Heirstory and Findmypast, compared
Checked 28 October 2026
Findmypast is the specialist for British and Irish family history. Every plan includes the censuses from 1841 to 1921 and the 1939 Register. Its Everything plan adds the British Newspaper Archive, electoral registers, parish records, Royal Navy records and more. For searching British and Irish records yourself, it is excellent.
Heirstory starts where the records stop. Gene, an AI genealogist, asks each relative what they remember of the people in those records, and keeps it beside them, private to the family.
The short answer
Choose Findmypast to search British and Irish records, and old newspapers, yourself.
Choose Heirstory to keep your family’s memories with its tree, have each relative interviewed, and keep it all private to the family.
Many British families use both: Findmypast to find the records, Heirstory to keep the family’s record.
Side by side
| Findmypast | Heirstory | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is for | Searching British and Irish records | Keeping a family’s record: tree, records and memories |
| Records | Censuses 1841 to 1921 and the 1939 Register on every plan; newspapers and more on Everything | Gene searches public records online for those who have died, and names the documents worth ordering |
| Interviews your relatives | No | Yes, aloud in a web browser or by typing |
| Life stories | AI life stories and timelines on its Explore and Everything plans | Each family’s chapter, and each relative’s own story in their own words |
| Family trees | Unlimited trees on every plan | A private tree, shared with the family |
| Price, UK | £9.99 to £24.49 a month, less on longer plans | Free to build; Gene’s work uses credits, 100 free, then from £5 |
Where Findmypast is better
- British and Irish records, among the deepest collections there are, including the 1921 Census and the 1939 Register.
- Newspapers. The British Newspaper Archive is part of its Everything plan.
- Flexible plans, paid monthly, quarterly or yearly, with pausing on Everything.
Where Heirstory is better
- What is not in any record. Gene interviews each relative and keeps what they remember beside the people it is about.
- Written from more than records. A family’s chapter draws on the records and on what the family has added. Each fact is marked for how sure it is.
- Privacy between relatives. Each living person decides what the wider family sees of them.
- No subscription to keep it. Your tree, records and chapters stay free for as long as you use Heirstory.
Questions
How much does Findmypast cost in the UK?
Discover is £9.99 a month. Explore is £13.99 a month, or £64.99 every six months. Everything is £24.49 a month, £59.99 a quarter, or £169.99 a year. These were the prices on 28 October 2026.
Can I bring a tree from Findmypast?
Yes, if you save it as a GEDCOM file; look in the tree’s settings for an export. One file brings in up to 300 people, closest to you first.
Does Heirstory have the 1921 Census?
No. Heirstory has no records collection of its own. Where a record such as a 1921 Census entry sits behind a paywall, Gene says exactly where it is, as a document to order.
Is Heirstory only for British families?
No. It is made in the United Kingdom and written in British English, and it is also in French and German.
Sources
- Findmypast plans and prices: findmypast.co.uk/subscribe, read 28 October 2026.
- Records on each plan: findmypast.co.uk/subscribe, read 28 October 2026.
- AI life stories on the Explore and Everything plans: findmypast.co.uk/subscribe, read 28 October 2026.