I received an email this week from MyHeritage celebrating their one millionth subscriber.
Congratulations MyHeritage and the MyHeritage team!
This is indeed a landmark – from a garage startup by Gilad Japhet in 2003 to international genealogical juggernaut in just a few years. MyHeritage is one of only two genealogy companies that combines DNA testing with research subscription services.
According to MyHeritage:
Today, we are trusted by 96 million users worldwide. Our site is available in 42 languages and is home to 82 million family trees, 16.1 billion historical records, and 5.6 million DNA kits in our DNA database.
That’s incredible and we genealogists are the beneficiaries.
Why does this matter?
Genealogy is a Team Sport
Every person who subscribes and researches, meaning both traditional records or combined with DNA results, is one more person who might, just might, make a breakthrough on one of my ancestral lines.
They might be someone who has, and posts, photos of my ancestors that I don’t have.
They might know stories and snippets of information about my ancestor’s lives that never made it down my side of the tree.
And, of course, that’s one more person to test (or upload) their DNA. I’ve found close cousins there who don’t have their DNA anyplace else.
All of these things have happened to/for me at MyHeritage, and in turn, I’ve provided a lot of information for other people too.
DNA Plus Records
It’s not necessary to be a subscriber to utilize DNA at MyHeritage. DNA matching, a 250 person tree or less and some features are free, However, there are definite benefits to subscribing in addition to having DNA results and using the free services at MyHeritage.
- Unlimited tree building
- Record Matches
- SuperSearches
- Instant Discoveries
- Smart Matches
- Photo Enhancer
Subscribers receive all of the basic and advanced DNA tools including;
- Shared matches including shared surnames and geography
- DNA match labels
- AutoClusters (one of my favorites)
- Ethnicity sharing
- Genetic Groups
- Triangulation
- Theories of Family Relativity (another favorite)
It’s worth noting that MyHeritage has many European DNA testers along with a plethora European research records. In fact, they just added a huge number of French records which I’m methodically sifting through looking for my Acadian and Huguenot ancestors.
Take a look at the MyHeritage research collections catalog, here. I particularly appreciate the digitized newspaper collection. I can’t tell you how much I’ve found there that isn’t available elsewhere. Which collections would be the most useful to you?
You can try the MyHeritage complete subscription for free for 14 days, here. The complete subscription gives you all the research benefits and tools that MyHeritage has available. That’s the subscription I have. I love it and use it almost daily.
Your genealogical arsenal isn’t complete without it.
If you’ve never used MyHeritage before, they provide a free, searchable Knowledge Base, here, to get you started. You can even get started with a Basics tutorial, here.
DNA
5.6 million people have either tested their DNA at MyHeritage or uploaded their DNA to MyHeritage from another vendor.
- If you’ve already tested your DNA elsewhere, you’ll want to upload your DNA file to MyHeritage, here, so you can fish in multiple DNA ponds and reap the unique benefits offered by MyHeritage. I’ve provided complete step-by-step download/upload instructions for all vendors, here.
- If you haven’t DNA tested yet, now’s the perfect time to order your test while they are on sale. You can order here.
Let me know what you find!
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Help Out, Please
I receive a small contribution when you click on some of the links to vendors in my articles. This does NOT increase the price you pay but helps me to keep the lights on and this informational blog free for everyone. Please click on the links in the articles or to the vendors below if you are purchasing products or DNA testing.
Thank you so much.
DNA Purchases and Free Uploads
- FamilyTreeDNA – Y, mitochondrial, and autosomal DNA testing
- MyHeritage DNA – Autosomal DNA test
- MyHeritage FREE DNA file upload – Upload your DNA file from other vendors free
- AncestryDNA – Autosomal DNA test
- 23andMe Ancestry – Autosomal DNA only, no Health
- 23andMe Ancestry Plus Health
Genealogy Products and Services
- MyHeritage FREE Tree Builder – Genealogy software for your computer
- MyHeritage Subscription with Free Trial
- Legacy Family Tree Webinars – Genealogy and DNA classes, subscription-based, some free
- Legacy Family Tree Software – Genealogy software for your computer
- Charting Companion – Charts and Reports to use with your genealogy software or FamilySearch
- RootsMagic Software – Genealogy software for your computer
- Newspapers.com – Search newspapers for your ancestors
- NewspaperArchive – Search different newspapers for your ancestors
My Book
- DNA for Native American Genealogy – by Roberta Estes
- DNA for Native American Genealogy for those ordering outside the US
Genealogy Books
- Genealogical.com – Lots of wonderful genealogy research books
Genealogy Research
- Legacy Tree Genealogists – Professional genealogy research
Yes, I have tested at MyHeritage and subscribed. I am grateful for many of the hints I have received, but I detest their so called smart matching. There is no way to see sources before they require one to accept or reject the matching. I refuse to do that. I will make note of what new information they purport to show and check on it elsewhere. I do wish they would make changes to the way they handle smart matching and allow one to see if there is any sourcing before accepting or rejecting.
I uploaded my Raw dna from Ancestry to My Heritage . The results were significantly different?
I had an account there years ago, but it got too expensive. The interface was awful too. Their tree-building software wasn’t any better, especially for Macs.
They have a great database of Polynesian testers. My great grandaughter who is about 25% Polynesian (New Zealand) has 7000+ matches.
I find their DNA interface and database very valuable indeed but I wish they’d add a feature to search the trees of matches by surname and (ancestor) location.
Don’t care for my Heritage at all, call me stupid or I’m not subscribed to everything but I find it very cumbersome to use.
Have you utilized their tutorials?
Horses for courses, in my case.
MyHeritage is definitely the place that my German cousins get tested.
Australians on the same Polish/German lines use Ancestry.
Most of my American matches on those lines are just confused. Whereas Australian shipping records often mentioned the village a family came from, my US cousins often just have “Prussia”, if they have managed to get back that far. I feel for them.
One distant uncle was about to sail when his wife took afraid and disappeared off into the forest with the children. He remained behind and the families continued to exchange letters for well over a century. A descendant still in Germany has tested with .. MyHeritage, of course.
My great-nephew on my mother’s side and my niece on my dad’s side both tested at MyHeritage. I’m very grateful for both matches.
Hi Roberta, I have been tested at FTDNA, 23andMe and Ancestry. At FTDNA I have tested up to 67 Y markers. I have 114 matches at 37 and none at 67. I know you urge us all to get the Big Y level matches. If I have no matches at 67, is there any value in going up to the Big Y? Thank you.
Yes, there is or st least may be. You’ll receive a very granular haplogroup. You’ll be able to see who you match there and where other men are from.
Thank you for quick and comprehensive response, Roberta. Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you and yours.