I compared as best as I could my results from both Ancestry and 23and Me. I initially chose Ancestry DNA because they had what I felt were the best privacy practices. I won’t go into details about exactly what drove me to make this decision because I believe it is a personal preference. I suggest reviewing both Ancestry and 23and Me’s terms and conditions if this concerns you.
In my own opinion, Ancestry wins in genealogy. I believe my opinion echoes the opinion of others on this matter. It is lacking in records of the areas outside of dominantly European areas and is expensive which is disappointing because I found that many Caribbean countries kept excellent records.
23and Me is FSA eligible and I believe shared what I always felt was true based on my family’s oral history. The health records are a plus because many of my living ancestors are quiet about the past. I appreciate the comprehensiveness of this service.
Here is the comparison of my results: I placed this in excel.
Results Comparison
| Regions | Ancestry DNA | 23and Me |
| Benin & Togo | 28% | |
| Nigeria | 28% | 34.90% |
| Ivory Coast & Ghana | 9% | 34.30% |
| Broadly West African | * | 3.00% |
| Cameroon, Congo & Western Bantu Peoples | 9% | 8.20% |
| Mali | 7% | |
| England & Northwestern Europe | 6% | 12.70% |
| Scotland | 6% | |
| Broadly European | * | 2.50% |
| Sweden & Denmark | 5% | 1.00% |
| European Jewish | 1% | 0.80% |
| Spanish & Portuguese | 1.10% | |
| Sardinia | 1% | 1.00% |
| Trace Regions | * | |
| Indigenous Indians | 0.20% | |
| Filipino & Austronesian | 0.10% | |
| Unassigned | 0.20% | |
| Total | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| *23 and Me termanology | ||
High level, both are accurate but as the saying goes “the devil is in the details”. What details you may ask? 23and Me’s southern East African regions include the African countries of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi while ancestry lumps Cameroon, Congo & Western Bantu Peoples into the countries Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Namibia, Republic of the Congo, Zambia. Why is this important? The story of the migration of my ancestors across Africa is lost. see the example below. I also find it hard to believe that it is that difficult to drill down on African ancestry as evident in my European history.
Where the light is... 