Clarification on Changes to Free and Tier 1 accounts starting May 1

DATE: April 19, 2022

AUTHOR: The GEDmatch Team

Dear GEDmatch Community,

Our email announcement last week was met with some confusion around the 5 kit limit and the yearly Tier 1 price.

We hope that we can provide clarification with this brief post.

You DO NOT need to delete any kits if you are a free user and you have more than 5 kits in your account. You simply will not be able to upload any more DNA kits after May 1. If you need to upload more kits after that date, join Tier 1 for a month, upload your kits and get access to the additional tools, and then go back to being a free user.
GEDmatch will NEVER delete the kits of users without their express request. That means that we will not remove any kits of free users who have more than 5 kits in their account.
GEDmatch will ALWAYS remain free to set up an account, upload DNA kits, and use our free set of tools. We will continue to improve the free tools, improve the user experience, and keep GEDmatch an industry-leading genetic genealogy website.
For certain Tier 1 users who pay via PayPal, the $100/year option will be available on May 1. We are in the process of finalizing some code updates for this offering.

We are also sharing the email below for any new users who did not receive this message.

As always, please reach out to us at support@gedmatch.com if you have any questions.

Thanks,
The GEDmatch Team

As of May 1, changes to both free and Tier 1 accounts at GEDmatch will be implemented in response to the current inflationary environment. This will be the first increase in the monthly price of Tier 1 since its introduction in 2014. We realize many of you are on limited budgets, so we are limiting the changes as much as possible. We are increasing costs for users who purchase monthly versus recurring and limiting the number of kits a user can upload to a free account.

Here is what is not changing:

1. GEDmatch is still free to set up an account.

2. GEDmatch is still free to upload DNA kits.

3. The suite of free tools is still available.

Here is what is changing:

1. Users who take advantage of the free tools at GEDmatch will be permitted to have up to 5 DNA kits in their account. Tier 1 users do not have this limitation.

2. Tier 1 pay-as-you-go membership levels will increase to $15 per month. Recurring monthly Tier 1 memberships will remain at $10 per month, and recurring yearly Tier 1 memberships will remain at $100 per year.

If you have questions, please read the FAQs below. If you still have questions after reading the FAQs, please reach out to support@gedmatch.com.

Thank you for being a part of the GEDmatch family!

Sincerely,

The GEDmatch Team

FAQs

Why are users of GEDmatch’s free tools limited to 5 kits?

We analyzed our database and found that most of our free users have 5 or fewer kits in their accounts. However, there are a significant number of free users who have many more than 5 kits in their accounts, some with over 100. Processing and storing these kits is expensive. We recommend high-volume users upgrade to Tier 1.

What if I am a free user and have more than 5 kits in my account? What happens?

If you are a free user who has more than 5 kits in your account, you will not be allowed to upload any more kits. Before you can upload more kits, you will need to delete kits, or you will need to upgrade to Tier 1. Tier 1 not only provides unlimited DNA kits in your account but offers many powerful tools that save time and allow you to analyze your potential DNA matches on a deeper level.

Why are you increasing pay-as-you-go Tier 1 plans?

This is the first time ever that the price is increasing for Tier 1 membership. In the last two years, the GEDmatch website and set of Tier 1 tools have been significantly improved and expanded. We have also added additional development resources to the GEDmatch team to continue to improve the site. Additionally, our cloud computing costs have increased. This price increase to our pay-as-you-go plans will help us continue to keep GEDmatch an industry-leading genetic genealogy website.

This price increase only affects Tier 1 pay-as-you-go plans as follows:

Current Pricing

1 Month - $10

3 Months - $30

6 Months - $60

New Pricing

1 Month - $15

3 Months - $45

6 Months - $90

Keep in mind that monthly recurring Tier 1 payments remain $10 per month, and yearly recurring Tier 1 payments are $100 per year.

What if I have more questions? What do I do?

Please reach out to support@gedmatch.com and a member of our support team will reply as soon as possible.