FamilyTreeDNA Reviews 

I have been a customer a family tree DNA for well over a decade. Their product is good and the results are wonderful. I have no complaints from the prior owner Mr Greenspan, however the company he has sold out to now is not the greatest. I don't like the merge with myheritage they are one of the worst sites out there for a family tree. For years all we've asked for is a place on our family tree DNA account to add a link to your online tree wherever you would like it to be. This would require no resources on the part of family tree DNA whatsoever just a simple box for someone to enter a link. And yet you're forced to use a crappy company's family tree! Hopefully the myheritage merge goes away and a link box is added sometime in the near future.

I've done mtDNA, BIG-Y and transferred atDNA for myself and others in my family. The chromosome browser is great. And the various groups you can join, help you discuss results with others.

Do your atDNA test at Ancestry.com and transfer the results to FamilyTreeDNA.com, Gedmatch.com, etc. Use all the tools at all web sites.
Males Test your yDNA and mtDNA and females test your mtDNA at FamilyTreeDNA.com Use all their tools and join groups that can help. Note that males with 12 marker exact matches are all cousins. Common ancestor could live next door or was born thousands of years ago. Create pedigree charts for all 12 marker exact matches. Some will be dead. The Big Y 700 will help determine how closely your matches are related to you. I do not like the current need to use family trees at MyHeritage. And server? response is slow for searches.

Family Tree DNA’s BigY-700 is the best Y-DNA test available, supported by an active community of volunteer experts to help interpret results (official and unofficial Facebook groups can be valuable resources for new and experienced users alike). However, the website feels outdated and slow, and some community advice can be misleading. For example, BigY may only provide for some testers a Y-haplogroup dating back over 2000 years, and additional costly tests are often necessary. Furthermore, some recommendations—like testing close relatives to have private variants named—may not align with all users' goals. Other products: autosomal DNA just OK (now they offer a partial Y-haplogroup usually several thousdand years old, something that 23andMe has been doing for years); mtFull Sequence (not very useful for genealogy. Lots of room for improvement in the way these results are presented).

Unparalleled product/database for Y DNA and mtDNA

The BigY is magnificent - I'm making a serious breakthrough in Scottish/Caribbean history, and the Surname Project volunteers I'm involved with are wonderful. Great company :)

I have never had any problem with Family Tree DNA, and have done all of the testing available to me. Additionally, their surname group projects are very helpful, and they allow the uploading of data from other companies for Autosomal comparisons. All of our family members who have done DNA testing have done it through Family Tree, and there have not been any complaints. I recommend Family Tree to anyone who wants to do DNA testing.

A great DNA sequencing company with good customer service.

Their Y test helped to solve 2 family mysteries. No other way would have been able to do that.

Useful and powerful DNA tools- the only company that provides full Y testing. But educate yourself first as to what these tests can and cannot do for you.

My FamilyFinder test, taken in 2017, has given me additional matches that I didn't get at Ancestry DNA or 23andme. I also have a maternal uncle's and a paternal aunt's DNA results at FTDNA. I have identified, with traditional genealogical research, many of our matches at the different DNA testing sites, verifying my family tree. My brother's BigY results have given us at least one match that could lead to eventually breaking down our brick wall. I'd like to upgrade my uncle's stored sample with BigY, but right now I can't afford it.
Verifying ancestors a few generations back is a lot of work, but as a hobbyist, I enjoy it. I do wish more of the testers would link their family tree to their results.

Wonderful company. Quick customer support. Great support documentation for new customers. Apparently many new customers do not read the documentation based on the bogus complaints I see here.

I began genetic genealogy in 2006 working with YDNA for the MacLeods. In 18 years, I can still say that FTDNA offers more for the person just getting involved in this hobby than other companies. There are volunteer Project Administrators who are willing to work with you to interpret your results and point you to further testing that will give you more information.

It is important for people to understand that it can be a slow process; for example, it took 18 years for my family to find its "branch" on the MacLeod tree. The wait was not the fault of FTDNA; it was a wait for the right person to have their YDNA tested. And when that happens? The information begins to flow.

FTDNA is the first and by far the best genealogical testing company, and I have been with them for 18 years. They offer a far wider range of more sophisticated tests than other companies. They are the only company that has projects where volunteer administrators and others tell you what tests to take and why. They are the only company that does not onsell your data. They only do genealogical testing. They probably are not so good at explaining to customers why they are the best.

One of my ancestors went from England to the new colonies in the 1600's. FTDNA, through Big Y was the only DNA company to provide me with an exact match in the US. It opened up a whole New World after I had been carrying out research for forty years plus.

FTDNA is the best company for yDNA testing and has the largest such database.
In reply the Ahmad Al-Maaitah, who said Y-37 was a waste of money: a Y STR test does more than just predict your haplogroup - it also shows much closer (more recent) matches, but more distant than autosomal DNA testing. This is much more beneficial for genealogy of the paternal line.

I love the detailed Y-DNA testing (Big-Y) product and the new "Discover" tool. It gives you migration maps, ancient matches, famous matches and close matches.
It is indeed expensive, but it is worth it. When you think of it, you get amazing information, assumed lost forever, but which is in fact present in each of your cells! The mitochondrial DNA results are less impressive (maybe because this one mutates too slowly?).

If you are competent with your dna research into genealogy this company is the top one.

Using FamilytreeDNA Y700, I was able to confirm through testers my entire Pateral line back as far as the early 1700’s

I have been using the genealogy testing services of FTDNA since 2012 and highly recommend it, particularly for the specialty testing of the Y line DNA (paternal) and mtDNA (maternal). I have both transferred other tests to FTDNA as well as having used their Family Finder tests and I am completely satisfied with their product. Their customer service is absolutely awesome and they have answered my questions very promptly and accurately. Sure sometimes the results take a long time, but as they say.. good things are worth waiting for . It's just the nature of DNA testing and by no means are they at any sort of fault. I HIGHLY recommend FTDNA!