Have you heard about the new Ancestry "Pro Tools"? I've been waiting for the dust to settle from the initial uproar to check out the pros and cons online. What do you think? Are the new Ancestry Pro Tools a pro or con for you?
The general gist seems to be quite a bit of shock that Ancestry feels the need to charge even MORE money, namely and additional $10 a month! These new tools include a Tree Checker (looks for errors in dates, names, etc.), Insights & Reports (print outs of family group sheets, or of descendants, for example), Smart Filters (to search by DNA matches in your tree with more filters, but you have to buy the DNA test), and Advanced DNA Tools (to see how much DNA you share).
The Insights and Reports seem to be a new way to get the same info you already had on Ancestry. The Advanced DNA tool shows how much DNA you and your match share and how you may be related. If you also subscribe to My Heritage, you will already be familiar with this tool. They are included in the normal subscription price there for $209.00 a year. The All Access Ancestry subscription is $479.00 BEFORE the Pro Tools additional $10 per month fee.
Pros and cons of My Heritage? My only complaint is they send a lot of emails. They email me new records finds, new hints, new people, and Tree Checker notifications (Yes, I know my fourth great-grandmother was only 16 when she had a baby. She was. Yes it was young, but it is what it was! Stop telling me! I've got to figure out how to turn that off!) I do like Ancestry's more passive notifications that do not fill my inbox. But the DNA databases are different. I get many different matches from around the world there that have not tested on Ancestry (their DNA test is much less expensive, but you can't upload it to Ancestry).
Having both subscriptions is expensive. I also have one for Find My Past for British and Irish records that's $220 a year (more if you want access to the 1921 Census, but my people were gone long before then).
The Ancestry Pro Tools upgrade is not for me. But you can try it for yourself for the initial $10 monthly fee. It is a monthly charge, and there is no refund for unused weeks. To paraphrase an old TV ad for Alka Seltzer that will date me (again), "Try it, you might like it!"
Hope your summer is going well! If you'd like to take a break and have someone else look at your brick wall, I'm here! Send me an email for a free evaluation!
Regards,
“World peace must develop from inner peace. Peace is not just mere absence of violence. Peace is, I think, the manifestation of human compassion.” ― Dalai Lama XIV
Ancestry Pro Tools Upgrade Link
My Heritage website
Find My Past Free Trial link
Alka Seltzer Ad from 1972