The business platform professional genealogists actually need.
Professional genealogists are among the most meticulous documentarians alive. Their research logs cite sources in Evidence Explained format. Their delivered reports would hold up in court. And yet — the moment a client calls asking about an amendment to a report delivered six months ago, most genealogists find themselves digging through a chaos of Word documents, scattered email threads, and folders labeled "Client Projects 2025 FINAL (2)."
There is no purpose-built business platform for professional genealogists. The tools that exist are either family tree software for hobbyists, or generic accounting platforms that know nothing about research logs, citation standards, or retainer billing for professional research services.
Lineal changes that. It's the first platform designed around how professional genealogists actually work — from client onboarding through report delivery, with research logging and time tracking built in from the ground up.
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Each client gets a dedicated workspace. Every project has an objective, a research plan, and a time budget. Your client uploads their documents directly — no more "please email me everything."
Stop chasing documents. Start researching.
Log every source consulted — positive or negative result. Lineal auto-generates citations in Evidence Explained format as you work. When a client asks for amendments, your full research trail is one click away.
Never reconstruct your work from memory again.
Start a timer with one click. Log time against any project. Generate professional invoices from your time entries — with itemized research activities, not just "4 hours — genealogy research."
Invoice confidently. Get paid faster.
Tell Lineal what you know about a client's ancestors. Our AI generates a structured research plan — recommended record types, repositories, and search strategies — so you hit the ground running on every new project.
This is a preview of the AI Research Planner included in every Lineal subscription. No account needed to try.
"I've used the same system for 10 years. Is switching really worth it?" — The most common question we get
Because your practice has likely grown to the point where those tools are costing you time you're not billing. Lineal imports your existing Word notes in the onboarding wizard. Most members are up and running in under an hour. And the first time a client requests an amendment and you pull up the full research trail in 3 seconds — you'll wonder how you managed without it.
Yes. EE citations are built into the research log entry form. Select a source category (census, vital record, church record, land record, newspaper, etc.), fill in the fields, and the citation is formatted automatically. We support all major EE source categories from the 3rd edition.
Absolutely. The client portal is just a link you send. They click it, see their project status, and drag-and-drop their documents. No account creation, no passwords. It looks professional and takes your client less than 2 minutes to figure out. We've tested it with clients in their 70s and 80s.
All data is encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest. Client files are stored in a private bucket accessible only to you and your clients. We don't share, sell, or analyze your client data. Your research is yours. We also support data export at any time — your records are never held hostage.
Not at all. Lineal works for any professional genealogist — whether you hold an AG, CG, or no formal credential. If you're billing clients for genealogy research, Lineal is for you. That said, APG members get a 20% lifetime discount (use code APG at checkout).
"I used to spend Sunday evenings catching up on admin for the week. With Lineal's time tracker running as I work, invoicing takes 10 minutes on Friday. I got my weekends back."
"A client called last week asking me to amend a report from 14 months ago. In the old days, I would have had to spend an hour reconstructing everything. With Lineal, I pulled up the full research log in 4 seconds. I looked like a magician."
"The EE citation generator alone is worth the subscription. I was checking the manual every 15 minutes before. Now the citation appears automatically when I log the source."
Annual billing saves 2 months. All plans include a 30-day free trial. APG members: use code APG for 20% lifetime discount.