These Are Today’s 5 Best Ancestry and Genealogy Sites

If you’re one of the millions of people who’ve caught the genealogy bug and are itching to learn more about your family’s past, you’ll want some resources to help you out. After all, the journey requires navigating genealogy websites and the multigenerational web of births, marriages, migrations, historical records and milestones that have made you uniquely you.

Luckily, growing interest in genealogy and DNA testing has made it easy for people, even beginners, to uncover deep insights about where they came from. With genealogy and family tree building tools, you can sleuth out your long-ago origins and discover more about who you are and where you came from, all from the comfort of your computer thanks to online genealogy.

What is Genealogy?

Genealogy is, put simply, the study of family lines and the tracing of lineages. Genealogy is based on the retrieval of vital and familial data from records of different types, which is later organized to elucidate relationship patterns. It involves the genealogy research, discovery, and confirmation of different vital records, such as census records: birth dates, names, places of birth, immigration records, marriages, and death records.

Additionally, it can recount information such as occupations, migrations, and other types of data that can be of interest. Genealogy allows us to determine the ancestry or descent of a person by placing them in a family tree, with its corresponding main and collateral branches.

Family history research has been a topic of interest for many people, and it can certainly be fascinating to discover family members that you had never even known existed.

A lot of people associate genealogy and family history with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They have a long history of acknowledging the importance of learning about your past family members and their stories. As well as discovering where they came from and your ancestral background. For example if you are British, Irish, Scottish, African American, Native American or a mixture of multiple ethnicities.

One thing that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints offers is FamilySearch. FamilySearch.org is a non-profit organization and genealogy website offering genealogical records, education, and software. It is operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and is closely connected with the church’s Family History Department. They are dedicated to helping all people discover their family story.

The Importance of Genealogy

People can also seek to learn more about their ancestry in order to discover the origins of a genetic disease or to ⁠rule out different health risks. Genealogy records can also be used by those who have lost contact with their families or adoptees who want to reconnect with their biological families or learn more about them.

Some people even hire genealogists to help them piece together their family tree. A genealogist will perform interviews, search obituaries, read up on local history and newspaper archives, passenger lists helping determine migration routes from your ancestors. This might be a route for some to tell the story, but it doesn’t delve into the details of your DNA and possible genetic diseases you may have inherited.

In recent years, genetic genealogy has combined DNA testing with traditional genealogical society methods — this can be particularly helpful for people who want to discover important genealogical information about how their ancestry and health are related.

Thanks to modern DNA testing, it’s now possible to discover your ancestry in minute detail, even if you don’t know any family members’ names or any other facts about your ancestors.

How A DNA Test Can Help Your Ancestry Search

All it takes is a little bit of your saliva, a DNA testing kit, and a trusted DNA / ancestry testing site and you can obtain a wealth of information about—yourself! Specifically, you can learn about your ancestry and health details that are evident from your DNA. For many people, the results of their DNA test have been fun to explore; for other people, the results have been life changing. Some people have actually identified siblings they didn’t know they had.

If you’re thinking about taking a DNA test to learn more about your ancestral heritage, even the immigration route your ancient maternal grandmother likely traveled thousands of years ago, you’ll want to obtain a testing kit from a reputable genealogy website that offers DNA testing. Each site handles the testing similarly but there may be some key differences in their tests and ongoing services. Some may offer free resources or access to different records or directories. Here, we’ll explore the different genealogy sites so you can select the ideal company for you.

Sequencing.com

We might be biased, but we stand behind the belief that Sequencing.com is the best because we offer a clinical grade ultimate genome sequencing service; we analyze thousands of diseases; DNA apps and reports for health, ancestry, nutrition, fitness, lifestyle and more; we’re the world’s largest platform for obtaining ongoing value from your DNA. Our tests provide you with direct access to all of our DNA apps and reports; We don’t sell or share your DNA data with anyone.

While the majority of genealogy sites focus solely on family trees and building the story of your past. Sequencing.com believes that you can also get answers from your ancestry and DNA to better your future and give you a bigger picture of how your body works.

What you get with Sequencing:

• World’s largest collection of DNA analysis reports
• Comprehensive health insights
• Advanced ancestry analysis
• Cutting edge DNA technologies
• You own your own data and it is never shared, ever!
• Genetic counseling

The biggest difference between Sequencing.com and other ancestry sites is that their DNA test does a 100% whole genome sequence, which means they give you more in-depth answers than pinpointing where your ancestors originated from. A ⁠whole genome sequencing DNA test is a type of genetic test used to determine the order of the nucleotides that form our entire genome — both coding and non-coding —, allowing scientists and physicians to ascertain whether an individual’s DNA sequence contains any abnormalities.

Sequencing.com also offers a wide range of DNA apps that can provide detailed genealogical resources. You can also upload your DNA test results from other genealogy websites. They also have access to the world’s largest collection of DNA genetic analysis reports.

Sequencing is renowned for its security and privacy measures as well as its additional offerings like genetic counseling. Users like the Sequencing platform because they can use the tools and apps they want and ignore the resources they don’t want. What sets this company apart is that you can literally access your virtual genome, gleaning a wealth of health insights that are specifically relevant to you.

MyHeritage

MyHeritage offers a discovery experience that unites their past, present, and future using matching technologies, billions of international historical records, and at-home DNA tests.

You can create your own online family tree. MyHeritage understands that your past begins with your family tree and they make it easy to build one at your fingertips. Add names, dates, military records, photos, obituaries and stories that can easily be shared with other family members across the globe.

You can also get an at-home DNA test through MyHeritage. This test will give you the basic information of where your ancestors are from allowing you to meet new relatives or learn more about your family members and even discover shared ancestors.

Ancestry.com

Over the past two decades, Ancestry.com has invested over $300 million to build a large collection of family history records.

AncestryDNA gives you a precise picture of where your ancestors came from. Like MyHeritage, AncestryDNA pinpoints the regions where your ancestors came from and more specifically your ethnicity estimates. They are constantly updating their ethnicity estimates and technologies to allow you to connect with a larger sample area which will allow you more information on your family tree and possible relatives.

FamilyTreeDNA

Family Finder provides powerful interactive tools to help find your DNA matches, trace your lineage through time, and determine family connections.

FamilyTreeDNA can  help you uncover your heritage and provides a detailed ethnicity and geographic breakdown of where your ancestors came from. You will be able to map your ancient ancestors’ migration routes and show the amount of autosomal DNA you still carry from ancient European civilizations.

FamilyTreeDNA focuses on autosomal DNA, which is inherited from both parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents, etc. This test is designed to find matches in our massive DNA database on all of your ancestral lines within the last five generations.

23andMe

23andMe can  tell you about you and make your DNA more meaningful and accessible. Like Sequencing.com 23andMe focuses more on genetics than on your ancestry. They want to connect you with your past and allow you to explore more about your genetics and health insights.

23and me helps you travel back in time to gain a clearer picture of where you came from, where your ancestors lived and when they lived there. Learn when your most recent ancestors from each population lived, going back more than 8 generations. Your genetics can reveal much about you physically and psychologically. Not only can you take part in studies and surveys, but you can connect with other people you are related to. It’s a fun way to meet long-lost relatives, learn about places of ancestry origins, and obtain impactful health information.

Which Test is Right for Me?

All five of these options will give you useful data in your hunt to discover your past. However, if you want your genome fully sequenced, value the privacy of your personal data, and want to get personalized recommendations from an diverse app marketplace, there can only be once choice—Sequencing.com