Pricing is one of the lowest on the market, at $89, with specials offered from time to time. Payment is secure, as you would expect it to be, and creating an account is easy — just fill out a simple sign up form on MyHeritage.com.

When you purchase a MyHeritage DNA kit, you can add on a 30-day free trial of the MyHeritage Complete plan, which gives you a chance to try out all the advanced features — including the highly popular photo tools such as Deep Nostalgia™, which animates the faces in photos, and MyHeritage In Color™, which automatically colorizes photos. MyHeritage also offers other subscription options with varying levels of access to advanced features, including Premium, PremiumPlus, and Data.

MyHeritage is the leading global service for family history research and DNA testing. Their pricing is competitive and their kits are simple to use. Their products help users build a comprehensive family tree and explore their family history through DNA testing, enhanced family tree research technologies, the best AI photo improvement tools on the market, and access to 18+ billion historical records. This treasure trove of information will satisfy everyone from the budding family historian to the true genealogical expert.

Ideal For

• Discovering more about your family history, including your ethnic groups and geographical region of origin
• Finding new or long-lost relatives
• Building an extensive family tree
• Resolving paternity questions

The MyHeritage kit is really simple to use.

• Upon receiving the kit, activate it online
• Take one of the enclosed cheek swabs and gently scrape the inside of your cheek for 30-60 seconds
• Place the swab into one of the plastic vials supplied and break the plastic handle, leaving the swab tip inside
• Close the vial and repeat with the second swab on the other cheek
• Place the 2 vials in the clear plastic bag, then seal the bag inside the envelope
• Place stamp and address on envelope and mail it to the MyHeritage lab

The activation process on the website is really straightforward, and only requires basic information. This means you don’t have to prepare any other documentation, or go digging through your files or online records. You login with your MyHeritage details (it’s really simple to sign up) and enter the unique number that comes with your kit (on the bottom of the vials, or on the back of the kit package).

Speed of Kit Delivery and Results

You can track your MyHeritage DNA kit order from the moment you make your purchase and throughout the entire testing process. Simply click the “Manage DNA kits” link on the MyHeritage site, and you’ll see the tracker. You’ll get constant updates (for example “Order placed,” or “Kit has been shipped”) and you can click through for more details.

The kit can take about a week and a half to arrive, but it’s usually quicker. Once you’ve completed the test and sent it off to the lab, results take around 3–4 weeks to be ready. Once they’re in, you’ll receive an email notification, and you’ll be able to see all your results on the MyHeritage website.

DNA Collection Kit

The beautifully packaged kit includes:

• Instruction manual
• Activation code (for registering on website)
• 2 sealed swabs
• 2 vials for the swabs
• Clear plastic bag for the vials
• Return envelope

DNA Test Type

• Autosomal (family DNA)
• Paternity

Report Features

• Ethnic makeup estimate, regional detail (i.e., specific areas of Ireland or the UK, regions in Germany)
• DNA relative matching
• Downloadable DNA data that can be used on other websites such as gedmatch.com

The report starts off by indicating your ethnicity breakdown (for example, 73.2% Balkan, 12% English, etc.), which provides a helpful overall picture. It then allows you to delve deeper into these results and what they mean by showing maps, Genetic Groups, ancestral lines, and explanatory notes. It provides you with DNA matches to possible relatives, and you’ll get updates when new relatives are found. All of this is presented with easy-to-follow diagrams showing how the various relatives fit together, especially the various possible types of cousin, which can be confusing to those new to family trees. It further identifies people with other common characteristics, including shared surnames. The information on ancient migration routes was more sparse than with some other tests on the market, but the focus of this test is primarily on an individual’s origins and family tree.

Paternity Testing

While MyHeritage DNA was not created specifically for paternity testing, it is a top market competitor for other paternity test brands. The way to use MyHeritage kits for paternity testing is by either purchasing 2 kits — 1 for the supposed father and 1 for child — or, if either of the 2 parties already has DNA testing results from another major brand, they can simply upload their results to the MyHeritage database for free and the site will do the matching.

In terms of pricing, 2 MyHeritage DNA kits cost about the same amount as 1 paternity testing DNA kit from another service, and the results are just as accurate as the other major brands.

What’s unique about the MyHeritage DNA test is that in addition to the DNA breakdown and Ethnicity Estimate, you also get to find out more about your ancestors and your family tree, based on your DNA results. The Ethnicity Estimate provides MyHeritage DNA customers with an estimate of their origins from across 2,114 geographic regions — more than any other test on the market. MyHeritage also offers the most comprehensive set of advanced DNA features that can help you analyze your DNA Matches and figure out how they might be related to you, but you need a paid subscription to access most of them.

Users who upload their DNA data to MyHeritage will recieve free DNA Matching and are able to contact their DNA Matches through the site. They can also unlock the Ethnicity Estimate and advanced DNA features with a one-time unlock fee of $29. The results make use of the millions of entries in the MyHeritage database to give a much fuller, richer picture of who you are and where you come from.

The way in which the results are revealed is beautiful and unique. Users receive their Ethnicity Estimate through a dynamic “reveal” which features animations and music tailored to the ethnic and geographical background/s your results pull up.

MyHeritage takes more steps than others to protect your privacy. While most DNA testing centers use a certain level of security measures to ensure that your data is safe, MyHeritage is known for taking it a step further.

You can opt-out of letting scientists use your information anonymously for research. On top of that, the company uses an anonymous ID system with the data, so not even the researchers will get to your name and other personal information.

Additionally, they won’t sell any of your data and information to third pirates without your express consent, which is much more than what other companies give clients coming in for DNA testing.