Recommendation for online services?

I'm about to resume my family research after a very long break. After
starting in Nov 2005, I subscribed to several services such as
Ancestry, BMD, findmypast.com and 1837Online. I let these lapse in
2006.

I appreciate that it's a partly subjective matter, but to help me
decide which service(s) to re-join, I'd appreciate recommendations
please. I don't suppose there's consensus on the best value, but what
about 'the most comprehensive single service'?

Is there in fact a case to be made for using entirely *free* services?
These seemed to be coming on fast by the time my activity finished
around Feb 2006, so perhaps there are now enough to cover all the
censuses and other major sources?

Any advice would be greatly welcomed please.


-- 
Terry, East Grinstead, UK