DNA Test Price Comparison: What You Actually Pay in 2026

DNA test sticker prices are misleading on their own. The kit you actually buy is almost always discounted, and the kit you actually use often costs more than the box thanks to shipping, subscriptions or upgrades. Here is what each major test really costs as of early 2026.

Kit prices, base and typical sale

• AncestryDNA: $99 base, frequently discounted to $39 during DNA Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Prime Day, Black Friday and Christmas windows. The traits bundle is $119.
• 23andMe: $119 base for the Ancestry service. Historically $199 and up for the Ancestry + Health bundle. Sale patterns have been unstable since the 2025 Chapter 11 filing; see our privacy guide for context.
• MyHeritage DNA: $89 base, commonly $39 on sale.
• FamilyTreeDNA: Family Finder $79 base, often $59 on sale. Y-DNA tests are priced separately and run much higher; Big Y-700 lists around $399.
• Living DNA: $99 base for the ancestry kit, often $79 on sale. A combined wellness and ancestry kit has been sold around $169.

Shipping is its own line item

AncestryDNA charges roughly $9.95 for the first kit and $4.95 for each additional kit to the same address. MyHeritage and FamilyTreeDNA may charge return shipping on the saliva sample at checkout. 23andMe and Living DNA pricing varies by region. Always confirm shipping at the cart before assuming the sale price is final.

Subscriptions and add-ons

The kit price is one transaction. The records or analysis tools that turn the result into something useful are often a second one.

AncestryDNA does not require a subscription to view DNA matches and ethnicity. The Ancestry records subscriptions are sold separately: US Discovery around $24.99 per month, World Explorer around $39.99, and All Access around $49.99. You do not need them to read your DNA, but you will likely want one to confirm a paper trail against your matches.

23andMe sells a “23andMe+” membership for advanced reports. MyHeritage sells a Complete Plan that unlocks Theory of Family Relativity and record search. FamilyTreeDNA does not gate matching behind a subscription.

What “cheap” actually means after a year

A $39 sale kit plus 12 months of a US Discovery subscription at $24.99 runs about $339 across the first year, not $39. If you only want ancestry and matches and have no interest in records, your real annual cost is the kit itself. If you plan to build a tree against the matches, the subscription is most of the spend.

The cheapest way to get into matching across multiple databases is to buy one kit from the biggest network you do not already belong to, then upload the raw data free to the others that accept uploads. MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA and Living DNA all accept free raw data uploads. AncestryDNA does not.

Multi-kit and family pricing

AncestryDNA and MyHeritage routinely discount multi-kit orders for family testing, particularly during peak sale windows. FamilyTreeDNA and Living DNA do not advertise consistent multi-kit pricing. If you plan to test more than one relative, watch DNA Day (April 25) and Black Friday for the deepest multi-kit discounts.

Where to read more

For matching probability per dollar, see our database size guide. For the full spec view, see features, privacy and turnaround. The budget pick guide ties price to use case. Browse every head-to-head in the comparison pillar.