GEDmatch
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Use it if you're a serious genetic genealogist or adoptee hunting relatives across DNA companies . the free 1.5M-profile database is the draw.
Comparison
GEDmatch vs FamilyTreeDNA
GEDmatch and FamilyTreeDNA both land on Depends.
FamilyTreeDNA
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy FamilyTreeDNA only if you're a serious genealogist doing Y-DNA, mtDNA, or surname-project research.
| Compare | GEDmatch | FamilyTreeDNA |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | Adoptees and unknown-parentage searches | Serious genealogists |
| Who it's not for | Privacy-sensitive users . police access and a past breach are real risks | Casual ethnicity-curious testers |
| Privacy | Flagged: 2019 university research found security risks; a hack and privacy breach were reported; no public security page exists.⁵ | Gave the FBI access to its genetic database in 2019; law-enforcement matching is now documented in an official guide.13 |
| Support quality | No evidence in sources reviewed | Recurring customer-service complaints on its own forums |
| Public sentiment | Hobbyists find cross-company relative matching genuinely useful, but many complain about security concerns and poor ethnicity estimates.10 | Serious genealogists value its Y-DNA depth, but casual buyers report disappointing results, a dated website, and support frustrations.15 |
| Biggest gotcha | Law enforcement can search your DNA unless you restrict permission . check privacy settings | Law-enforcement matching exists; review the official guide and opt-out settings before testing |
Pick GEDmatch when
- Adoptees and unknown-parentage searches
- Serious genetic genealogists comparing across companies
- Opt-in 'genetic witnesses' aiding cold cases
- Testers whose relatives used other DNA companies
When GEDmatch is not a fit
- Privacy-sensitive users . police access and a past breach are real risks
- Casual testers wanting ethnicity estimates . users say it's bad at that
- Anyone unwilling to upload raw DNA to a third-party site
- People already satisfied with matches at their current DNA company
Pick FamilyTreeDNA when
- Serious genealogists
- Surname project admins
- Deep paternal-line (Y-DNA) research
- mtDNA maternal-line tracing
When FamilyTreeDNA is not a fit
- Casual ethnicity-curious testers
- Privacy-first buyers wary of law-enforcement matching
- Health-and-traits shoppers
- One-and-done gift testers wanting a polished app
Sources
- GEDmatch official sitegedmatch.comofficial
- How it Works - GEDmatchgedmatch.comofficial
- Join the Genetic Witness Program - GEDmatchgedmatch.comofficial
- GEDmatch: A Platform for Data-Driven Forensic Intelligence (ISHI Report)promega.foleon.comofficial
security
- GEDmatch Hack & Privacy Breach (Reddit)reddit.comsecurity
- The Emergence of Forensic Genetic Genealogy (PMC)pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.govreview
- Is GedMatch actually useful? (Reddit)reddit.comreview
review
- Ancestry and MyHeritage (Reddit)reddit.comreview
review
news