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Family & History

Build a family tree from records

Extract names and dates from documents.

The tools below run on your computer. Most of them are free, and the local work stays on your machine.

ArchiveChat

Works offline · Free options

Your computer

Describe your computer

Pick the closest line. Office PC and Mini PC are estimates. Linux and a home server stay in the list. We guess the specs, then hide models that would not fit. The guess stays cautious.

I know the exact memory

4 results

Local or cloud?

Most tools here are free.

HONEST COMPARISON

Local or cloud: Build a family tree from records?

Reviewed Oct 2026

  • Privacy: Local winsGramps keeps the tree on your disk
  • Cost: Local winsGramps is free
  • Quality: Cloud winsAncestry has the records a chat does not
  • Ease: Cloud winsHints and search are the product

Local AI

A local chat can tidy notes. A family tree is genealogy software.

  • Your research notes stay on your computer
  • Gramps is free and local
  • A model can turn a letter into bullet notes

Where it falls short

  • It will not search archives
  • Relationships are easy for a chat to invent
See local tools for this task ↓

Cloud & apps

Gramps, Family Tree Maker and Ancestry are the tools that store sources and draw the tree.

Our take

Build the tree in Gramps or Ancestry. Use a local chat only to tidy a note you already trust.

Choose local if…

  • You want the file offline
  • You already have the facts

Choose cloud if…

  • You are searching records
  • You want hints

How to do it in 3 steps

  1. Open the model page and pick any app under Runs in, for example AnythingLLM, GPT4All or Jan. Each app page links to that maker's own guide.
  2. Open the Qwen3 8B page and check the traffic light for a few kinds of computer.
  3. Follow that official guide. This site does not add its own install steps.

Questions

Does this upload my files?
The local tools on this page don't upload your files. The cloud options in the comparison do.
What does it cost?
Most options are free. A few apps are a one-time purchase, and a few models need a computer with more memory.
What if it will not fit?
Use Check my computer, or turn on the lighter memory filters. A red light on the model page means the file is too big.

Not into local AI? Try these instead

Ordinary apps for family & history. These are normal links to the maker's site.

  • Family Tree Maker

    Desktop software for a family tree, sources, and charts.

    Family Tree Maker

  • Gramps

    A free genealogy program you keep on your own computer.

    Gramps

  • Ancestry

    Records and a shared family tree you search in a browser.

    Ancestry

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