RootsWeb.com
RootsWeb.com is a free, web-based genealogy platform founded in 1997 and owned by Ancestry.com, serving individual genealogists with message boards, mailing list archives, hosted websites, family trees, and historical obituary search.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1997
- HeadquartersBakersfield, United States
- Headcount1,001–5,000
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
RootsWeb.com firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- RootsWeb.com
- Website
- https://rootsweb.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1997
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1,001–5,000 employees
- Short description
- RootsWeb.com is a free, web-based genealogy platform founded in 1997 and owned by Ancestry.com, serving individual genealogists with message boards, mailing list archives, hosted websites, family trees, and historical obituary search.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where RootsWeb.com is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Bakersfield
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
RootsWeb.com business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Personnel, Operations
Revenue model
- Parent company funding: RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com as part of the Ancestry corporate family of genealogy brands. The service is provided free to users as a community resource, with monetization occurring through the broader Ancestry ecosystem rather than direct revenue from RootsWeb users.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels3 records
RootsWeb.com product offering
Product offeringCore offering
RootsWeb.com is a free online genealogy platform that aggregates community-contributed resources for family history research. Its core offerings include Family Trees (World Connect), Mailing Lists, Message Boards, Hosted Web Sites, a Family History Wiki, and the Obituary Daily Times. The platform is funded by its parent company Ancestry.com and is provided free of charge to individual genealogists.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Family Trees (World Connect) A free family tree database and sharing tool that allows individual users to build, upload, and share their family trees with other genealogists on the platform.
- Mailing Lists Free email-based mailing lists where genealogists discuss specific surnames, regions, and research topics related to family history.
- Message Boards Free online forum system allowing genealogy researchers to post and respond to messages related to family history research topics.
- Hosted Web Sites Free web hosting allowing users to publish personal or family genealogy websites on the RootsWeb domain.
- Family History Wiki A collaborative wiki where users contribute and edit articles related to family history research, genealogy methodology, and historical records.
- Obituary Daily Times A searchable database of obituary transcriptions that genealogists can query to find information about deceased individuals for family history research.
Companies that use RootsWeb.com
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
RootsWeb.com technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
RootsWeb.com partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- US GenWeb ProjectcoreRootsWeb maintains close integration with the US GenWeb Project, a volunteer organization providing free genealogical records at the county level. The partnership provides RootsWeb users access to US GenWeb resources.
- World GenWebcoreRootsWeb is integrated with the World GenWeb Project, which extends the free genealogical resources to international coverage beyond the United States.
Scale indicators2 records
RootsWeb.com competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Ancestry.com: RootsWeb is owned by Ancestry.com, which is the dominant paid genealogy platform globally. Ancestry is the parent/incumbent brand offering a comprehensive paid alternative covering the same use cases (family trees, records, DNA) that RootsWeb addresses for free.
- Find A Grave: Find A Grave is a sister brand under Ancestry that hosts cemetery and memorial records. It overlaps with RootsWeb's Obituary Daily Times and cemetery/obituary-focused genealogical resources and is owned by the same parent company.
- Fold3: Fold3 is a sister brand under Ancestry specializing in military records. It is an adjacent genealogy property owned by the same parent and serves as a complementary resource within Ancestry's genealogy ecosystem alongside RootsWeb.
- Genealogy.com: Genealogy.com is a long-standing genealogy resource site (formerly owned by Ancestry). It overlaps with RootsWeb's hosted family tree and how-to content offerings and is similarly positioned as a free heritage genealogy resource.
Direct peers
- WikiTree: WikiTree is a free, community-driven collaborative genealogy platform with a wiki-style family tree. It directly mirrors RootsWeb's free, community-curated approach and competes for the same hobbyist genealogist audience.
- Geni.com: Geni.com is a collaborative family tree platform (now owned by MyHeritage) that competes directly with RootsWeb's World Connect family-tree feature and shared-tree community model.
- FamilySearch: Operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, FamilySearch is the largest free genealogy platform in the world, offering family trees, historical records, and a global volunteer network that directly competes with RootsWeb's free community and resource model.
- MyHeritage: MyHeritage is a leading genealogy platform offering family trees, historical records, and DNA testing. It competes directly with RootsWeb in the family-tree-building and community-records space, with stronger AI/ML features and a paid subscription model.
Others
- US GenWeb Project: US GenWeb is a volunteer-run project providing free county-level genealogical records. It is both a content partner to RootsWeb and a parallel free community resource that competes for the same US genealogist audience.
Regional players
- Geneanet: Geneanet is a major European genealogy platform with family trees, records, and a community forum. It is a comparable free-with-premium community genealogy site but is primarily focused on European users and records.
Market position
Customer concentration
RootsWeb.com social profiles
Digital presenceRootsWeb.com financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
RootsWeb.com leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
RootsWeb.com funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
RootsWeb.com M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about RootsWeb.com
What does RootsWeb.com do?
RootsWeb.com is a free online genealogy platform that aggregates community-contributed resources for family history research. Its core offerings include Family Trees (World Connect), Mailing Lists, Message Boards, Hosted Web Sites, a Family History Wiki, and the Obituary Daily Times. The platform is funded by its parent company Ancestry.com and is provided free of charge to individual genealogists.
Is RootsWeb.com a public or private company?
RootsWeb.com is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was RootsWeb.com founded?
RootsWeb.com was founded in 1997. It employs 1,001 to 5,000 people.
Where is RootsWeb.com based?
RootsWeb.com is headquartered in Bakersfield, United States, in the North America region.
How does RootsWeb.com make money?
One revenue line is on record: parent company funding.
Who are RootsWeb.com's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Ancestry.com, Find A Grave, Fold3 and Genealogy.com. Direct peers are WikiTree, Geni.com, FamilySearch and MyHeritage. US GenWeb Project is listed as an others. Geneanet is listed as a regional player.
Does RootsWeb.com have an API?
No public API is recorded for RootsWeb.com.