Short answer: Lola Health is better for one broad venous blood test with no subscription; Thriva is better for regular, needle-free testing at home with a GP reviewing every result. Lola's biggest panel covers 70 biomarkers from £200, taken by a phlebotomist at home or in a clinic. Thriva is subscription-only: you either build your own test from 50+ blood markers or join Compass, £360 a year for three tests with a doctor consultation after each. If you want far more markers in a single draw than either offers, there is a third option further down.
Facts checked on lolahealth.com, thriva.co, Thriva's help centre and uk.trustpilot.com, November 2026. Written by James Smillie, founder of TrueVitals, a UK blood testing company that competes with both: see our bias statement below.
Sources: lolahealth.com (blood tests collection, Peak Insights 70 and Core Health 45 product pages, How it works, Lola One bundles), thriva.co (Compass, What we test, How it works, thyroid shop page), Thriva help centre (How does Thriva work, Compass vs a regular subscription, How does my Compass subscription work, Autodraw finger prick or venous, How do venous appointments work), uk.trustpilot.com/review/lolahealth.co and uk.trustpilot.com/review/thriva.co. All checked November 2026.
Lola Health sells fixed panels you buy once. Its range runs from small finger-prick tests to Peak Insights 70, its largest blood panel. Lola describes Peak Insights 70 as covering cardiovascular, hormonal (including stress hormones), thyroid, liver, kidney, metabolic, inflammation, electrolytes, bone, iron, vitamins and minerals, full blood count, muscle health and IgE. Its listed markers include ApoB, hs-CRP, HbA1c, testosterone, oestradiol, cortisol, thyroid antibodies and, for men, PSA.
| Lola Health test | Biomarkers | Price (from) | Collection |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peak Insights 70 | 70 | £200 | Home visit or clinic |
| Vital Check 56 | 56 | £155 | Home visit or clinic |
| Core Health 45 | 45 | £125 | Home visit or clinic |
| Female Active Boost 39 | 39 | £145 | Home visit or clinic |
| Male Active Boost 36 | 36 | £140 | Home visit or clinic |
| Female Hormones Clarity 31 | 31 | £120 | Home visit or clinic |
| Male Hormones Clarity 14 | 14 | £110 | Home visit, clinic, finger-prick or Tasso+ |
| Smaller focused tests (thyroid, liver and kidney, cardiovascular, blood health) | 5 to 10 | £81 to £119 | Finger-prick or Tasso+ self-collection |
Prices are Lola's "from" prices on its blood tests page, checked November 2026. On the Peak Insights 70 and Core Health 45 product pages, choosing a home visit or a clinic draw added £35 and arranging your own phlebotomist added nothing, while Lola's FAQ says the phlebotomy appointment and doctor review are included in the price. Check the basket total before you pay.
Thriva sells subscriptions, in two forms. With a regular subscription, a short quiz suggests a starting set of markers and you adjust it, building a package from 50+ blood markers; the price depends on what you choose, and kits arrive every 3 months by default (you can switch to 6-monthly, yearly or a custom date). As an example of single-topic prices, Thriva's thyroid page listed a basic thyroid profile at £54.90, an advanced profile with antibodies at £80.10 and a complete thyroid function test at £138.60, with 15% off your first subscription test. Lp(a) and PSA can be bought separately.
Compass by Thriva is a fixed programme: £360 a year, paid upfront, for three at-home blood tests about every 4 months. The first is a doctor-curated baseline of 33 markers; Thriva says later tests have 20+ markers, personalised to your results. Compass includes a 1:1 doctor consultation after each test and renews automatically each year. Thriva's "What we test" page lists 75 biomarkers across nine areas, but 27 of those are wearable and physical measures (VO2 max, sleep, grip strength, waist circumference and so on) rather than blood tests, and the blood markers are spread across your three tests rather than measured all at once.
So which gives you more? In a single draw, Lola's Peak Insights 70 measures more blood markers than a Compass baseline test. Over a year, Compass gives you three tests and three doctor conversations for £360. They are designed for different jobs, so compare them by what you want to find out rather than by marker count alone.
Lola Health uses a phlebotomist for its main panels. You book at checkout and Lola arranges a home visit or a clinic appointment, usually within 2 to 5 working days; you can also arrange your own phlebotomist. A venous sample (from a vein in the arm) gives the lab more blood to work with, which is what makes a 56 or 70 biomarker panel practical. Weekend appointments were not available when we checked, and rescheduling within 24 hours of an appointment carries a £20 fee.
Thriva is built around collecting at home yourself. Your first order comes with Autodraw by default, a device Thriva describes as "painless one-click blood collection from your arm" with no needles. Finger-prick kits are still available, and you post the sample to Thriva's partner lab in a prepaid envelope. If you prefer a venous sample, Thriva's partner Heim can visit you at home for an additional £60, or you can use a clinic of your choice; you arrange this by emailing Thriva.
Why it matters. Self-collection is convenient and avoids a needle, which matters a lot to some people. The trade-off is volume: the amount of blood a home device or finger-prick collects limits how many markers can be run at once, and some markers are more sensitive to how the sample is taken and posted. That is part of why Thriva offers a venous option and why the broadest panels on the market are venous. If you have a strong preference either way, it should probably decide this comparison for you.
Lola Health: results are "reviewed by a GMC-registered doctor, who provides a comprehensive written analysis, highlighting any markers that fall outside the normal range". Lola is clear that its doctors "provide reviews but do not offer consultations, medical advice, or diagnoses", and that it does not currently offer follow-up consultations. Lola says most results are ready within 2 working days of the lab receiving the sample, and Peak Insights 70 typically within 4 (its product page says 2, so allow 4).
Thriva: the lab sends your results to Thriva "for review by a qualified GP", who writes your report with lifestyle advice. Thriva aims to upload results within two working days; omega tests take up to 15 working days. Compass members also get a 1:1 doctor consultation after each test, and Thriva's app includes a Health Assistant and syncs with wearables.
Labs and regulation: Lola says samples are analysed by UKAS-accredited (ISO 15189) UK laboratories and shows Care Quality Commission registration. Thriva says all its partner labs hold UKAS ISO 17025 / ISO 15189 accreditation, and that it holds ISO 13485 certification from BSI.
Both are rated Excellent on Trustpilot. When we checked uk.trustpilot.com in November 2026, Thriva scored 4.6 from 3,212 reviews and Lola Health scored 4.5 from 178 reviews. The scores are close; the real difference is the size of the review base. Thriva has been running a home testing subscription for years and has thousands of reviews, while Lola is a younger company with a much smaller (but strong) set of reviews. Read recent reviews for the things you care about, such as phlebotomist reliability or kit success rates, rather than relying on the headline score.
You want one broad check-up without signing up to anything. You are happy to have blood taken by a phlebotomist, at home or in a clinic. You want hormones, thyroid, ApoB and inflammation in the same draw. A written doctor review is enough and you do not need a consultation. More in our Lola Health review.
You want to test every few months and track change over time. You would rather not have a needle, or cannot easily get to a clinic. You want to choose exactly which markers you pay for. You want to talk to a doctor after each test (Compass), or you like seeing blood results alongside your wearable data. More in our Thriva review.
Still weighing other brands? We also compare Medichecks vs Lola and Medichecks vs Thriva.
Some people come to this comparison wanting the broadest possible picture from one blood draw, with no subscription. Neither Lola nor Thriva is really built for that, and it is what we make, so take this section with that in mind.
TrueVitals Ultimate (Ultimate panel) is 140 biomarkers (139 for women) for £399 including the blood draw at one of 103 partner clinics, or £29 extra for a home or office visit. Klarna splits it into 3 interest-free payments of £133. It is a one-off purchase, not a subscription. Samples go to Nationwide Pathology (UKAS-accredited), and the clinician-reviewed report arrives within 4 working days of the lab receiving the sample. The panel includes ApoB and Lp(a), hs-CRP, HbA1c with insulin, cystatin C, a full thyroid panel with antibodies, and a full hormone panel. The report is written from your own lifestyle quiz, reads every result together across body systems rather than one marker at a time, and includes a PhenoAge biological age.
When TrueVitals is not the right choice. If you want to avoid a needle, Thriva's Autodraw is the better fit: every TrueVitals panel is a venous draw. If you want to talk your results through with a doctor, Thriva Compass includes a consultation and we do not. If you want to retest a handful of markers every few months, a Thriva subscription or one of Lola's smaller tests will cost far less than repeating a 140-marker panel. And Lola lets you book your appointment at checkout, whereas with TrueVitals you book by phone with the clinic after you pay (the referral never expires). For more options see Lola Health alternatives and Thriva alternatives.
A blood test is a snapshot. It can show markers that are outside the reference range, or trending in the wrong direction, and it can prompt a useful conversation with your GP. It cannot diagnose a condition on its own, and a normal result does not rule one out. Results can be affected by recent illness, exercise, fasting, supplements (biotin in particular interferes with some tests) and, for hormones, the time of day or the day of your cycle, so follow the preparation advice you are given.
If you have symptoms that worry you, such as unexplained weight loss, breathlessness, chest pain or a change in your bowel habits, see your GP rather than waiting for a private test. In England, adults aged 40 to 74 without certain existing conditions should be invited to a free NHS Health Check every 5 years, covering blood pressure, cholesterol and possibly blood sugar (nhs.uk, checked November 2026). A private test adds breadth; it does not replace that.
TrueVitals is a UK blood testing company; we compare ourselves too. We compared Lola Health and Thriva using only what their own websites, Thriva's help centre and their Trustpilot pages showed in November 2026 (written 2 November 2026). We did not buy either service for this comparison, and neither company paid for or reviewed it. We have not converted Thriva's wearable and physical measures into blood biomarker counts, and we have flagged where a company's own pages disagree with each other (Lola's collection fee and Peak Insights turnaround). Prices and packages change often, so check before you buy. Written by James Smillie; reviewed by the TrueVitals clinical review team.
Ultimate: 140 biomarkers (139 for women), £399 including your blood draw, clinician-reviewed report within 4 working days of the lab receiving your sample. Or Signature: 230 biomarkers at a Randox Health clinic, £799.
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