Both read a raw DNA file you already own. They are built differently. This page sets the differences side by side and does not tell you which to pick.
Written by Martin Pechhacker, Vienna Last checked 17 September 2026 6 min read
Written by Martin Pechhacker, Vienna
Last checked 17 September 2026
6 min read
USD 29once
Format
Reports in your account
Built from
Public research databases
Run by
Martin Pechhacker, Vienna
Sources 6 7 9
USD 25per report
One report by email
SNPedia
MyHeritage Ltd.
Sources 1 2 3
HOW RESULTS READ
Promethease describes itself as a literature retrieval system. Its report lists the SNPedia entries that match your file, each with SNPedia's magnitude, repute and an excerpt of the wiki text, next to a panel of sliders for narrowing them down. Source 1
ReadYourDNA does the reading for you. Each variant becomes a card that says what your genotype means in plain language, how common it is across ancestries, how strong the research behind it is, and which studies it rests on, numbered and linked to PubMed. The result comes first, and the way back to every source stays one click away.
Both open on a list of results that can be searched and filtered. Below, both are searched for the same word, "bitter". The two sample genomes belong to different people, so the genotypes differ; what matters is how each list presents a result.
Promethease shows each match as a block of SNPedia wiki text, one paragraph per entry, with its magnitude, repute and the date the entry was last modified beside it. Two of the three matches are genosets, SNPedia entries that combine several positions. To learn what an entry says about you, you read the paragraph. Source 4
ReadYourDNA shows the three positions in the TAS2R38 gene that the search finds as three cards. Each card leads with the genotype and a one-line result, followed by a short summary, the direction of the effect, the gene and an evidence rating out of ten. Colour marks the category, and the full write-up opens from the card.
Promethease: the sample report linked from promethease.com, searched for "bitter". Captured 17 September 2026. Source 4 Open their sample report
ReadYourDNA: the variant explorer on the demo genome, searched for "bitter". Source 11 Open the explorer in the demo
Promethease's panel is built around SNPedia's own scores. Sliders narrow the list by magnitude, which the report itself calls "a subjective measure of interest", by publication count and by population frequency. Checkboxes filter by repute (good, bad or not set) and by genotype type, and dropdowns pick a topic, a condition, a gene or the population the frequencies come from. Source 4
ReadYourDNA's panel filters by what a result is about and how well it is supported: the direction of the effect, category and sub-category, body part, life stage, chromosome, how rare the genotype is in the population, and the minimum number of studies behind a card. Results sort by how much a variant has been studied, by evidence, gene, category or rarity.
Promethease filters. Source 4 Open their sample report
ReadYourDNA filters. Source 11 Try them in the demo
Opening one entry shows the difference most clearly. The variant is rs7495174, a position in the OCA2 gene linked to eye colour, and here both sample genomes carry the same genotype, A/A.
Promethease shows the SNPedia excerpt ("blue/gray eyes more likely") with SNPedia's repute and magnitude, a chart of how common the genotype is across populations, and a table of fields: minor allele frequency, publication count, gene, chromosome, position, strand orientation and the dates the entry was modified. Source 4
ReadYourDNA's card starts with the answer, "Likely blue or gray eyes", and a plain sentence on what A/A means. Around it sit a reliability grade for how well chips read this position, an evidence rating of 3 out of 10 with the 11 publications behind it, a relevance score, and genotype frequencies by ancestry. The AA, AG and GG switch shows what the other genotypes mean, and further down the page come the gene, the associated traits and the numbered studies.
Promethease: rs7495174 in the same sample report. Captured 17 September 2026. Source 4 Open their sample report
ReadYourDNA: the card for the same variant, on the demo genome. Source 11 Open this card in the demo
BEYOND SINGLE VARIANTS
Promethease builds its report from SNPedia entries. ReadYourDNA's variant explorer covers that ground, and three more reports run on methods of their own.
102 traits · 1,934 published score files
Many traits are shaped by thousands of variants, each moving the result a little. A polygenic score adds those effects up with published models from the PGS Catalog and places the result as a percentile.
Percentiles are ranked against a European-ancestry reference. Where an ancestry sits far from that reference, the percentile is withheld rather than guessed. Every trait also carries a rating for the strength of the research behind it.
The screenshot shows height on the demo genome. The header gives the evidence rating, Strong, and the result, Average. Below, the result sits on a band from shorter to taller at the 70th percentile, with the reference it was ranked against, and a second panel shows how much of the difference between people is genetic.
Sources 7 11
Height on the demo genome. Open this page in the demo
717 medications · 23 pharmacogenes
For 23 genes, PharmCAT reads star-allele diplotypes, the combinations of variants that decide how an enzyme works, and applies CPIC and DPWG guidelines. Medicines without a published guideline appear as background research from PharmGKB, marked as such.
The screenshot shows the medications page searched for "prazole". Three stomach-acid medicines are all cleared by the same enzyme, CYP2C19. The demo genome's diplotype, *1/*24, reads as an intermediate metabolizer, so each card says the medicine may affect you more strongly because it stays in your system longer, and "Why?" opens the reasoning and the guideline behind it.
Promethease does not cover this. One of the statements you accept before using it reads "my Promethease report will not include information about predicted response to any specific medications."
Sources 1 7 11
Medications on the demo genome, searched for "prazole". Open this page in the demo
3,321 conditions in the catalog
Your file is matched against variants ClinVar classifies as pathogenic or likely pathogenic, and every match is graded for how well supported it is. The page also says how many of the conditions your chip can read at all, because a chip reads set positions rather than whole genes.
The screenshot shows the two matches on the demo genome. Each card says whether the match is confirmed, what ClinVar records about it, and how many variants and genes stand behind the condition, with a link to its ClinVar entry.
Carrier status on the demo genome: the two conditions with a match. Open this page in the demo
ReadYourDNA is run from Vienna, and your DNA file is stored and analysed on servers in Finland. From upload to deletion it is handled under the EU's General Data Protection Regulation, which protects genetic data more strictly than US federal law does. Sources 8 9
Sources 8 9
The GDPR counts genetic data as a special category. It may be processed only on a narrow legal basis, here the explicit consent you give at upload, and you have enforceable rights to see it, correct it, take it with you and have it erased, with a public regulator to complain to. Deleting your data at ReadYourDNA erases the file and every result derived from it, with no copy left in any backup. Source 12
In the United States, no single federal law comprehensively regulates how companies collect and use personal data, so the protection you get depends largely on the state you live in. Promethease's privacy policy says personal data is transferred to and processed in the United States. The same policy also lists rights under the GDPR, and your file is deleted once the report is emailed. Sources 13 14 2
Sources 13 14 2
Martin Pechhacker, Vienna (EU)
Your file is processed in
Finland (EU)
Law it sits under
EU GDPR
Your file afterwards
Kept until you delete it, then erased with no backup copy
United States
US law where the data is processed, with the GDPR rights its policy lists
Deleted once the report is emailed
WHAT PROMETHEASE DOES BETTER
Your file is not kept. Your DNA file and your report are deleted from Promethease once the report is emailed to you. At ReadYourDNA they stay in your account until you delete them. Source 2
Several files, one report. You can add further data files to the same report for USD 4 each. ReadYourDNA reads one file per account. Source 1
Browse the matches with filters. The report lists the SNPedia entries that match your file, with filters for magnitude, repute, publication count and frequency. Some readers prefer that format to finished reports. Source 4
Where each fact came from
Every figure on this page was read from the page named, on the date named. ReadYourDNA publishes this page. If something here is out of date, write to support@readyourdna.com.
Promethease home page
Price, extra-file price, files accepted, and the statements accepted before use.
Most reports cost $25 and are produced in under 10 minutes.
Uploading additional data files into the same report costs an additional $4.
Read on 17 September 2026
Promethease privacy policy (last update 15 April 2025)
Ownership since 2019, where data is processed, deletion after the report is emailed, the 24-hour rule.
Once your Report is generated and emailed to you as an attachment, your DNA Data File and the generated Report are immediately and permanently deleted from our servers.
Promethease terms of use
Who owns and operates SNPedia and Promethease.
Both SNPedia and Promethease are owned and operated by MyHeritage
Sample report linked from the Promethease home page
Report layout, search, sorting and filters, and the links from each entry to SNPedia. The Promethease screenshots come from here.
SNPedia main page
What SNPedia is, and the number of variants it lists.
SNPedia is a wiki investigating human genetics.
View all 111702 snps in SNPedia.
Price, what a purchase covers, subscription, files accepted, reports kept in the account.
Report areas, reference databases and the two medication lanes.
ReadYourDNA privacy policy
Where files are processed and stored, and what deletion removes.
Who runs the site, trade register number.
ReadYourDNA variant cards
Studies cited inline on each card, with links to PubMed.
The screenshots of the variant explorer and its filters, the variant card, the height page, the medications page and carrier status, all on the sample genome.
Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the General Data Protection Regulation
Genetic data as a special category (Article 9), and the rights of access, correction, erasure, portability and complaint.
Congressional Research Service, Data Protection Law: An Overview (R45631)
The state of US federal data protection law.
No single federal law comprehensively regulates the collection and use of consumers' personal data.
IAPP, US State Privacy Legislation Tracker
Comprehensive consumer privacy laws in the United States, passed and tracked state by state.
The demo opens every ReadYourDNA report area on a sample genome, without an account.
ReadYourDNA · About ReadYourDNA · FAQ · Methodology & Science · Pricing · Support and complaints · Legal & Contact · Health Traits · Pharmacogenomics · Pharmacogenes · Carrier Status · Variant Explorer · The Human Karyotype · Privacy Policy · Terms of Service · Accessibility · Consumer Health Data Privacy · Your Privacy Choices · ReadYourDNA and Promethease compared · What is inside a 23andMe raw data file
Written, maintained and operated by Martin Pechhacker, sole proprietor, Vienna, Austria. Trade register GISA 40064420. support@readyourdna.com