Spring has sprung, folks, and It’s that time again! We’ve had recent intel from the four biggest DNA testing companies, so it’s time to update the autosomal database graph.
AncestryDNA noted in their recent Impact Report (page 4) that they have more than 21 million DNA customers. They are by far the largest database, roughly the size of all of their competition combined.
As of February, 23andMe has genotyped 12,200,000 people. Since becoming publicly-traded, they’ve posted quarterly updates on their database size. It’s great to see such transparency.
MyHeritage now updates their “About MyHeritage” page every time they break another 100,000 mark. They’re currently at 5.7 million and growing almost linearly.
Finally, FamilyTreeDNA does not disclose its autosomal database size. However, Tim Janzen regularly estimates how large it is by extrapolating the match lists of the many kits that he manages. His current estimate is 1.77 million, which is roughly in line with their growth over the past few years. However, FTDNA’s change to the matching algorithm in August 2021 may affect the estimate somewhat.
Without further ado, here’s the updated graph:
You so clever for doing all the research and analysis. Thank you.
I find that ancestry is better if you are concentrating on North America and myHeritage gives you better results for Europe. It doesn’t really matter if ancestry has 4 times as many dna tests done if they are not in your area then they don’t really help. Many people i have spoken to also say that by the time they get their results back they have lost interest and moved on….
There was old comedy TV show in the UK called ‘Never Mind the Quality, Feel the Width’. Which sort of fits this.
Yes Ancestry is outpacing all the others in sheer size and indeed for matches, at least for me. But most of those matches are not very close and, for my needs, I need tools that Ancestry won’t provide. Specifically, a chromosome browser.
Maybe I’m a grouch but, simply finding new genetic cousins is not what I really want. I want matches that help me solve problems.
My most useful matches, from this perspective, have come from My Heritage maybe because, as Iain says above, I’m English, but also because I can see the segments.
I solve genealogy problems day in and day out and I rarely need a chromosome browser.
Do you have the raw data for this graph on the Autosomal DNA Database growth as i would love to cite it in a biological essay for my undergraduate university course.
Many thanks.