Best ancestry DNA tests for exploring your family history, tried and tested

Ancestry is great for those looking for family matching, and all it takes is a saliva sample. The accompanying website is slick, with interactive visuals and detailed colourful diagrams that made finding out more about our ethnicity estimate nice and easy. While our tester’s Irish and English heritage maintained a somewhat consistent percentage across all the DNA kits, Ancestry showed a different and more varied Scandinavian percentage.

The website and testing process are all designed with the idea of connection at the forefront. While genetic traits and ethnic estimations are fascinating, Ancestry can put you in touch with long-lost relatives (as long as they’re in their system). Each account is highly customisable, and you can choose how public or private you wish to be, which was appreciated.

There’s a helpful and well-guided portal for you to build your family tree using the website’s immense database of public records. With the resources already available on the site and with the helpful suggestions from Ancestry, our tester was able to track their direct Irish relatives back to their great-great-grandparents in the mid-1800s, almost all with never-before-seen photographs and public records to match. A truly fascinating way to feel closer to your family and heritage.

Ancestry also offers one of the largest ranges of genetic traits (65, in fact), with some of the most interesting being coriander aversions, hair loss, if you’re likely to own a pet, if you take risks and whether or not you enjoy watching sports. In our tester's case, we would estimate about 60 per cent of these traits ring true. For instance, they have freckles and curly hair and do tend to remember their dreams. However, they are not an endurance runner, do not have a cleft chin and are certainly not a morning person.

We found Ancestry to be a full, well-rounded test that had features worthy of the subscription fees, thanks to its ever-evolving family tree services.

This test took a little longer to arrive than the others, and showed slightly differing results, too – when we reached out to My Heritage, they informed us that the wait time (two months) is normal, so this is something to bear in mind if you’re looking for quick results. DNA is collected with a cheek swab and the postage for posting the swab to them comes at a cost (you need to pay for the stamp). Also be aware that while the basic subscription is included in the price of the kit, for more detailed and informative results you will need to pay monthly subscriptions. These vary in price depending on what you’re looking to gain, with the “ultimate package” setting you back £229 per year.

Those issues aside, we loved the visual way in which our geological data results were presented, with a swirling video of the globe colouring in the previous homes of our ancestors. The usual places sprung up with similar percentages to the other tests – 64 per cent English, 30 per cent Irish, Scottish and Welsh – then a curve ball emerged. Instead of the token one to two per cent Scandinavian heritage found in the other tests, this test found five per cent Iberian heritage. Just because the other tests did not mention this does not necessarily mean it’s inaccurate, but it’s certainly interesting.

Where our tester’s results were concerned, My Heritage had the most interesting living family matches – finding at least 10 close relatives. Most were first cousins of their parents, with our tester’s dad able to identify relatives with whom he had grown up but had since lost touch. Through these connections, our tester was able to see detailed family trees that traced direct bloodlines back to the early 1800s. There is also a feature that enables you to upload old photos and watch them come to life with AI animation.

Beyond these features, the My Heritage website is relatively basic and does not provide DNA-related information on health or genetic traits, but we were impressed with its commitment and ability to build strong, and easy-to-decipher family trees.

23andMe is one of the most well-known DNA testing companies, and our tester found the whole process ran smoothly. Setting up an account can feel like a lot of paperwork due to the number of consent waivers that have to be signed regarding testing DNA. But, our tester liked the idea of their DNA being used to help with disease and genetic trait research, and safeguarding can be essential for services such as this one.

Our tester received their results almost exactly one month after sending their samples. They were unsurprised to learn they are 100 per cent European, and liked that 23andMe provides details of when different nationalities crossed over in your ancestral timeline. For instance, our tester was informed of a 100 per cent Greek and Balkan ancestor born between 1730-1850. This helped breathe life into the possible stories of our tester’s ancestors, making them feel more tangible.

To gain access to health information via this test, you must read a lot of tutorials. It’s important to understand that whether or not you carry a variant for a particular disease or ailment does not guarantee whether or not you will suffer from it at some point in your life. Always seek the advice of a medical professional and remain vigilant in checking your health.

That being said, the health information and genetic traits included were interesting and diverse. Our tester found they were not a variant carrier for Alzheimer’s or breast cancer, while, due to their muscle composition, they are unlikely to become powerlifters (sad but true).

Our tester also learnt a lot about traits they had not realised were genetic, such as ice cream flavour preference, finger length and stretch marks (thanks, mum and dad). In terms of these traits, we found perhaps 70 per cent of them to ring true.

It is possible to spend hours looking through all the information, so 23andMe would suit those who have a deeper fascination with ancestry and genetic tracking.

Read our full 23andMe DNA test review

With this DNA test, both the kit and results arrived promptly. It also had the most specific information about where in the UK our tester’s DNA could be traced. Regions were each broken down into their own percentages, with southeast England, where our tester was born and raised, coming out as the highest percentage.

Living DNA was also the first to introduce our tester to their haplogroup – a group of people who share a common ancestor, from up to 50 generations ago. The Living DNA mitochondrial test is able to reveal these groups by linking back to a person’s earliest maternal or paternal ancestors, with our tester’s haplogroup (U5a) believed to have emerged during the coldest point of the Ice Age, around 22,000 years ago – they sound like a tough bunch to us.

That aside, one of Living DNA’s key selling points is its well-being information. This is different from health information, and the kit instead uses DNA to find areas of potential deficiency that can be improved, following up the information with helpful solutions. For instance, our tester was informed they were low in vitamins B12 and A, which can be resolved by an increase in milk, egg, cheese and supplements in their diet. They were also told they were genetically not very strong, so exercises that involve light resistance but increased reps would be much more effective. You can pay for a customised supplement subscription, based on your results.

In terms of family matching, however, this was one of the weaker tests – with a smaller and less active database, it hinged on a handful of third and fourth cousins. Despite this, we loved how clear the information was for ancestor mapping. A particular feature we found both curious and inspiring was the ability to map the migration of maternal ancestors. Our tester’s group was believed to be one of the first groups to migrate out of Eastern Africa almost 70,000 years ago. There are also additional packages that see the site attempt to find evidence of Viking, Neanderthal and ancient world connections in your DNA.

You can purchase the ancestry and wellbeing tests separately if you’re only interested in certain results and want to pay less.