A £79 blood test that checks 20 biomarkers costs £3.95 per marker. A £349 test that checks 114 costs £3.06. The expensive one is cheaper per marker, tests three times as many systems, and uses venous draw (more accurate than finger-prick). Headline price is a terrible way to compare blood tests. Cost per biomarker with venous draw included — the real all-in price — tells you what you're actually getting for your money.
Prices reflect each provider's most comprehensive panel with venous blood draw. Verified August 2026. Medichecks runs frequent sales that lower effective prices 20-30%. Confirm at each provider's website.
| Provider | Markers | Panel | + Venous | All-in | Per marker |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TrueVitals Ultimate | 114 | £349 | £19 | £368 | £3.23 |
| Lola Health Peak | ~70 | £250 | £35 | £285 | £4.07 |
| Medichecks Optimal | ~59 | £249 | £25-59 | £274-308 | £4.64-5.22 |
| Forth Vitality | ~50 | £199 | £45 | £244 | £4.88 |
| Thriva (one-off) | ~40-50 | £99-149 | N/A* | £99-149 | £2.48-2.98* |
| Randox Everyman | ~60-80† | £295 | Incl. | £295 | £3.69-4.92† |
* Thriva uses Tasso+ shoulder device (capillary), not venous draw. No venous option as standard. Capillary samples are less reliable for hormones, cortisol, and insulin. † Randox advertises "up to 150 analytes" but this includes physical measurements (BMI, blood pressure, body composition, body fat percentage, waist circumference), calculated ratios, and non-blood data points. The true blood biomarker count is approximately 60 to 80. The per-marker cost above uses the blood-only estimate. All prices should be verified at each provider's website.
Most providers advertise the panel price without venous collection. Medichecks adds £25-59. Forth adds £45. Lola Health adds £35-55 for home visits. These fees push the real cost 15-30% above the headline. TrueVitals charges £19 for clinic phlebotomy — the lowest venous draw fee in UK private blood testing — or £39 for at-home. The all-in price is always the number that matters.
Finger-prick tests are cheaper upfront. But capillary samples have higher rejection rates, are less reliable for hormones, cortisol, and insulin, and the smaller sample volume limits how many markers can be tested. If your sample is rejected, you pay again. If markers are unreliable, you retest. The cheapest test is the one you only need to do once, and that means venous draw.
A 40-marker panel might cover thyroid and cholesterol but miss fasting insulin, Lp(a), thyroid antibodies, tumour markers, and coeliac screening. If you discover six months later that you need one of these, that's a second test, a second phlebotomy fee, and a second wait for results. A comprehensive panel that tests everything in a single draw eliminates the second-test problem entirely. The most expensive panel is the one you have to supplement with another one.
Does the panel include tumour markers, immunoglobulins, coeliac screening, Lp(a), HOMA-IR, cystatin C, and full thyroid antibodies? These are the markers that separate a basic check from a genuine health screen. Most panels under 70 markers miss all of them.
Venous draw is the clinical standard. Finger-prick is cheaper but less reliable for comprehensive panels. If you're spending £150+ on a test, getting accurate results from venous draw is worth the extra £19-45.
Traffic-light dots showing "in range" or "out of range" are not the same as a personalised report that explains what your results mean together. Cross-system analysis — connecting thyroid to iron to cortisol to metabolic markers — is where insight lives. See an example report.
Is every report reviewed by a medical professional before release, or is it an automated output? Some providers charge extra for GP comment. Some include it. Some don't offer it at all. If a report is going to tell you something important about your health, a human should check it first.
TrueVitals Ultimate: 114 biomarkers. £349 + £19 venous = £368 all-in. £3.23 per marker. AI-powered cross-system report. Medical professional review. Results in 48 hours. No subscription. No finger-prick.
A comprehensive panel is not always necessary. If you only need to recheck a single marker you're already monitoring (vitamin D after supplementation, ferritin after iron therapy, TSH on thyroid medication), a £19-49 single-marker test is the right tool. If you want a basic annual check of the fundamentals (thyroid, cholesterol, liver, iron, B12, vitamin D), a mid-range 30-40 marker panel for £79-149 covers it.
The comprehensive panel is the right choice when you want to screen broadly — when you don't know what you're looking for and want to find it in a single test. It's the right choice for a first-time baseline, for unexplained symptoms, for life-stage checks (40, 50), and for anyone who wants the deepest possible picture without buying three separate tests to cover it. Is private testing worth it?
The most comprehensive private blood test under £1,000. Professional venous draw at 103+ UK clinics for £19. AI-powered cross-system report. Medical review. Results in 48 hours.
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