Hiring a genealogist is worth it when the records are in Polish, Russian, German or Yiddish, held by archives abroad that answer only by letter, never indexed, or needed by a fixed date. Doing your family history yourself is usually enough when the records are in English and indexed and there is time to search them. Many families do both.
Is hiring a genealogist worth it? For most families, it is worth it for part of the work. Three or four generations can usually be traced at home from free records in English. The work changes at the generation that arrived from abroad, where the records are in other languages and other hands. This guide sets out where self-research usually stops, a plain test for deciding, what paid help costs, and a middle way that uses both.
Key points
- Most families can trace three or four generations themselves, from free American records such as the census and passenger lists.
- Self-research usually stops at the immigrant generation, where the records are in other languages and many sit in archives abroad that answer only by letter.
- A genealogist is worth hiring for a clear question beyond the family's reach, and poor value for searches the family could do free.
- Independent genealogists charge from $30 or $40 an hour to well over $200, with expenses billed on top.
- A middle way often gives the best value: the family does the home and American records, and hands a researcher the rest.
What a family can do itself
The work starts at home: the certificates in a drawer, the names written on the backs of photographs, the ketubah, the letters and their envelopes. It goes on with the oldest relatives, who remember people who left no papers and the name of the town as the family said it.
Then come the American records, most of them indexed and free to search: the census every ten years from 1790 to 1950, passenger lists, naturalization files and vital records. How to trace your ancestry takes these steps in order. Families who follow it usually reach the immigrant generation within weeks, and often the town.
The best free websites for family history records
- FamilySearch: census, passenger, naturalization and vital records from many countries, often with images of the originals, free with an account.
- The US National Archives: census pages from 1790 to 1950, passenger lists, naturalization files and military records.
- JewishGen and JRI-Poland: indexes of Jewish records by country and town, and a burial registry.
- For Irish lines, the Irish government's civil records site, with births from 1864; for Italian lines, the Antenati portal, with images of civil registers from the state archives.
Where doing it yourself usually stops
Before the immigrant generation the records were kept abroad. Four things slow most families down: the archives, the languages, the missing indexes and the time.
Archives that answer only by letter
Many registers and files abroad have never been put online. State and regional archives in Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus and Germany hold them, and the only way to reach them from home is a written request, ideally in the archive's own language.
Searches and copies are usually charged and paid abroad, and replies come on the archive's own schedule, sometimes after many months and sometimes never. How to write to a European archive explains the letter.
Records in Polish, Russian, German or Yiddish
In the part of Poland ruled by Russia, the civil registers, Jewish ones among them, were kept in Polish until 1868 and in Russian, in Cyrillic script, from then until 1918. German registers are often written in the old German hand called Kurrent, and the letters home are often in Yiddish.
A family member who reads one of these languages can go a long way. Without one, every entry needs a translator who knows what the clerk's columns mean.
Files that were never indexed
An index lets a name be searched, and a great many registers have none. Some are online as scans that have to be read page by page. Indexes also make mistakes, so the original of every entry that matters has to be read.
Time
Research abroad takes evenings over months and often years, with long waits between letters. For a family with the time and the interest, that can be a pleasure. For a family that wants a book for a parent's 90th birthday, the waiting is the problem.
The common Jewish case shows all four at once. The family knows the town in Poland or Lithuania, has a few documents in Yiddish or Polish, and finds that every online tree stops at the grandparents who arrived. Jewish families in Central and Eastern Europe took fixed surnames only between 1785 and 1845, as each state required them, so a search by surname stops there in any case. Jewish last names gives the dates state by state.
A test for deciding: yourselves, or with help
Look at where the family's records are and what the family wants at the end. The table sets the common situations side by side.
| The situation | Doing it yourselves | When help is worth it |
|---|---|---|
| The records are American and in English: census, passenger lists, naturalization, vital records | Usually enough; most are indexed and free to search | Rarely needed, except to order a court file or read a faint page |
| Irish, British or Italian records that are online as images | Often enough, with patience for the handwriting | When an entry cannot be read or two people share a name |
| Registers in Polish, Russian or German, online as scans with no index | Possible for someone who reads the language and the old hand | When no one in the family reads them |
| Files held by an archive abroad that answers only by letter | Possible, slowly, with letters in the archive's language and fees paid abroad | When the family wants someone who does it often to write and follow up |
| Letters and papers at home in Yiddish or Hebrew | Possible with a reader of the language and the handwriting | When the papers are many or hard to read |
| A book needed by a fixed date, such as a milestone birthday or the shloshim | Rarely possible in the weeks available | Almost always |
| A finished book with sources, maps and translations | A second large project after the research | When the family wants the research and the book done together |
A family can fall in more than one row. Most do: the American side is usually the easier one, and the side from Poland or Lithuania the harder.
Checklist
- Where were the family's records kept, and in which languages?
- Does anyone in the family read Polish, Russian, German, Yiddish or Hebrew?
- How many evenings a month can someone give, and for how long?
- Is there a date the work is needed by?
- Does the family want a research report, or a finished book?
Is hiring a genealogist worth it?
It is worth it when the question is clear and beyond the family's reach, such as a register in Russian or a file in a regional archive abroad. A genealogist who reads the language and knows the archive can often settle a question that might take a family years. Paying for searches the family could do free is poor value, which is why the middle way below saves money.
What genealogists charge
The Association of Professional Genealogists says hourly rates run from $30 or $40 to well over $200, with expenses such as copies and postage on top. Legacy Tree Genealogists sells packages from $3,200 for 25 hours and says most projects take four to six months. The family receives a report with copies of the records, and a book is a separate matter. What a family history book costs compares every kind of service.
How to find a genealogist
The Association of Professional Genealogists keeps a directory of its members, searchable by place and by research specialty, and the Board for Certification of Genealogists lists those it has certified. Ask each one which languages they read and which archives they write to, and ask for the scope in writing. What a personal historian does, and how that differs from a genealogist lists more questions.
A middle way: do part of it yourselves
Many families do the home and American records themselves and hire help for the rest. Done well, their own work becomes the researcher's starting file:
- Gather the papers at home, and photograph each one, front and back, before anything is sorted.
- Ask the oldest relatives for names, towns and dates, and write down every spelling they give.
- Find the family in the census, on passenger lists and in naturalization files, and note where each record came from.
- Write down the town in every spelling, and list what you still do not know.
- Hand over copies of the records with a list of what was searched and not found, so no one pays to search it again.
A researcher then starts where the family stopped, at the archives abroad and the records in other languages, which is where professional hours count. How the example was researched shows that work step by step.
Making a family history book yourselves
A family that has done the research can write and print its own book, and some do it very well. It is a second project as large as the first: writing the story from the records, drawing the tree and maps, laying out the pages and choosing a printer. What a family history book is sets out the kinds. A book of a parent's own stories is quicker, and Remento vs Storyworth compares the services that print one.
Sources: FamilySearch, on partner sites; the US National Archives; JewishGen's guide to vital records of Poland; the Association of Professional Genealogists; Legacy Tree Genealogists; the Irish civil records site; the Antenati portal. Checked October 2026.
Questions families ask
Is it worth hiring a genealogist, or should I do it myself?
Do the home papers and the American records yourself first, since most are free and in English. Hire a genealogist when the next question needs a language no one in the family reads, or an archive abroad that answers only by letter. A fixed date is another reason, since research abroad takes months.
Can I pay someone to trace my family tree?
Yes. A genealogist can be hired by the hour or by the project, and usually delivers a report with copies of the records found. Some firms go on to write a book, either as a second stage or under one commission with the research. Ask what the price includes, and who pays the archive and copy fees.
What are the benefits of hiring a personal historian over doing it myself?
A professional reads old records and their languages every day and knows which archives hold what, so work that takes a family years can often be finished in months. A personal historian also writes the story, where a genealogist usually reports. Doing it yourself costs less and suits a family with time and records in English.
Is ProGenealogists worth it?
ProGenealogists is an American research firm. It sells research hours, from $2,300 for 20 hours, and writes family history books once the research is complete. Like any firm, it is worth it when the question needs skills the family lacks. Companies that write family histories sets it beside the other firms.
What are the best websites for researching family history?
For American records, FamilySearch, the US National Archives and the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation are free. For Jewish families, JewishGen and JRI-Poland index records by town. Ancestry and MyHeritage charge a subscription, though many public libraries and FamilySearch centers give free use of their library editions.
How do support services help with family history research?
Public libraries and FamilySearch centers give free use of several subscription sites, and their staff help beginners find a record. Genealogical societies, Jewish ones among them, answer members' questions. Translators read single documents for a fee, and a genealogist takes on the questions that need archives and languages.
When you would rather hand it over
Some of these records can be searched from home. Others are held by archives that answer only written requests, in Polish, German, Russian or Yiddish, and some files have never been indexed at all. A Zichronos commission includes that work and its archive, copy and translation fees, and ends in a finished book. Whatever the family has already found is where the research begins.
When a book is needed by a fixed date, such as a milestone birthday or the shloshim, it can be taken on as a priority commission. Printed copies of a first edition arrive in time, and later replies from the archives go into an updated edition. A priority fee applies.
Family history book examples shows what a finished book holds, and Inside a book shows the example's pages. What a family history book costs compares every kind of service, and How we work explains the steps. Commissioning a family history book answers the common questions.