Head to head · Thriva vs Forth
Thriva and Forth are the two finger-prick services people compare most, and they are more alike than different: a kit through the door, a few drops of blood into a tube, a courier back, results in an app with a doctor's note. Thriva leans on subscriptions, a slick app and GP commentary; Forth leans on a wider menu, hormone tracking for women and a venous option if you pay for it. Either is fine for keeping an eye on a handful of markers. Neither is the right tool for a full picture, and the reason is the method, not the brand: a finger-prick cannot reliably deliver a large panel, the predictive markers, or a report that reads them together. That is where TrueVitals sits.
TrueVitals: venous draw at 103 UK clinics or at home for £39, written report within 48 hours of the lab receiving your sample.
Last reviewed 16 September 2026
The short answer
Thriva if you want the simplest experience, a subscription that reminds you to retest, and clear GP comments on a small set of markers. Forth if you want more choice, hormone tracking through a cycle, or the option of a venous draw. TrueVitals if you want the whole picture in one draw: 74 to 230 markers taken from a vein by a phlebotomist, ApoB, Lp(a), fasting insulin and cystatin C included, and a written report that explains what the results mean together. The first two are for keeping an eye on things. The third is for finding out what is going on.
Side by side
| Thriva | Forth | TrueVitals | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sample | Finger-prick kit by post | Finger-prick kit by post; venous at a partner clinic or nurse visit for an extra fee | Venous draw by a registered phlebotomist at a clinic (£19) or at home (£39) |
| What you buy | A baseline kit and add-on tests, sold mostly as a subscription | Single kits and profiles across a wide menu; optional subscription | Three panels: Advanced (74), Ultimate (114), Signature (230) |
| Markers in the largest kit | Roughly 20 to 50 | Roughly 40 to 60 | 114 in Ultimate, 230 in Signature |
| ApoB, Lp(a), fasting insulin, cystatin C | Limited or not offered | Some as add-ons | ApoB in all; the rest in Ultimate and Signature |
| Hormones | Core set | Strong; female hormone tracking across a cycle is a real strength | Complete set in Ultimate and Signature, from a venous sample, which is more reliable for hormones |
| Full thyroid with antibodies, full iron studies | Partly, via add-ons | Partly, via profiles | In every panel |
| Results | App dashboard with GP comments | App dashboard with doctor comments and trend charts | Written report explaining every marker in context, patterns connected across systems, reviewed by a medical professional; dashboard tracks change between tests |
| Turnaround | A few working days after the lab receives the kit | A few working days after the lab receives the kit | Within 48 hours of the lab receiving the sample; Signature around 12 working days |
| Sample failure | Retest kit if the sample is insufficient or haemolysed | Same | Rare with a venous draw by a professional |
| Laboratory | UKAS-accredited partner labs | UKAS-accredited partner labs | UKAS-accredited partner labs; Randox for Signature |
| Price | Roughly £40 to £150 per kit; subscriptions reduce it | Roughly £40 to £250 per kit; venous adds a fee | £269, £349 or £799 (Signature includes the draw); no subscription |
Thriva and Forth menus, kit contents and prices change; figures are approximate from public listings in 2026. Check their sites. The TrueVitals column is from the published panel contents. Thriva vs TrueVitals in detail.Forth vs TrueVitals in detail.
Where each one wins
Thriva wins on
The app is the best in the category, the GP comments are clear, and the subscription does something useful: it makes you retest. For someone tracking a few markers over a year, that nudge is worth more than any single result.
Forth wins on
A wider range of kits, better trend charts, a genuinely good female hormone-mapping product that samples across a cycle, and a venous option if you want it. For hormone questions on a budget it is the stronger of the two.
Both fall short on
A finger-prick gives a small, sometimes haemolysed sample. That limits how many markers can be run from one kit, makes several hormones less reliable, and means a proportion of kits come back short and have to be repeated. It is the reason their biggest kits stop at 50 or 60 markers.
Both fall short on
Neither builds ApoB, Lp(a), fasting insulin and cystatin C into a standard kit, so the markers that predict heart disease, diabetes and kidney decline are usually missing. And a dashboard with comments is not a report: it tells you which numbers are out of range, not how they fit together or what to do first.
The third option
TrueVitals starts where the finger-prick stops. A registered phlebotomist takes a venous sample, at one of 103 clinics or at your home for £39, so the lab gets enough blood to run 74 to 230 markers reliably from a single draw, including the hormones that finger-prick struggles with. The panels are designed rather than assembled: ApoB in every one, Lp(a), fasting insulin and cystatin C in Ultimate. Advanced and Ultimate reports arrive within 48 hours of the lab receiving the sample as a written document that explains every marker in context, connects the patterns and says what to fix first. And if you want the retest habit Thriva is good at, health plans sell two to four tests upfront at a lower price each, with every report compared against the last.
Advanced
74 biomarkers · £269
Full thyroid with antibodies, ApoB and full lipids, hs-CRP, HbA1c, full iron studies, vitamin D, B12, folate, core hormones, liver, kidney, electrolytes. More than either brand's largest kit, from a vein.
View AdvancedThe comparison winner
Ultimate
114 biomarkers · £349
Adds fasting insulin and HOMA-IR, Lp(a), cystatin C, complete hormones, tumour markers and urinalysis. Everything the finger-prick kits leave out, in one draw.
View UltimateHealth plans
2, 3 or 4 tests · from £706
The retest habit without the subscription: buy the tests upfront at a lower price per test, book each when it is due, and see the trend in every report.
View health plansFast from 10pm the night before. Pay monthly available. No GP referral.
Decision guide
| If you want | Go with | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A few markers, tracked easily, reminders to retest | Thriva | Best app and subscription in the category |
| Cycle-mapped female hormones on a finger-prick budget | Forth | Its hormone product is the strongest of the two |
| One obscure single test | Forth, or Medichecks | Wider menus than Thriva |
| Reliable hormone results without a failed kit | TrueVitals | Venous sample by a professional; complete hormone set in Ultimate |
| Cardiovascular and metabolic risk measured properly | TrueVitals Ultimate | ApoB, Lp(a), fasting insulin and cystatin C included, not add-ons |
| To find out why you feel the way you do | TrueVitals | 74 to 230 markers read together, with a written report that says what to do first |
| The retest habit, without a subscription | TrueVitals health plan | Lower price per test, every report compared with the last |
FAQs
Both use UKAS-accredited laboratories, so the analysis is sound at either. The limit is the finger-prick sample itself, which is small, prone to haemolysis and less reliable for some hormones. A venous draw removes that limit, which is why TrueVitals uses one. Blood test accuracy explained.
They overlap. Thriva's subscription makes small, regular kits cheap; Forth's single kits and larger profiles cost more but need no subscription. Neither reaches the marker count of a TrueVitals panel, so a like-for-like price comparison is not really possible; per marker, Ultimate is cheaper than both.
Thriva's pricing is built around subscriptions, though one-off kits are available. Forth and TrueVitals are pay as you go; TrueVitals health plans let you buy retests upfront at a discount without a rolling subscription.
Forth offers venous collection at partner clinics or by nurse visit for an extra fee. Thriva is finger-prick only. TrueVitals is venous only, at 103 clinics or at home for £39.
Between the two, Forth, whose cycle-mapping product is well designed. For a complete hormone set on a reliable venous sample, including testosterone, oestradiol, progesterone, LH, FSH, prolactin, SHBG, cortisol and DHEA-S, TrueVitals Ultimate. Hormone blood tests.
Advanced and Ultimate reports are delivered within 48 hours of the laboratory receiving your sample. Signature takes around 12 working days.
114 biomarkers from one venous draw, at 103 clinics or at home, with a written report within 48 hours that explains what the numbers mean together.
Thriva compared · Forth compared · Medichecks vs Randox · All UK providers · Find a clinic
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