Features:

  • Easy-to-use at-home kit, no membership required. Personalized ancestry reports based on your DNA ready in about 6-8 weeks.
  • Now with 1,000+ geographic regions - the most comprehensive genetic ancestry breakdown on the market.
  • Learn even more than your ancestral regions - discover your ancient ancestry and trace their migration with just one DNA test
  • First consumer DNA test to offer a breakdown of your ancestry with results becoming more refined as our database continues to grow
  • Subject to 23andMe’s Terms of Service at 23andme.com/tos and Privacy Statement at 23andme.com/privacy
You can't unring this bell

Welp I found an adult brother that I never knew existed and we're friends now, so 5 stars for that. It was worth all the family drama.

Entire process took under 4 weeks - very pleased!

I am thrilled with my 23 and me experience. I received my kit within several days of ordering. I registered it on 5/17, it was rec'd and inspected 5/23, DNA extraction on 6/7, DNA analysis on 6/10, quality review on 6/10, initial raw data on 6/10, and reports were generated and available on 6/13 - just under 4 weeks total. I don't know why so many other people are having issues. The outcome is mostly what I expected. I am largely British/Irish and French/German with a few other things mixed in. I was always told we had a smattering of Native American, and that's what it showed. The reports are easy to read and download. My biggest surprise came when I looked up DNA relatives and found that I had a niece - which is weird because my brother (my only sibling) and I never had kids. Can open, worms everywhere!! Ha!! You do need to make sure you're okay with what you might find. Not sure my brother will be, so I haven't mentioned it yet! Overall, I am very, very glad I did this. UPDATE: I have connected with my newly discovered niece and through her, found out I have ANOTHER niece on another ancestry database, this time through an unknown half-sibling via my father!! 3 months ago I had no nieces and now I have 2....PLUS a half-sib!! This is the best thing I've done!

23&me

Ordered the kit for ancestry. Took about 3 weeks to get results. The down side is that they also are able to get medical data from the sample, BUT it is an extra $125 to get that info. Didn't see that coming

You had better sit down for this...

Excellent, accurate, insightful... I bought the kit because my son is adopted and then I thought, what the hell, I'll do my own because I'd like to know how our DNA compares. I was fascinated by our ethnic compositions and was quite pleased to find that we are both 40% Italian and have similar percentages of other shared heritage. AND because my sister got her results right after me, I also found out that she is in fact my HALF SISTER and that the man who I had known as my father for 44 years is not my father and that my mother had an affair way back when. My siblings are my half-siblings and I may never know who my father is (thanks Mom). Better to know the truth about yourself than to live in darkness. Now begins the journey of finding the missing pieces to my personal puzzle.

SOLVED AN 83+ YEAR MYSTERY OF MY GRANDFATHER'S IDENTITY

The testing is fairly simple: You receive a test vial (log in and register it on their website) and provide saliva up to the control line. Make sure you don't eat or drink for 30 to 45 minutes before providing your saliva sample. It is best not to brush teeth beforehand since it will wash away valuable DNA and you want to ensure your sample has enough to process. Yes I had a few failed kits in my life and that set us back months of getting results on those kits. Anyway it’s fairly simple to provide the saliva samples. Simple enough I had my 5 1/2 year old done and she was the easiest one to process. Then you place the kit back into included return envelope and wait for about 6 to 8 weeks for it to process. All while keeping tabs of the process online as each step finishes. I have tested both of my parents, my two children, two paternal aunts, my daughter's paternal grandmother as well as myself and two cousins whom I tested to confirm our relationship. If you test at least one parent, you can easily sort matches that are shared with that parent to determine which matches are maternal and paternal. Since both my parents have tested mine literally shows who matches me from each side and my children can sort their matches based on me being tested too. My paternal grandfather died in 1995 and took with him the secret of his past. He had ran away as a young boy and changed his name so we knew him only by the name he had taken. My family always yearned to know more about my grandfather's past but he had endured some sort of trauma or something and for whatever reason chose to never speak of it again. So we grew up only knowing half my father's ancestry - that of his mother. After my grandfather died, I set out on a mission to try to figure out more about his identity. I sent off for birth and school records but hit one dead-end after another trying to prove he was who he said he was. I spent hours going over census data on Ancestry's website, writing to courthouses across the country. The evidence pointed to the conclusion that he was not who he said he was. I had nothing really solid to go by. Until 17 years into chasing cold trails, I discovered ancestry type DNA testing. I figured it wouldn't hurt to order my dad a kit and see where that would take us. If I could just find one close enough match then maybe it would give us a good lead on figuring out my grandfather's real surname. After waiting for what seemed like months (it was actually only about 6 weeks) my dad's DNA was online (on 23andme’s secure site) and accessible along with all his many matches - which were basically cousins at various degrees of distance. It was one cousin (a predicted second cousin) in particular that gave me access to their family tree and actually dove in with me searching for clues that would lead us to my grandfather. Just 6 months into researching my father's DNA, I found my grandfather's family and figured out who he really was. I wanted to ensure that my information was correct and so I contacted the daughters to the man I believed to be my grandfather's brother and offered to test them both. Their test results confirmed they were indeed our 1st cousins. I have since been in contact with close and distant family via this newly discovered paternal side and even obtained a copy of my grandfather's family surname book. His absence was even recorded in the book! I solved an 83+ year mystery and gained a family I longed my entire life to know about. I cannot be more thankful that these tests are available and that it gives us such ability to solve things that seem impossible. Granted this all sounds way easier than it was and in all honesty it took planning and sorting and meticulous record-keeping to rule out my father's maternal matches. I literally mapped my father's DNA and researched every match labeling in an Excel document, which chromosome location that relative fit and what surnames fit within those matches. It’s given me new found respect and interest in knowing about each and every ancestor that left their mark within our DNA. It’s time-consuming, rewarding and addicting. I can say that with all honesty as I now manage 15+ kits on various DNA websites. I tested myself and both parents on 23andme as well as AncestryDNA and Dad was also tested on FTDNA but I met my most useful matches on 23andme. It was on 23andme that I found the best ability to pour over chromosomes - researching every detail I could. Oddly between 23andme and Ancestry their tests show a discrepancy in ethnicity estimates. One shows that my dad has a tiny trace of Native American (23andme) yet AncestryDNA does not show any trace whatsoever of Native American. My son has confirmed Native American and was only tested on 23andme and his percentage came back at nearly exact what is on his BIA blood quantum card. So I lean in feeling more comfortable with 23andme’s ethnicity estimates. IMPORTANT TO NOTE: You can take your raw data (once your DNA is processed) and download it from any of these DNA testing sites and upload them to GEDmatch for free. That site allows you to cross compare matches on there from all the DNA sites. As long as others have their data on their too you can look at those matches and even see where the match is on individual chromosomes, etc. It’s a great tool to utilize along with your DNA testing sites. FINAL THOUGHT: If you are looking to solve a mystery, 23andme is great. If you are looking to just fill in a family tree and you have a paid Ancestry membership or you are willing to pay for it, I would also suggest AncestryDNA. AncestryDNA gives you immediate access to your matches’ trees and you can in turn build on your own tree with the information. But if you are NOT a paid member to Ancestry, their AncestryDNA features are limited. I personally think its poor business practice for Ancestry to force people who already fork over money for the DNA kits to further pay to utilize services that should be totally included within the purchase of the kit. With 23andme, there are no additional hidden usage fees. Whichever one you choose, be prepared to discover a new you.

23andMe --Extensive Info and Well Formatted

My husband and I submitted dna to 23andMe. We received results fairly quickly and found more information than expected. It was organized in a user-friendly format.I did not intend to write a review of 22andMe but after using another sevice, thought I should. My husband wanted to submit to a different service in hopes of finding a half-sibling or 1st cousin. He does not know who his father was and his closest relatives on 23andMe were 2nd cousins. We were told Ancestry had a larger database of users so he ordered a kit and submitted. Ancestry.com confirmed his dna percentages almost exactly so no complaint. Their response time was also good. Their problem is the cumbersome layout of information and that they give you far less. For instance 23andMe gives haplogroups. No such info was given on Ancestry. Ancestry pushes for further services on their website which is offputting as well. I can only speak for these two dna options, but of the two, 23andMe is by far the best. (He did not find a closer relative and still has no idea who his father was. Of course, that's no fault of Ancestry.)

Now provides a superior view of your recent ancestry.

If you want a more in depth look at your recent ancestry, this is most definitely the company to go with now. I was pleasantly surprised when I opened up my results after some time and noticed they had updated. Not only do they now pinpoint with accuracy my known places/regions of recent ancestral heritage, they also were bold enough to present bits and pieces of my more distant ancestry which Ancestry.Com did not do. I received 9 regions in total with 23&Me, all of which made sense given my known recent ancestry, while Ancestry.Com only presented two broad regions on their recent update (when I used to have 9). Also, the many tools they have, such as the recent timeline feature, and the ancestry painting feature make the process of knowing your ancestry so much more interesting.

Unrealistic Expectations

Many of the negative reviews come from unrealistic expectations...aside from those who DNA could not be extracted ( i would prob be disappointed too) People tend to only review something when they are angry, or to the moon happy, very rarely the in- between "just satisfied" group. So the string of negative reviews on here do not give an accurate representation of the majority of peoples test results, these are just the individuals who were so mad that they actually took the time to review. I'm here to counter it. My husband and i both did a kit, ours worked flawlessly. My grandparents had already tested theirs with other companies, so i already knew half of my results- which matched theirs, even though completely different brands. I felt 23 and me offered more comprehensive results, which they do. My husband, on the other hand, his was semi-life changing. He does not know conclusively who his father is so we were hoping to gain some insight, we haven't gotten anywhere with that as more parent testing is needed, but we do know his ethnicity now. Husband looks very Native (american indian/ mexican decent). There was rumor his father is American Indian. The test comes back....subsaharan African!! Turns out it didn't even come from his fathers side. Nothing that we thought. He was shocked! Test took average time, 6-8 weeks. I assume it takes longer during peak holiday seasons. Mine came in a few days before my husbands. Overall we are happy and here to buy a test for his mother

Simple to use, results are apparently updated the more info they get!

So I did the DNA test a while ago ( I bought it on prime day), the test was simple and I got my results in 6 weeks. Whats kind of cool about 23&me is that in my case some of my results have changed slightly over time (I also did no self reporting because I wanted results based only of my tested DNA). The more genetic info they get from all over the world apparently the more accurate they can pinpoint your results. I did not use this for the health option but I have to say I was pretty happy with the results (you can upload your raw data on other site for some health info). I like that even though it was a one time purchase that they still update your profile to the most accurate results they have possible. I actually just checked it again today and they narrowed down even more of my results. Plus its pretty cool to see where your ancestors came from.

4.5 Great but could be improved

The Pros: Seems to be more accurate for ethnicity than other tests on the market. Chromosome Browser. Triangulation. Relative Sharing. The Cons: No trees. Difficult to navigate. Genealogy is an afterthought. If you are only testing for ethnicity, this is the test you want. All experts find it the most accurate. There is a learning curve to genetic genealogy. 23andMe has the best tools of any company. Unfortunately, they don't seem interested in their genealogy customers. Having a simple place to upload a gedcom would improve the site tremendously, saving time and frustration. If they had an interactive tree for matches, it would be superior to every other company. There are pros and cons to all 3 major testing companies, the newer companies have far more cons and I recommend against spending money with them. The major genealogy company will likely provide more matches than 23andMe because they have many more users, their messaging system is not as good and there is an ongoing cost to use or see trees with them and they have no useful tools included, just matches. The DNA company uses a swab test, so for someone who can't fill a tube it is a good choice. They do have a chromosome browser but overestimate relationships. They have fewer users but they have a place to upload a gedcom and attach DNA matches. There are sites that accept raw downloads from either the Genealogy Company or 23andMe, unfortunately, some cannot accept the current V5 chip making it less useful than previous versions. This test can be used with outside companies for medical information, (free to inexpensive), it does not include the medical. I have been able to get through some genealogy brick walls using 23andMe, so far it has been most useful for the early to mid-1800's brick walls, it would be useful for closer brick walls, I didn't really have any.

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