The Valentine’s Price War, 2018

Well, friends, it looks like we’re in another price war. The companies really went at it during the Thanksgiving–Christmas season, and now they’re turning Valentine’s into a battleground! There are some sectors you’d expect this from, more romantically or, ahem, “spicy” inclined areas (I’m sure the sale of lingerie spikes around this time of year, after all), but it is interesting to see the DNA tree market growing into this celebration as well.

In order of price:

Family Tree DNA currently has the best price for a single autosomal DNA test (theirs is branded the “Family Finder” test), at only $59. Ends on Valentine’s Day.

If you plan to buy two or more, MyHeritage is also only $59 per test. A single MyHeritage test is only $69. Ends on Valentine’s Day.

AncestryDNA is billing their sale as a Winter Sale, and it lasts longer than the others, through 25 February, 2018.


And finally, 23andMe is offering 20% off their two levels of testing. The Ancestry Only test is $79 and the Ancestry + Health test is $159. Ends on Valentine’s Day.


23 Pairs of Chromosomes. One Unique You. Get your DNA story at 23andMe.com.

Best Strategy

If you are new to genetic genealogy, your best bet is to start with the AncestryDNA test and transfer the “raw data” file that you’ll receive into the databases of Family Tree DNA and MyHeritage. The transfers are free, and you can “unlock” additional tools at Family Tree DNA for a small charge. If you want to “fish in all of the ponds” or if you want health reports, you can also buy the 23andMe test.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

1 thought on “The Valentine’s Price War, 2018”

  1. Agree with your strategy but we shouldn’t neglect to say ydna and Mtdna are only available at FTDNA so if you plan to do that later keep in mind they hold the sample for 25 years, just upgrade later no need to do a new test.

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