MyHeritage DNA Review 2025

Finding out your ancestry has recently been taken to another level, in the old days you would have to trawl through endless amounts of public records to try and find out what your Great (x6) Aunty Betty’s maiden name was. Now there is the internet and also at home DNA tests available. Recently MyHeritage sent me one of their DNA tests to try – the results weren’t what I was expecting.

I had a clear vision in my mind what I expected my background to be, my family are English and Welsh so I didn’t anticipate that I would be anything but British. I was fully aware I was probably going to be very disappointed by my results as they wouldn’t show any new revelations but nonetheless, I wanted to try it to show myself I knew where I came from.

MyHeritage DNA at a Glance

At-home DNA test. A quick and easy two-minute cheek swab test provides genetic information within four weeks.

Privacy protected samples are processed in a certified lab. Multiple encryptions and dual gold-standard lab certifications are in place to ensure users a high degree of security.

Results provide ethnicity estimates and genetic groupings. This test offers 42 ethnic categorizations and 2,114 genetic groups individuals can be classified within. While that sounds plentiful, actual results may feel less specific.

How Does MyHeritage DNA Work?

To get started with MyHeritage DNA, first, order a kit from its website. Delivery usually takes about a week, but varies based on location.

Once the kit arrives, you’ll need to follow the instructions:

• Register online: Create an account with a personal email address as well as other individual information. Next, link your account with your test by providing the unique code that’s printed on the included activation insert and box. This is so the lab can eventually match the DNA test to the correct user account.
• Collect a sample: MyHeritage DNA uses a simple, self-administered 30 to 60-second swab of each cheek. Instructions are included.

• Mail the test: A pre-addressed envelope is included to return vials to the lab, but postage is not prepaid.

• Wait for results: Once your account is created, MyHeritage DNA will send emails updating you as to where they are in the process (i.e., status updates like “Your DNA sample has arrived at the lab” and “DNA extraction in progress”). MyHeritage uses an autosomal DNA test and places extracted DNA on a custom-made genotyping chip that will eventually be run through a computer to produce your unique DNA data. That data is then processed through proprietary algorithms to determine ethnicity and other DNA matches.

• Access DNA data online: After about four weeks (the estimated time for results to be delivered), you’ll receive an email alerting you that your data is available in your online account. There, you’ll be able to access your ethnicity estimates, genetic groups and DNA matches.

When you gain access to your DNA data, the results are presented via the DNA tab in your account. Under that heading, you will be presented with a map outlining your general ethnicity and genetic group info. This allows you to see your results visually as well as read the percentages (for ethnicity) or “confidence level” (for the genetic groups). 

There are also diagrams suggesting potential genetic matches, which are broken down by Close Family, Extended Family and Distant Relatives. Clicking on any of those will offer more information about the match, how much DNA is shared and a name. But to contact them or view their family tree requires a premium upgrade.

How Much Does MyHeritage DNA Cost?

MyHeritage DNA is $89 plus shipping. However, it should be noted that you’ll also be responsible for the cost to ship the DNA swabs back to the lab.

If you want to find out more about your family tree and access the MyHeritage historical database as well as other advanced features, you’ll have to pay for an annual subscription. A one-year subscription to MyHeritage is $300, though it offers 50% off the first year with the ability to renew, presumably at full price. This discount is available immediately if you sign up for a free one-month subscription when you purchase your kit, or it will be offered again after you receive your results.

The initial fee also does not include any medical or health insights. That’s offered for a $120 additional fee, though there’s a half-price option offered for new customers, making the additional information $60 if you sign up.

The Fine Print

Some complaints on Trustpilot centered around the fact that what you can actually do on the site is limited unless you pay for the annual subscription. You can’t use any of the historical search engines in depth without joining MyHeritage as a member.

Also, some DNA test purchasers who signed up for the free all-access subscription for a month upon purchasing the kit had their free month expire before they ever got their results, rendering the “free trial” useless. A few Trustpilot reviewers found they’d been charged for an annual subscription without realizing it because they didn’t know their “free trial” started before they received their DNA results.

What Experts Say

“MyHeritage is testing 700,000 out of around 3,000,000,000 letters (0.023%) in the genomic puzzle from 22/23 chromosomes and correlating them with people with similar traits known in the literature and from other users,” explains Jennifer Hintzsche, Ph.D. in bioinformatics and CEO/founder of PherDal Fertility Science, Inc. ​​

According to Dr. Hintzsche, whole genome sequencing is the most complete DNA sequencing and tests all 3 billion letters of the genome, whereas the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) array of autosomal chromosome testing used by MyHeritage produces a very minimal type of matching. It’s not that it’s incorrect—it’s just limited in scope.

“SNP array testing is like a very minimal way of proof-reading a few letters of a book,” explains Dr. Hintzsche. “There are 3 billion bases and they tested 700,000 or 0.023%. That means you don’t know what the rest of the DNA entails. What is considered a ‘close DNA match’ with a SNP test? That would be up to MyHeritage to decide. Without sequencing whole genomes or the X chromosome the overlap of DNA is at best an estimate.”

“I think there is a lack of public awareness as to what DNA is included and not included in these tests—like that it’s such a small percentage of your genome,” says Dr. Hintzsche. “While these tests are accurate at the letter level, it’s important to note that SNP research is ever evolving and is completely dependent on the population tested. Therefore, if only Caucasian men have had their DNA sequenced, we can only compare each person’s DNA to the DNA we know about.”

Our MyHeritage DNA Experience

Having done other at-home DNA tests, I was excited to try MyHeritage DNA and see how it compared.

The kit arrived over a week after placing the order. I immediately opened it and registered online. It asked for some information I wasn’t comfortable giving up, like names of grandparents. MyHeritage likely assumes most people are taking the test to try and find other relatives.

I, on the other hand, was more curious about my personal ethnicity, as I have a great-grandparent who was adopted. The most interesting info for me is knowing which ethnicities might be behind my features.

After registering my DNA kit, I set about swabbing both sides of my cheeks, as instructed. You receive two swabs, two vials with processing liquid inside, a plastic baggie and a pre-addressed envelope to put the sample in when you’re done. After swabbing, you’re instructed to insert the sample into one of the vials, breaking off the remainder of the stick before sealing the vial.

Once both vials are closed tightly, you place them in the plastic bag on a cotton pad, slide the plastic bag into the return envelope and head to the post office to mail it off. It cost me about $5 to send the test back to the lab (and I had to pay for postage to have the kit sent to me as well).

Throughout the process, I was alerted by MyHeritage DNA every step of the way. I appreciated that communication so I knew my sample had been received and was being processed. Though it said it could take about four weeks to get results, I received a notification in just over two weeks that my results were ready.

I was excited to go online and see what it said, only to find myself a little disappointed with the outcome. The ethnicity estimates felt very general compared to another DNA test I’d taken. For example, my results said I was nearly 76% North and West European. And that could include France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands and part of Denmark.