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Findmypast DNA Testing Review (2023)

databases and digitized records can help you find and discover information

8.6
very good
Ryan Sze author image

In a Nutshell

At first glance, Findmypast seems like an excellent family tree building tool. And that’s what it is. You can find long-lost relatives, connect to distant kinfolk, and learn fascinating facts about who you are. But there’s more. Findmypast also has an accurate DNA test kit that allows you to trace your heritage back 80,000 years! The detailed reports include fascinating insights into your past, insights from genealogists, and interactive maps.

pros

  • Powerful, technology-enabled platform
  • Contains billions of records
  • Its DNA test analysis services can unlock additional insights

cons

  • Primarily for North Americans with British and Irish ancestry
  • Lacks global or cross-border historical records

Findmypast Findmypast Visit Site

Types of Tests and Kits You Can Get from Findmypast 

Findmypast offers a single ancestry DNA test via their DNA test kit partner, Living DNA.

Ancestry tests

This kit reveals information about your ancestral origins down to the county (rather than just country) level. Additionally, the test maps your ancestry across 150 global regions. 21 of these regions are in Britain and Ireland—making Findmypast’s ancestry DNA test ideal for those of British descent.

If you upgrade to the paternal or maternal DNA test, your Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA will also be analyzed, allowing you to gain even greater insight into your paternal or maternal ancestors’ migration patterns.

Finally, Family Networks, the company’s relative matching system, is included at no additional charge and allows you to connect with possible living relatives.

Findmypast DNA Testing Kits

Third-party test kit analysis

If you have test kit data from 23andMe, AncestryDNA, MyHeritage, and Family Tree DNA, you can also take advantage of Family Networks. Simply upload the data provided by your test kit to start discovering relatives.

Other Features at Findmypast

Findmypast offers a variety of databases and research tools that can help you build an accurate family tree.

Family tree builder

Build your family tree with Findmypast—and start for free. To begin, all you have to do is sign up and provide your demographic information.

Next, add as much information as you know about your grandparents, relatives, and other descendants. Using this information, Findmypast will help you find possible relative matches, locate more distant ancestors, and cross-reference your information with historical records.

If you upgrade to a paid subscription, you can access the largest online database of British and Irish records in the world, including national censuses and registers from the more distant past. With an Essential British & Irish package, you’ll be able to reach out to people who share common ancestors with you, and an Ultimate subscription includes guidance from an in-house team of experts.

National censuses and registers

Paying subscribers can get micropayment (pay-per-view) access to additional records, like the 1921 United Kingdom census and the 1939 Register of England and Wales. Findmypast’s 1939 Register database houses 1.2 million digitized pages of documents that together contain the personal information of over 41 million people.

Findmypast DNA Testing Kits

Miscellaneous records

Whether or not you’re subscribed to Findmypast, you can always access the site’s billions of other archived records, including newspaper, travel, and immigration records. Findmypast also provides census data from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Ireland.

How Much Does Findmypast Cost?

Findmypast offers a subscription service that provides access to a large database of British and Irish demographic records at several different price points.


Free

Essential British & Irish

Ultimate British & Irish

Price

$0

$10.75 per month (billed annually)


$14.95 per month (billed monthly)

$14.92 per month (billed annually)


$19.95 per month (billed monthly)

Free records

Upload existing family tree

1921 micropayment access


Birth, marriage, death records


Migration records


Parish records


Connect with possible relatives


Military and institutional records



Wills and probate records



1921 census discount



Findmypast’s free plan is a good option if you’re a newbie genealogist and just need access to the basics.

On the other hand, if you need access to a more extensive database of records, or want pay-per-view access to the 1921 census, you’ll need to purchase a subscription first. Unlike other competitors, Findmypast offers unlimited access to a vast majority of its records for a flat monthly (or annual) fee.

However, the 1921 census costs extra on top of either paid subscription, making access to a select portion of the site’s records slightly pricey.

Additionally, Findmypast’s DNA test (offered in partnership with Living DNA) costs $89. You can purchase a “Deep Ancestry” option that includes mDNA and Y-DNA analysis for an additional $29.95. Shipping and handling is an additional $14.95.

These combined costs put Findmypast’s DNA test kit in the middle-to-high end of the market. Moreover, the shipping fee is quite substantial, considering most other companies offer to ship their kits for free.

Findmypast coupons and promo codes

Findmypast currently offers a 14-day free trial to either of its paid subscriptions. If you purchase the Ultimate British & Irish subscription package, you can get 10% off every time you pay for access to the 1921 census.

How to Get Started with Findmypast? 

Getting started with Findmypast is simple and straightforward.

The sign-up process

When you first sign up for an account with Findmypast, you’re prompted to enter your email, first name, last name, and date of birth.

The account is free, and you can start building your family tree without having to purchase a subscription. If you’re interested in purchasing either the Essential British & Irish or Ultimate British & Irish subscriptions, you can opt for a 14-day free trial before you buy.

Findmypast DNA Getting Started

Building a family tree

After you create your account, you can get started with your family tree by supplying your personal information. Provide your gender, maiden name (if applicable), and location of birth. 

From there, you’ll be prompted to add what you know about your relatives—including parents, siblings, uncles, aunts, grandparents, children, and more. If you have information about more remote relatives or ancestors, like great grandparents, you can add them here as well.

Findmypast will combine this information with their existing records to expand your family tree’s connections and locate matches with possible living relatives.

If you have an existing family tree that you built using another service, you can import it via a GEDCOM file.

Browsing the digital archives

To help you build a more accurate family tree, you can leverage Findmypast’s large repository of digitized records. Spanning 2,648 record sets, the company’s billions of records encompass birth, marriage, and death records, immigration records, censuses and registers, newspapers, photographs, and much more.

You can browse these historical records by year or location, or search by keyword.

Findmypast DNA Testing Browsing

How Findmypast Protects Your Privacy

Findmypast takes privacy seriously, and the security of your personal information is a top priority for the company. For example, Findmypast doesn't provide data to insurance companies, and users can delete their data from Findmypast at any time.

Findmypast may use your personal information for internal administration, business, and marketing purposes. Additionally, the company may use your data for analysis and research purposes, and it may share your data with government agencies if required by law.

You can read Findmypast’s full privacy policy here.

Help and Support

Getting hold of Findmypast’s customer support team is quick and easy.

How to contact Findmypast

You can reach Findmypast via email, phone, and live chat.

You can also visit Findmypast’s contact page. If you reach out via email, it may take several business days to receive a response.

Are FAQ pages available on Findmypast?

Findmypast has a series of detailed FAQ pages for each of its services. They are consolidated under a help page, and you can find information on everything from subscriptions and payments to information about the DNA kit and the family tree builder.

Findmypast DNA Testing FAQ Pages

How Findmypast Compares to Other Genealogy Service Providers


Findmypast

MyHeritage Genealogy Services

OneGreatFamily

ancestryDNA Genealogy Services

Price Range

$0-$14.95 monthly

$149 for first year, then $299

$14.95 monthly

$198-$398 per year

Best For

UK and Irish families

Genealogy enthusiasts 

Collaborative family tree building

Military families

Findmypast vs MyHeritage Genealogy Services

MyHeritage combines an ancestry DNA kit that traces your ancestry back to 2,114 places around the world with an expansive historical database of 16.9 billion records. If you don’t have UK or Irish ancestry and are interested in doing genealogical research, MyHeritage may have more records available for you to browse. However, if you have ancestors from the British Isles, Findmypast may have a more complete record set—including exclusive access to the 1921 Census and parish records.

Additionally, MyHeritage contains an array of other tools, including their Deep Nostalgia™ photo editing algorithm that allows you to animate old family photos.

Findmypast vs OneGreatFamily

OneGreatFamily is a single, unified family tree that allows you to build, update, and refine a family tree with thousands of people around the world. Unlike Findmypast, OneGreatFamily doesn’t contain such a large historical archive, and the information it does contain is limited to basic demographic data, such as names and places of origin.

If you’re interested in uncovering court records, marriage licenses, and old photographs—especially UK and Irish record sets—Findmypast may be your better bet. Additionally, Findmypast has a more up-to-date user interface, and is arguably easier to use. 

However, if you’re looking for an innovative family tree builder and don’t need access to an expansive archive of records, OneGreatFamily can be worth considering.

Findmypast vs ancestryDNA Genealogy Services

AncestryDNA provides you with access to 3 billion different records from over 80 countries around the world. Additionally, the company offers Fold3, a database of over 557 million military records.

While Findmypast also provides access to military records (available via the Ultimate British & Irish subscription plan), ancestryDNA may be a better fit for you if you have relatives that served in another country’s armed forces. However, Fold3 is expensive. At $398, it’s significantly more expensive than either of Findmypast’s subscription packages.

Is Findmypast Worth It?

With billions of records and hundreds of millions of UK and Irish records, Findmypast’s archives contain the most comprehensive British and Irish records of any genealogy site in the world. The company’s heavy focus on digitization and partnerships with research institutions makes it a thorough service that’s spearheaded by experts—ensuring that you get access to a sweeping set of records that are diligently maintained and expanded.

For under $20 a month, both plans are affordable and on par with the rest of the market. If you want to browse records but don’t want to pay, Findmypast offers a great free option as well. You can build your family tree and access a sizable number of free records—all without committing to a subscription.

In short, if you have ancestors from the British Isles, Findmypast is a powerful one-stop shop for all your genetic and traditional genealogy needs.

Frequently Asked Questions
Can I download my family tree from Findmypast?+-

Yes. You can download your family tree as a GEDCOM file from Findmypast. You can also download and print other digitized historical records from the site.

Can you view other family trees on Findmypast?+-

Yes. You can view Queen Elizabeth II’s family tree and more if you sign up and subscribe.

What’s included in a Findmypast subscription?+-

Both paid subscriptions give you full access to Findmypast’s entire collection of birth, death, marriage, parish, and migration records, in addition to pay-per-view access to the 1921 census and the ability to connect with possible living relatives. If you opt for the Ultimate British & Irish plan, you’ll also get access to an expanded archive including military, institutional, will and probate, and select newspaper records.

How much does a Findmypast subscription cost?+-

The Essential plan costs $10.75 per month when billed annually or $14.95 per month when billed monthly. The Ultimate plan costs $14.92 per month when billed annually or $19.95 per month when billed monthly.

Ryan is a freelance personal finance and investments writer, with more than 3 years of experience trading and writing informative financial content. A chemical engineer by degree, Ryan's interest in finance grew out of a love of data science and computational statistics. His byline can be found on well-known sites such as The Motley Fool, Investing In The Web, and Top10.com.

Findmypast customer reviews

Based on 22 reviews

Ease of use

Brand satisfaction

Value for money

Service quality

Top Reviews

Ease of use

Brand satisfaction

Value for money

Service quality

2 years ago

I enjoyed it and have referred others to try it out and it was true to their word

2 years ago

It is easy to use and was really very helpful to me when I was wanting to research information

2 years ago

It worked well and was very easy to use. I didn't find it gimicky or hard to use overall

2 years ago

It provides the service that it promises, and it a good value for the money that it costs. I never experienced any trouble while using the service

2 years ago

They were so good and quick to respond to my dna questions. I was very pleased with the results of the test.

2 years ago

They gave me the opportunity to find out things I've wondered for years. Price was fair, customer service was amazing.

2 years ago

It seems to have accurate results with a painless process. The price isn't terrible compared to competitors.

2 years ago

It has good ratings and my family recommended. I saw a show based on this idea

2 years ago

All my dealings with them was completely satisfactory. I got all the information I was looking for

2 years ago

It did what I expected it to do, I got interesting information about my family, the interface was convenient, and there wasn't really anything negative to speak of about the experience.

2 years ago

I like it a lot, but it doesn't have enough USA records, families, or historical material. It has increased, so I should try it again.

2 years ago

They are reliable, easy to use, and are reasonable in price for what they offer.

2 years ago

FindMyPast is one of the most reliable genealogy services out there. I know a lot more about both sides of my family than ever before! I'll definitely recommend them to a friend.

2 years ago

Because they have exceeded my expectations as well as a very good customer service as well as help me with my research

2 years ago

It was very thorough, and very easy to use, with a website that was easy to navigate.

2 years ago

Great results. Easy to use Quick results. Easy to use product. Helpful to it's customers.

2 years ago

I'm loving that I can find out info about family that I didn't know. I just wish that I was able to get more hints.

2 years ago

It helped me find my ancestors and what their past was, other than that it was difficult to find some.

2 years ago

Was hoping to find more information faster than iI did and that took more time than I expected, site also isn't very easy using a screen reader program however did find some snippets so was sort of value

2 years ago

I couldn't find anything I didn't have. I belong to other companies that work better for me

22 reviews
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