TestWell Research · Data study #3
The membership math: what Function Health and Superpower cost per marker — and when paying per test wins
We mapped both brands' published marker lists to our own catalog and twelve months of self-pay orders. The short version: if you want the whole list, the memberships are cheaper per marker than anything à la carte, including us. Most people do not want the whole list.
Headline numbers
| Function Health | Superpower | Pay per test (TestWell) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $365.00/yr · 2 draws | $199.00/yr ($399.00 NY/NJ) · 1 draw | From $14.99 a test + $6.00 per order |
| Measured markers per draw (brand's count) | ~115 | 57 | — |
| Membership cost per measured marker | $3.17 | $3.49 | — |
| Distinct named markers we could map | 86 | 25 (Superpower names only part of its list publicly) | — |
| Of those, TestWell sells | 80 (93%) | 25 (100%) | — |
| Cheapest à la carte set covering them, once | $1,226.64 (36 tests) | $593.82 (18 tests) | — |
| À la carte cost per covered marker | $15.33 | $23.75 | — |
Read it plainly: buying Function's whole annual list one test at a time costs about 3.4× the membership; Superpower's named list about 3×. The memberships are the right price for the whole list.
What people actually order — and what it costs once
Membership pricing assumes you want 100+ markers. Our order data says most self-pay buyers want a handful. These are the single tests most often present in a paid TestWell order over the last twelve months (bundled panels expanded into their components), what that set costs once at Quest, and how many of them each membership's panel includes.
| Most-ordered set | Once at Quest (incl. fee) | Once at BioReference (NY/NJ) | In Function's panel | In Superpower's named list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 10 tests | $341.90 | $353.90 | 9 of 10 | 7 of 10 |
| Top 15 tests | $490.85 | $496.85 | 12 of 15 | 11 of 15 |
| Top 25 tests | $827.75 | $852.75 | 22 of 25 | 17 of 25 |
The ten most-ordered tests together cost $341.90 once — a little under one Function year and well over one Superpower year. Nobody orders all ten at once; the median order is one or two items.
| Test | Share of orders | Price at Quest |
|---|---|---|
| Comprehensive Metabolic Panel | 24.8% | $22.99 |
| CBC with Differential | 21.5% | $21.99 |
| Hemoglobin A1c | 20.9% | $21.99 |
| Lipid Panel | 20.5% | $24.99 |
| Vitamin D, 25-Hydroxy | 16.7% | $41.99 |
| Ferritin | 13.6% | $24.99 |
| TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) | 12.9% | $26.99 |
| Insulin, Fasting | 11.1% | $22.99 |
| Heart & Body Inflammation Test (hs-CRP) | 11% | $34.99 |
| Tuberculosis (TB) Blood Test | 10.3% | $91.99 |
Top 15: $490.85 once · Top 25: $827.75 once.
The breakeven
Using the median Quest price of the 25 most-ordered tests ($28.99) and one $6.00 fee per order, a membership becomes the cheaper way to buy when you want this many typical tests:
| Membership | Tests per draw you must want | Draws per year | Tests per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Function Health — using both draws | 7 | 2 | 14 |
| Function Health — one draw only | 13 | 1 | 13 |
| Superpower | 7 | 1 | 7 |
| Superpower in New York / New Jersey | 14 | 1 | 14 |
Below those counts, paying per test is cheaper and faster (most results in 1–3 business days). Above them, the membership is cheaper — and it adds interpretation, an app and a plan that à la carte does not include. The breakeven ignores those extras, which is a point in the memberships' favor.
What we cannot sell you from these lists
Honesty cuts both ways. Of Function Health's 86 measured markers, 6 are not in the TestWell catalog today: Antinuclear Antibodies (ANA) Pattern; Antinuclear Antibodies Titer; Omega-3: DPA; Omega-6: Arachidonic Acid; Omega-6: Linoleic Acid; Urinalysis (complete, 19 components). Of Superpower's 25 publicly named markers, every one is available à la carte. Superpower names only part of its 57 measured markers on public pages; the rest cannot be mapped and are not counted either way.
Method
Brand marker lists are the brands' published lists (membership-compare.ts, dated). Each measured marker is matched to TestWell single tests by the same biomarker matcher used for lab-registration audits; the cheapest covering set is a greedy set cover at the Quest list price (both memberships draw at Quest) plus one lab processing fee. Order shares are the percentage of paid TestWell orders in the window that contained each single test, with bundled panels expanded into their component tests; shares only, no counts. Breakeven uses the median Quest price of the 25 most-ordered tests.
Generated October 22, 2026. Brand facts and their sources: Function Health vs Superpower. Related: what people order when they order their own labs · Blood Test Price Index. Data © TestWell, CC BY 4.0 with attribution.
Frequently asked questions
Where do the marker lists come from?
From the brands' own public pages (Function Health's "What we test"; Superpower's biomarker and comparison pages), read on October 22, 2026 and linked at the bottom. Calculated values (ratios, eGFR, biological age) are excluded from the measured counts because they are derived from other results, not run in the lab.
How were markers matched to TestWell tests?
With the same name-matching code TestWell uses to audit that its lab registrations deliver the biomarkers each product advertises — canonical names plus a synonym table — with one tightening for this study: a high-sensitivity CRP is not satisfied by a standard CRP.
What is the 'cheapest covering set'?
The least expensive combination of TestWell single tests, at the Quest list price, that contains every brand marker we sell — chosen greedily by markers covered per dollar. It is a ceiling: a reader who wants only part of the list pays less.
Where do the order shares come from?
Paid TestWell orders between October 22, 2025 and October 22, 2026. A test's share is the percentage of orders that contained it, with bundled panels counted toward their component tests. The study reports shares only — no order counts and no user-level data.
Is TestWell a neutral source here?
TestWell sells the à la carte alternative to these memberships. Every figure on this page is read from the brands' public pages on the date shown and linked in the sources; tell us if something has changed.