Alternatives to Ancestry

I'm just finishing up a promotional subscription to Ancestry. I'd choose to continue it if it weren't so expensive, but alas, it is what it is!

I'm wondering what folks use as an alternative? Are there free tools, or 1-time purchase tools, with which to maintain a GEDCOM tree? Will I be disappointed with the integration of my Ancestry download with another tool?

I know that years ago my father built the family tree on boxed software (OK, it was a long time ago!), and I'd love to find something comparable to avoid paying monthly. Indeed, I'd love to find the darn disk he created so that I don't have to re-create everything!

Any and all advice would be welcome!