Genoplot is the friendliest free entry into population genetics: a raw-file upload, five hundred calculators, a forum, and on its paid tiers qpAdm with automated model rotation. People looking for an alternative usually have one of three specific reasons: they want a one-time price rather than a yearly credit budget; they want their official Global25 row rather than a simulated one; or they want a person to build and defend a qpAdm model rather than a rotation they drive themselves. This guide maps those needs to the services that meet them, including where Genoplot remains the right choice.
Disclosure: I run Ancestrify, the main alternative discussed here, so every Genoplot statement below is kept to what is readable on genoplot.com, read on 2026-09-06, and the cell-by-cell version is at Ancestrify vs Genoplot.
What Genoplot sells, as its site states it#
| Free tier | 0 USD: 100 compute credits, 500+ admixture and G25 calculators, PCA, G25 and nMonte modelling, G25 coordinate simulation, up to 2 concurrent samples |
| Basic | 35 USD per year (listed at 50 USD) with 1,000 compute credits a month, qpAdm and formal statistics, and a yearly bonus of one whole-genome imputation, one Geno25 coordinate set and one haplogroup call |
| Pro | 54 USD per year (listed at 90 USD) with 3,000 compute credits a month, optimaFit automated modelling, group selection, and two of each bonus |
| Pricing model | Subscription, "cancel at any time", community-funded, no ads, no data sales |
| Coordinates | Its own Geno25 simulation, free on every tier |
| qpAdm | On Basic and Pro, spending credits; guided mode rotates population combinations until models reach acceptable p-values |
Reason one: you want a one-time price#
A credit budget suits someone who runs models every week. It suits an occasional buyer poorly: the credits reset monthly, the subscription renews yearly, and the analysis you actually wanted sits behind a meter. Ancestrify prices are one-time: a qpAdm analysis from 29.99 EUR, a Global25 analysis at 29.99 EUR, Ancient Matches at 29.99 EUR, and every add-on a flat one-time amount, with the results staying in your account. If you expect to run hundreds of your own models over a year, Genoplot's Basic tier is the cheaper arithmetic; if you want one finished answer, the one-time report is.
Reason two: you want your official Global25 coordinates#
Genoplot's coordinates are a Geno25 simulation computed in its own space. That is a useful free sandbox, and it is not the official Global25 row, which comes only from Davidski's independent G25 Requests portal. Every downstream number, distance, admixture fit or PCA position, inherits the row. Ancestrify analyses only the official row: you paste the one you already have, or the Coordinate Concierge obtains it for you for 15 EUR, a pass-through of the portal's per-kit fee, with your explicit consent. The free G25 Authenticity Check tells a simulated row from an official one. The whole market of coordinate routes is sorted in Where to buy G25 coordinates.
Reason three: you want a person to build the qpAdm model#
Genoplot's guided qpAdm rotates population combinations until models reach acceptable p-values. Ancestrify built exactly that kind of rotation, measured its false-discovery rate, and removed it: the best-scoring rotated model is frequently not the right one, and the numbers are in the rotation explainer. Every published Ancestrify model is composed, run and checked by a person, must pass one stated bar (p above 0.05, every source's |Z| above 3, every SE below 0.10) in every era, and ships with the complete model record and a written explanation. After publication the Model Lab, a 10 EUR one-time unlock, lets you run your own models on your own merged dataset, EIGENSTRAT download included.
Where Genoplot stays the right choice#
- You want the widest calculator library. Five hundred calculators is more than Ancestrify curates, by design; Ancestrify's are fewer, era-scoped and each published with its full panel.
- You want a community. Genoplot's forum is where models get argued over; Ancestrify has no forum.
- You enjoy driving the tools yourself and will do it often. A credit budget and automated rotation are the right shape for that, and the free AdmixTools 2 online on the public panel is a no-account way to learn the same methods.
The free layer, whoever you choose#
Before paying anyone: the Ancestrify Lab runs distance rankings, era-scoped admixture and PCA on a pasted Global25 row in the browser, free, with nothing uploaded and no account; the G25 Admix report is free for anyone who contributes their official row to the public dataset; and the file check tells you what your raw file can support before you buy anything anywhere.
The honest matrix#
| You want | Best fit |
|---|---|
| Hundreds of calculators and a forum | Genoplot |
| To run your own qpAdm models continuously | Genoplot's Basic or Pro, or free AdmixTools 2 online on the public panel |
| A hand-built, defended qpAdm model with every statistic published | qpAdm analysis |
| A Global25 report on your official row, panels published | Global25 analysis |
| Matches with individual ancient people, per-segment evidence | Ancient Matches |
| One-time pricing | Ancestrify throughout |
Full table with sources and dates: Ancestrify vs Genoplot.
Frequently asked questions#
Is Genoplot free?#
Its free tier is, with 100 compute credits, the calculators and Geno25 coordinate simulation. qpAdm and formal statistics are on the Basic (35 USD a year, listed at 50 USD) and Pro (54 USD a year, listed at 90 USD) tiers, as genoplot.com stated on 2026-09-06.
Are Genoplot's G25 coordinates official?#
No. Genoplot's site calls them a Geno25 simulation. Official Global25 coordinates come only from Davidski's independent G25 Requests portal, and Ancestrify analyses only that official row.
Does Genoplot run qpAdm?#
Yes, on its paid tiers, spending credits, with a guided mode that rotates population combinations until models reach acceptable p-values. Ancestrify removed that kind of rotation for its measured false-discovery rate and publishes only models a person has checked.
What does Ancestrify offer that Genoplot does not?#
A hand-checked qpAdm model with the p-value, every weight, standard error, z-score and the full right set published; the official Global25 row only; the Personalized Calculator hand-built around your coordinates; Ancient Matches against individual ancient people; and one-time prices.
Which is cheaper?#
For one finished analysis, Ancestrify at 29.99 EUR one-time. For a year of running your own models every week, Genoplot's Basic at 35 USD a year. The two are different products with different arithmetic, not two prices for the same thing.
Terms used here are defined in the glossary.
