During 2018, there were 410 new reviews given to 83 of the programs listed at GenSoftReviews. Along with the review, users rated the programs from 1 to 5 star, with 5 being best. Programs with at least one review in 2018, ten or more all-time reviews, and a cumulative user rating of at least 4.00 stars out of 5 receive a GenSoftReviews User Choice Award for 2018. The award is indicative that a program is well-liked by its users.
The 24 programs awarded a GenSoftReview Users Choice Award as a Top Rated Genealogy Software for 2018 are:
• 13 Windows programs: Family Historian, Ahnenblatt, Personal Ancestral File, Generations, Family Book Creator, Brother’s Keeper, Relatively Yours, Ancestral Quest, Family Tree Maker (up to Version 16), Clooz, RootsMagic, Oxy-gen and Family Tree Builder
• 2 Mac programs: iFamily for Mac, and Reunion
• 4 programs that work on Windows, Mac and Unix: Evidentia, rootstrust, Familienbande, and Ancestris
• 5 Online programs: Famberry, The Next Generation, Genealogie Online, webtrees, and MyHeritage
The highest rated programs for 2018 were iFamily for Mac and Evidentia, both with a near-perfect 4.99 out of 5, Famberry with 4.95 and Family Historian with 4.91.
New to the list of winners for 2018 was rootstrust, a full-featured program for Windows, Mac and Unix, and Oxy-gen, a Windows program to convert GEDCOM files into other formats. Returning to the list this year is Clooz who has regained a rating above 4.
One award winner from 2017 that fell below 4 and dropped off the list this year was The Master Genealogist. Three award winners from 2017 did not get at least one review in 2018 and therefore did not qualify for a Users Choice Award this year. They are: Heredis for Mac, GenealogyJ, and Ages.
Several unsupported programs are still thought of highly enough by their users that they won an award in 2018. These include: Personal Ancestral File, Generations, Relatively Yours, and Family Tree Maker up to Version 16.
Six programs have been GenSoftReviews User Choice Award winners in all 10 years since the awards began in 2009. They are: The Next Generation, Personal Ancestral File, Brother’s Keeper, RootsMagic, Reunion and Family Tree Builder.
GenSoftReviews uses a time-weighted average score. The weight of every user rating is reduced 50% every year, so newer opinions will be better reflected in the overall average score. It is hoped that the reviews and ratings submitted will help genealogists who are looking for new software and help developers who want to improve their programs.
For more information and a complete listing of current and past winners, see the Users Choice Award Winners page at GenSoftReviews.
