Clear answers before you choose
Frequently asked questions
What we run, what we accept, what you get back, and where your data lives.
Start here
The short version: qpAdm takes your raw DNA file and returns a formally tested ancestry model with p-values and standard errors. Global25 takes coordinates you already have and returns distances, admixture models and a PCA. Ancient Matches takes the same raw DNA file as qpAdm and finds the individual ancient people you share stretches of DNA with. Relative Finder takes two to five people's raw DNA files and tells you how each pair is related. If you only have a raw DNA file, every product except Global25 takes it.
- I have a raw DNA export
- Choose qpAdm. It accepts the raw file and returns a formally tested model.
- I already have Global25 coordinates
- Choose Global25 for distances, mixture models and individual-sample PCA.
Questions
What does Ancestrify actually offer?
Four ancestry products. qpAdm (from €39.99, in four depth tiers) takes your raw DNA export and returns a formal admixture model tested against the Allen Ancient DNA Resource, with p-values, standard errors and z-scores. Global25 (€29.99) takes the Global25 coordinates you already have and returns distances, admixture models and a PCA across six eras. Ancient Matches (€29.99) takes your raw DNA export and finds the individual ancient people you share stretches of DNA with, painted onto your own chromosomes. Relative Finder (from €29.99 for two kits, plus €10 per additional kit up to five) takes two or more people's raw DNA exports and returns a relationship verdict for every pair. All four are one-time payments with no subscription.
What are the qpAdm depth tiers, and why do they cost what they cost?
qpAdm is sold in four depths — Base (€39.99), Medium (€49.99), Deep (€59.99), Perfect (€69.99) — that deliver the same report and differ only in the statistical bar the published model must clear: Base asks for p > 0.05 · |Z| > 2.5 · SE < 0.10; Medium asks for p > 0.10 · |Z| > 3 · SE < 0.08; Deep asks for p > 0.20 · |Z| > 4 · SE < 0.06; Perfect asks for p > 0.30 · |Z| > 5 · SE < 0.05. A tighter bar takes more hand-built models to find, which is where the price goes — a human analyst spends a few hours at Base, about one working day at Medium, several working days at Deep, a week or more at Perfect. A tier is a target: we publish the deepest tier your DNA actually reaches, stamped on the report beside the tier you ordered, and low-coverage kits (MyHeritage, older chips) rarely reach Deep or Perfect on standard error alone.
What is the difference between qpAdm and Global25 or nMonte percentages?
Global25 and nMonte percentages are coordinate-fitting estimates: your coordinate is fitted as a weighted mixture of reference coordinates, and some mixture always fits best, whether or not it is historically sensible. qpAdm uses allele-frequency statistics and outgroup populations, and produces a p-value — so a proposed model can be rejected as incompatible with the data. Neither method can prove descent from a named ancient population; qpAdm is the one that can tell you a model does not work.
Can I upload my raw DNA file?
For qpAdm, yes. We accept raw-data exports from the major consumer testing companies — 23andMe, AncestryDNA, MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA and similar — as .txt, .csv, .zip or .gz files up to 50 MB. Files are validated by their actual content rather than by vendor name, so exports following the usual microarray text layout work even where the company is not listed. A Global25 order does not take a raw DNA file — it starts from the Global25 coordinate row you already have.
Do you generate Global25 coordinates from raw DNA?
No. Global25 coordinates come from the independent Eurogenes Global25 service — you order them there from your raw DNA, then paste the coordinate row with your Ancestrify G25 order. If you only have a raw DNA export and want an analysis of it, qpAdm is the product that takes one.
Can I run qpAdm models myself?
No. qpAdm models on Ancestrify are built and checked by hand before they are published to your report — that is a deliberate design choice, because automated model rotation has a high false-discovery rate. Our self-service Admixture Lab is a Global25 coordinate workspace for distances and mixture modelling; it does not run qpAdm, qpWave, f3 or f4.
Which reference dataset do you use?
For qpAdm, the Allen Ancient DNA Resource (AADR) v66 — roughly 23,265 samples across roughly 6,015 distinct population labels — merged against your own genotypes on our infrastructure. For Global25, a curated set of 1,535 populations drawn from 30,386 individual samples.
Which statistics do I receive?
A qpAdm report gives you the model's p-value per era, and for every source population its weight, standard error and z-score, plus the right-population set used. A Global25 report gives you ranked distances, admixture proportions with a fit distance, and a PCA scatter of individual samples.
How long does it take?
A Global25 order is computed automatically, after a holding period that the optional fast-compute add-on removes. qpAdm takes longer by design: merging your genotypes against the AADR panel is a heavy job, and your model is then built and checked by hand before publishing. The exact turnaround for each is stated at checkout, before you pay.
What do I receive besides the on-screen report?
Cinematic ancestry videos rendered on our own servers at 1440x2560 and 60 fps — not encoded on your phone. There is no PDF report.
Does an Ancient Matches match mean I am descended from that person?
No, and this is the most important thing to understand about that report. A match means you and that ancient individual carry the same stretch of DNA at the same place in the genome — evidence that you both draw on the same ancestral population. It is not proof of descent from that individual: stretches this old survive by chance across thousands of years, and the people in the panel are a sample of the dead, whoever happened to be excavated and published, rather than a family tree. Read a match as “my ancestry overlaps with these people”, never as “this is my ancestor”. That is why every match in the report carries its own evidence and why a population is never shown without the number of individuals behind it.
Does Ancient Matches match me against other customers?
No. It matches you against ancient individuals from published burials only. We do not match customers against each other, and there is no opt-in that would.
Do you limit how many ancient matches I can see?
No. One price, the whole report — the match total and population roll-up count every match, and the closest 200 individuals are shown in full detail with every shared stretch, the chromosome painting and the map. There is no tier that shows you more.
Where is my genetic data stored, and under which jurisdiction?
On infrastructure in the European Union — Germany and Finland — under GDPR. Your raw genetic file is processed only for your own analysis, you can delete it at any time, and both full account deletion and a machine-readable data export are self-service. We do not sell genotype data.
Do you offer a mobile app?
No. Ancestrify is web-only and works in a phone browser.
Is a haplogroup included?
Every account includes a free Y-DNA clade finder that reads a raw DNA export or VCF and returns a paternal haplogroup against the YFull tree. On a qpAdm report, the paternal haplogroup can also be added as a purchased section.