what's your fav commercial genetic company?(POLL)

[Jana]

And why?

Did your preference change over the years? What would you recommend to a friend looking for a DNA test?

Taking everything into account like:

-ancestry composition quality
-matches
-raw data quality
-price/shipping cost
-database size
-additional features like haplogroups, potential upgrades, health information
-wait time to get results
-frequency of updates

Etc. Curious about what people here think.

And also, which one you think is the worst and should be avoided and why?

[Arūnas]

they predicting like in PCR tests ?

[Not a Cop]

23andme is best for casual users i guess, FTDNA is for nerds.

[Leto]

I've picked FTDNA because it's the only one I actually paid for.

23andme is best for casual users i guess, FTDNA is for nerds.
What are your grandparents 3.0 results? I don't remember you posting them, even though you had a thread years ago.

[Dušan]

I like Genetic groups based on IBD on MyHeritage, and old autosomal reference populations on FTDNA.

[Not a Cop]

I've picked FTDNA because it's the only one I actually paid for.

What are your grandparents 3.0 results? I don't remember you posting them, even though you had a thread years ago.

East\West Slav+Baltic mostly, 20% Finland for northern grandma

Half-German grandpa got some shitty results, i guess West-Slav includes some amount of germanic admixture:


West Slavic
51%
Western Europe
England, Wales, and Scotland
28%
Baltic
Baltic
14%
Finnish
Finland
7%
Southern Europe
Malta
info
<1%

[Leto]

East\West Slav+Baltic mostly, 20% Finland for northern grandma

Half-German grandpa got some shitty results, i guess West-Slav includes some amount of germanic admixture:


West Slavic
51%
Western Europe
England, Wales, and Scotland
28%
Baltic
Baltic
14%
Finnish
Finland
7%
Southern Europe
Malta
info
<1%
Sure some West Slavic and some Baltic must've come from the German side. The British thing is just plain wrong.

[Not a Cop]

Sure some West Slavic and some Baltic must've come from the German side. The British thing is just plain wrong.

Some baltic can come from german side, but he's modeled very close to 50/50 in g25.

[rothaer]

Favorite for today neatly is AncestryDNA before 23andMe.

Why? Best SNP selection for matching comparisons and admix calculators by still using the OmniExpress chip. Biggest database with notable proportion of customers interested in ancestry research with trees and notable readiness to reply if contacted. The ancestry composition is okay. Big minus is that you don't get matching segment data.
(The ancestry composition of 23andMe is the most applicable one, it additionally provides 5 different levels of confidence and shows what part of chromosomes is judged how. Also the X chromosome is judged for ancestry, which is not the case at any other company. Unique at 23andMe is also that the ancestry composition even improves if you connect with one or two parents and the data then gets phased. Also the parent’s ancestry composition then improves a bit.)

Till the chip change at 23andMe from Illumina OmniExpress to Illumina GSA (V4 to V5) I regarded 23andMe the best and would likely still do today.

Depending on the actual goal I’d recommend 23andMe or AncestryDNA.

Worst is LivingDNA. They have for many years fooled the customers with inapplicable announcements and do not even provide a matching list. Next worst is MyHeritage. Besides a very bad ancestry composition they provide stunning many false negative and positive matches. The ancestry composition of FTDNA is poor as well.

[reboun]

I would choose the cheapest among the ones that allow the user to download raw data and upload onto GEDmatch. GEDmatch percentages are the best, in my opinion.

By the way I apologise that I trolled Croatians in a few threads of mine after we had some arguments under your own classification thread. I really feel sorry for this.

[Kaspias]

One should not take seriously the percentages companies supplied at all, so my answer is MyHeritage when considering the rest of the features it offers.

- Cheaper and ships literally everywhere.
- Can predict your y-DNA for free.
- Has got region assignments based on IBD, and more effective than the rest. It's due to 23andme works with an algorithm that models you first, then assigns you region if you match with any regions in the boundaries of your model. If you have modeled like English + Ukrainian(we can't even see it in the UI) and if you actually have got relativity with a French region, it won't show up. However, MH can assign you to a region even if you score 0% from it, in the condition of you show actual relativity with that region.


Ancestry is worst, on the other hand, very few(not coping with the rest) features for a very expensive price.

[Kyp]

23andme. just because of the y-dna and mtdna information in the standard test. Otherwise i'd choose Myheritage.

[Roy]

I have only bought a 23andme kit, but I also remember placing my data on my MyHeritage account.

[RenaRyuguu]

ancestry hope to get it today or tmr I see when I get paid I don't spend anything without being paid first.

[Jana]

Thanks for replies! My take:

23andme - overrated. Best AC on the market, by far most precise, but that does not work for everyone. Poor for Croats for example because nations genetically similar to us (Slovenes & Magyars) are sorted into different region and due to overlap many get chaotic and illogical results. I saw some like the Maestro who is Magyar + Albo getting almost fully Balkan on 23andme which failed to recognize his EE side.

But in general their AC is better and more reliable than any other on the market and works excellent for most of people. Phasing with parents is a fantastic option that you won't get at other companies and it can further refine your AC in great detail.
Another plus is that that website layout looks pleasing and professional.

I love how they provide haplogroups for free and even refine them to subclades, this is a huge advantage 23andme has over any other test.

Bad stuff: pricey, and shipping can be unreasonably expensive when you order it to some European countries for example. They don't ship anywhere. Raw data quality significantly dropped with V5 chip.
Their biggest sin in my eyes is the fact they will stop giving updates to people with older (V1-V4) chips, and you would need to buy entirely new test to get their new features and updates. And you will need to re-test, they won't even use your stored DNA for a re-test if you opt to buy one.

This is just unforgivable. All other companies give updates for their older customers and don't stop giving them out to selected group of people asking for additional money and tests. Terrible move by the company greedy for more money.
During previous updates older chip customers needed to wait longer for them as well. No other company did this. Another minus is that they don't allow raw data transfers from other companies like Myheritage or FTDNA do allow.

I just think there are better options than 23andme.

[El_Jibaro]

I liked AncestryDNA.

[Jana]

Favorite for today neatly is AncestryDNA before 23andMe.

Why? Best SNP selection for matching comparisons and admix calculators by still using the OmniExpress chip. Biggest database with notable proportion of customers interested in ancestry research with trees and notable readiness to reply if contacted. The ancestry composition is okay. Big minus is that you don't get matching segment data.
(The ancestry composition of 23andMe is the most applicable one, it additionally provides 5 different levels of confidence and shows what part of chromosomes is judged how. Also the X chromosome is judged for ancestry, which is not the case at any other company. Unique at 23andMe is also that the ancestry composition even improves if you connect with one or two parents and the data then gets phased. Also the parent’s ancestry composition then improves a bit.)

Till the chip change at 23andMe from Illumina OmniExpress to Illumina GSA (V4 to V5) I regarded 23andMe the best and would likely still do today.

Depending on the actual goal I’d recommend 23andMe or AncestryDNA.

Worst is LivingDNA. They have for many years fooled the customers with inapplicable announcements and do not even provide a matching list. Next worst is MyHeritage. Besides a very bad ancestry composition they provide stunning many false negative and positive matches. The ancestry composition of FTDNA is poor as well.

ancestry hope to get it today or tmr I see when I get paid I don't spend anything without being paid first.

I liked AncestryDNA.

I like AncestryDNA a lot too, it was always my favorite company, and I don't even have a test results from them yet.

IMO Ancestry website layout/design looks so fine, to me best of all companies, even nicer than 23andme. I like how their AC composition looks and I think it is very good.
Not as precise or accurate like 23andme but much better than current FTDNA or Myheritage/LivingDNA AC.

It's kind of simplistic and logical, and their genetic communities are awesome. Unfortunately, they are lacking for my area of Europe (all Croats and even most Serbs/Bosniaks get one and the same genetic community for example).
Stears genetic community is kind of off as well.

But they're doing fantastic job for western Euros and new worlders. Simply their AC and all that goes with it appeals very much to me.
Nice thing you can also extract y-dna from their raw data for free. Their price I find okay, somewhere in the middle between more pricey and cheaper tests. Shipping is cheap but a minus is that they also don't ship to everywhere.

Database size and possible geneaological research on their site / family tree building is indeed better than what any other company has to offer by far, as already mentioned in post above. Here they are far ahead of competition.

As a bad side of ancestryDNA is a fact that you can't transfer your raw data there as well (same issue like 23andme). But in general they are my prefered/favorite company.
And their raw data quality is still fine, unlike these other popular companies! That's very important for anyone interested in gedmatch or G25 calculators and modeling.

If ancestry adds basic haplogroup info to their report like 23andme does to me they would be obvious no.1 without any second thought. But even right now I'd opt for them.

[TheMaestro]

Most of I tried were bad 23andme worst. FTDNA after update probably closest.

[RenaRyuguu]

I like AncestryDNA a lot too, it was always my favorite company, and I don't even have a test results from them yet.

IMO Ancestry website layout/design looks so fine, to me best of all companies, even nicer than 23andme. I like how their AC composition looks and I think it is very good.
Not as precise or accurate like 23andme but much better than current FTDNA or Myheritage/LivingDNA AC.

It's kind of simplistic and logical, and their genetic communities are awesome. Unfortunately, they are lacking for my area of Europe (all Croats and even most Serbs/Bosniaks get one and the same genetic community for example).
Stears genetic community is kind of off as well.

But they're doing fantastic job for western Euros and new worlders. Simply their AC and all that goes with it appeals very much to me.
Nice thing you can also extract y-dna from their raw data for free. Their price I find okay, somewhere in the middle between more pricey and cheaper tests. Shipping is cheap but a minus is that they also don't ship to everywhere.

Database size and possible geneaological research on their site / family tree building is indeed better than what any other company has to offer by far, as already mentioned in post above. Here they are far ahead of competition.

As a bad side of ancestryDNA is a fact that you can't transfer your raw data there as well (same issue like 23andme). But in general they are my prefered/favorite company.
And their raw data quality is still fine, unlike these other popular companies! That's very important for anyone interested in gedmatch or G25 calculators and modeling.

If ancestry adds basic haplogroup info to their report like 23andme does to me they would be obvious no.1 without any second thought. But even right now I'd opt for them.

I will do only ancestry you are right I wonder what I will get there

[RenaRyuguu]

I like AncestryDNA a lot too, it was always my favorite company, and I don't even have a test results from them yet.

IMO Ancestry website layout/design looks so fine, to me best of all companies, even nicer than 23andme. I like how their AC composition looks and I think it is very good.
Not as precise or accurate like 23andme but much better than current FTDNA or Myheritage/LivingDNA AC.

It's kind of simplistic and logical, and their genetic communities are awesome. Unfortunately, they are lacking for my area of Europe (all Croats and even most Serbs/Bosniaks get one and the same genetic community for example).
Stears genetic community is kind of off as well.

But they're doing fantastic job for western Euros and new worlders. Simply their AC and all that goes with it appeals very much to me.
Nice thing you can also extract y-dna from their raw data for free. Their price I find okay, somewhere in the middle between more pricey and cheaper tests. Shipping is cheap but a minus is that they also don't ship to everywhere.

Database size and possible geneaological research on their site / family tree building is indeed better than what any other company has to offer by far, as already mentioned in post above. Here they are far ahead of competition.

As a bad side of ancestryDNA is a fact that you can't transfer your raw data there as well (same issue like 23andme). But in general they are my prefered/favorite company.
And their raw data quality is still fine, unlike these other popular companies! That's very important for anyone interested in gedmatch or G25 calculators and modeling.

If ancestry adds basic haplogroup info to their report like 23andme does to me they would be obvious no.1 without any second thought. But even right now I'd opt for them.

but also I find it interesting I tell you they don't ship to Serbia you know? Is why they are missing data you know

[Jana]

but also I find it interesting I tell you they don't ship to Serbia you know? Is why they are missing data you know

AncestryDNA genetic communities for south Slavs need update, they are really poor and lacking at the moment (especially since many regions of US and Europe get incredible many)

Bulgaria
Northeast Italy, Croatia & Bosnia and Herzegovina
Western Balkans

In comparison Greeks and Albanians have it much better:

Aegean Islands
West Anatolia & Aegean Islands
Crete
Dodecanese Islands
East Central Aegean Islands
North Aegean Islands
West Central Aegean Islands
Albania, Northern Greece & North Macedonia
Albania & Western North Macedonia
Northern Greece
Southern Albania & Northern Greece
West Central North Macedonia
South Greece
Central Greece
Ionian Islands
Peloponnese
South Peloponnese
Southeast Peloponnese
Southwest Peloponnese
West Peloponnese

[rothaer]

(...)

Agreed to most comments.

But I'd not really critisize a lacking upload possibility at AncestryDNA and 23andMe. They have some motivations for that that are also advantageous for their customers. As for AncestryDNA they maintain a good liability of matching by not allowing external uploads as they just have OmniExpress chip SNP selection raw data in their database. And 23andMe is maintaining their comparably high level of the ancestry composition by exactly knowing what raw data there is.
The upload possibilities among the companies present like this:

https://i.imgur.com/MhAdc1r.jpg

And the data base sizes are like this:

https://i.imgur.com/6Mx41W9.jpg

It may be noted that the raw data of AncestryDNA does not just contain YDNA data, but also mtDNA data. They just don't show it. But you can use the Morley predictor for Y DNA

https://ytree.morleydna.com/

and James Lick for mtDNA determination:

https://dna.jameslick.com/mthap/

This is all more laborious then just getting it told by the company, but you can well do it with a little effort.

[Voskos]

Best references: Ancestry, best technology: FTDNA, best matching: 23andme, best value for money + innovative: Myheritage.

[RenaRyuguu]

AncestryDNA genetic communities for south Slavs need update, they are really poor and lacking at the moment (especially since many regions of US and Europe get incredible many)

Bulgaria
Eastern European Roma
Northeast Italy, Croatia & Bosnia and Herzegovina
Western Balkans

In comparison Greeks and Albanians have it much better:

Aegean Islands
West Anatolia & Aegean Islands
Crete
Dodecanese Islands
East Central Aegean Islands
North Aegean Islands
West Central Aegean Islands
Albania, Northern Greece & North Macedonia
Albania & Western North Macedonia
Northern Greece
Southern Albania & Northern Greece
West Central North Macedonia
South Greece
Central Greece
Ionian Islands
Peloponnese
South Peloponnese
Southeast Peloponnese
Southwest Peloponnese
West Peloponnese

Cuz that admix knows what's good and what to order

[Jana]

My opinion on the rest:

FTDNA: good if you have lots of money. AC composition is pure trash (should have kept old one, was simplistic but it worked), but at least family finder is cheapest autosomal test out there plus they often have legit discounts.
FTDNA allows raw data transfer for some payment. Not that large database, but when it comes to y and mtdna they are excellent. Except for the fact you can't extract basic hg prediction from their FF raw data for free like you can do with some other companies.

I mean they are only company who offer deep haplogroup testing at the same place. And you don't need to retest but they will use DNA you already provided. That's a nice plus. But honestly, their y/mt dna tests/upgrades are very expensive. Too expensive even. If you compare their prices with yseq who do the same thing just quicker and cheaper than they do, they simply cost too much for an average Joe. Average single snp cost 2x more at FTDNA than on yseq, for example. And you need to wait for months to get your deep clade results.

Their raw data just like 23andme went down in quality which is another minus. They are so-so for me, cool stuff for those with extra cash to spend but kind of shitty otherwise. They also don't offer any kind of genetic groups/communities/regions based on IBD sharing like 23andme/MyHeritage/Ancestry do.

MyHeritage: great thing is that they offer FREE raw data transfers once a year. That's awesome and something other companies don't do. Kudos to them for that.
Their genetic groups are very fine and great step forward. Another big plus.

Price is okay, they were cheapest test on the market for some time, but not anymore, price went up a bit (FTDNA FF is cheaper and more often on discount), so now they are in the middle of the pack.
AC composition is really trashy just like FTDNA but their website looks even worse, it looks really cheap and uninspiring. Better design would help, not that it matters that much, but they visually look like crap.

Another cool things is that from their raw data y-dna can be extracted, just like with ancestryDNA , and for free.

Bad stuff: tons of false matches, more than any other company. Bad raw data quality, not any better than 23andV5 or current FTDNA.

They still feel like a work in progress, but I feel they will get quite better in coming years. And, myheritage has large customer base in Europe (unlike ancestryDNA for example), which in turn can result for more matches and better future updates for their Euro users.

LivingDNA: don't know much about it. But from what I've seen, it's very shitty, except maybe for people with British Isles ancestry.

[Dirdepo]

23andme is King

[samario]

I've only had 23AndMe but AncestryDNA seems like a good choice. Their database is larger and the share of unassigned is lower.

I also like their communities feature.

[Roy]

23andme is King

Bless 23andme for confirming my suspicions as to why I get a diarrhea after drinking more than a cup of milk! :D

Also I checked a SNP for my seasonal affective disorder and I am as a matter fact over 5 times more likely to have it than someone without my variant.