especially valuable — they often list surviving children, where the family came from, and details about the deceased's life that no other record provides.
5. State Archives and Vital Records Portals
What it is: Every U.S. state maintains its own archive of historical vital records — birth, marriage, and death certificates — as well as state census records, naturalization files, land records, and more. Many have developed free online portals that provide access to digitized record images.
What makes it powerful: State vital records are primary sources — documents created at the time of the event. A birth certificate from the early 1900s typically lists both parents' names and birthplaces, the attending physician, and the exact date and location. That's an entire generation of research in a single document.
Beginner tip: Search "[your state] state archives genealogy" to find the official portal. Availability varies widely by state — some have digitized records going back to the 1800s, others require a mail request. The earlier you know which records are available online versus by request, the more efficiently you can plan your research.
6. Ellis Island Records — The Statue of Liberty–Ellis Island Foundation
What it is: The Statue of Liberty–Ellis Island Foundation (libertyellisfoundation.org) provides free access to passenger records for more than 51 million immigrants and passengers who arrived through the Port of New York between 1820 and 1957. Immigration manifests are searchable and viewable as original images.
What makes it powerful: An immigration manifest isn't just a record of arrival — it's a document packed with genealogical data. Manifests from the early 1900s list the immigrant's last residence in their home country, the name and address of a relative they were traveling to meet in America, and sometimes a relative still in the home country. That information can open doors to research in Poland, Italy, Ireland, Germany, or wherever your family came from.
Beginner tip: Don't search only by exact spelling. Immigration officials recorded names phonetically, and many names were simplified or Anglicized at entry. Try phonetic variations and wildcard searches. The original manifest image often contains handwritten notes that the index misses entirely.
Our course covers immigrant research methodology in detail — how to work backward from the U.S. to the home country, and what records to look for once you get there.
7. The FamilySearch Catalog — Finding Records That Aren't Online
What it is: The FamilySearch Catalog (familysearch.org/search/catalog) is a finding aid for physical genealogical records held at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and its global network of Family History Centers. It's searchable by place, subject, and record type — and it covers collections that have never been digitized and never will be.
What makes it powerful: Most researchers assume that if a record isn't searchable on a major database, it doesn't exist or can't be found. The FamilySearch Catalog regularly proves this wrong. Millions of records — church registers, local vital records, probate files, land surveys — exist on microfilm and can be borrowed through a local Family History Center for a small handling fee. Some can be viewed for free at the library's in-person terminals.
Beginner tip: When you've exhausted the online databases for a specific county or time period, search the Catalog for that location. You'll often find entire collections of records that aren't mentioned anywhere else — and some of them may be exactly what you've been looking for.
How to Use These Sites Together
The most effective genealogists don't pick one database and work through it exhaustively — they use multiple sources together, letting each one fill the gaps the others leave. FamilySearch for census and vital records. FindAGrave for burial confirmation. Chronicling America for newspaper context. Ellis Island for immigrant arrival details. State archives for original certificates. USGenWeb for county-level fills. The FamilySearch Catalog for when online searches run out.
The skill that makes all of these tools work together is knowing what records exist, what they contain, and how to read them when you find them. That's what our free beginner course teaches — starting from your very first search.