MyHeritage: Family Tree & DNA Reviews

by JennG_ATL

I can’t believe how incredibly saturated with bugs MyHeritage is. I heard about MyHeritage via TikTok and was excited to try the animated photo feature. I can’t even upload photos! The subscription plan pop ups are completely confusing and keep asking you to switch plans after you’ve already purchased a plan (I subscribed to a paid plan to unlock the features I wanted to try but the features are unusable). UX functionality is full of bugs. Backend updates (in-app content updates) post-data-entry actions take over 15 minutes. I even tried the mobile web version and that is also full of bugs. Just another example of using most likely cheap development work to ship a product without end to end QA. Ancestry is cheaper and I’ll just go back to using that.

by _ssmog_

I was curious about this service and I saw it has a free 2 week trial. So I thought "great let's try it out". I subscribed then read all the reviews on how they charge your card anyway. I immediately made sure that wouldn't happen to me but when I did they ended my free trial too. I only had the free trial for two days. Two days! Then those crazy pop ups to buy an expensive annual plan. Only annual plans. No monthly. No quarterly. I tried reaching out about why my free trial was cut short they said it was bc I canceled my subscription. But on every other app that has this option let's you finish your free trial and then offers a deal still at the end of it. These people just seem money hungry. Not to mention I transferred over my info from AncestryDNA and it's been a good while with no results back yet. The original time estimate was only a few days. It's been weeks at this point. And it's the only reason I even still have MyHeritage. But it looks like they even get dna estimates wrong. Guess we'll be eventually seeing what they claim my background is. Even though my information is all pretty easy to identify. Wish me luck everyone. Maybe they'll say some crazy ethnicity that I'm very much not. At least it'll be a good laugh?

by MORE THE 4 WEEKS FOR RESULTS!

Ok so here’s the story or should I say stories smh I ordered a kit in November and was a little worried when my results took LONGER THEN 4 WEEKS! But I let it go due to the holidays and thought it was a nice gesture that that gave me a few months free of the premium service …. Fast forward to January 2022 I ordered another kit (decided to give them another chance due to me THINKING the OVER 4 WEEKS mark was due to the holidays) SMH nope this kit has been late with the results too I called customer service multiple times and all they keep saying is “last step last step” however it’s been on the LAST STEP FOR WEEKS! So understand that THEY LIE WHEN THEY SAY! 3/4 weeks it can take up to 9/10 weeks to get your results! I see all these good reviews but something isn’t right (UPDATE I received a email stating that the customer service agents can only give me the information that they see! Also I was informed that they don’t want to give me false information BUT isn’t telling me that the results would be available in 3/4weeks FALSE INFORMATION?) don’t spend your money with this company this company ONLY RESPONDED TO MAKE IT LOOK GOOD ON THIS REVIEW!!!!! STILL NO RESULTS AND NO RESPONSE TO MY EMAIL I SENT TO THE PERSON WHO RESPONDED TO THIS REVIEW SOMETHING ISNT RIGHT!

by DyreLogan

I wanted to try out that creepy feature where they bring photos to life. It's creepy. It's unnatural. It's unnerving. I kind of like it though. However, with the free version you only get a couple photos to play with. Then it gives you the pay wall which is insanely expensive for what it is. For the price of what Netflix offers you each year you get... creepy, unnatural photos. You get to build a family tree that is SO very inaccurate that you wonder what exactly you're paying for. I liken MyHeritage and company to one of those scammers online who AFTER you've shelled out your hard earned money, they give you absolutely nothing to show for it. At least with this you get creepy, unnatural live photos. Getting rid of account as well. Definitely not worth the price tag. Maybe 20-30 dollars a year but not 200! Sheesh! Remember covid, people? And scarce jobs and people struggling? But hey, ask for that 200 dollars from people. I'm sure there will be naive people who will pay it to see their loved ones moving unnaturally. Not me, though.

by JezzyBMinx

I’m a mixed person with a mixed mother with African ancestry & Caucasian father. I’ve taken other dna test & they’ve all come back with a high amount of European ancestry, some African ancestry, & some Andean and mixed Caribbean ancestry. It makes sense because that’s what my parents are. I took this one to find family. My results from my heritage says I’m 76% African (47% Nigerian & 27% west African) & 24% European & other. The funny thing is I’m related to tons of European & European decent & people of mixed backgrounds. I’m puzzled. A lot of my ethnicities did not show up that is available in their system. A lot of the “other” ethnicities they estimated in my analysis are not in my family at all. I’m puzzled how I’m more African than my mom, in their estimates, who is mixed with some African ancestry & I have a completely European father? I’m more African than anyone in my family according to their analysis. This is the only kit that gave these ridiculous results but managed to locate some family members.

by Ognoc

The ancestor/heritage features aren’t special and you'd get better features elsewhere that won’t cost $200. The photo animation feature’s cool and honestly needs to be a separate app because it has cool uses like making artwork talk, but it’s limited by being for dead relatives only and it’s honestly a weird disrespectful feature to have your dead grandmother go “Hi my name is blank and this is my life story! 😃” Plus the fact you can only use two photos for free with limited animations before getting the pay wall is pretty lame. And you have to unsubscribe from the 2 week free trial within 24 hours before being charged that much so you basically don’t even get the full two weeks. I wouldn’t recommend even trying the free trial because I’ve seen others have trouble unsubscribing or being charged after doing it in the correct time and the dollar amounts keep jumping around which seems strange

by Bonny653683

I don’t really work on my family tree outside of my vacations so buying a whole year for the price for me it’s a NOPE.
I get that there’s quite useful stuff for premium accounts but most of the useful things for me have been put by other users or I investigate by myself online. I also reached the limit of members already since I put my 2 families.
I don’t know for what I have been experiencing on the free version I just don’t think it’s worth it.
If there was just a light and way cheaper version where I could just connect to my other relatives matches (that i have added as contacts and are working on their own fam tree) and the info they put and more relatives space, that would be amazing. For now I think I might just find another app.

by SRH1389

This could be an awesome app, and it is good for full faced pictures. I was truly hoping it would allow me to select the face I want to animate, and be able to animate side profile faces. Also, would like an animation option with only eyes and small mouth/cheeks movements (very little to no head movements since head movements distort), to be able to animate a side profile image or newborn babies etc this would be best. But also the little to no head movements would be beneficial for full face pictures too. Cool concept; but I’m hopeful that there will be more animation options, manual face selection, and not having to crop the image to the face only..since you lose so much of the background.

by Quilee

There are certain things in MyHeritage that it is great at accomplishing. I have found a lot of information here that I have not found on other sites similar to this one. Not to say that there aren’t still some seriously necessary tweaks that could be done.
1. Every time I shut MyHeritage, just for a minute or 2, it takes me back to starting position. So when you want to go back to what you were working on, you have to find it again... and again.... and again.... and again. You get the gist?
2. I work this on an IPad and it’s the only app I have that doesn’t support split screen so that I can use it and another app at the same time. Opposing apps have to sit on top of the MH screen as the MH screen will not shrink or draw up from the toolbar.
3. When adding a picture of someone to their profile, why does it add a second picture to their album. The album that has the exact same picture? Makes no sense.
4. Where is the information sources after you approve them. Sometimes I like to go back and verify my information is correct or consult it to possibly draw more information from and finding it is a booger, let me tell you!!
That’s all I got for now. I will check back if any of these things change any time soon.

by StephanBi

It’s easy for someone like me to get addicted to MyHeritage. The makers are continually tantalizing me with new information that is usually pertinent. Consequently, I’ve found over 10,000 people who are likely relatives. They’ve found plenty in America, but none of the relatives I know of in Italy or Spain. The number of generations that are tracked are limited to a degree - you can find ancestors 20 generations back, but they may not be flagged as ancestors and it may be frustrating to print out every part of a tree. The most irritating aspect is that they will show the mother’s maiden name, but won’t automatically add it to their profile. You will have to copy it by hand. After years, and thousands of users, why haven’t they fixed this bug?

by MaryPear

I clicked on the free trial before buying MyHeritage. I enjoyed its features, and relative (pardon the pun) ease of use. It’s the best one I’ve tried so far.
I hemmed and hawed as to whether or not to subscribe for a year. Well, I decided not to at this time, went in the settings to decline the $99 subscription, it let me. I thought. Until I got a receipt telling me that my credit card was just charged $99 plus tax for the My Heritage app. There appears to be no way to undo this charge, so I’m stuck with it. I’m not going to pursue a refund, however, just a fair warning...if you are still in the free trial mode, I suggest you decide at least a couple of days before your trial period ends, to cancel. The small print says to give at least 24 hours notice. I believe that was my mistake. I gave it 23 hours maybe. I don’t know.
Anyway, now that I have it for a year, I guess I’ll explore my crazy family tree that I know will be a challenge because it’s all over the place.
This is a really good app, and I highly recommend playing with the animation feature with old portraits of dead people if you have them! It’s freaky. I have a 72-year-old friend who adored his father who died at age 56. I animated a photo for him as a surprise, and he burst into tears of joy and nostalgia. That alone was worth the hundred bucks!
Nice app, I really do recommend it, but be wary of the free trial time limit.

by AspenKate

I have three problems with MyHeritage which are irritating.

1- when I’m in MyHeritage and then go to another one to look up information, and then come back, I find it times out very quickly. I have to log back in and it does not take me back to the place where I was working. Highly time consuming and irritating.

2- I can’t change the tree layout from vertical to horizontal.

3-My tree is quite large and when you start putting in every sibling and spouse every every kid it gets so wide it becomes unmanageable. I’d like a toggle option between direct ancestors and all ancestors. I’d like to stick with direct ancestors but you need to add all the relatives to double check to make sure that you’re on the right path.

That being said, I love the fact that there are so many places for different types of information. Some programs only give you bred, wed, and dead. I like being able to indicate what causes of death were to see if there are any inherited things to watch for. I like that there is a separate field for maiden names and married names.

I’d love to see a suggestion box to the developers. For instance, I’d like to see ONE PLACE per ancestor to enter any and all information for them, including a delete button.

If those issues were addressed I would give 5 stars.

by Katarax

I like the layout and features of the site. I wish more features came with the purchase of a DNA testing kit, but what you get is pretty good. My main criticism is about the DNA estimate. My great grandma was born in Hawaii, making me part Hawaiian. That would be listed as Polynesian. My estimate revealed I was 0% Polynesian, which caused some serious concerns. Then I saw I was being DNA matched to people who were 100% Polynesian. I understand the percentage of Hawaiian DNA I inherited is lower because my great grandma was my 100% Hawaiian ancestor, but it clearly isn’t undetectable if I am being matched to people who are 100% Polynesian. Overall, I have read the data base needs to gain more samples to increase the accuracy of the estimate and it especially needs more people from certain ethnic gene pools. For example, the Hawaiian gene pool. If the accuracy improves in the future, I’d like a better estimate; but for now, overall, I’ve enjoyed my experience.

by K1978D

Wonderful app! I love being able to bring a still picture to life!! I also love being able to put a black & white photo into color!! I don’t have any need though for the ancestry part. I totally get it. It’s the point of MyHeritage !!! BUT!!! You could get so many more subscribers if you could give us the option to choose!! It’s almost like too many apps, in one. Please, please, please consider making that an option!! I’d pay for that of course! I just don’t NEED the other stuff. I come from a big family, so my ancestral stuff is already being handled. I don’t mind paying something, but I prefer a flat, one time pay type of thing. I don’t want my account being charged automatically. I forget constantly! Lol! I won’t remember to cancel in time, or to necessarily have money in my account at that particular time. Seriously, GREAT APP!!! No joke!!! But I don’t need all of that. PLEASE make this affordable & just the picture stuff!! Pleeeaasseee!!! ♥️

by Vedim

This is something I have wanted to do since I was a child. I remember asking my mom n grandparents about our relatives. I also asked about what we were made of my grandfather said, “ 2gee girl (my nickname is 2B-Tobee)we have ppl from Mississippi n Tennessee”. My grandma said, she didn’t know her dad well but was told he was a Blackfoot Indian n her mom was Black n Cherokee. I was told her moms records burned in a school house. Then I talked to other relatives like my great Aunt Virginia RIP n others who knew our family history. They collaborated somethings n told me additional information that I have held close to my heart ❤️. When my Great Aunt Della passed yrs ago, we made a trip to Greenville, TN for the funeral. I got a chance to meet relatives I’d never seen before. I learned we owned land a lot of it, but it was taken by the government.
When companies such as 123nme, Heritage n a host of others started the DNA testing, I nearly jumped out of my seat. Finally I would know who I am, where I come from basically what made me me. I’m I really American Indian or West Indian I’m about to find out FINALLY that little girl will have real answers. Based on my molecular makeup

by That One Cat In The Corner

I personally used this for a large book series (Warriors) and it was by far the best I've found so far. No limits on number of people, easy to use and understand, and you can make it as complicated as you want to, or stick to something simple. It worked really well for me, and I genuinely can think of no complaints. I would definately recomend MyHeritage for a complex family tree. I also want to say that because this is a fantasy book series, I have only used the family tree section, so I can't rate those areas. This rating and reveiw is only for the actual tree section, which I really liked

by StevieRaeBond

I recently received my DNA kit from My Heritage and although it took a little longer than anticipated to get here I am excited to see what I learn from my DNA. I have recently done a competitors kit and I will say that already I am happier with My Heritage. I have NOT been receiving TONS of emails/texts to constantly try and ‘upsell’ me! I feel that if I want to choose different tests and different info that I know where & how to get that done! One other thing is that when you enter names or info they have a HUGE amount of records available before even receiving my kit; that has been quite enjoyable! Now that my test is here I’m going to go do it right NOW and get it sent off! One last point: NO spitting necessary! It is 2 long q-tips and that’s it! No muss-No fuss! Thanks for your time….Sorry so long!

by Pharmb0y

Just getting into program, had some trouble porting over my familysearch account but now that seems solved. Looking forward to digging a little deeper. Fascinated by the animation tool, would make two suggestions: one. Rather than just having animation numbers, describe each one, I.e. which ones might be better for a left leaning or right leaning portrait and which ones are more heavily animated or more mildly animated, as sometimes if a portrait is looking slightly left or right it looks a little bizarre when the animation tries to make it look the other direction. Also, two- with the animation make it a loop that ends in the same location as the beginning so there’s no jarring jump right at the end. It’s easy to become emotionally engaged with an animation and suspending the reality in that way would help maintain that. Thanks and God bless.

by Southside4lyfe

Using this app has changed my life, when I was a child I was told I had a brother in England. My father was a Rolling Stone, he left when I was a baby. My mother told me that I had a brother and I never thought it was true, but using my heritage DNA test I was able to find my brother in Southampton England. So awesome, now me and my brother speak on a daily basis and I plan to come and see him very soon. I am from Kentucky with a slight southern accent, and it’s so awesome that I have a brother with a British accent. I had a brother the whole time I never knew if it was true but thank you my heritage for reuniting me with my brother.

by Tangomaster2

Pleasantly surprised how easy it is to use the this app app. Am using the free version for now, hoping to enter as many family members and data as I have on hand. Probably and most likely will subscribe at a later point. Seriously interested in having my DNA tested too.

Nice to see family tree expand, love the ability to add profile picture to each family member. MyHeritage lets you use family sharing, that’s a plus in my book.

Give it a 5 + star rating and will recommend MyHeritage to anyone that is getting started on their family genealogy.

by The Caustic Imp

While you can use my heritage to make a family tree (up to 250 people I believe I read) and store photos, if you (like many others who want to use a service like this) are looking for the matches to complete a family tree and see more details than you know you have to pay their subscription price.

The functions that MyHeritage and service provides is absolutely useless if you don’t want to pay up front.

My experience with MyHeritage was overall disappointing: I put in the information that I knew and was told there was a match to one of my relatives. I tap the “check match” and immediately get thrown into a “pay for this service!” type of deal. I have absolutely no idea if it’s even worth paying for as it gives you so little details it’s almost like you’re gambling if you pay for it (am I going to get an accurate match with details? Or am I going to pay and get absolutely nothing?)

On top of this the family tree portion of MyHeritage felt awkward to use and many times I couldn’t even position the view where I wanted so my family tree was mostly off screen.

Don’t waste your time with MyHeritage.

by Shandawn

As someone who needs HELP filling in the blanks with regard to relationships. From a family full of divorce and several affairs that led to various “illegitimate” children including my father and several others that are genetically related but adopted - this family tree builder is HORRIBLE. You can’t edit relationships like marriage - it automatically assumes my grandmother married the man she had an affair with (my paternal grandfather). I also have two half brothers. This doesn’t help me to research but I’d rather a hindrance. I also tried doing this through their mobile website but not getting anywhere. Ancestry isn’t perfect but it’s much more workable than this. I’m glad I didn’t pay for this before committing to anything more than a few nights. Maybe my family dynamics are too difficult but this has been nothing but frustrating.

by Cre8iv66

Hello since yesterday June 30, 2018 every person in my own tree in MyHeritage , including myself is now suddenly marked private. I cannot see their name and they do not come up in a search of the tree. I have to tap on their name to see their information in the tree if I know who and where they are to read any information. I have used MyHeritage on my iPhone and iPad for 18 months with no problem until today.

The family tree builder new version this week on the computer is fine. But now in MyHeritage , I cannot search for anyone who is still living, on either MyHeritage on the iPhone or the iPad as the names do not come up. I have to know who they are and find them that way in the tree itself. There is no privacy settings in MyHeritage to adjust or turn on or off, so I cannot fix this problem as it came from your end. What have you guys done??? Please fix this privacy issues immediately as I cannot do anything on my personal tree and I just renewed my subscription. Please advise. Thanks

by Krystledreams

Attempted to use MyHeritage to build a family tree. I was drawn to the idea of being able to use photos for each member. I clicked to add a photo, selected photo, cropped the photo, clicked save and it wouldn’t show or save. It just showed a wheel spinning like it was loading. I tried it at least 5 times for multiple people on my tree. I finally got it to work and saved. I came back the same day, and everything was there. I was excited. The next day (today) I come back and most of the pictures and relationship were gone. Thankfully, I didn’t put a ton of time into this project. Disappointed with the apps save feature and disappointed that it isn’t always user friendly.

by Bitchy Old Lady

I admit I am new to this, however, there are search words I don’t understand.
Also, when I think I’m getting somewhere, you ask for more money. I purposely asked if this was going to happen BEFORE I bought the kit. I was told, absolutely not! I wasn’t on here 5 minutes and already was navigated to pay extra for that info. Poor customer service.
Another huge problem I’ve had is getting someone on the phone! You say your there 24/7, but no one ever answers. If your number 10 in the que, you stay there until the battery on your phone goes dead.
This is the most frustrating part of the whole deal! You have a multimillion dollar business here, HIRE MORE PEOPLE TO MAN THE PHONES!

by 1,2,3,ofsameperson

I am now on my third time attempting to get my tree straightened out. Whenever I confirm somebody it’s great, however if their name comes up again and I want to just save new info, I find I have them listed in another place. Is there anyway I can just merge this info. I have gone as far back as 25 generations and have assigned a number to each generation, I really don’t want to start all over. If I can merge I am willing to go in and erase all generation numbers assigned to each individual. I called and was on line with one of your associates and she stated I was doing everything correctly. Please advise, pretty frustrated at this time. 1,2,3,sometimes 4 of sam person

by Puffball27

I love MyHeritage. I have over 26,000 entries and it handles them well. The search is good but seems to ignore important search values like dates.

The Discover option is nice but I’d like to be able to turn some searches off. I get over 80 discoveries for some people (notably LDS) and, while I don’t have an issue with it I really tire of dealing with them. Even when I go through all 80 discoveries for a particular person a few days later there are 84 more for the same person! That is not ok.

In searches there is the option to select just family tree returns and that is very helpful.

I would love to see the option of selecting the how many branches off the direct line.

There is not good tracking of direct ancestors and I’ve found the only good way is to assign a special picture for all Direct ancestors. That way when I look at the various trees I can always find my direct lines. I doubt the tracking with a special icon would be difficult. Direct Ancestor tracking seems to fall apart after 8-12 generations and it would be nice to see that addressed.

by Goodparent1975

This is a great app for creating a big family tree for free. It automatically creates discoveries for you and helps expand your tree by finding your relatives in other peoples public trees and in historical documents.

If you have been DNA tested, they have great tools in their app for learning about your ethnicity and for finding and communicating with your DNA relatives.

Bottom line - It’s clear that this app pays a lot of attention to its mobile app, keeps innovating it and really cares about the experience of its users. Highly recommended.

by BJN63

I am very much enjoying my experience on My Heritage! It has become a fun and interesting hobby for me. You start the tree and My Heritage provides you with info to help you move along. Before you know it, you are reading documents like census info and newspaper articles about your ancestors! It will cost you some money, but if you're really interested in learning about your heritage, it's really worth it!!