CircleDNA review: A detailed look at its reports, accuracy, and pricing

At-home DNA test kits have grown in popularity, allowing you to learn more about your genetic health predispositions and ancestry, as well as take actionable steps towards improving your well-being. 

CircleDNA is a popular option that provides genetic data related to health, family planning, success traits, and ancestral background. Still, with so many direct-to-consumer DNA companies on the market, choosing the right one for your goals can be challenging.

In our CircleDNA review, we’ll help you determine whether this company is right for you by breaking down its technology, accuracy, privacy, pricing, user reviews, and more.

CircleDNA review: Quick overview

CircleDNA is a Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) company based in Hong Kong and owned by Prenetics, a genetic testing company from Southeast Asia. The company was founded by Danny Yeung and Lawrence Tzang in 2014 and has grown to become one of the most popular genetic testing companies in Asia. 

While it hasn’t reached the same level of success in other parts of the world, CircleDNA has been featured in multiple popular media outlets, including The Times, Tech Crunch, Forbes, Techradar, and more.

CircleDNA provides at-home DNA testing that’s mainly related to health, food tolerance, and ancestry. The reports it offers are presented through five goal-specific offers, including:

1. Healthy Body

2. Family Planning

3. Cancer & Disease Risk

4. Skin

5. Success Traits

This can be slightly misleading, as the only test you can order is the Premium DNA Test that aggreggates all of these reports in a single cheek swab.

If you’re unsure what your goals are, CircleDNA offers a quick quiz to help you determine which route would be best based on your health goals.

How does CircleDNA work?

Source: CircleDNA

CircleDNA works similarly to most at-home DNA tests on the market, allowing you to take a deep dive into your genetic code by following a few simple steps:

1. Choose your desired kit and order it online with free delivery and return

2. Perform a cheek swab to collect your DNA sample and send it back

3. Receive your results within 18 business days via the Circle App

4. Schedule a consultation with a health professional who can help you better understand your results

CircleDNA’s Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology is more detailed than basic genotyping performed by most of its competitors. The former looks at 3M data points, whereas the latter looks at only around 600K. Still, neither comes close to Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS), which looks at nearly all 6 billion of your genetic bases.

CircleDNA review: 7 key factors to consider

Our CircleDNA review will focus on six key aspects you need to consider before determining whether this service is right for you. Dive deeper into the sections below to make an informed decision:

1. Technology explained

2. Types of reports

3. Test accuracy

4. Privacy and security

5. User reviews

6. Pricing model

Source: CircleDNA

1. Technology explained

CircleDNA uses Novaseq Next Generation Sequencing technology, which allows it to analyze approximately 1.2% of your genome and provide a decently in-depth overview of your genetics. 

For context, many other popular genetic testing companies, such as 23andMe and Ancestry.com, use genotyping technology that analyzes less than 0.01% of your genome.

As an example, a genotyping test would look at only a few variants of the BRCA ½ gene, which is an inherited gene variant that determines your risk of breast and ovarian cancer. In contrast, CircleDNA looks at all 5,791 known variants of this gene, giving you a much more detailed overview of your risk. 

Despite being more reliable than genotyping, Next Generation Sequencing is far from being as comprehensive as Whole-Genome Sequencing, offered by DNA platforms like Nucleus, which analyzes nearly 100% of your genome. Nucleus’ clinical-grade test analyzes all 6 billion of your genetic pairs to provide reliable insights about your genetic health, carrier status, IQ, and trait dispositions, among many other things. Order the kit to get started!

2. Types of reports

CircleDNA’s Premium DNA Test offers 500+ reports in 20+ categories that let you learn about:

• Your level of risk for inherited diseases and cancers

• Information about your optimal diet and fitness approach

• Carrier genes that may be passed to your offspring

• Responses to prescription drugs

• Ancestry breakdown based on six regions

Explore the complete list of reports and categories for the Premium DNA Test in the table below:

| Diet, Sports & Lifestyle                             | Early Detection & Prevention                          | Your Genetic Blueprint                                |
|------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|
| • Diet (15 reports)<br>• Nutrition (24 reports)<br>• Sports performance (18 reports)<br>• Stress and sleep (8 reports)<br>• Skin (15 reports)<br>• Well-being (7 reports)<br>• Pollution (5 reports) | • Common health risks (8 reports)<br>• Disease risks (65 reports)<br>• Cancer risk (36 reports)<br>• Dementia and brain health (6 reports)<br>• Drug response (103 reports)<br>• Family planning (161 reports) | • Success traits (9 reports)<br>• Music and dance (2 reports)<br>• Behavioral traits (5 reports)<br>• Personality traits (5 reports)<br>• Ancestry (6 regions)<br>• Physical traits (12 reports)<br>• Gender traits (2 reports)

CircleDNA’s test is one of the most comprehensive non-WGS tests on the market, especially when it comes to health and diet reports. It offers good value for the money, but other services, like tellmeGen, provide a similar number of reports at a much lower cost.

Similarly, its ancestry reports are not as detailed as those provided by services that specialize in this type of genetic screening, such as MyHeritage or FamilyTreeDNA.

The Premium DNA Test includes a 30-minute consultation with a board-certified genetic counselor who will answer any questions about your results. This is a helpful feature, especially if you need further guidance on what lifestyle changes you should make. 

3. Test accuracy

According to CircleDNA, its technology has over 99.99% analytical accuracy, validated independently by the Croucher Laboratory for Human Genomics. 

Still, based on user reviews online, inaccuracies seem to be common, especially regarding health reports, as some results don’t match the person’s known health history. CircleDNA’s Premium DNA Test results only account for genetics, so environmental factors may be causing these mismatches.

Many customers have also reported that its ancestry analysis didn’t match what they knew about their family history. In some cases, the results even contradicted information obtained from other genetic testing companies. Here’s how one Reddit user described the issue:

[Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/23andme/comments/15qj7e1/comment/jw3y3au/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)(250)

Bonus read — find out how accurate other popular genetic testing services are:

• Xcode Life review

• 23andMe vs. African Ancestry

• Ancestry.com alternatives

4. Privacy and security

Is CircleDNA safe? This is one of the most important questions for many customers. At the moment, this service seems to be generally safe, as there are no reports of known data breaches. Here are some ways in which CircleDNA protects your data:

• CircleDNA does not sell, lease, or rent your personal information to any third party for research or marketing purposes.

• Your information is encrypted using TLS and SSL encryption for extra protection, which means that hackers won’t be able to read it even if there’s a breach.

• CircleDNA adheres to the ISO 27001 security standard, which requires high safety measures.

• When your sample reaches CircleDNA’s lab, it will receive a unique anonymous code. Identifying information such as your name, address, and credit card details will be stored separately from your genetic data.

This means that CircleDNA meets industry standards for user data privacy and security, so there seems to be little to worry about.

5. User reviews

CircleDNA has 1,000+ user reviews on Trustpilot and a 4.3 out of 5-star rating. Overall, user sentiment on this platform is overwhelmingly positive. Most reviewers praise easy-to-read reports, comprehensive genetic information, and good customer service.

In contrast, the sentiment on multiple Reddit threads is quite negative, which makes us doubt the overwhelmingly positive reviews on Trustpilot. 

The negative Reddit and Trustpilot reviewers mainly complained about issues with test accuracy, return shipping, customer support, and deceptive sales pricing. 

Here’s how one Reddit user described their experience:

[Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/Genealogy/comments/nrblio/comment/h2xopij/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)(350)

6. Pricing model

CircleDNA is one of the costliest direct-to-consumer genetic testing services on the market. When not discounted, its Premium DNA Test costs $629, which is more expensive than even many WGS DNA tests. 

Still, the company seems to be running a frequent sale (which many users find deceitful), so you can often purchase it for $379. This price includes:

• A test kit

• 500+ reports

• 30-minute consultation

• Free delivery

• Free return shipping

Raw genetic data isn’t included in the price, but you may be able to get it for an additional fee of $50. If that's important to you, you will need to contact the company directly with a request.

[Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/genetics/comments/vzpttb/comment/izi8a0i/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)(250)

[CTA]({
  "title":"Get 10% off your whole-genome kit",
  "cta":{
    "label":"Order your kit",
    "href":"https://www.mynucleus.com/product?promocode=welcome10"
  }
})

CircleDNA review verdict: Is CircleDNA legit?

Source: CircleDNA

CircleDNA is a legitimate genetic testing provider, owned by Prenetics, which is listed on the NASDAQ stock market exchange. While its services provide comprehensive insights, there are certain limitations that potential users should consider. 

For a quick breakdown, check out the pros and cons in the table below:

| Pros                                                                | Cons                                                                     |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| 500 reports across 20+ categories for health and lifestyle insights | Limited genome analysis (1.2%) compared to whole-genome sequencing (WGS) |
| A 30-minute consultation with a certified genetic counselor         | Ancestry reports lack depth and accuracy                                 |
| Next Generation Sequencing technology                               | High pricing, with the Premium DNA Test costing $629                     |
| Easy-to-understand reports with actionable health recommendations   | Additional fees ($50) required for access to raw genetic data            |
| Free delivery and return shipping                                   |  

When it comes to ancestry-related insights, CircleDNA seems to fall short. Its ancestry reports lack the depth and reliability of more popular platforms like Ancestry.com or MyHeritage. 

If you are considering genetic testing for health reasons, CircleDNA’s Premium DNA Test provides helpful insights, including diet recommendations, disease risk evaluations, and family planning guidance. 

The main limitation is CircleDNA’s reliance on Next Generation Sequencing technology that analyzes only around 1.2% of your genome. While this is an improvement over basic genotyping, it pales in comparison to WGS, which examines nearly 100% of your DNA. 

If you’re looking for the most comprehensive genetic health insights, Nucleus Premium stands out as the go-to choice for WGS. This clinical-grade DNA test costs only $399 but screens for more than 800 diseases and conditions, including rare gene variants that most commercial tests miss. 

[X](https://x.com/nucleusgenomics/status/1787890704640860584)(750)

Nucleus Premium: The most affordable whole-genome sequencing service in the United States

Nucleus Premium is a physician-approved, clinical-grade whole-genome sequencing DNA platform that analyzes nearly 100% of your DNA with 99.99% accuracy. 

Nucleus Premium is based on a single test that screens for 800+ diseases and conditions, uncovering genetic risk scores related to:

• Heart diseases

• Cancers

• Mental health

• Neurological conditions

• Focus and energy

• Food and diet

• …and more

Nucleus’ risk scores are calculated based on genetics, ancestry, and lifestyle, making them more accurate than the estimates provided by companies that only consider genetics. 

You’ll also get access to 9+ trait reports that explain how your genetics affect your personal characteristics, such as BMI, height, intelligence (IQ), male-pattern baldness, severe acne, and more.

If you have questions about your results, you can book a free consultation with a board-certified genetic counselor through SteadyMD, Nucleus’ official partner. 

Order your Nucleus Premium kit today!

The Nucleus Premium at-home DNA test kit is easy to order by following a simple three-step process:

1. Sign up for Nucleus Premium

2. Provide your personal information

3. Order your Nucleus Premium kit (HSA/FSA eligible)

Once you order the kit, you should receive it in around five business days. After mailing your sample, your results will be available online in 6–8 weeks. 

Nucleus is HIPAA-compliant, CLIA-certified, and CAP-accredited. It doesn’t share customer data with third parties, and all genome sequencing is done in the United States. Your DNA sample will be safely destroyed within 60 days of being received by the lab. 

You may also like…

Check out our detailed reviews and comparisons of popular DNA testing kits below:

|                                                                                |                                                                                    |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [Genetic Genie review](https://mynucleus.com/blog/genetic-genie-reviews)         | [Invitae review](https://mynucleus.com/blog/invitae-genetic-testing-review)        |
| [SelfDecode review](https://mynucleus.com/blog/selfdecode-review)                | [Sequencing.com review](https://mynucleus.com/blog/sequencingcom-review)           |
| [CRI Genetics vs. 23andMe](https://mynucleus.com/blog/cri-genetics-vs-23andme)   | [Myriad Genetics review](https://mynucleus.com/blog/myriad-genetics-review)        |
| [Ancestry vs. 23andMe](https://mynucleus.com/blog/ancestry-vs-23andme)           | [3x4 Genetics review](https://mynucleus.com/blog/3x4-genetics-review)              |
| [Nebula Genomics review](https://mynucleus.com/blog/nebula-genomics-review)      | [FamilyTreeDNA vs. 23andMe](https://mynucleus.com/blog/family-tree-dna-vs-23andme) |
| [Nanopore vs. Illumina](https://mynucleus.com/blog/nanopore-vs-illumina)         | [MyHeritage vs. 23andMe](https://mynucleus.com/blog/myheritage-vs-23andme)         |

Featured image source: CircleDNA