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Is SelfDecode legit?
SelfDecode (selfdecode.com) has a 4.3 out of 5 rating on OK.one, based on 100 user reviews collected here. It is listed under Health & Medical and its reputation is good. 82% of reviews are 4 stars or higher and 14% are 1 star; The business has replied to 100% of negative reviews; 39 of them were added in the last 12 months. Last updated 2026-08-12.
This used to be an excellent site, especially when it was Selfhacked.com. It’s really gone downhill in the last few years. Now I find the reports are incorrect. marking High risk for alleles which aren’t high risk. If you click through to the SNP details you often find the SNP details contradict those on the main report page. I have to double check the reports against snpedia.com and the Selfdecode SNP pages. This isn’t really very good. The tech behind selfdecode needs sorting out. Also, the SNP pages have the feeling of being written or copy and pasted by underpaid people who don’t give a toss. This is very disappointing as Joe Cohen’s original Selfhacked site was so good and so carefully written. (PS: I have been a lifetime member of selfdecode for many years but am now asked to pay extra for reports. How does that work as Lifetime membership?)
Reply from SelfDecode2026-03-19
Hi Jane, thank you for your detailed feedback — we can tell you've been a thoughtful and engaged user of our platform for a long time, and we genuinely appreciate that.
We're confident in the scientific accuracy of our reports, which are built on peer-reviewed GWAS research and go deeper than general-purpose databases like SNPedia. In some cases, what may appear to be a contradiction between our reports and SNPedia actually reflects a difference in the type of association being described — for example, whether a study is reporting the risk allele or the protective allele, and the direction of the odds ratio. These nuances can look inconsistent on the surface but are scientifically sound.
We also noticed that you raised the specific example of rs9357271 with our support team recently, and our team walked through exactly this kind of nuance — in that case, SelfDecode correctly identifies the T allele as increasing risk based on GWAS data (OR = 1.47), which is consistent with the underlying study, even if the framing on SNPedia differs. If you have further examples you'd like us to look into, we'd encourage you to send them through — we take every flagged discrepancy seriously and would correct any genuine error immediately.
Regarding the lifetime membership and newer paid features — when lifetime memberships were offered, we were a much smaller company with no way of anticipating the entirely new product lines we'd go on to build. Your lifetime access still covers hundreds of DNA Health, Trait, and Biohacker Reports, plus a significant number of features added at no extra cost since your purchase, including the Lab Test Analyzer, Meal Plans, Action Plans, and much more. The Plus products represent separate, heavily-resourced product lines, and lifetime members do receive in-app discounts on these.
We do hear your feedback and sincerely appreciate it. Please don't hesitate to reach out at [email protected] with any specific examples — we're always happy to investigate.
SelfDecode Team
SelfDecode has been around for a very long time. Having the ability to get specific dna/gene related health information just for me is priceless. From character traits to health risk propensities goes beyond enlightenment, it allows me to pinpoint and implement lifestyle changes specifically to what works best for my genetics. There is so much more to health and longevity but a one-size-fits-all just isn’t reality when it comes to health so having this platform helps me to dial things in like supplements, diet, exercise and know that I’m doing the best specifically for me. I hope to upgrade one day but even the entry level information is easy to understand. I love needing out on my dna and how it is literally every aspect of who I am, how my body works and how it works best.
Self-Decode is truly the future of Health & Wellness. Why would anyone want to guess about what works for their best health when they can get a DNA kit from Self-Decode and have personalized recommendations based on your unique DNA? I have always had stomach issues when eating a lot of protein, and now that I have had my DNA analyzed, I know that I have a high propensity for a worse response to protein. This makes total sense now! Self-Decode is really everyone's blueprint to their best health and longevity. Customer service has also always been very helpful whenever I had any questions or issues with logging in or accessing my health reports. There are other platforms out there that are popping up, but Self-Decode is "the real deal". They have the most advanced, accurate, science-backed tools available in this space. It's an awesome company, and no, I have no affiliation whatsoever with this company. I just happened upon them years ago in a Google search, and I am so glad I found them!! ☺
Self-Decode presents the genetic information in a structured and organized manner. It is easy to interpret, view actionable recommendations and create a customized plan to optimize your health! I love the reports that you can download, this helps you focus on a certain area of your health at a time. You can nerd out on your genetics, and the data is very insightful!
I have had Self Decode for many years and I am always amazed at the information I'm able to get about myself and my genes. It's the best and I would be lost without it. So informative and the Science is top notch !
This company has the most INCREDIBLE customer service!! I've worked with a couple of other companies in this area, and they are by far the BEST! Don't hesitate to work with them!
I am really happy with my results from selfdecode and the vast amount of data that is applicable and that you can also use the raw data. The team has always been friendly and helpful. It has really changed the way I live and approach my health even as a nutritional scientist.
I really appreciate all the information available to me to analyze my genetics and understand my genetic strengths and weaknesses. The Action Plan feature makes it easy to compile all the genetic information along with steps I can take to use diet, exercise, supplements, herbs, and medications (last resort) to upregulate the good genes and downregulate the not-so-good genes. The platform keeps changing as new info becomes available. What I don't like is that I bought a lifetime membership, but now they want me to keep paying more and more to get reports that should've been provided with my original membership. This is why I can't give you 5 stars. You took away all my original reports while I was away in Europe and had no secure line to download them. And then you split all reports into a general category and a second premium category that costs more. The business model keeps changing and not for the customer's benefit....Like, if I upgraded, then what upselling gimmick will come next?
I would absolutely NOT recommend SelfDecode for anyone who already has their DNA data and is looking to upload it for more in depth reports. The entire site is set up to trick you into buying their DNA kit. They constantly try to upsell reports to you, which I would be fine with IF they made it clear which reports are actually available for uploaded data, and which are only available using their own DNA kit. I was trying to buy reports that are available for the uploaded DNA data, was upsold on another report, and then was charged for that new report, the DNA kit, and shipping for the DNA kit without the site showing me a full list of what I was paying for even once. I had no idea I was paying for a DNA kit & shipping along with the report itself, until I was emailed the invoice and my card was charged! Throughout that entire upsell process there wasn't a single place where it stated that I would have to buy their DNA kit in order to get this report. To top it all off, after being charged for the extra report, DNA kit, and shipping, I can't even use the site AT ALL as no matter what page I navigate to, there is an un-closable pop up for adding a shipping address, which I'm NOT going to do because I never wanted the DNA kit to begin with! So now my account and all the reports I already paid for are unusable / unviewable until the support team addresses it.
Reply from SelfDecode2026-03-26
We're so sorry we missed this review — that's on us, and we apologize for the delayed response on top of an already frustrating experience.
What you've described — being charged for a DNA kit you didn't intend to purchase, and then being unable to access your account due to the shipping address pop-up — is something we want to resolve for you right away. You should absolutely be able to access the reports you paid for, and if a kit was added to your order without your clear understanding, we want to make that right.
If this hasn't been resolved yet, please reach out to our support team directly ([email protected]) and we'll prioritize getting your account unblocked and reviewing the charges. Your feedback on the checkout experience is also something we're taking seriously — it's important to us that customers always know exactly what they're paying for before being charged.
We truly hope we still have the chance to turn this around for you.
I signed up a year ago, missed the 'auto renewal' notification and even after notifying the company within 3 days of the charge that i no longer used their service and asked for refund they absolutely refused.
They threw their 'terms of service' in my face.
Bad business practices.
Reply from SelfDecode2026-03-26
We're sorry we're only seeing this now — we sincerely apologize for the delayed response.
We're sorry to hear about your experience with the auto-renewal. We understand how frustrating it can be to miss a renewal notification, and we regret that the interaction left you feeling dismissed. That's never the experience we want for our members.
If there's anything still unresolved or if you'd like to revisit this, please don't hesitate to reach out to our support team — we're happy to take another look and see what we can do. We appreciate you sharing your feedback, even after all this time.
After a lot of research I've reached a conclusion that Self-decode is closest to the gold standard of DNA testing there is. I especially like their very actionable approach.
Read before signing up. Scammy recurring billing tactics.
This company billed me last year for a yearly membership I had cancelled.
I contacted support to request a cancellation and refund. Cassie F. from support did not issue a refund, and now I see they did not cancel my membership, even though I asked for my email.
Now I get a renewal email that they will bill me for another year. To avoid this, I try to log in to my account, which I can, but my login credentials do not work for the separate "Manage subscription" section, where I can actually cancel my membership.
Just know this before giving your credit card details to this company.
Reply from SelfDecode2026-03-26
We're so sorry we're only seeing this now — we sincerely apologize for the delayed response and for the experience you had.
We'd love the opportunity to look into what happened on our end.
If any of this is still unresolved, please reach out to our support team ([email protected]) directly and we'll make it a priority to sort out your subscription and any outstanding billing concerns. We appreciate you taking the time to leave this feedback, and we're sorry we didn't do better.
Since I can remember, I've been dealing with health issues, from brain fog to debilitating fatigue. With SelfDecode, I was able to identify two very rare genetic variants. I brought these findings to my functional medicine doctor, and we figured out a solution to my problems. It was life-changing. It's also perfect for biohacking, as I was able to pinpoint what I was deficient in. I highly recommend SelfDecode.
I live in Germany and ordered a panel from Selfdecode almost four weeks ago. No idea if it has been shipped and when it is supposed to arrive. The customer support has not responded to my previous emails. Guess they don’t care about the customer after all. I’ll definitely get my money back.
Reply from SelfDecode2026-03-26
We're so sorry we're only seeing this now, and we sincerely apologize for the delay in responding to your emails at the time — that's not the standard we hold ourselves to.
We completely understand how frustrating it is to have no visibility on your order, especially after reaching out to us multiple times. International shipments can take longer, but you should never be left without a response or tracking information.
If this is still unresolved, please contact our support team directly and we'll look into your order right away. We're sorry for the poor experience and hope we still have the chance to make it right.
I've been a member of Self Decode for a few years now. Self Decode was the second DNA company I'd tried and I am quite thrilled with how Self Decode runs the company. I'm a bit of a geek, so it's been wonderful being able to read as many reports about myself and my DNA as much as I want, about anything I want to know, which is helping mitigate the myriad of imbalances that can come up for a menopausal woman. In the reports, not only do they have the science, but they include ways to counter the imbalance, like suggesting a certain type of exercise, supplement, anything that will alleviate or correct what's going on. I love that part. I find Self Decode has integrity and is accountable for their actions. I appreciate this very much in the company. Everyone is very helpful. I'm very happy with Self Decode.
I have had serious medical issues throughout my life and was put up for adoption at birth. By uploading my raw genetic data to SelfDecode I was able to figure out the real reasons behind a lot of my health issues. The best part is that Self decode gives practical solutions for the gene mutations I have that really helped to improve my health.
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