If you want your GEDCOM file to become a proper family history website, with a page for every ancestor rather than just a chart, WordPress has two main options: RootsPersona, which has done this since 2011, and AP Family Archive, launched in 2026. Both are free on WordPress.org. They take quite different approaches.
The short verdict
- Choose RootsPersona if you already run a RootsPersona site, want everything free with no paid tier, or like each ancestor being a normal WordPress page you can edit.
- Choose AP Family Archive if you want GEDCOM export, automatic protection for living people, search and indexes built in, and an actively developed plugin with a paid upgrade path.
At a glance
| AP Family Archive | RootsPersona | |
|---|---|---|
| GEDCOM import | Free (5.5 and 5.5.1) | Free (5.5, with ANSEL conversion) |
| GEDCOM export | Free | Not available |
| How pages are created | Plugin pages generated from shortcodes | One published WordPress page per person |
| Re-importing a GEDCOM | Replaces the tree | Updates existing people by ID |
| Living people | Never shown to visitors; cannot be switched off | Privacy levels, with living people detected by date |
| Surname index and search | Built in, with "sounds like" search | Surname widget and index pages |
| Sources and citations | Source pages and per-fact citation markers | Evidence and source pages |
| Reports | Ahnentafel and d'Aboville | Ancestor chart, descendancy, family group sheets |
| Charts | With AP Family Trees | Three-generation chart and a basic tree |
| Block editor | Shortcodes; pages created for you | Shortcodes |
| Documentation | Online documentation | Original documentation site no longer available |
| Paid version | Pro from $69.99/yr or $179.99 lifetime | None |
How each plugin publishes your tree
RootsPersona creates a WordPress page for each person you choose to publish. Each page shows the person's facts, ancestors, family group, pictures and evidence. Because they are ordinary pages, you can edit them in WordPress and they are indexed by search engines individually. The downside is scale: a GEDCOM of several thousand people becomes several thousand published pages, and one reviewer wrote that "there should be some warning before creating thousands of pages."
AP Family Archive stores your tree in its own database tables and displays it through a small set of pages it creates for you: a hub, person pages, family pages, surnames, search, sources, places and reports. Adding a person to your tree does not add a WordPress page, so a large tree does not fill your page list. It also shares data with AP Family Trees, so charts show the same people without importing twice.
Updating your tree
RootsPersona wins here. When you reload a GEDCOM, it updates existing people whose IDs match, rather than starting again. Its developer notes that IDs must stay stable between exports for this to work, and that changed IDs can break relationships.
AP Family Archive currently replaces the tree on re-import. Keep your master tree in your genealogy software and re-import when you want to refresh the site.
Privacy of living people
RootsPersona offers privacy levels (public, members only, private and excluded), with a separate default for living people. It treats someone as living if they have no death date and were born within the last 110 years.
AP Family Archive never shows anyone flagged as living or private to visitors, including in downloads, and this cannot be switched off, even for administrators viewing the public pages. Where a living person appears in a family, visitors see a "Living" placeholder.
Sources and evidence
Both plugins take sources seriously, which sets them apart from simpler tree plugins. RootsPersona builds evidence and source pages from your GEDCOM. AP Family Archive creates source pages and places citation markers against individual facts, and shows dates and places exactly as recorded while storing standardised versions separately for sorting and search.
Getting your data out
AP Family Archive exports your full tree as GEDCOM free. RootsPersona has no GEDCOM export; a user asked for one in 2018 and the question was not answered. If you use RootsPersona as your main record ("system of record" mode) and edit people online, keep in mind that those edits cannot easily be exported again.
Maintenance and support
RootsPersona has a loyal following; one user wrote in January 2026 that "there are no other decent options available to us ancestral researchers with family websites." Its history has been uneven, though. Development paused after early 2023, security issues were disclosed in 2025, and a new co-maintainer released versions 4.0 and 4.1 in June 2026 with security and PHP 8 fixes. The original documentation site is no longer available.
AP Family Archive was released in 2026 and is actively developed, but it is new, with few users and reviews so far.
Moving from RootsPersona to AP Family Archive
Keep your original GEDCOM file, or export a fresh one from your genealogy software, and import it into AP Family Archive. Because RootsPersona cannot export GEDCOM, any edits you have made only in WordPress will need to be re-applied. Before removing RootsPersona, redirect its person pages to the new Archive person pages so you keep your search rankings.
Frequently asked questions
Is RootsPersona still maintained?
Yes, again. After a pause and security fixes, versions 4.0 and 4.1 were released in June 2026 by a new co-maintainer. Check the support forum for the current state before installing.
Does RootsPersona support GEDCOM export?
No. It imports GEDCOM 5.5 files but does not export them.
Which is better for a large tree?
AP Family Archive, if you do not want a WordPress page for every person. RootsPersona can handle large trees, but each published person becomes a page.
Try AP Family Archive free
Import your GEDCOM and let AP Family Archive create your pages. For other options, see the best WordPress genealogy plugins in 2026.
Disclosure: AncestorPress makes AP Family Archive. We tested the current free version of RootsPersona from WordPress.org and read its documentation and support forum. Details were last checked in September 2026.