23 and Me Review

Thursday, February 9th

2023 DNA Testing Kit Reviews

23 and Me

• Two packages: Ancestry + Traits or Ancestry + Health
• Extensive information included in the Health reports, including traits, genetic predispositions, and likely reactions/interactions with certain medications
• Over 10 million people in its DNA network
• Easy to create a family tree with both packages
• $29/year membership for ongoing updates, exclusive health reports and more (one year included for free with Ancestry + Health kit)
• "A" rated by the BBB

23andMe should be your first choice if you want detailed information about your health and ancestry in one simple package. Founded in 2006, this was the first company to offer autosomal DNA testing: exactly what all of today's major services now use.

Ancestry + Traits for $99

You've got two DNA testing options with 23andMe. Their more basic kit is the Ancestry + Traits service. For $99, you'll get 80+ reports on various ways your DNA impacts your features, from your senses of taste and smell to your facial structure. On the ancestry side, you'll see your genetic makeup among more than 2,000 regions in the world; some results get as specific as the county in which your ancestors lived. You'll also get an ancestry timeline showing more than eight generations back. If you opt in to sharing your profile with DNA Relatives, you can connect with all of your matches. 23andMe will even build your family tree based on your DNA test.

Health + Ancestry for $199

23andMe's more extensive DNA testing kit - and their most popular - is the Health + Ancestry Service for $199. Not only will you get all the features of the Ancestry + Traits kit, but you'll get a deep dive into your genetic profile and how it might impact your overall wellness. There are more than 150 reports included in this package, from BRCA1/BRCA2 and celiac disease to carrier status and pharmacogenetics. You'll have a hard time finding another DNA test provider that gives you this level of depth in your health profile and such robust ancestry features too.

Affordable yearly membership for ongoing updates

This company regularly updates its clients with new information as it comes in, without making them retest or do anything extra. For example, in a nine-month span, 23andMe added Citalopram and Clopidogrel medication insights, HDL cholesterol, and melanoma to their reports. But, to maintain access to these releases, you'll need to pay for a membership. The first year is included with your Health + Ancestry Service purchase, and subsequent years are just $29.

Costs

• $99 for the Ancestry + Traits service
• $199 for the Health + Ancestry service
• $198 for Health + Ancestry + one-year membership ($29 value)
• Shipping fees of $9.95 for the first kit and $5 for every additional kit

Look for discounts and free shipping offers

At the time of this review, there was a pop-up offering free shipping on DNA testing kits if we signed up for 23andMe's news and special offers email list. We also spotted a promotion at the top of the site: buy one kit, get 10% off on each additional kit. That's not the most impressive discount we've seen, but it's better than nothing.

Excellent reputation overall

How about reputation? Generally speaking, this is a DNA test kit service whose results you can trust. Always keeping in mind that DNA testing is a work in progress, most people find that these tests are accurate - both for health and for ancestry. More than 2,000 customers have given 23andMe a perfect five-star rating, and the Better Business Bureau rates this company with an "A" grade. We found more than a few complaints, but almost every single one of them brought up problems with shipping (missing or delayed packages both to the customer and to the processing facility with the sample) or excessively long timeframes for running the sample and providing results. Very few people have anything negative to say about the results once they receive them.

Best choice for health + heritage DNA tests

Most DNA testing kits make you choose between learning about your ancestry or your genetic health profile, but 23andMe gives you a wealth of information about both with one simple, affordable test. You'll only have to watch one or two of the customer stories on the site to see just how valuable the results of these tests can be, from revealing health conditions of adoptees who don't know anything about their birth families' medical history to taking proactive steps to prevent disease. And, of course, there are all of the fun and amazing stories to discover when connecting with your relatives through your ancestry profile. Once again, 23andMe earns our highest recommendation among providers of DNA tests.