Ancestry.com launched its DNA test kits in 2012 in the United States. The original launch price was $99. The company has kept that standard price for their DNA kit ever since.
The company also runs sales and special offers which I’ll detail in a later section. But here is the standard pricing of Ancestry DNA kits.
| AncestryDNA Test Kit | U.S. | U.K. | Europe |
| DNA test | $99 | £79 | $95 |
| DNA test + Traits | $119 | N/A | N/A |
What is the Traits package?
The Traits package is an add-on that is only available in the United States.
The package has a suite of reports that predicts your traits based on your DNA. Here are a few examples:
- Your ability to smell asparagus
- How likely is it that you have a unibrow
- How likely is it that you have freckles
Yes, this isn’t earth-shattering information. However, many people enjoy reviewing the trait predictions and showing them to close family.
Genealogy membership subscription
As well as offering DNA tests, Ancestry.com is also a genealogy website with a repository of U.S. and worldwide historical records.
Access to the genealogy records is through a membership subscription. If you’re interested in working on your family tree, you’ll need to figure out which subscription is right for you.
Check out our review of the different Ancestry membership costs.
Does Ancestry offer health predictions?
The company briefly offered a DNA Health kit which they discontinued. They do not currently offer analysis and predictions of genetic health risks.
If you’re interested in the background, check out our article on what happened to Ancestry Health.
A Summary Of What An Ancestry DNA Kit Gives You
When you purchase a DNA test from Ancestry.com, they send you a kit that contains a small vial. You spit into the tube, seal it, and send it back in the packaging provided.
Then you wait for up to several months for your DNA to be analyzed.
The wait time can depend on the time of year. We keep track of what current customers are saying in our article on how long Ancestry results take.
Your DNA results give you these features:
- Ethnicity estimates
- Many thousands of DNA relatives (check out our review of the average number of DNA relatives on Ancestry)
- Sophisticated genealogy features that integrate your family tree with your DNA
- Ability to download your raw DNA results for use with other services
If you go ahead with a purchase, our website has articles and tutorials on every aspect of these features.
What About Shipping Costs?
The standard and discounted price usually excludes shipping when you’re purchasing directly from Ancestry.com. You’ll be shown the extra cost once you fill in the delivery details.
This can be an extra twenty dollars on top of the cost.
It can seem a bit steep. But consider that it includes both delivery to your address and the cost to return the DNA kit to the Ancestry labs. They send you a pre-paid box for this.
Faster shipping
Ancestry.com gives you the option to pay extra for expedited shipping. This cuts a few days off how long the process takes from purchase to getting your results.
Personally, I don’t see the point. The laboratory can take a couple of months to complete its analysis. So, a few days off the mailing delay doesn’t seem to make much difference.
When Do Ancestry DNA Kits Go On Sale?
Ancestry.com drops the price of the kits at fairly regular times throughout the year.
This is often a 25% discount. They can also drop the price to $59 or as low as $49.
The discount period is sometimes only one day. But it can also last a week.
The sales periods also vary across different countries e.g. the U.S. or the U.K. This is often because the company bases its sales around holidays. And events like Mother’s Day are in different months in different countries.
I’ve gone back through the last couple of years to track when the discounts were given. Here’s a summary of what I saw:
- March St Patrick’s day (usually lasts a week)
- August summer sale (usually lasts a week)
- November thanksgiving or cyber week
- Early December one day sale
- Late December one day sale
The company can also launch surprise sales for one-off events. For example, they offered a discount in the United Kingdom in the run-up to a Royal Wedding.
Sometimes they will discount on the 25th of April in the United States. This date is known as “DNA Day”. But this hasn’t always happened.
How Can I Know When Ancestry DNA Kits Go On Sale?
You won’t find a discount schedule on the Ancestry.com website. They deliberately don’t publicize sales periods far in advance.
And it’s easy to miss the one-day flash sales, which are often the biggest discounted prices.
One way to keep track of sales is to subscribe to the Ancestry Twitter account.
Another way is to get email notifications from the company. To get onto their list, you have to be a member, but you can do this for free.
Follow the instructions in our article on signing up for a free guest account on Ancestry.
Then you can use the instructions in Ancestry’s article to turn on notifications.
Can You Buy Ancestry DNA Kits On Amazon?
The company would prefer that you buy the DNA kits directly from their website.
However, they also sell their DNA kits through Amazon.
As shipping is included in the price, this may sometimes work out as more cost-effective.
But you should also check whether the purchase from the Ancestry.com site includes add-ons like a month’s genealogy subscription.
Beware unauthorized resellers
It’s important to ensure that the kit you’re buying on Amazon is being sold by AncestryDNA (the Ancestry.com brand).
Otherwise, you may find that you can’t activate the kit on the Ancestry website. And if Ancestry.com later gets wind of a problem sale, they can deactivate your kit.
Check which seller is listed under the “Buy Now” and “Add to Cart” buttons. It should say “AncestryDNA Official”.
Can You Buy Ancestry DNA Kits In A Store?
My American friends tell me that Walmart sells Ancestry DNA kits in the United States.
It’s important not to mix up Ancestry kits with other DNA testing products sold in stores.
Some examples are the kits sold under the HomeDNA brand. If you need some background, check out our article on AncestryByDNA – which is now rebranded as the HomeBrand DNA Starter Kit.
How To Avoid Glitches When Buying On the Ancestry.com Website
I’ve seen a few Ancestry customers complain about website glitches when they go through the buying process on the Ancestry website.
The problem happens when it seems that the buy button didn’t complete the purchase. So, eager customers press it again.
They may discover that they’ve purchased two kits! You should quickly recognize that this has happened if you receive two confirmation emails.
Don’t worry too much. Contact Ancestry support and they’ll cancel one of the orders and refund the payment.
Not seeing the discount?
The other problem is when you click a discount offer but the purchase page shows the usual price.
This may be due to your browser holding a cached version of the page. Clear your browser cache history, or try a different internet browser.
Buying Multiple Kits
You will get a discount on the price if you purchase several DNA kits. And if you are sending all the kits to the same home address, the overall shipping costs are also reduced.
Many people buy multiple kits for different members of their family. It’s a great idea to get a family member from an older generation tested.
You may also be wondering if its worth getting a second DNA test for a brother or sister.
Check out our article on whether Ancestry results are the same for siblings. We have several examples to show you.
$49 is the lowest price I’ve seen for Ancestry’s DNA kit–and they don’t offer it very often. One has to wonder whether they’re making any money at that price point.
Apparently $49 is also the price that Ancestry’s own employees pay for it.