Thorne Supplements Review: Pros, Cons, and Best Products

With a 165-product deep catalog, Thorne likely has any supplement you’re searching for under the sun—but is it worth the steeper price tag?

In this Thorne supplements review, we’ll discuss that and more, including a deep dive into Thorne’s ingredient formulation, sustainability efforts, and certifications. Keep reading to see how they compare and why they earned an A- grade.

Thorne Review Summary (Overall Grade: A-)

Thorne is a high-quality supplement brand known for its science-backed and bioavailable formulations, clinically researched ingredients, and rigorous in-house testing, earning them an overall A- grade.

However, Thorne is more expensive than competitors, and not all of their products are third-party tested. Let’s take a closer look at how Thorne scored in the categories of ingredient quality, formulation, transparency, sustainability, certifications, and value. 

Best-Selling Thorne Products

Thorne carries dozens of supplements, so we definitely won’t showcase them all—here are just a few of their top sellers and why we like them.

Basic Nutrients 2/Day

Despite its name, this is no basic multivitamin—Thorne Basic Nutrients 2/Day is a comprehensive vitamin and mineral supplement with the most clinically backed and bioavailable forms of each micronutrient.

As you can see, just two capsules of this supplement contain dozens of nutrients, including many that are not typically included in a standard multivitamin.

Thorne has researched the most bioavailable forms of each vitamin and mineral. Some examples include using magnesium bisglycinate chelate, methylcobalamin for vitamin B12, and L-selenomethionine for selenium.

Zinc Picolinate

Zinc Picolinate is a highly absorbable form of the mineral that’s bound to the organic acid picolinic acid, which is naturally made in the body from the amino acid L-tryptophan.

Some benefits of zinc include support for immunity, testosterone production, skin and eye health, and reproductive health.

This Thorne supplement is NSF Certified, which is one of the most rigorous certifications for sports supplements.

Collagen Plus

This is not your ordinary collagen powder—it also contains several bioactive compounds and skin-supportive ingredients with a passion-berry flavor.

Thorne Collagen Plus provides 13g of bovine collagen peptides, nicotinamide riboside, a patented black and red currant polyphenolic blend, and white peach extract. 

The patented blend (MitoHeal®) has been clinically studied for skin health. Its benefits include reducing fine lines and wrinkles, facial brown spots, and skin coarseness.

You can read more about this product in our Top 8 Best Collagen Supplements list!

Stress Test

Thorne also offers several at-home testing kits, including the popular Stress Test. With this test, you simply collect saliva samples at home with the provided kit and send it off to the lab. 

This test measures salivary DHEA and cortisol levels throughout the day, providing in-depth information about your stress response and adrenal health.

Thorne Supplements Review

Ingredients & Formulation (A+)

Ingredient quality and supplement formulation are two areas that can’t be beat. 

Each Thorne supplement is guided by their “No List,” which is a comprehensive list of ingredients they refuse to include, such as fillers, additives, and allergens. New research is constantly adjusting the list, with the most recent “no” addition being erythritol.

Other “no’s” include:

• Ingredients that don’t have the necessary potency.
• Ingredients that contain any contaminants.
• Ingredients that can’t meet Thorne’s stability testing standards.

Thorne products are also thoroughly tested and they only use nutrient or compound forms that are clinically backed and the most bioavailable or potent. According to Thorne, more than 40 products are currently in clinical trials around the world, with collaborations including Mayo Clinic, Duke University, Cleveland Clinic, National Institutes of Health, and more.

Transparency & Certifications (B)

Thorne has a handful of stellar certifications, but there are a few things holding us back from a higher score. 

Certifications include:

• NSF Certified: Their facility and 20 of their products are NSF Certified for Sport®. (Remember, they have 165 products!) 
• GMP Certified facility (Good Manufacturing Practices) 
• TGA: “A” grade from Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), which has the most stringent cGMP regulations and is often recognized as the toughest regulatory agency in the world.

According to Thorne, each product undergoes four rounds of in-house testing, including testing the raw materials, in-process testing, and finished product testing for purity, potency, identity, and stability. 

While this is great, we’d love for either all of their products to be NSF Certified or for Thorne to release third-party testing or Certificates of Analyses (COAs) from their in-house testing. 

We apparently just have to trust them on it—there is no evidence of public results or COAs anywhere, which dropped this score to a B. 

Sustainability (B-)

Sustainability and environmental initiatives are another area where Thorne could use some work. 

They have made the switch from plastic packaging to sending supplements in plastic-free compostable mailers, but the bottles are still plastic.

Their South Carolina facility is also LEED Silver-certified, but that seems to be all they do in the way of sustainability. 

Value (A-)

Lastly, let’s take a look at how Thorne prices compare to some other high-quality supplement brands. 

Understandably, the extensive product catalog means that the cost of each supplement can vary widely, so we’ll just look at Thorne’s omega-3 supplement compared to other brands. 

As you can see, the Thorne fish oil contains fewer omega-3s but is about the same or more expensive than other brands. Although Thorne contains 90 softgels, the label recommends taking them 1–3 times per day, so if you take the full three doses, it will come out to $1.46 per serving.

Now, let’s see how their B complex measures up.

Again, Thorne recommends taking their B complex anywhere from 1 to 3 times per day (which is honestly kind of confusing—how do you know if you should take a single, double, or triple dose each day?). 

Overall, Thorne is definitely pricier than other high-quality brands, especially if you are taking the triple dose.

Key Takeaways: Is Thorne Worth It?

Our favorite thing about Thorne is their commitment to high-quality ingredients and finding the most bioavailable and clinically researched form of each supplement, ensuring that you aren’t wasting your money.

However, they have some catching up to do in the sustainability and transparency department. While we appreciate that Thorne undergoes four rounds of in-house testing…can we see some results or third-party tests, please?

While they aren’t wildly overpriced, they are definitely more expensive than competitors. Overall, we think that Thorne supplements are worth it for the quality you get. If Thorne increases transparency with published third-party test results (COAs) and makes more significant sustainability efforts, they’d be nearly unbeatable in the supplement industry.