Roots Magic
RootsMagic, Inc. is a privately held Utah-based software company that develops one-time-purchase desktop genealogy software (RootsMagic 11) for Windows and macOS, serving hobbyist and professional family historians worldwide with bidirectional sync to FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Findmypast.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1995
- HeadquartersSpringville, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Roots Magic does
RootsMagic, Inc. is a privately held genealogy software company headquartered in Salem, Utah, founded by Bruce Buzbee and operating continuously for over 30 years with its roots in the early Family Origins program. The company develops and sells desktop genealogy software — currently RootsMagic 11 — for Windows and macOS, enabling users to build, manage, and share family trees with locally stored data while synchronizing bidirectionally with major online genealogy platforms including FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Findmypast via WebHints and TreeShare. Its product suite includes the flagship RootsMagic application (priced at $39.95 for a new one-time license), Personal Historian 3 for life story writing, and Family Atlas for genealogy mapping, all sold under a perpetual license model with free technical support. The company serves a horizontal consumer market of hobbyist and professional genealogists, including Latter-day Saint users tracking temple ordinances, and distinguishes itself through FamilySearch Certified status, an AI Prompt Builder (first in genealogy software), and a multi-channel community/marketing approach spanning the blog, YouTube, email newsletter, Facebook user group, local user groups, and annual RootsTech conference presence. RootsMagic operates as a bootstrapped, founder-led business with no disclosed institutional funding, primarily distributed through direct website sales with supplementary distribution via Amazon, Apple App Store, and affiliate partnerships.
Roots Magic firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Roots Magic
- Legal name
- RootsMagic, Inc.
- Website
- https://rootsmagic.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1995
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- RootsMagic, Inc. is a privately held Utah-based software company that develops one-time-purchase desktop genealogy software (RootsMagic 11) for Windows and macOS, serving hobbyist and professional family historians worldwide with bidirectional sync to FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, and Findmypast.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Roots Magic is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Springville
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Roots Magic business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Software Licenses (One-Time Purchase): RootsMagic generates the majority of its revenue from one-time purchase licenses for its desktop genealogy software. Customers pay a single upfront fee for a perpetual license, with free technical support included. Current pricing is $39.95 for new customers and $29.95 for upgrades to RootsMagic 11. There is no subscription requirement.
- Related Software Products: Revenue is also generated from companion software products: Personal Historian 3 ($29.95 new, $19.95 upgrade) for personal and family history writing, and Family Atlas ($29.95) for genealogy mapping. A physical USB flash drive is sold for $10.00 plus shipping.
- Affiliate Referral (Professional Research Services): RootsMagic earns referral fees through its partnership with Legacy Tree Genealogists, a professional genealogy research firm. Customers who hire a researcher through RootsMagic's website generate affiliate revenue, identified with a 'SAVE50' discount code.
- Books and Documentation: Official companion books for RootsMagic 11 and Personal Historian are sold through Amazon and RootsMagic's website. The RootsMagic 11 User's Guide is available via Amazon worldwide; the Personal Historian Companion Guide is priced at $14.95.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | RootsMagic 11 — New License |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | RootsMagic 11 — Upgrade |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Personal Historian 3 — New License |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Family Atlas — Standard License |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | USB Flash Drive |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Personal Historian Companion Guide (Book) |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free Trial |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels10 records
Roots Magic product offering
Product offeringCore offering
RootsMagic develops and sells desktop genealogy software (RootsMagic 11) for Windows and macOS that lets individuals build, document, and share family trees with online-service integrations, source documentation, DNA match tracking, and 100+ report types. The company also sells companion desktop products — Personal Historian 3 (life-story writing) and Family Atlas (family-history mapping) — plus a free iOS viewer app and physical USB drives for portable access.
Product overview
RootsMagic offers a suite of genealogy software products centered around its flagship RootsMagic application, supplemented by specialized tools for writing and mapping. The core product, RootsMagic 11, is desktop genealogy software for Windows and Mac that enables tree building, research, and publishing. Supporting products include Personal Historian 3 for life story writing and Family Atlas for map creation. The company also offers a free iOS mobile viewer app, USB flash drives for portable access, and professional researcher referrals through a partnership. All products share a focus on preserving and sharing family history across multiple formats including charts, reports, books, and websites.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Personal Historian: Personal & family history writing software with guided prompts, timelines, and publishing tools to help users write and organize life stories.
- Family Atlas
Products and services
- RootsMagic 11 Award-winning genealogy desktop software for Windows and Mac that enables users to discover, document, and share family history through tree management, multi-provider online record hints, source documentation, DNA match tracking, 100+ reports, charts, books, and website publishing. Priced at $39.95 for a one-time perpetual license with no subscription.
- Personal Historian 3 Personal and family history writing software with guided prompts, LifeCapsules timelines, and publishing tools that break the writing process into manageable pieces, importing data from genealogy software and including built-in word processing with readability checks. One-time license at $29.95 (new), $19.95 (upgrade).
- Family Atlas Genealogy mapping and publishing software that creates interactive maps showing family migrations, locations, and markers, including a 3.5 million-name world place database for geocoding and export to PDF or graphics. One-time $29.95 license.
- RootsMagic Mobile App Free iOS companion viewer app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch that displays RootsMagic files via Dropbox sync and provides pedigree, family, descendant, and individual views with lists, calendars, and calculators.
- RootsMagic USB Flash Drive 4GB USB flash drive with both Type A and Type C connectors containing the portable RootsMagic installation for Windows and macOS; software license sold separately.
- Getting the Most Out of RootsMagic 11 (User's Guide) Official 192-page printed companion book authored by Bruce Buzbee covering all features of RootsMagic 11 with step-by-step instructions, screenshots, and practical tips; distributed via Amazon globally.
- Personal Historian Companion Guide Official 192-page companion book by Michael T. Booth covering Personal Historian software with practical tips and writing guidance; sold through Amazon and via RootsMagic at $14.95.
Quantifiable outcome
- More people use RootsMagic to work with FamilySearch than any other software program.
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Roots Magic
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Roots Magic technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration6 records
AI capability2 records
Feature10 records
Roots Magic partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- FamilySearchcoreRootsMagic is a FamilySearch Certified genealogy program with deep, bidirectional integration to FamilySearch Family Tree. Users can search, download, upload, and synchronize family tree data; view discussions and change history; and track Latter-day Saint temple ordinances. RootsMagic holds multiple FamilySearch Software Awards ('Easiest to Sync,' 'Best Dashboard,' 'Trailblazer') and is recognized as the software used by more people to work with FamilySearch than any other program.
- AncestrycoreRootsMagic integrates with Ancestry through TreeShare (bidirectional upload/download of trees) and WebHints (Ancestry hints displayed within RootsMagic). Users can transfer people, events, notes, sources, and media between RootsMagic and their Ancestry online trees. The integration is branded 'Works with Ancestry' and requires RootsMagic 11.2.0 or later following Ancestry's API transition.
- MyHeritagecoreRootsMagic's WebHints feature automatically searches MyHeritage for matching family records and presents them within the software for review by the user.
- FindmypastcoreRootsMagic's WebHints feature automatically searches Findmypast for matching family records and presents them within the software for review by the user.
- Legacy Tree GenealogistsminorRootsMagic partners with Legacy Tree Genealogists as an affiliate referral partner for professional genealogy research services. Customers who hire a researcher through RootsMagic's research help page use a 'SAVE50' discount code. RootsMagic earns a referral fee from these transactions. Legacy Tree Genealogists provides research services including brick-wall problem solving, international records, lineage society applications, and DNA analysis.
- MailChimpminorRootsMagic uses MailChimp to deliver its monthly email newsletter (RootsMagic News) to subscribers. Name, email address, and IP address are processed by MailChimp per the company's privacy policy.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Roots Magic competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- MacFamilyTree: Synium Software's Mac-only desktop genealogy application; closest direct competitor within the macOS ecosystem where RootsMagic 11 also competes, with overlapping reports, charts, and online tree sync features.
- Ancestral Quest: Family-run desktop genealogy software with Windows and Mac versions; closest historical RootsMagic analog descended from earlier Personal Ancestral File (PAF) lineage, sharing similar offline-first workflows and data structures.
- Reunion: Long-established Mac-only genealogy software from Leister Productions with comparable offline family tree management, GEDCOM support, and reporting focus, directly competing for the same Mac genealogist segment.
- Legacy Family Tree: Millenia Corporation's flagship Windows desktop genealogy software and the most direct RootsMagic competitor — both target serious genealogists with local databases, source documentation, charts, and FamilySearch integration at similar price points.
Others
- FamilySearch: Free global genealogy service operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; RootsMagic's deepest integration partner and complementary offering rather than head-to-head competitor, but provides a free alternative for basic tree-building.
- 23andMe: DNA testing service with family tree and relative-finding features; adjacent consumer-facing ancestry platform competing for the same family-history wallet share but focused on genetics rather than tree management.
- Findmypast: UK-rooted genealogy subscription records platform feeding RootsMagic's WebHints engine; comparable ecosystem participant rather than direct desktop software competitor.
Emerging players
- Gramps: Open-source desktop genealogy application covering similar tree-building, source management, and reporting use cases; captures price-sensitive and technically sophisticated users that RootsMagic also targets.
Broad incumbents
- Ancestry: The world's largest online genealogy platform with subscription tree-building, billions of historical records, and DNA testing; broad incumbent that overlaps RootsMagic on tree-management use cases despite a fundamentally different cloud/subscription model.
- MyHeritage: Major online genealogy and DNA platform with subscription-based tree, records, and family tree tools; significant incumbent overlap on family tree functionality and one of the partners powering RootsMagic's WebHints engine.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Roots Magic social profiles
Digital presenceRoots Magic financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Roots Magic leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Roots Magic funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Roots Magic 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 Roots Magic
What does Roots Magic do?
RootsMagic develops and sells desktop genealogy software (RootsMagic 11) for Windows and macOS that lets individuals build, document, and share family trees with online-service integrations, source documentation, DNA match tracking, and 100+ report types. The company also sells companion desktop products — Personal Historian 3 (life-story writing) and Family Atlas (family-history mapping) — plus a free iOS viewer app and physical USB drives for portable access.
Is Roots Magic a public or private company?
Roots Magic is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Roots Magic founded?
Roots Magic was founded in 1995. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Roots Magic based?
Roots Magic is headquartered in Springville, United States, in the North America region.
How does Roots Magic make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Software Licenses (One-Time Purchase) is the primary driver. The others are related Software Products, affiliate Referral (Professional Research Services) and books and Documentation.
Who are Roots Magic's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are MacFamilyTree, Ancestral Quest, Reunion and Legacy Family Tree. Others are FamilySearch, 23andMe and Findmypast. Gramps is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Ancestry and MyHeritage.
Does Roots Magic have an API?
No public API is recorded for Roots Magic.