If you’re still struggling to find great gifts for everyone on your list this year a DNA kit might the perfect solution. Prices are lower than they have ever been and kits from all of these companies ship quickly. They also come in nice packages for gift giving. Once you give the kit as a gift, the recipient can return their DNA sample and see their results at their leisure. They’ll get a full ancestry breakdown as well as host of additional insights with any one of these tests.
We’ve included the most up-to-date holiday DNA deals below.
Please know that we have partnered with many genealogy companies to bring you news, helpful tips and special offers and may earn money to support our work if you choose to buy a test. Enjoy!
Not sure which DNA test to choose? For a detailed comparison of all of the top testing companies see our helpful guide.
Updated Dec 29th, 2017. These deals are no longer valid but the following companies do offer regular discounts. Visit their websites for the best offers available now.
MyHeritage DNA Sale – $59 or $49 when you buy 2 or more, ends Dec 18
MyHeritage may be the newest DNA testing company on this list but they already have some great offerings in place. You can buy a test for $40 off the list price right now for the holidays – $50 off if you buy two or more – (normal list price is $99, although they typically sell their tests for $79).
MyHeritage may not have all of the advanced tools of FTDNA or the large database size of Ancestry, but they do have some really good family history integrations – making it very easy to use your DNA for genealogy research. For a full review of their genealogy-centric genetic test read our in-depth review or grab this deal here.
Family Tree DNA Sale – $59 and reduced shipping, ends Dec 31
FTDNA is the oldest and one of the most respected providers of personal genetic tests for genealogy. They are also the only major company offering autosomal tests (which provide ethnicity percentages and cousin matching) as well as tests of your direct maternal line (mtDNA) and of your direct paternal line (Y-DNA – men only).
Their popular autosomal test Family Finder – which includes the recently updated MyOrigins 2.0 report, advanced tools and cousin matching – is now on sale for $59. This is a $30 savings on their normal price of $89, although they do regularly offer the test for $69.
They are offering deals on their mtDNA and YDNA tests as well!
AncestryDNA Sale – $79 and additional tests at $69
Although Ancestry’s DNA test (autosomal only) has not been around for nearly as long as FTDNA, their service has become incredibly popular since many researchers like to pair a DNA test with the more traditional research they are already doing on Ancestry’s site. Ancestry also recently added a new feature called Genetic Communities that many people are excited about – although some of their DNA features require a record subscription to fully appreciate.
Although we generally recommend FTDNA or MyHeritage over Ancestry for their superior handling of customer privacy, these tests are a good choice for those who use Ancestry on a regular basis and are a nice complement to other autosomal tests you may have taken. Since they do not allow uploads of external raw DNA this is the only way to get their reports.
Ancestry is currently offering a discount of $20 off DNA tests to those in the US. That brings the price down to $79.
Ancestry is also offering 20% off on Gift Memberships that ends on Dec 25th.
Need Some DNA Help?
If you need help figuring out which of these ethnicity tests is best for you check out our detailed comparison guide or find out how to get additional DNA reports for free once you have tested with one of these companies.
You may also like to sign up for our online course, The Genealogy Journey, which includes an entire section on using DNA for genealogy. Our simple lessons will walk you through the entire process from testing to interpreting results (including common pitfalls and misconceptions).
By Melanie Mayo, Family History Daily Editor
That is @$149.00 Canadian.
I just checked on Ancestry and when I said to ship to Canada they put me to the Canada site and the price there is really expensive at the moment $149.00 for 1 kit plus shipping. The most expensive I have ever seen it. Bummer!
Hi Maureen,
You might like to read the following article about how to find free ethnicity reports. You will need to pay for a test first, but once you do you can upload your file to several places and get additional information at no cost.
https://familyhistorydaily.com/genealogy-help-and-how-to/ancestry-dna-coupon-test-discounts/
If I am enrolled on ‘My Heritage” can I get free DNA ethnicity,as a senior it would be wonderful.
Are these prices available in Canada?
How do you find history on a child that was placed with a family back in the 1920s down in Greenville, Washington County, Mississippi who lived on 16th and Alexander street between Eureka and MS Highway #1? What schools did they attend back there? I looked and searched places and wrote to some orphanages but couldn’t find anything. Thank you for your consideration.