MyHeritage DNA costs $89 at MSRP and is the sharper buy when your family history crosses borders. The kit pairs a cheek-swab DNA test with a 50-language genealogy platform, roughly 39 billion historical records, and a feature stack (Smart Matches, Theory of Family Relativity, and a chromosome browser) that AncestryDNA does not match. It is not the best default first test for U.S. buyers, but for cross-border genealogy it is the strongest mainstream option.
Below, we cover the kit, the features competitors skip, the separately-sold Health product, the 2025 product changes, and what the 2018 breach means for buyers in 2026.
What MyHeritage Is (and Isn’t)
MyHeritage is a family-history platform that happens to sell a DNA test, not a health-testing brand that happens to do ancestry. The standard MyHeritage DNA kit is built to feed your DNA matches into a tree-and-records workflow, with roughly 39 billion historical records and tens of millions of public family trees on the platform.
A separate product, MyHeritage Health, returns DTC health reports: polygenic risk scores, selected monogenic risk reports, and carrier-status reports covering areas such as hereditary cancer risk. These reports have limited variant scope, are not comprehensive diagnostic tests, and are not a substitute for clinical genetic testing or genetic counseling. MedlinePlus Genetics notes DTC health results may miss disease-related variants and can need confirmation from a clinical lab.
Choosing between brands by job:
- International genealogy and family-tree work: MyHeritage is the strongest mainstream pick.
- Largest U.S. matching pool: AncestryDNA leads.
- FDA-authorized health-risk reports plus ancestry in one kit: 23andMe leads.
Pricing, Kits, and the DNA Day Cadence
The standard MyHeritage DNA kit is listed at $89 MSRP, with shipping added at checkout. In practice, MyHeritage runs deep promos several times a year and the kit rarely sells at full price.
The cadence is predictable. Expect meaningful price drops around DNA Day (April 25), Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and the New Year. Promo pricing routinely lands well under $40. If you do not need the kit this week, waiting for the next holiday window is the rational play.
A few pricing notes worth knowing before checkout:
- MyHeritage Health is a separate purchase. It is sold as its own SKU, not bundled with the standard ancestry kit, and price and availability vary by market. The Health kit returns DTC health reports (polygenic risk scores, selected monogenic risk reports, and carrier-status reports) with limited variant scope, not as a substitute for clinical genetic testing. MyHeritage does not have an FDA marketing authorization on record for these reports, so if FDA-authorized health-risk reports are why you are testing, 23andMe is the clearer choice.
- Some platform features sit behind a subscription. The standard kit covers DNA matching, ethnicity, and basic tree tools. Deeper records access and some advanced tree features require a paid plan: MyHeritage’s Complete Plan and PremiumPlus tiers. Verify current subscription pricing on the MyHeritage site; it changes.
The buying logic is straightforward: buy the standard kit on a holiday promo, and only add the Health kit if the health angle is why you are testing.
What You Get: Ethnicity, Matches, and the Tools Competitors Skip
The kit is a cheek-swab collection, mailed to MyHeritage’s lab partner Gene by Gene in Houston for processing. MyHeritage states the lab is CLIA-certified and CAP-accredited. Results land in your account in about three to four weeks, and a typical results page combines four things.
Ethnicity Estimate v2.5
The February 2025 v2.5 update expanded the ethnicity model to 79 ethnicities and roughly 2,114 Genetic Groups: finer breakdowns of regional and migration-linked communities than the older 42-region model. Two interpretation rules apply here and to every ethnicity test on the market: estimates are statistical groupings drawn from a specific reference panel, and different companies use different panels, which is why splits can shift from brand to brand. MedlinePlus Genetics flags both points. Treat the numbers as modeled probabilities, not bright-line ancestry categories. For the broader accuracy framing across services, see the roundup.
DNA Matching
Matching surfaces predicted relatives and the centimorgans of DNA you share with each one. MyHeritage’s matching pool is roughly 9.6 million DNA testers, smaller than AncestryDNA’s. The international skew of the pool is the differentiator: relatives in Europe, Latin America, and parts of the Middle East are likelier to surface on MyHeritage than on a U.S.-skewed competitor.
Smart Matches and Theory of Family Relativity
These are two features competitors usually leave out of comparison tables, and they are where MyHeritage earns its money for serious researchers.
- Smart Matches compares your family tree against the tens of millions of trees on the platform and surfaces likely matches for the same ancestor: names, dates, and places that suggest the same person on two different trees. Useful when relatives are on the platform through family research rather than a DNA kit.
- Theory of Family Relativity proposes specific paths connecting you to a DNA match by stitching together evidence from your tree, other users’ trees, and historical records. Instead of guessing how you are related to a match, you get a candidate path you can verify with documents.
Neither feature exists in AncestryDNA’s current product. Theory of Family Relativity requires a paid subscription at full depth. For a deeper look at how DNA matching turns into actual relative discovery, see the guide.
Chromosome browser and AutoClusters
MyHeritage offers a chromosome browser that visualizes the specific segments of each chromosome you share with one or more DNA matches. AncestryDNA, famously, does not. The browser is what lets you confirm two matches descend from the same shared segment and triangulate which ancestor that segment came from. It is the main reason genetic-genealogy practitioners keep recommending MyHeritage over AncestryDNA for serious match work.
AutoClusters groups your matches into color-coded clusters of people who likely descend from the same recent ancestral couple, surfacing which side of your family each cluster traces to. It is one of the fastest ways to triage hundreds of matches.
Records, Family Trees, and the Multilingual Workflow
The platform pairs DNA results with roughly 39 billion historical records and tens of millions of public family trees across dozens of countries. The interface is available in 50 languages; researching a Polish great-grandmother through a Polish-language census is meaningfully easier than doing it through a U.S.-only English platform. Record coverage is strongest in Central and Eastern Europe, an advantage over AncestryDNA’s U.S.- and British-Isles-leaning collections.
The tree builder integrates directly with DNA matches. You can attach a DNA match to a specific branch, pull supporting records into the same workflow, and let Smart Matches and Theory of Family Relativity propose the connecting paths. GEDCOM imports are supported, so serious researchers can move existing tree work into the platform. Deeper records access and some advanced tree features require a paid subscription.
Health Reporting: What MyHeritage Offers and Where 23andMe Wins
The previous version of this review said MyHeritage does not offer health reports. That is no longer accurate. A separate MyHeritage Health kit is available in 2026 and returns DTC health reports alongside the ancestry features: polygenic risk scores (statistical risk built from many variants), selected monogenic risk reports (single-gene results for a specific short list of conditions), and carrier-status reports covering areas such as hereditary cancer risk. These reports have limited variant scope, may miss disease-related variants, and are not a substitute for clinical genetic testing or genetic counseling.
The regulatory framing matters, and it is where consumer reviews most often blur the line. The FDA distinguishes between ancestry tests (which are generally not FDA-reviewed) and genetic health reports, which need FDA marketing authorization before a company can offer the first test in a category. 23andMe has FDA marketing authorizations for specific DTC health reports, including genetic health-risk reports, the BRCA1/BRCA2 (Selected Variants) cancer-risk report (initially De Novo authorized and later 510(k)-cleared for additional variants), and a separate pharmacogenetic report. MyHeritage does not have a corresponding FDA marketing authorization identified on FDA’s DTC-test authorization list.
The practical difference: if health reporting is the main reason you are buying a DNA kit, 23andMe is the clearer pick. The 23andMe review covers the scope of its FDA-authorized reports. If ancestry is the priority and a DTC health-reporting layer is a useful add-on, MyHeritage Health is worth evaluating against the current feature list and market availability, just go in knowing the reports cover a fixed list of variants and any clinically significant result deserves confirmation. The National Society of Genetic Counselors recommends professional guidance for any DTC health result that could change a medical decision.
What Changed in 2025–2026
Three updates reshaped the product:
- Ethnicity Estimate v2.5 (February 2025). Expanded to 79 ethnicities and roughly 2,114 Genetic Groups, replacing the older 42-region model.
- Upload sunset (May 2025). MyHeritage stopped accepting uploads of raw autosomal DNA files from other services. If you tested with 23andMe or AncestryDNA and want into MyHeritage, you need a new kit. Family Tree DNA is the most direct workaround, and the raw-data workflow guide walks through alternatives. Previously uploaded files remain accessible.
- Whole genome sequencing rollout (October 2025). Standard ancestry samples sent to the lab from late 2025 onward are processed with low-pass whole-genome sequencing at roughly 2x coverage rather than the genotyping chip used historically. Per MyHeritage’s own help documentation, DNA Health reports still use GSA chip technology and are not compatible with the WGS pipeline; the rollout is an ancestry processing change, not a health-reporting or clinical-grade WGS upgrade. Coverage at 2x suits ancestry analysis, not medical-grade variant interpretation. Existing customers keep their original chip-based results.
Privacy, the 2018 Breach, and Your Data Controls
Privacy is the most common concern in DNA-test reviews, and MyHeritage’s 2018 breach is why the question gets pointed.
In June 2018, a security researcher discovered a file on a private server containing email addresses and hashed passwords for about 92 million MyHeritage accounts. KrebsOnSecurity reported the incident and MyHeritage’s response. Per MyHeritage’s disclosure, the breach exposed credentials only: DNA data, family-tree data, and payment data were stored on separate systems and were not in the leaked file. MyHeritage forced password resets, accelerated two-factor authentication rollout, and hired a cybersecurity firm to investigate.
Two things are true at once. No current evidence indicates the genetic data itself was exposed, and a 92-million-account credential breach is the kind of event that earns permanent disclosure in any honest review.
In 2026, MyHeritage offers the data-control surface you should expect from a major DNA company:
- Download your raw DNA file from the DNA settings.
- Delete your DNA data and request lab destruction of your physical sample through the help center.
- Adjust DNA matching visibility, opt out of matching, and revoke research consent at any time.
- Two-factor authentication is available on accounts.
What you cannot fully control is the secondary-use question. MedlinePlus Genetics flags the same risk for the entire DTC category: privacy policies can change, companies can be sold, and law-enforcement requests are an evolving area. If the breach disqualifies MyHeritage for you, that is defensible. If the international workflow is the draw and the data controls feel sufficient, MyHeritage is not categorically worse than its peers; the entire category carries this set of risks.
Who It’s Best For
MyHeritage DNA earns the buy in three cases:
- Your family history crosses borders. Migration through Europe, relatives in Latin America, records scattered across multiple countries: this is what the platform was built for.
- You want feature depth. Smart Matches, Theory of Family Relativity, the chromosome browser, and AutoClusters add up to a workflow committed genealogists actually use. AncestryDNA refuses to ship a chromosome browser; 23andMe’s tree tools are thinner.
- You are an adoptee with international or unclear origins. The cross-border records and chromosome browser open research paths a U.S.-focused platform handles poorly.
Skip MyHeritage as your first kit when:
- Your family history is mostly American. AncestryDNA’s larger U.S. matching pool will produce more close-relative hits.
- FDA-authorized health-risk reports are why you are testing. 23andMe still leads on that scope.
- You need to upload existing raw DNA. MyHeritage no longer accepts uploads. Family Tree DNA is the closest alternative.
Bottom Line
MyHeritage DNA is the right buy when international genealogy is the job. At $89 MSRP (and routinely well under that on DNA Day and major holidays), the kit pairs the largest cross-border record collection in the category with feature depth no other mainstream brand matches.
If you want the broadest first buy for U.S.-focused genealogy, start with AncestryDNA. If FDA-authorized health-risk reports are the goal, read the 23andMe review. If raw-data uploads are non-negotiable, the Family Tree DNA review is the next step. If your family history crosses countries and languages, MyHeritage is the sharper tool.
