Where Can You Get the Best DNA Testing Kits? DNA testing kits have become super popular, and it's easy to see why. They're like opening a personal time capsule of your family history, health information, or even discovering fun quirks about your genes. Ready to learn more about yourself at a cellular level?
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FamilyTree DNA (FTDNA) is one of the longest-standing and most specialized consumer DNA testing companies, founded in 2000 in Houston, Texas. It was the first to offer direct-to-consumer DNA testing for genealogical purposes, focusing initially on Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) testing, which trace paternal and maternal lineages respectively. This approach still distinguishes FTDNA from many other companies, which mostly offer autosomal DNA tests. FTDNA's specialized tests allow users to explore deeper ancestral origins, including haplogroups, which can indicate ancient migratory paths of paternal or maternal ancestors.
Basic (but not deeply detailed) autosomal DNA testing available
Depending on what your goals are (and what DNA testing you may have already done), you can use FTDNA to give you a general overview of your heritage or to dig deeply into your maternal and paternal background. The basic autosomal DNA Family Finder package is FamilyTree DNA's starting point, regularly priced at $79 but on sale for $49 at the time of this review. This testing kit shows you living relatives within the last 5 generations, and genetic males will have an intermediate Y-DNA haplogroup associated with their results. You'll be given a percentage breakdown of your ethnic/geographic origins (although we find FTDNA's results to be less detailed than what we got from the #1 DNA testing service on our list).
Take a deep dive into your maternal and/or paternal DNA
However, if you need to go deeper - maybe you're an adoptee who needs as much information as you can get, in order to identify your birth mother and father - you'll want to consider FTDNA's tests that analyze mtDNA and Y-DNA. The mtFull Sequence kit costs $159 (or $129 on sale) and makes it possible to see and connect with your maternal line relatives in their database. Similarly, there are three Y-DNA options, classified according to how many markers are tested: Y-37 ($119 list, $99 on sale), Y-111 ($249 list, $209 on sale), and Big Y-700 ($449 list, $399 on sale). Just remember (or be aware) that if you are genetically female, you would need to have your brother or father tested to use any Y-DNA test and see where your paternal line came from. Fortunately, if you're interested in multiple DNA testing types, FTDNA offers bundles to save you a bit over buying them individually.
Same company behind multiple services
Digging into FamilyTree DNA is where we realized how much crossover there is among several of the DNA testing kit options on our list. We learned that Gene by Gene is the lab behind not just FTDNA but also MyHeritage and myDNA. In fact, FamilyTree DNA no longer has its own family tree builder tool on the site: instead, you connect your FTDNA account with MyHeritage, so that your DNA results can be linked with the tree you construct on MH. However, FTDNA is no longer providing any kind of health results with your DNA testing; it seems strange that they don't still offer that connection, given that Gene by Gene is the "engine" behind the health-related DNA testing offered at myDNA. Long story short, you can currently use FamilyTree DNA for heritage/ancestry purposes, but if you want to solve medical mysteries, you'll need to visit its partner site myDNA directly.
Prepare for a learning curve when sorting matches
Using FTDNA to sort through matching relatives is a little cumbersome compared with its higher-ranking rivals. That's partly due to the depth of details of the DNA testing here: most competitors don't even offer the capability of mtDNA and Y-DNA analysis, but you'll see those results (when available) on every match in your list here. To see which of your DNA matches are also related to each other, you have to click a person of interest and then the "in common" button, but doing that gave us conflicting results with the Matrix tool also offered by FTDNA: we chose two people we were confident were related, and the Matrix results said no, while the "in common" list did display them together. Expect a pretty steep learning curve as you figure out how to make FamilyTree DNA useful for your research.
Not as many DNA matches as other sites
You also shouldn't expect the same quantity of matches on FTDNA as you'll find on our top-rated DNA testing kit site - or even as there is on sister site MyHeritage. Our #1 service showed us over 30,000 DNA matches, while FamilyTree DNA only had about 5,000. Those also tended to be more distant matches (under 200 cM, or in other words, further back than a third-cousin level of relationship), and it didn't seem to capture any of the international matches that we spotted when we used MyHeritage.
Upload your DNA test results from other sites for free
However, it costs nothing to take your DNA results from another platform and upload them to FTDNA. You could use that to see what your initial matches provide and then decide if you'd like to upgrade to more in-depth mtDNA or Y-DNA analysis.
Good DNA testing kits for more in-depth ancestry results
Overall, we give FamilyTree DNA a solid rating, supported by the company's "A+" and accreditation from the Better Business Bureau. If you've already taken a DNA test somewhere else but you still need some answers - ones that might only be solved by looking more deeply and specifically at your maternal and paternal lineage - this is going to be one of the only kits on the market that can do that for you. Although you may not want to make this the first or only place you turn for DNA testing (because of the more limited database of potential relatives), FTDNA earns our recommendation as a reliable service.
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DNA testing kits have become super popular, and it's easy to see why. They're like opening a personal time capsule of your family history, health information, or even discovering fun quirks about your genes. Ready to learn more about yourself at a cellular level?
Let's take a look at why you might want to take one of these tests, what information DNA testing kits can (and can't) provide, how accurate they are, and some helpful tips for choosing the right one. One of the most common motivations is ancestry. Many people want to know where their family history traces back to. Whether it's discovering you have roots in a different continent or confirming family lore, DNA tests often give people a deeper connection to their heritage.
There's also been a rise in interest for proving a close genetic connection to countries that offer "citizenship by descent": if your grandfather was, say, Italian and he was born after March 1861, you could use your DNA test (and the supporting documents you might find among the testing site's resources) as part of proving your relationship.
Then, there's the genetic health angle. Some tests go beyond ancestry and can tell you if you're predisposed to certain health conditions or traits. Imagine learning if you're likely to be lactose intolerant or if you carry a gene that increases your risk for certain diseases. It helps people make proactive decisions about their health or understand their family's medical history better.
Individuals also use DNA tests for finding living relatives. You might be interested in finding distant cousins or even uncovering long-lost family connections. Some DNA tests can match you with people who share portions of your DNA, helping you build a family tree with solid scientific backing. DNA testing kits have become a huge resource for people who were adopted or donor-conceived, enabling them to do some sleuthing and find out, based on who their DNA matches are, the identity of their biological parent(s).
Just be aware that taking a DNA test, especially those that offer connections with living matches, can be something of a Pandora's box. Current estimates from organizations like DNAngels say that anywhere from 5% to 29% of people taking a DNA test experience an "NPE" - a non-paternal event or sometimes referred to as "not parent expected". Instagram reels and TikTok videos are full of test-takers who were stunned to learn that their dad isn't actually their biological father, or that they have 25 half-siblings through sperm donor conception. Most people won't have that kind of "DNA surprise", but you should understand that it's a possibility.
When deciding on a DNA testing kit, here are a few key factors to consider:
To help you choose a DNA testing kit, the experts at Top Consumer Reviews have evaluated, tested, and ranked some of today's most popular services. The one that's right for you depends on what you hope to learn, so take your time exploring your options. We're confident that you'll be able to uncover fascinating insights about yourself and your family history while having a little fun with science along the way.
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