On SmartCustomer, businesses may not offer incentives or pay to remove reviews. Learn more about our Review Guidelines.
From the business
MyHeritage is the leading global platform for family history discovery. It enriches the lives of people worldwide by enabling them to uncover more about themselves and where they belong.
With a suite of intuitive features and innovative products, MyHeritage creates a meaningful discovery experience that is deeply rewarding. Users build family trees and discover new information and relatives through advanced matching technologies and billions of historical records from across the globe. MyHeritage also offers an affordable at-home DNA test revealing an ethnicity breakdown across 79 ethnicities and 2,114 geographic regions, and AI-powered features to repair, colorize, and animate old photos.
The MyHeritage platform is enjoyed by tens of millions of people around the world who treasure and celebrate their heritage. MyHeritage offers full privacy controls and is available in 42 languages.
MyHeritage Reviews Summary
MyHeritage is generally well-regarded for its user-friendly platform and extensive database, which many customers find invaluable for tracing their ancestry and connecting with relatives. Users appreciate the regular updates and the powerful search capabilities that facilitate discoveries. However, concerns arise regarding customer service, particularly related to billing issues and the difficulty of reaching support. Some users have reported feeling overwhelmed by the volume of information and have encountered challenges in verifying data. Overall, while the service is praised for its features, improvements in customer support and communication are necessary to enhance user satisfaction.
This summary is generated by AI, based on text from customer reviews
We monitor reviews for authenticity
Overall, I am very pleased with MyHeritage. Since my ancestors are from Eastern Europe, I often find it more helpful in my research. I can usually find the U.S. documents I need here, too. I also like the DNA connections it offers.
Updates in French
Wrong results: my people are Irish on both sides: no mention of British Isles in my results
Just said Northern European
With dollops of Spanish, Scandinavian and Eastern European
Fairly certain this is not accurate
AVOID this scam
I called and asked four questions. Lidjia walked me through, step-by-step, to get everything working perfectly. She had great patience and a wonderful sense of humor. We had a good time laughing about computers and life. If I wasn't married, I would fly to Israel and take her out to dinner... AND as promised---- you need to pay her more MONEY. She makes MyHeritage look good!
I had My Heritage do a DNA test which came up with results absolutely different than the tem years of research I had on my family. So just to be sure I had 3 other companies test my DNA and guess what all three companies showed almost exactly what the paper trail of ten years work did. So this company obviously has issues in their testing procedures. The sad thing is I paid for tests for my wife and myself, now I have to choose a new company to test her again. Save your money and stay away from My Heritage DNA.
Dear Merritt,
I regret to find your raw DNA results are not comparing with your research or other DNA tests that you have taken with other DNA kit providers.
It is true to consider that bio-geographical estimates are complicated. Different researchers analyzing the same DNA of a person can come up with different estimates based on a number of different factors, including the reference populations used for comparison, the algorithm, the chemical processing and many more factors. Therefore these elements are consistently being improved in the DNA researching community as a whole and it is certainly our highest priority here at MyHeritage.
Moreover, while some companies provide many more regions to compare your DNA with, MyHeritage compares your DNA to a lot more ethnic populations. We find this most important for various reasons such as the fact that populations in countries have moved around while official borders and communities were at times occupied throughout history. It is also certainly found that DNA tends to be very similar between people in neighboring countries, such as North Western Europe and England, where there isn't sufficient statistical difference, our ethnicity estimate is retained on a higher regional level.
MyHeritage has proudly referenced 42 ethnic populations to compare your DNA with and this number will be growing even larger in the future as we are constantly working on adding to our reference populations. (ongoing "MyHeritage Founder Population Project")
All in all, what is most important to us is your overall satisfaction because we use all feedback to better the genealogy experience for the millions of our members. We want all of our members to have the most solid results.
Therefore I would like to examine your research along with your raw DNA results to learn more about what is different about our estimate. In order to do so, I need to locate and verify your MyHeritage account. Please send me an e-mail from your registered address at your nearest convenience at [email protected].
I'm looking forward to examining the issue you report as soon as possible.
Sincerely
Rafael
MyHeritage
EDIT - I purchased a MyHeritage.com kit, still avoid at all costs! The response below from a MyHeritage representative is carefully crafted to create seeds of doubt about my complaint. But this time would be perhaps be better spent simply answering the customer service line in the first place.
It looks like someone from MyHeritage.com responds to these reviews and tries to help, but that time would be better spent trying to assist paying customers who have issues. I paid for my kit and received tracking. Kit never arrived and post office claims it never received it. After 7 calls over the course of 3 days I still was unable to contact someone at MyHeritage.com. Each time I called the customer service number provided, after a lengthy and confusing button pushing exercise, I was subject to a "Please call back." message. Not worth your time, purchase another kit. I did, and I am much happier with the result.
Proof of my purchase is below.
Dear Nicole,
I'm sorry to read your low star review and I will do all I can to help.
Your overall satisfaction and feedback is important to me and I would like to ensure you receive a refund as soon as possible.
I'd also like to investigate why you have not yet received your kit. Unfortunately, I am unable to locate your MyHeritage account under the name you provide here or with the screenshot of the e-mail that you titled proof of purchase.
Please send me an e-mail from your MyHeritage registered address at [email protected] so I can assist you with this as soon as possible.
I'll be looking for your e-mail.
Kind Regards
Rafael
MyHeritage
I found the service for my DNA kit when it got returned by the carrier as I was away was very speedy when I was sent another kit to replace the returned one. Very satisfied with the result.
The results for some of my family members show that MyHeritage has no sufficient data base for Asians. They cant differentiate between Chinese nor between Indonesia, Malay or Philippines. Both are huge groups of population and certainly not homogeneous.
Another issue was my own result. It was highly improbable. It left out two groups of ancestors (German and French) that I have reason to be sure of, but came up with 4 groups that I cant trace at all (English, Scandinavian, Greek, Italian). One or two surprises in a profile might make sense, but six? There must have been a sample mixup.
Dear Helmut,
I regret to find you are unhappy with your ethnicity estimate and I will do my best to help.
In estimating your ethnicity we compare and reference your DNA with other DNA testers around the globe whose genetic ethnicity is known. This has indeed helped many people in the DNA research community to find new discoveries.
I understand you tested a family member that is showing common DNA in the East Asian region. As you know, there are many different ethnic groups in Eastern Asia that are culturally and linguistically diverse. However, a lot of people in that region have not contributed their DNA for research purposes which would allow science to establish better ethnicity models.
With regards to your DNA, people in neighboring countries in Europe are found to have similar DNA for various reasons such as people moving around frequently and official borders and communities being occupied. Your ethnicity estimate does not measure the migration pattern of your ancestors but it does estimate the ethnicity that has been passed down to you. Therefore currently where there isn't sufficient statistical difference, the ethnicity estimate is retained on a higher regional level.
To view all the ethnicities we compare DNA with, please visit the Ethnicity Estimate page and select the 'All supported ethnicities' view. You will see that we currently reference 42 ethnic populations and this number will be growing even larger because of our own Founder Populations Project — one of the largest of its kind ever conducted. Our current amount of supported ethnicities is vigorous compared to other major DNA kit providers and this can be verified online by all means. Not only are we researching more ethnicities, our DNA database is robust and is constantly growing as we give the option of FREE raw DNA upload from other popular autosomal DNA test providers.
All this being said, what is most important for us is your overall satisfaction and research experience.
Therefore, I'd like to examine your research along with your DNA to ensure there indeed are no sample mixups as you describe in your feedback. In order to do so, I need to locate your registered MyHeritage account.
Please e-mail my inbox at [email protected] at your nearest convenience so I can look into this as soon as possible.
I'll be looking for your e-mail.
Sincerely
Rafael
MyHeritage
THIS DUMB SITE FOR THE 2ND TIME IN A YEAR IT HAS CHARGED MY CARD FOR A YEAR SUBSCRIPTION AFTER BEING CANCELED! NOW MY ACCOUNT IS OVERDRAWN AND I AM GETTING FEES OVER $70 WORTH. AND I AM TOLD IT WILL BE 3-10 DAYS TO CREDIT MY ACCOUNT. BULL$#*!! I WILL NEVER USE THIS SORRY EXCUSE FOR A SITE AGAIN!
Dear Stephanie,
I regret to find you were unaware of your annual membership charge and I will do all I can to help you receive a refund.
I'd like to clarify that MyHeritage informs all members of the annual charge and its price on the automatic email that is sent out after you enroll in the membership and before every renewal.
Moreover, any member can view the status and/or unsubscribe from any membership's annual fee by logging in, clicking on the site manager's name in the right upper corner of the family site page, and selecting ‘My Purchases’.
Your refund is guaranteed because our terms and conditions clearly read that "If you are not satisfied with your purchased plan you may request a full refund by contacting Customer Support within thirty (30) days of the initial purchase date of the subscription".
Your feedback is very important to us and If I understand correctly you mentioned that you have canceled your membership before its expiration, so I would really like to investigate why you were charged by all means. Please e-mail me directly from your registered e-mail address at [email protected] so I may look into this as soon as possible.
Sincerely yours
Rafael
MyHeritage
Very disappointed that Ive been unable to contact the support team in the uk to discuss the lateness of my DNA results. Every time I have been told by the automated voice to call back later. My husband had his three weeks ago. I have tried at different times of the day and it makes no difference at all.
Dear Christine,
I'm sorry to hear about your attempt to contact our support team and I will do all I can to help you as soon as possible.
DNA research is currently a very popular subject and we at times experience a high volume of questions from the millions of our members. I totally understand how bothersome it may be to get that automated voice message and I sympathize with your efforts.
We absolutely value your membership and overall member experience and I'd like to personally assist you in tracking our DNA results as soon as possible.
Please write to my inbox from your registered e-mail address at [email protected] so I may verify and locate your account.
You are already my first priority here today and I will be looking for your e-mail.
Happy to help
Rafael
MyHeritage
Hace unos días tuve la necesidad de pedir ayuda al equipo de soporte de Myheritage para resolver un problema con el idioma de VISUALIZACIÓN en el Family Tree Builder.
A pocos días de hacer mi consulta recibí de Yoel (del equipo de Myheritage), las instrucciones para solucionar el problema, estas indicaban en forma detallada y muy clara los pasos a seguir, y es así como resolví mi problema en forma exitosa.
Recomiendo a quienes tengan necesidad de hacer una consulta, se comuniquen con el equipó de soporte de Myheritage, seguro que recibirán la repuesta con la solución para el problema.
Desde ya muchas gracias.
I have been scammed! Upon reflection of my tribal records and MyHeritage estimates, it would appear MyHeritage lacks the expertise and data banks the organization professes. Such inaccurate information would sway any business to give an immediate refund.
I would not recommend MyHeritage to anyone of Native American ancestry.
Dear Terry,
I regret to find you are not satisfied with the research you have been doing with MyHeritage and I'll do my best to help.
I'd like to clarify that our DNA lab is in Houston, Texas and we compare and reference your DNA with other DNA testers around the globe whose genetic ethnicity is known. This has helped many of the millions of our members in the DNA research community to find new discoveries and dig into their past.
We have proudly referenced 42 ethnic populations and this number will be growing even larger because of our own Founder Populations Project — one of the largest of its kind ever conducted. Our current amount of supported ethnicities is vigorous compared to other popular genealogy research companies and this can be verified online by all means. Not only are we researching more ethnicities, our DNA database is robust and is constantly growing as we give the option of FREE raw DNA upload from other popular autosomal DNA test providers.
Currently, the issue of Native American ancestry not being included in one's DNA is actually a fairly common one in the world of DNA research as a whole because of several different factors.
Each of us inherits about 50% DNA from our mother and 50% from our father. However, the percentages of DNA received from grandparents and further back are rarely divided evenly. Therefore, one may not necessarily inherit the DNA of a given ancestor throughout the generations that may have been of a specific ethnicity.
For example, because an ancestors’ DNA is not passed evenly to their descendants, one grandparent might have passed on 3% of his/her DNA to his great-grandchild, while another great-grandparent may have passed on 11%. This demonstrates how one may have a Native American great-grandmother, but have inherited such a small amount of her Native American DNA that it cannot be traced in a DNA test.
Therefore, If your Native American ethnicity does not appear in the Ethnicity Estimate, some researchers will recommend you consider testing one of your parents or grandparents as it is more likely that Native American DNA will be traced in the generations closer to the Native American ancestor.
In addition, though you might have Native American DNA, it might belong to a tribe that has not contributed to DNA sampling and references. There are more than 500 recognized tribes which are ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse. However, the majority of these tribes have not contributed their DNA for research purposes which would allow science to establish better ethnicity models.
The good news is we offer tools such as DNA matching and genealogical references to allow one to research this kind of thing further. Though determining one’s ethnicity based on DNA is a relatively new field in genetics, great advancements have been made in the past years, but there is much more to discover. I can assure you that MyHeritage is on top of this and we will continue to work on improving our Ethnicity Estimate along with developing better tools based on your feedback, new scientific research, and discoveries.
I'd personally be very happy to assist you with any questions you may have on your research. Please feel free to contact me anytime at [email protected] from your registered MyHeritage e-mail address.
Sincerely
Rafael
MyHeritage
Relieved that I have finally heard from My Heritage. I have been waiting a week to discover if I had my storage restored. I admit it was probably my fault on how to submit my problem. My heart is happy this morning to see that it was updated. I love My Heritage. It is so easy to function and johnny on the spot for information. Thank you. Samuel
I was very happy to help my dad purchase his dna test. We wanted to know a bit more where he was from etc. If he had more family out there. Heritage gave us the basics where his blood line came from, no haplogroup was offered could not contact family without paying over 100.00 to join etc. I did mine with 23and me and got so much more and can contact others for free. I'm angry I wasted my money my father can't spit enough to do the the 23and me the only bad of 23and me they don't offer a swab test. My dad is in the final cancer stages and has trouble spitting and now with chemo can't do the test.
Dear Emma,
I'm sorry to read that you are dissatisfied with your DNA kit purchase and I will do all I can to help. I admire your courage and strength in helping your father through chemo and I sympathize with what you have gone through. My thoughts and prayers are with you during this time.
Indeed, we currently offer an autosomal DNA test which does not include the Y-DNA or mtDNA SNPs that would be useful for determining your father's haplogroup.
The test we provide is specifically for identifying the first 22 pairs of 'autosomal' chromosomes. This test provides you with DNA matches with relatives that share your DNA and an ethnicity estimate.
Indeed, our intentions are to offer the kind of test ( Y-DNA or mtDNA) that includes haplogroups for our members, but we cannot give an estimated time of when this will be released.
All in all, your overall satisfaction is extremely important to us and I invite you to contact my inbox if you are in need of any help with your purchase and research at [email protected].
Warm Regards
Rafael
MyHeritage
I have been using Legacy8 for 2 years and all of a sudden I cant print more than 4 generations of ancestors. I was told to put my customer code in the help box but it made no difference. I told customer support via email (because they have made their best effort to avoid talking to humans) and got a return email that told me to put my customer code in the help box. No help there. So I upgraded to the latest update of Legacy8 and now all I get now when I try to run my Legacy 8 is a screen demanding that I upgrade to Legacy9. When I try to close the Legacy9 upgrade window I get a runtime error and Legacy8 shuts down - unusable now. So I ordered Legacy9 but I am afraid to use it. I am now sitting and waiting for some mysterious person to contact me and tell me what to do... but its hard to solve MuHeritages's problems via a slow moving email system.
Dear Tom,
I regret to find your low star review and learn about your struggle that you have been experiencing with your Legacy software.
Your feedback on the issues you describe with Legacy is extremely important to us as we are constantly trying to better our overall research experience for the millions of our MyHeritage members.
Genealogy research is currently a very popular subject and we at times experience a high volume of e-mails from the millions of our members. That being said, I totally understand how bothersome it may be to wait for a reply and I sympathize with your efforts.
As you may know, MyHeritage announced in August of 2017 its acquisition of the popular genealogy desktop software Legacy Family Tree and its genealogy webinar platform, Legacy Family Tree Webinars. This is MyHeritage's ninth acquisition to date.
This newly acquired Legacy platform acquisition is still very new and we are currently working out many of the issues that arise with it.
For your information, we do offer a phone support hotline along with our e-mail service at (+1) 877- 432-3135 but I would like to take over the issue your report and will personally do all I can to ensure help with first priority.
Please write to my inbox with more details on the subject at [email protected] so I may verify your account information.
Happy to help
Rafael
MyHeritage
I first purchased my My Heritage DNA test on the 10th of August, the lab received my samples on the 6th of September and I am still waiting for my results. The first prediction for my results to be released to me was mid October, then they changed it to the 1st of November and I am still waiting. I am not expecting my samples to work and really wish I didn't spend the money at this point in time. Don't waste your money
Dear Aiden
I'm sorry to read your low star review and I absolutely sympathize with your efforts so far. I totally understand how discouraging it is to wait a few months for your DNA results and I will do all I can to help.
Waiting for your results is estimated at 4-6 weeks but under various circumstances, it may take longer once our lab receives your DNA sample.
We currently have a high volume of DNA kit purchasers and each DNA sample is given extra attention and care to ensure our DNA research community gets the most accurate results.
If you have waited this long, It could be that your results should be done soon or you may have some sort of lab error in which we may need to send you a replacement kit, but, I would really need to view your account to know for sure.
Nonetheless, your overall satisfaction is extremely important to us and I will make sure that you do not feel as if you have wasted your money.
Please e-mail me personally at [email protected] so I may verify and locate your account and help you with this issue with the highest amount of priority.
Warm Regards
Rafael
MyHeritage
I had a problem synching my online trees with the FTB software on my PC - not for the first time. On both occasions I got little joy by emailing for support but I got excellent support from staff on the phone (this time it was Lydia, and Melissa) who were polite, patient and skilled. My system is now working fine.
Sent in my kit on October 16th, and I keep checking the status of it online regularly and it still hasn't been received at the lab? And it says It will take about 3 weeks to get results once it's received by the lab? I didn't pay $80 to wait about 2 months to find out my results.
Dear Ashley,
I can totally identify with how discouraging it is to wait for DNA results and I will do all I can to help.
Waiting for your results is estimated at 4-6 weeks but under various circumstances, it may take longer making it 8 weeks once our lab receives your DNA sample.
DNA research is a very popular gift idea and we currently have a high volume of DNA test purchasers. Each kit is given extra attention and care to ensure our DNA research community gets the most accurate results.
To track the status of your DNA kit, please do the following:
1. Log in to your site with your registered e-mail address and password.
2. Hover over the 'DNA' tab and click on 'Manage DNA kits'. Click on the three dots on the right-hand side of the DNA file and select 'Track'.
Here you will find information about when your kit is shipped to you, received at our lab, and processed.
I'd be happy to personally track your kit and give you more detailed information on its development. Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected] at your nearest convenience.
Sincerely yours
Rafael
Myheritage
First over charged me, didnt give sale price. Second after 9 weeks still no results have been sent. Was told not to contact them. Use another compan because this one is not honest in there dealings with customers.
Dear Dave,
I'm sorry you feel that way about MyHeritage and your overall satisfaction is extremely important to us.
Your feedback has been reported to our support department to ensure a better overall research experience for the millions of our members.
That being said, I'd like to learn more about how you were charged for a membership without understanding the sales price. I'd also like to assist you with tracking your results and find out who told you not to contact us.
Please E-mail my inbox at [email protected] me so I may locate and verify your account and assist you with this issue as soon as possible.
I'll be looking for your e-mail.
Warm Regards
Rafael
MyHeritage
For å fortsette mitt "Dataabonnement" hadde jeg klikket på Premium, men det ble registrert som et "Sideabonnement"
Jeg er meget godt fornøyd med Lisa som ringte salgsavdelingen og fikk ordnet det slik at jeg kan fortsette mitt "Dataabonnement".
På den MyHeritage-siden jeg skulle velge abonnement, kunne jeg bare velge mellom Basic, Premium og Plus Premium. Når jeg da valgte Premium, gikk jeg utfra at dette dekket "Dataabonnement" og når jeg nå klikker på "Dataabonnmenet" under "Mine kjøp" så står det "Plan: Premium". Her er det behov for endringer!
I don't like being charged by a company that takes out $128.95 for 1 month of service? WHAT SERVICE? IT WON'T EVEN LET ME REGISTER TO GET SERVICE! Just give me my money back yippy lying, cheating, thieving, sorry POS's
Dear Jackie,
I regret to find that you were unaware of the details in your membership's charge and I'm sorry for the misunderstanding.
It seems you have purchased the annual subscription because we have no memberships that are priced at $128.95 for 1 month of service.
MyHeritage offers an assembly of free and paid subscriptions that will fit your research and budget. While our freeware includes a free basic membership along with a free downloadable Family Tree Builder program we indeed, offer an assembly of paid memberships which include special research tools that are developed and updated daily.
Some of our members prefer to only pay for some features as they don't really use the entire array of tools we offer. Therefore, I'd like to assist you in finding the best membership that fits your research needs and budget, whether it be a monthly or annual membership.
Please e-mail my inbox at [email protected] so I may verify your account and assist you with high priority.
Sincerely
Rafael
MyHeritage
See reviews as you browse!
Get the Chrome Extension.
Add Extension
- SmartCustomer’s sole mission is to increase online transparency for buyers and businesses
- SmartCustomer has helped over 200M buyers make better purchasing decisions online
- Suspicious reviews are flagged by our algorithms, moderators, and community members
- SmartCustomer’s sole mission is to increase online transparency for buyers and businesses
- SmartCustomer has helped over 200M buyers make better purchasing decisions online
- Suspicious reviews are flagged by our algorithms, moderators, and community members
Dear Mojo,
I'm sorry to read your low star review and I will do all I can to help.
Firstly, if you do not want updates in French, you may update your account to show the language of your choice by all means. To update this, please do the following:
1. Log into your Family Site.
2. Click on your name in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.
3. Select ‘Account Settings’.
4. Click on the drop-down menu in the section labeled ‘Send me emails in’.
5. Select the language you would like to receive emails from MyHeritage.com.
6. Click on ‘Save’ to save the changes.
With regards to your Ethnicity Estimate results, please note that your autosomal DNA test gives you an estimate and does not measure your ancestor's migration patterns throughout history. Considering we do not inherit our ancestor's ethnicity evenly throughout our higher generations, where our family has lived for generations is not comparable to the common DNA we share with other DNA references.
As you may know, given the history of contact between the countries surrounding the British Isles where official borders and communities were at times occupied throughout history, it is found that populations share common DNA. Because of this, where there isn't sufficient statistical difference, our ethnicity estimate is retained on a higher regional level. Therefore you may find British populations that share common DNA with Northern Europeans or Scandinavians.
I'd like to make mention that along with our estimate, many of our members benefit from other research tools we provide that is integrated with their DNA results such as DNA matching, ancestral surnames and comparing matching family trees to help understand their family story and migration patterns.
I'd personally be very happy to assist you with all of this. Please e-mail my inbox at [email protected] at your nearest convenience.
Kind Regards
Rafael
MyHeritage