Many people who want to test their DNA are most interested in the ethnicity test. Most DNA testing companies offer some kind of ethnicity report as part of your DNA results. The ethnicity test will tell you, based on your DNA, where in the world your ancestors likely came from.

One factor to consider when trying to find the best DNA testing kit is how detailed the ethnicity reports you’ll receive will be. The DNA company that offers the most detailed ethnicity test, as of the writing of this article, is MyHeritage, with results from 2,114 geographic regions. The Ancestry DNA kit offers results from across 1,500 geographic regions, while FamilyTreeDNA offers 90.

Ethnicity reports are generated based on the company’s user base and the quality of their founder populations. It’s important to note that because MyHeritage’s user base is more globally spread than that of the other two, the resolution of their ethnicity reports is higher and the insights you gain are extremely detailed, especially for people with European roots.

One very important thing to take into consideration when choosing a DNA kit is the company’s privacy policy. When you are providing a company with access to such sensitive personal data, you want to be sure that data is going to be safe and secure and is not going to be used by the company for any purpose without your informed and explicit consent.

This is a very real concern. In 2018, the DNA testing company 23andMe made headlines when they sold data to a pharmaceutical company. The possibility of the data being sold for such purposes had been mentioned in the small print, so technically they didn’t do anything illegal, but many users of 23andMe hadn’t been aware that they were agreeing to this and were understandably upset. This is why it’s so important to do your research about the company you’re testing with and understand what they might do with your data.

So where do MyHeritage, Ancestry, and FamilyTreeDNA stand on privacy?

MyHeritage is the only company that has placed an explicit commitment in their privacy policy to never sell or share users’ data. President and founder of FamilyTreeDNA, Bennett Greenspan, has made a verbal commitment to that effect, but as of yet it hasn’t entered the company’s privacy policy. The Ancestry website does claim on their website that they won’t sell your personal data, but admits that they will share it with certain entities under certain circumstances and doesn’t explicitly commit to getting your consent under these circumstances.

Another factor to consider when choosing a DNA kit is how large the company’s database is — that is, how many other people have taken a DNA test with that company or have uploaded their DNA data to that company’s website.

Why does this matter?

Because the larger the database, the greater the chances of finding relatives — and by extension, the greater the chances of uncovering important genealogical insights.

Ancestry has the largest DNA database by far: more than 20 million people can be found on the Ancestry website. That gives them a serious advantage if your main goal is to find family members. Keep in mind, though, that their user base skews strongly towards the USA and other English-speaking countries. If you’re looking for family members in Europe, you might be better off with MyHeritage, which, with 6 million users, is the leading DNA test in Europe and caters to a more international crowd.

FamilyTreeDNA doesn’t state explicitly how many DNA kits are available on its database, but I’ve seen estimates of around 1.7 million. This may be significantly smaller than that of Ancestry or MyHeritage, but you should keep in mind that FamilyTreeDNA is the only one of the three that offers several different types of DNA genealogy test, so its database is the largest in the world for Y-DNA and mtDNA tests. We’ll explore that more below.

There are three main types of DNA test on the market:

• Autosomal: This is currently the most common type of DNA test kit on the market and it tests for DNA inherited from both of your parents. Autosomal tests are the best DNA testing kits for beginners. They are highly accurate for confirming close family relationships (up to the level of second cousin) and cast the widest net for genealogical research.
• Mitochondrial or mtDNA: Mitochondrial or mtDNA tests trace your mother’s lineage. Mitochondrial DNA is passed down unchanged from mother to child, whether the child is male or female. This test is great for confirming maternal relationships or tracing your maternal line.
• Y-chromosome or Y-DNA: Y chromosomes are only found in males and are passed down from father to son. This is a highly accurate way to trace paternal lineage. The disadvantage is that it can only be taken by someone who has a Y chromosome, so if you don’t have one, you’ll need to test a brother, a father, or biologically male cousin with direct paternal relationship to the line you are researching.

As mentioned, autosomal is the most popular type of DNA genealogy test, and both the MyHeritage and Ancestry DNA kits are autosomal only. FamilyTreeDNA is the only one of the three that offers mtDNA tests and Y-DNA tests in addition to autosomal.

Let’s face it… one of the most challenging aspects of taking a DNA test is getting the most out of the DNA data especially if you want to use it to further your genealogy research. All three major DNA test sites – AncestryDNA, FamilyTreeDNA, and MyHeritage – offer tools to help you find DNA matches as well as sort and filter results. But some tools are easier to use and can help you reach your research goal faster than others.

MyHeritage stands out in this category, as it offers the most comprehensive set of advanced DNA tools, including the One-to many Chromosome Browser that allows you to compare triangulated DNA with up to 7 DNA matches; AutoClusters, which organizes your DNA Matches into clusters of matches that likely share a common ancestor; and Theory of Family Relativity™, which analyzes millions of data points from family tree profiles and historical records to create easy-to-follow and accurate theories about how your matches might be related to you.

Ancestry does offer a few interesting tools as well, such as SideView™, which tells you which parent you inherited your ethnicity results from; ThruLines®, which identifies which ancestor you might share with a DNA Match; and DNA Circles, which is similar to MyHeritage’s AutoClusters.

Another factor to take into account is how easy it is to use each of the DNA kits — both in terms of collecting the sample and in terms of reviewing your results on the website.

Samples are collected using either a tube that you spit into, or a cheek swab. The cheek swab is easier and quicker to use for all age groups. Both MyHeritage and FamilyTreeDNA use cheek swabs. The Ancestry DNA kit, on the other hand, requires you to spit into a tube, which is both more difficult (maybe impossible for older folks) and more time-consuming.

Viewing your ethnicity results on each website is fairly easy. Each website provides a map highlighting your ethnicities and explanations about each ethnic group.

MyHeritage provides a spinning globe animation with music from different regions to reveal your results, which is an exciting way to encounter your results for the first time and share them as well.

Each site provides a list of DNA Matches with various sorting and filtering capabilities. Being able to sort and filter your results easily is important if you’re planning to look for new relatives or use DNA to break through brick walls in your genealogy.

MyHeritage has the most versatile selection of filters and offers the highest number of details to look at when reviewing a DNA Match. Both MyHeritage and Ancestry offer a labeling option, which really helps focus on the matches that are most important to you. FamilyTreeDNA’s sorting and filtering options are more limited than those of the other two and can be somewhat confusing to use.

If your native language isn’t English, chances are that it will likely be much easier for you to use the MyHeritage website, because it’s available in 42 languages — more than any other DNA platform by far. Even if you are comfortable using an English-language site, the platform’s availability in other languages can make a difference to its user base. That’s why MyHeritage’s user base is more globally spread than both Ancestry’s and FAMILYTREEDNA’s, and you’re more likely to encounter information and relatives from different parts of the world on MyHeritage.

DNA test cost is also an important consideration, and naturally, if you find a cheap DNA test, you’ll want to go with what’s most affordable… but remember that a cheap DNA test is not necessarily a good one!

The simplest at-home DNA kits from reputable brands retail at around $100, while more specialized types of tests can cost $200 or more. FamilyTreeDNA’s Family Finder is the most affordable, retailing at $79. MyHeritage DNA costs $89, and AncestryDNA’s basic kit at $99. If you wait for a sale or promotion, you may be able to purchase them at significant discounts. But if you’re considering a cheap DNA test that costs significantly less than these prices, you should be extremely wary.

It generally takes a few weeks or up to 2 months to receive your DNA results once they are received at the lab.

FamilyTreeDNA promises the shortest wait time for the Family Finder test at 2–4 weeks (though the mtDNA and Y-DNA tests take longer 6–8 weeks and 3–6 weeks respectively); MyHeritage gives 3–4 weeks of wait time, while the Ancestry website gives 6–8 weeks.

However, my sources at MyHeritage report that their average processing time is actually only 11 days in practice, and in my experience, the wait times provided by all 3 companies leave lots and lots of wiggle room. Most people receive their results within a couple of weeks.