Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet

Online Genealogy Resources Directorycyndislist.com

Cyndi's List is a free, curated online directory indexing over 318,000 genealogy links across 232 categories. Founded in 1996 by Cyndi Ingle, it serves amateur and professional family historians worldwide and earns revenue through affiliate commissions and donations.

Company typePrivate
Founded1996
HeadquartersMilton, United States
Headcount11–50
GTM typeB2C
OfferingDigital Commerce or Content

What Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet does

Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet is a free, categorized online directory that indexes more than 318,550 links across 232 categories relevant to family history research. Founded in 1996 by Cyndi Ingle (then Cyndi Howells) and operated as a sole proprietorship from Milton/Edgewood, Washington, the site serves amateur and professional genealogists worldwide, with an estimated 250,000 unique monthly visitors and approximately 31.76 million monthly page requests.

The core product is a manually curated taxonomy of external genealogy resources — databases, societies, repositories, how-to guides, software, and reference materials — supplemented by an editorial blog, Quick Reference guides, a Glossary, and how-to articles. The platform began as hand-coded HTML and was rebuilt in 2011 through a multi-year, donation-funded overhaul delivered in partnership with fusionSpan into a database-driven web application capable of supporting the growing link corpus and traffic load.

The business model is non-transactional to end users: access is free, and revenue is generated through affiliate referral commissions with genealogy and DNA-testing partners (Ancestry.com, MyHeritage, Findmypast, FamilyTreeDNA, 23andMe, Amazon) and voluntary PayPal donations. The operation is staffed essentially by Cyndi Ingle with periodic assistance from her son Evan, and the site has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Time, Computer World, and Newsweek.

Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet firmographics

Firmographics

Name: Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet
Legal name: Cyndi Ingle
Website: https://cyndislist.com
Company type: Private
Founded year: 1996
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 11–50 employees
Short description: Cyndi's List is a free, curated online directory indexing over 318,000 genealogy links across 232 categories. Founded in 1996 by Cyndi Ingle, it serves amateur and professional family historians worldwide and earns revenue through affiliate commissions and donations.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet industry classification

Industry

Product category: Online Genealogy Resources Directory
NAICS: Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services (519290), Directory and Mailing List Publishers (513140), Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (519)
akta.pro primary industry: Q&A and Knowledge Discovery Platforms (BPAMAAAF)

Keywords

Genealogy link directory
Family history resources
Ancestry research links
Genealogy research tools
Family tree research

Where Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Milton
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet business model

Business model

GTM type: B2C
Offering type: Digital Commerce or Content
Cost components: Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

Affiliate Advertisements: The site is supported by affiliate advertisement programs. Cyndi's List earns commissions when visitors purchase from affiliate partners including Ancestry.com, FamilyTreeDNA, MyHeritage, Findmypast, Amazon.com, and other genealogy-related services and products.
Donations: Visitors can donate directly to the site via PayPal or by mailing checks. Donations have been used to fund the website upgrade project, which was fully paid off as of July 2017.

Pricing tiers

Model	Billing	Price
Freemium	Others	Free access to all links and categories

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels11 records

Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet product offering

Product offering

Core offering

Cyndi's List is a free, categorized online directory of genealogy and family history research links, listing over 318,550 links across 232 top-level categories. Founded in 1996, the site functions as a comprehensive index that helps amateur and professional genealogists locate online resources for tracing family history. The site operates as a one-woman business and is supported by affiliate advertising, donations, book sales, and speaking engagements.

Product overview

Cyndi's List is a free, manually curated directory of genealogical research links organized into 232 categories. It serves as a comprehensive genealogical research portal, functioning as a 'card catalog' to online genealogical resources. The core product is the categorized link index (318,550+ links), supplemented by a What's New submission system, email mailing list, speaking engagements, published books, and an online shop. The site is maintained by a single operator, Cyndi Ingle, from Edgewood, Washington, with web development support from fusionSpan.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

Cyndi's List Categorized Link Directory A free, categorized web directory of genealogy and family history research links serving amateur and professional genealogists worldwide. The directory indexes 318,550+ links across 232 categories and attracts approximately 250,000 unique visitors per month.
Cyndi's List Mailing List An email mailing list that notifies subscribers about updates, new categories, and additions to the Cyndi's List directory.
Genealogy Books Published books on online genealogy research authored by Cyndi Ingle, including titles such as "Netting Your Ancestors" and "The Researcher's Guide to America Online Genealogy." These are sold to genealogists seeking guidance on internet-based family history research.
Speaking Engagements In-person and online speaking engagements delivered at genealogy conferences, society meetings, and family history events, where Cyndi Ingle presents on online genealogy research and the use of Cyndi's List.
Cyndi's List Shop An online shop offering books, merchandise, and affiliate-linked genealogy products available for purchase by site visitors.

Quantifiable outcome

318,550+ genealogy links indexed
+2 more outcomes

Companies that use Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet

Customer profile

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

Feature1 record

Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

fusionSpancoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2011Web development company that helped Cyndi upgrade the site to its current state. The upgrade was a major project that improved site navigation, made adding and updating links quicker, and was completed with help from user donations.
Amazon.comcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerAffiliate partner. Visitors can purchase genealogy books and supplies through Cyndi's List's Amazon storefront, generating commission revenue for the site.
AncestryDNAminorGTM or Marketing PartnerDNA testing service offered as affiliate partner through Cyndi's List, supporting the site's maintenance costs.
FamilyTree DNAminorGTM or Marketing PartnerDNA testing service offered as affiliate partner through Cyndi's List.
MyHeritageminorGTM or Marketing PartnerGenealogy subscription service offered as affiliate partner through Cyndi's List.
FindmypastminorGTM or Marketing PartnerGenealogy subscription service offered as affiliate partner through Cyndi's List.
23andMeminorGTM or Marketing PartnerDNA testing service offered as affiliate partner through Cyndi's List.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Market position

Strengths4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet

What does Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet do?

Is Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet a public or private company?

Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.

When was Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet founded?

Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet was founded in 1996. It employs 11 to 50 people.

Where is Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet based?

Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet is headquartered in Milton, United States, in the North America region.

How does Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet make money?

Two revenue lines are on record. Affiliate Advertisements are the primary driver. The others are donations.

Does Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet have an API?

No public API is recorded for Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet.

What industry is Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet in?

Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites On The Internet's product category is Online Genealogy Resources Directory. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMAAAF, Q&A and Knowledge Discovery Platforms. Its NAICS code is 519290.