Ancestry.co.uk Reviews 

9,264
TrustScore 3.5 out of 5

3.5

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Review summary

Created with AI, based on recent reviews

Considering 1,211 reviews, most reviewers were somewhat happy with their experience overall. Many customers find the platform easy to use for searching ancestors, building family trees, and accessing extensive records. People appreciate the available DNA resources and tools, which help them discover relatives and learn new facts about their family history, often describing the process as engaging and enlightening. However, some customers noted concerns regarding the accuracy of 'hints' and user-generated trees, finding them unreliable or based on guesswork. A few other people also felt that DNA results sometimes lacked detail or specific features like a chromosome browser. Additionally, some reviewers reported issues with automatic subscription renewals, unexpected charges, or difficulties contacting customer service for refunds.

What people talk about most

User experience

Clients share ambiguous opinions on user experience, with many finding the platform easy to use for building... See more

Product

Reviewers mention ambiguous feedback about the product, with many expressing satisfaction with its ability to... See more

Website

Users describe ambiguous interactions with the website, with some reviewers finding it easy to use and a... See more

Subscription

Consumers find subscription experiences to be largely negative, with many reporting issues with unexpected... See more

Customer service

People report ambiguous experiences with customer service, with many expressing frustration over unhelpful... See more

Reviews shaping this summary

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Huge amount of information but the 'hints' are sometimes wrong (Name, place etc.). To many have just copied off others trees which means that some of the hints are completely 7 utterly wrong - it is a... See more

Company replied

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Ancestry can be a good starting point but the information it provides should never be taken as certain or 100 per cent accurate Double check what it is providing against other sources or genealogy... See more

Company replied

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Ancestry is by far the best family history site and the DNA tools are better than say, My Heritage. The quality of trees on Ancestry is extremely poor many "members" do not have trees or have very sm... See more

Company replied

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

I’ve solved the mystery of my paternal grandfather’s identity, with the invaluable help of Ancestry’s dna database. I still have mysteries further back to solve. It would help enormously if I could up... See more

Company replied


Company details

  1. Genealogist

About Ancestry.co.uk

Written by the company

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Ancestry® is the UK’s largest online family history website. Discover your family story with access to the world’s biggest online collection of family history records and the number one selling DNA test.

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With an Ancestry® subscription, you could search over 27 billion records from over 80 countries, helping you grow your family tree and uncover your genealogy. Start exploring today with a 14-day free trial.*

START A FREE TRIAL
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AncestryDNA® is a simple one-off test that reveals your origins and the countries, counties and towns your ancestors called home. You can connect with DNA matches around the world to discover your shared family history. Regular updates mean your results can become more refined with even more detail.

GET A DNA KIT

Together, an AncetsryDNA® test and family history membership can help unlock undiscovered details about your family story.

VISIT OUR SUPPORT CENTRE

*Free trial terms apply


Contact info

3.5

Average

TrustScore 3.5 out of 5

9K reviews

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3.5

All reviews

(9,264)

1,129 reviews in the last 12 months

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Rated 3 out of 5 stars

A starting point but not always accurate

Ancestry can be a good starting point but the information it provides should never be taken as certain or 100 per cent accurate
Double check what it is providing against other sources or genealogy sites
I have frequently found it to be inaccurate

22 July 2026
Unprompted review
Ancestry.co.uk logo

Reply from Ancestry.co.uk

Hi Thomas. Thanks for your review.

That is excellent advice for any genealogy researcher! Hints and member trees are meant to point you in the right direction, but verifying information against original historical records across multiple sources is essential to building an accurate tree.

Thank you for sharing such an important reminder with the community!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Ancestry

Ancestry make it very easy to access a huge amount of records across many years to search for family members. If you use the site regularly it is very good value for money

23 July 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 4 out of 5 stars

I enjoy the experience

I enjoy the experience, of finding information to back up what I have already found. Also expanding on what others have found. The whole experience is somewhat additive.

24 July 2026
Unprompted review
Ancestry.co.uk logo

Reply from Ancestry.co.uk

Hi Elizabeth. That feeling of finally finding the document that confirms a family story (or opens up a whole new lead!) is definitely addictive! There is nothing quite like validating existing research while building on shared discoveries across the community. Thank you for sharing your passion with us, and we wish you many more exciting breakthroughs on your tree!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Good but not perfect.

Ancestry desperately needs a genuine Chromosome Browser.

23 July 2026
Unprompted review
Ancestry.co.uk logo

Reply from Ancestry.co.uk

Hi Dez. We hear you! A full chromosome browser for detailed segment comparison is a top request among advanced genetic genealogists. While Ancestry offers tools like SideView™ and the Chromosome Painter to show which parent specific ethnicity segments came from, we know these don't replace the visual, segment-by-segment triangulation tools that power users look for. Your request for a dedicated chromosome browser has been shared directly with our product and engineering teams!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Ancestry has me hooked!I

Ancestry has me hooked!I love building my family tree and researching where my family came from and what life was like for them. It is so interesting to discover how hardships or wars affected my family.

23 July 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I should have looked at trustpilot…

I should have looked at trustpilot first, but thought that Ancestry was a good site.
To cancel the free trial you don't have 14 days, you have less than 10. It's taken a good 30 mins to cancel, and still they take their £69.99. They say its in the 'terms and conditions ' and I thought It was a 'free ' trial, didnt realise I was in a contract.

Got their reply, and I did as suggested, prior to writing the above. So all of the above still stands.

22 July 2026
Unprompted review
Ancestry.co.uk logo

Reply from Ancestry.co.uk

Hi there, Julie.

We are sorry to hear about your experience and understand your frustration regarding the charge.

We’d like to clarify that our free trial gives you a full 14 days to explore the site, and if you cancel at any point before that 14th day, no charges are incurred.

Since you were charged £69.99 after trying to cancel, we want to look into your account details right away and help resolve this for you. Please reach out to our team directly at https://support.ancestry.co.uk/s/contactsupport/ you can connect with a live agent on our chat (Mon–Fri 9am–9pm GMT, Sat–Sun 12pm–9pm GMT) so we can review your cancellation timeline and assist you directly.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Terrible service

Terrible service. Ordered a DNA kit with Priority Processing at £113 on May 2nd. Over 3 weeks waiting. Kit didn't arrive.

Had to complain to them* to get a 2nd kit sent (at no charge), which came after a couple of weeks. Got it completed and sent off. That was on June 8th. It is now July 22nd and they have STILL not yet received the kit, or updated its status on my account page.

*I say THEM, but you are unable to speak to an actual human at first, and are forced to go through their incredibly stupid AI Chatbot "service", that repeatedly ignores what you've told it, and does little but infuriate.

I'm tired of waiting for this company to pull the lead out and actually give me the service I paid for, and am still waiting for nearly 3 months after paying for it.

Awful.

22 July 2026
Unprompted review
Ancestry.co.uk logo

Reply from Ancestry.co.uk

Hi there David. Thanks for taking the time to leave your review.

We are truly sorry to hear about your experience. Waiting nearly three months for your results is frustrating, and we completely understand why you are disappointed.

We’d like to clarify how Priority Processing works. This option ensures your sample bypasses standard laboratory queues for faster analysis once it arrives at our facility. However, it does not accelerate mail transit times. Standard shipping to and from our lab can take up to 20 business days, and postal delays can occasionally stretch that window further.

We also hear your feedback regarding our AI chatbot loud and clear. Our goal is to make support fast and helpful, so we’re truly sorry it added to your frustration. While the bot handles basic queries, we have real support agents available on live chat Monday to Friday from 9am–9pm GMT, and weekends from 12pm–9pm GMT. If you message us during those hours, you can bypass the bot immediately simply by typing 'agent' or 'speak with agent' to be connected to a human

We want to make this right and personally check on your kit's progress. Please reach out to us directly at socialsupport@ancestry.com with your order details so a member of our team can review your account and assist you directly

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I don’t mean to offend you or anyone…

I don’t mean to offend you or anyone behind this company nor anyone who is related to Hebraic population!
On their website they claim the name: Gjon is derived from the Hebrew word Yohanan which to my understanding that’s totally incorrect!
In linguistics teachings ( to my knowledge):

1 - “A” and “O” does not does not get differentiated / changed throughout the whole world of human linguistic evolution as it makes total different sound!

2 - “Y” in Hebrew is pronounced as “yo, soft ‘ja’, etc” so it’s not related to Gj = Djawn etc

As I said - I am not here to insult your organisation/ company, or anyone that is related to the Hebrew language, nor to the author who wrote this statement in this website! Many years ago this statement never appeared in the any google searches, now it appears to be showing 1st as soon as you type it in google!!
So if you love/hate Hebrew language so much - my advice is to not write such claims as it doesn’t make sense in any pronunciations!
It may make sense to you if you take off the letter “G” out , but as it stands it’s a totally different sound!
With best regards!

18 July 2026
Unprompted review
Ancestry.co.uk logo

Reply from Ancestry.co.uk

Hi Jon. Thank you for reaching out and sharing your feedback. We always appreciate members of our community who take an interest in language and linguistics!

We’d love to help clear up the confusion regarding this name. Gjon is actually the traditional Albanian form of the name John.

While it is an authentic Albanian name, its historical etymology (root) traces back through centuries of linguistic evolution. Like many biblical names, Gjon evolved into Albanian through Latin (Iohannes) and ancient Greek (Iōánnēs), which originally came from the Hebrew name Yōḥānān. Over thousands of years, vowels and initial consonant sounds shift as names cross language families—which is the same reason Yōḥānān became Giovanni in Italian, Jean in French, Juan in Spanish, and Gjon in Albanian.

That being said, the name database content for this post was created in partnership with BabyNames.com. If you have specific suggestions or further questions regarding their linguistic entries, we encourage you to reach out directly to the team at BabyNames.com for support.

Thank you again for taking the time to share your thoughts with us!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Ancestry

Ancestry, I have been adding my family tree on Ancestry for the last 6 years it is so easy to use, I am at 35,000 people and I am adding people every day I have found family in America, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and in Europe

21 July 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

So much available

So much available, even starting a tree for the first time. Years ago when I started researching I had to travel round the country looking at micro film records.

21 July 2026
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

And yet again guesswork being promoted…

And yet again guesswork being promoted as fact by a supposed Professional Genealogy site.
Another "Did you know you are related too" on the App. Again they connect me through a George Bearman who I am 100% not related too but he was the 2nd husband of my Great Grandma and not the father of my Grandfather Albert Walter Mace who was the biological son of a George Haylett.
Ancestry by making these false posts are causing members to take this as fact and spread guesswork on the site.
How many times do you need to tell Ancestry about this, they either do not understand or care.

21 July 2026
Unprompted review
Ancestry.co.uk logo

Reply from Ancestry.co.uk

Hi there. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, and we understand your frustration.

Algorithms that generate automatically suggested relationships or story insights on the mobile app rely on algorithmic processing of user-submitted family trees, which can sometimes conflate step-parents or second marriages with biological lines when automated logic connects the dots.

We appreciate you pointing out this specific disconnect regarding George Bearman, your Great Grandmother, and George Haylett. Feedback like yours helps us refine how automated app insights are calculated and displayed.

To help us investigate how this incorrect link is being generated for your account, could you please contact our team using the link below.

https://support.ancestry.com/s/phonesupport

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Ancestry has taught me so much.

I love Ancestry and have found so many interesting facts regarding mine and my daughter's paternal side. Her heritage is German too and though everything requires patience and luck, I've managed to find important records here which have proved my research was correct a lot of the time and been great to show me where I've gone wrong. It's quite compulsive this genealogy and you never know who's going to pop up, adding a lot of coloured leaves to your trees. Everyone is really interested in our family and from a mere interest I had, it's become something I'd like to now pursue as a career change! Thanks Ancestry for keeping me occupied in my spare time and for giving me tools to learn something brilliant.There's a saying which says 'people are only forgotten when their names cease to be spoken' and I'm so glad I've gotten to 'know' many people who helped make me, me.

19 July 2026
Unprompted review
Ancestry.co.uk logo

Reply from Ancestry.co.uk

We're so happy to know that your research journey has been truly rewarding, Clair! It's lovely to also hear that you've been able to share your discoveries with your loved ones. Thanks for choosing Ancestry to help you make these finds! It's lovely to hear that you're interested in pursuing genealogy as a career change as well. If you'd like some tips to help you with this, please feel free to explore the video we've linked below. We wish you every success in your continued research!

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwMIVt4e1qQ

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

I received an Ancestry DNA kit from my…

I received an Ancestry DNA kit from my son and his girlfriend for Christmas 2025. I followed all instruction to the letter and posted off in January 2026. Never got any updates for weeks. In the meantime I had loads of e-mails asking me to subscribe £££££ to one thing and another. Just seemed like a money making scam disguised behind a DNA service. Finally weeks later I got a message saying they couldn't extract my DNA. I ordered a new kit. Long story short it happened again and again. I have just been asked to order my 4th kit 7 months later... I don't think I'm going to bother doing it again. I just feel sorry for my son who was excited to give it to me for a Christmas gift

13 July 2026
Unprompted review
Ancestry.co.uk logo

Reply from Ancestry.co.uk

Hi Billy and thank you for taking the time to share this review of your experience taking the AncestryDNA kit with us. We can appreciate how frustrating this must be and are eager to address this with you.

The most common causes of sample failure are food contamination, insufficient amount of saliva or insufficient cells in the sample provided. Please be advised that some members have difficulty producing enough DNA in their saliva sample which can cause samples to fail. It's important to remember that it is the skin cells in the saliva that provide the DNA, not the saliva itself. Given that three different samples have failed, this seems like the most likely cause. If you would like to give it one more try, we'd recommend following the steps outlined in the guide linked below which are specifically for people who might have trouble producing enough DNA. Following these steps has proved successful for many members who've been in a similar position to yourself. If you've already tried all the tips in the article, we will issue your son a full refund. All he needs to do is give us a call on the number listed below.

We're sorry again for the disappointment and frustration this has caused.

https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Taking-an-AncestryDNA-Test

1-800-401-3193 (Seven days a week from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm ET.)

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

14 day free trial which I cancelled…

14 day free trial which I cancelled after 10 days and is not easy because you say cancel and then 3 more pages of are you sure, benefits you get blah blah etc

But they still charged me £69.99, so something tricked me into not cancelling properly.

16 July 2026
Unprompted review
Ancestry.co.uk logo

Reply from Ancestry.co.uk

Thanks for getting in touch with us, Ryan. We're sorry to learn of any unexpected billings. If you are yet to do so, we'd very much recommend getting in touch with our Support team so we can take a closer look into this matter for you. You'll be able to reach out to us throughout the week either over the phone or via Live Chat. We'll detail these contact options below for your convenience. We appreciate you trying Ancestry, and we look forward to hearing from you soon!

Live Chat: https://support.ancestry.co.uk/s/contactsupport

(UK) Phone Support: 0-800-032-6469

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I have been a subscriber to Ancestry…

I have been a subscriber to Ancestry for more years than I can remember. Ancestry has helped me build my family tree out of all expectations to a 1000 plus tree of immediate and distant cousins giving an insight of the times and conditions they lived. It is a very satisfying hobby that brings with it knowledge that living family members are eager to enquire about.

16 July 2026
Unprompted review
Ancestry.co.uk logo

Reply from Ancestry.co.uk

Thank you for the wonderful 5-star review, Leonard! Growing your family tree to over 1,000 immediate and distant relatives is amazing work. We love that your hobby has sparked so much curiosity and connection among your living family members. Thank you for your years of support, and happy researching!

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

The problems I have had in the past…

The problems I have had in the past pale into insignificance compared to the fact that I'm now being called my own second cousin, once removed. £29.99 for THIS! Cowboy outfit. Absolute refusal on Ancestry's part to correct its mistake. Perhaps I can take the matter to a solicitor, or they can refund all my payments for years past.

1 July 2026
Unprompted review
Ancestry.co.uk logo

Reply from Ancestry.co.uk

Hi Susan, that certainly sounds like a confusing family tree loop! Being labeled as your own cousin usually means there is a duplicate profile of you in your tree, or a relationship connection has accidentally been crossed.

We’d love to help you untangle this. Please reach out to our support team so we can guide you through resolving the duplicate or connection issue and get your tree back on track.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

i signed up as semi user this is for 6…

i signed up as semi user this is for 6 months to use through the winter months ancestry has £69.99 out of my account ,i seem inpossible to contact this company to get a refund there web site gives you a tel number which fransfer you to america then AI takes over there customer service is C!!P

12 June 2026
Unprompted review
Ancestry.co.uk logo

Reply from Ancestry.co.uk

We're sorry to hear that you've had trouble getting in touch with us, Malcolm! You can find our regional support numbers and hours linked below. We appreciate your patience.

https://support.ancestry.com/s/phonesupport?language=en_US

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