Autosomal DNA Comparison
Family Finder vs. Relative Finder

Today the breakthrough product for genealogists and adoptees is a new kind of autosomal DNA testing.

Both men and women are using it to identify previously unknown relatives in their family trees.

You can order this type of test from either Family Tree DNA or 23andMe.

Family Tree DNA, which focuses on genetic genealogy, has a dedicated test of this type called Family Finder.

23andMe, which emphasizes health testing, includes a segment matching feature called Relative Finder in their autosomal DNA test.

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Product Backgrounds

Both Relative Finder and Family Finder went through a Beta testing phase and I was one of the early testers of each. Happily, I have found many genetic matches using autosomal DNA testing with both products.

23andMe introduced Relative Finder first, using an existing database of customers whose autosomal DNA had already been tested for health information.

FTDNA introduced Family Finder a few months later and the company does not do health testing. That means you will probably see more matches at 23andMe. Yet database size is only one factor to consider in comparing these two tests.

My Recommendation

If you can afford it, I urge you to take both autosomal DNA tests. If you are forced to choose one or the other, however, you definitely need to read all the rest of this page. Your weighting of the following eight factors can make one of them a better choice for you.

1. Match Communications

Getting a match through autosomal DNA testing is only worthwhile when you can open a line a communication with your newfound cousins. Then you can share genealogical data like surnames and geographic origins to identify your common ancestor.

Since 23andMe does health testing, they have to build extremely high privacy walls around their customers. When new matches appear in your 23andMe account, most of them will not reveal the person’s name. Instead, you will only see their sex, the predicted relationship, and some non-identifying data about each match.

To introduce yourself to that person you must go through a closed, proprietary system. Basically, you write a brief introductory message. Then 23andMe will generate an email that invites the match to log into their account to read your message. You are limited to five such introductions per day.

Unless the person you invite checks their 23andMe messages and then accepts your invitation, you will not receive a response. Furthermore, unless he also accepts your invitation to share genomes, you will not see the details of the DNA match.

Family Tree DNA does not analyze or report any medical implications. They include a release form with each test kit where you OK the sharing of your name and email address with people you match. Most people sign this because they are genealogists who WANT to hear from the people they match.

As with other FTDNA products, you instantly see the name and email address of each match. With Family Finder you also see any surnames that the person has recorded for his account. Matching or similar surnames appear in bold.

As soon as the match appears in your account, you can immediately access all the DNA data about your matching segments. If you wish to contact that person, you simply click on his email address and create your own email.

Since you’re using your own email program, you control the subject line and body content. This gives you the freedom to include links in your message or attach files such as pedigree charts or GEDCOM files.

23andMe does provide another means of finding some of their customers. When people choose to make their Profile public, you can search for them by name. You can also search for a surname and get a list of people who included that surname in their Profile.

Unfortunately, you can't tell if any of the people in your search results are among the anonymous people who have a match with you in Relative Finder. So even this workaround is tedious.

ADVANTAGE: Family Finder

2. Match Responsiveness

Once you introduce yourself to someone you match, you hope they will respond.

With 23andMe you want them to accept your offer to share genomes. Genome sharing is more personal in 23andMe because even sharing at the Basic level allows you to see how the other person compares to you in certain physical traits. This includes genes for endurance, weight/body mass index, and female fertility.

As a result, some people may refuse to share their genomes and you will not be able to see your common segments.

That’s not an issue with Family Finder. Sharing of DNA data occurs immediately when a match appears in your account. Plus, neither of you will see anything about physical traits. The user interface for Family Finder only shows DNA information that relates to the size and location of common segments.

Next, you want your autosomal DNA match to exchange personal messages with you. Then you can work together to identify your common ancestor. Based on my experience and the experience of others, matches at Family Tree DNA are more likely to respond.

One careful user of both services reported a return rate of 90% at Family Finder and 40% at Relative Finder. Your results may vary.

Since most Family Finder users are genealogists and not just people curious about health issues, Family Finder matches are also more likely to have extensive genealogical data.

TIP: If you are using 23andMe’s Relative Finder, provide matches with your email address and ask for the other person’s email address. That way you can communicate directly and bypass the proprietary message system.

ADVANTAGE: Family Finder

3. User Interface

The 23andMe user interface accommodates a wide variety of data that can be examined in various ways for both health and genealogy purposes. The overall focus is on YOU, i.e. what does your data say about you.

The basic information on your 23andMe matches is in the Relative Finder section. But seeing more detailed comparisons of you and your matches requires a lot of skipping around from place to place.

With Family Finder the focus is on YOUR MATCHES. FTDNA designed its user interface to efficiently manage the review, analysis, and categorization of your genetic matches. With this more limited purpose the interface is more streamlined, more intuitive and easier to use.

The Chromosome Browser in Family Finder uses color to let you visually compare up to five of your matches at a time to see where you have matching segments with each person.

23andMe's similar Family Inheritance view will only compare you with one person at a time. Instead, it uses color to distinguish two degrees of matching segments, which it calls half identical and completely identical.

With Family Finder you can select from several segment size minimums to be more or less selective. The minimum in the 23andMe browser is fixed.

As your list of matches grows, various filters on Family Finder will make it easier to focus on certain matches. There’s a Notes icon where you can save notes about each relative. Plus, there's a Family Tree icon where you can browse the family trees of your matches. About one third of my matches provide them. There are no comparable features with 23andMe.

ADVANTAGE: Family Finder

4. Supplemental Information

Family Tree DNA is in the genetic genealogy business. As such, they offer a wide variety of separate tests like Y-DNA, mtDNA, X-chromosome, and deep clade testing in addition to this new type of autosomal DNA testing with Family Finder. It's more of an ala carte menu.

23andMe, on the other hand, offers just one test. So they pack a lot of features into one product.

In addition to testing the autosomal chromosomes, 23andMe also checks some data from the X and Y (for men) chromosomes and a portion of your mitochondrial DNA. That lets them predict your maternal line haplogroup and—if you are a man—your paternal line haplogroup.

Family Tree DNA includes haplogroup information with Y-DNA and mtDNA tests instead of Family Finder. Furthermore, they offer tests that will sometimes define your haplogroup(s) more precisely than 23andMe.

ADVANTAGE: Relative Finder

5. Ethnic Ancestry

Both of these autosomal DNA tests use DNA population studies to determine your biogeogranphical ancestry. In other words, they tell you what proportion of your total ancestry originated in different populations around the world.

This collective ancestry from ALL your ancestors may be quite different from your Y-DNA and mtDNA haplogroups. Those only trace the narrow routes of your ancestry through your direct paternal and maternal lines.

23andMe reports this in their Ancestry Painting, which gives you percentages from three broad areas: Europe, Asia, and Africa.

FTDNA's Population Finder program, included with Family Finder, checks your DNA against more than 60 populations from seven distinct continental groups. Click the above link to see the population list and a concise summary of this ethnic testing feature.

There is certainly the potential--especially for people of mixed ancestry--to get more precise ancestry answers through Family Finder.

ADVANTAGE: Family Finder

6. Health Information

As noted before, 23andMe uses autosomal DNA testing to provide health information. It can measure your personal genetic risk for certain diseases, your status as a carrier for others, and your likely response to certain medications.

It only includes those conditions with a proven genetic link. Obviously, it can’t factor in environmental factors such as your personal diet, exercise, and exposure to toxic substances. Nevertheless, the health information provided should be interesting to everyone and potentially life changing for some.

My wife and I have both taken the 23andMe test and I am thoroughly impressed with the professional presentation of our health results.

ADVANTAGE: Relative Finder

7. Pricing Structure

In 2011 23andMe adopted a subscription pricing model. They made their autosomal DNA test available for a lower initial cost. But that lower price requires a Personal Genome Service subscription at $9/month. The minimum commitment term is 12 months, so you need to add $108 to arrive at the true minimum cost.

CAUTION: Once you stop paying the monthly subscription, you will no longer receive new Health Reports, existing Health Report updates, or new Relative Finder matches.

Scientists continue to discover new relationships between DNA and health. If health testing interests you now, you probably won't want to drop the service later. As for Relative Finder, your chance of getting closer, ever more useful matches increases as the database grows.

For these reasons I don't think you will ever want to drop any of these autosomal DNA testing services. Therefore, you need to consider this ongoing cost in your price comparisons.

As of this writing, FTDNA has not adopted a subscription charge for Family Finder. You still pay once up front and enjoy the benefits of new matches without future charges.

ADVANTAGE: Family Finder

8. Customer Service

Whenever you buy something over the Internet, customer service can become a critical factor. I have found the staff at Family Tree DNA to be knowledgeable and helpful. They respond promptly to email inquiries and they publish a phone number you can call. The company even received an Award of Excellence from the Better Business Bureau for superior customer service.

I have not personally tried to contact 23andMe with any questions. But I have heard from others that it can take awhile to get a response to email inquiries. There is a phone number on their site. But the fact that it is extremely well hidden suggests they would rather you didn't call.

ADVANTAGE: Family Finder

Conclusion

The only way you can find all your possible matches is to do what many serious genealogists are doing. Order an autosomal DNA test from BOTH Family Tree DNA and 23andMe. That’s what I did.

If your budget doesn’t allow that, you have to pick one autosomal DNA test over the other.

For genealogists and adoptees, where your primary goal is to connect with people who can bring insights to your family tree, I believe that FTDNA's Family Finder is the better choice for an autosomal DNA test. That’s because FTDNA designed Family Finder to do a few closely related things extremely well:

Discover previously unknown relatives who share a common ancestor. Communicate with them. And efficiently manage your growing list of matches.

On the other hand, if health testing is a critical part of your needs, then you clearly need to test with 23andMe.

Finally, if your ONLY objective is Relationship Testing, you can decide on price alone. An autosomal DNA test from either company can confirm or deny a close relationship such as full sibling or half sibling between two test subjects. Just remember to factor in an extra $108 each for the minimum 12-month subscriptions at 23andMe.

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