Every product on Health Supplements Lab gets a score out of 10. This page explains exactly how that number is calculated, so you never have to just take our word for it.
We built this system because most “review” sites either don’t explain their scoring at all, or use a scale that conveniently makes every product look great. Ours is a weighted composite across five criteria, applied identically to every product we cover — whether it’s a market leader with twenty years of history or a brand we’re reviewing for the first time.
How We Calculate Our Score
Each product is scored 1–10 on five criteria. Those five scores are combined using fixed weights to produce the final Health Supplements Lab Score.
1. Ingredient Quality & Dosing — 30% This is the single biggest factor, because it matters the most. We check whether every active ingredient’s dose is fully disclosed on the label, and how that dose compares to the amounts typically used in published research. Products that hide amounts behind a “proprietary blend,” or that include trendy ingredients at doses too low to be meaningful, score poorly here — regardless of how good their marketing sounds.
2. Available Research & Evidence — 25% We look at what published research actually exists for the active ingredients. We draw a clear distinction between a product that has its own published study and one where only the individual ingredients have been studied in other contexts — the first is a meaningfully higher bar. Where evidence is thin, preliminary, or based mainly on traditional use, we score accordingly and say so directly in the review.
3. Manufacturer Transparency & Guarantee — 20% We check for disclosed manufacturing standards (such as cGMP certification), how long the company has operated, how clearly it communicates what’s in its product, and whether it backs the product with a genuine, honored money-back guarantee. A 67-day guarantee with no fine print scores higher than a 14-day guarantee full of conditions.
4. Aggregated User Feedback — 15% We pull together verified user feedback from multiple independent sources — not just testimonials the brand chooses to publish on its own site. We weigh consistency of feedback across sources more heavily than any single glowing (or scathing) review.
5. Value for Money — 10% We calculate cost per serving at the clinically relevant dose and compare it against similar products in the same category. A cheaper product that underdoses its key ingredients isn’t better value — it’s just cheaper.
What the Score Means
- 9.0–10 — Exceptional across the board: fully disclosed, clinically relevant doses, meaningful evidence, strong guarantee, and consistent positive user feedback.
- 7.5–8.9 — Strong option with minor tradeoffs — for example, solid dosing but limited product-specific research.
- 6.0–7.4 — Reasonable but with real limitations worth knowing before you buy — such as partial label transparency or a shorter guarantee window.
- Below 6.0 — We generally don’t feature products in this range as primary recommendations, but where we discuss one for comparison purposes, we’re direct about why it falls short.
What This Score Is — and Isn’t
Our score is an editorial research rating, not a medical endorsement, not a clinical assessment, and not a guarantee of results for you personally. It reflects how a product compares to others in its category on the five criteria above — not a prediction of how it will work for your individual body. Supplement outcomes vary by person. See our [Disclaimer] for the full picture.
How We Keep Scores Accurate
Products are re-audited at least once a year, with earlier updates triggered by a formula change, a new guarantee policy, or new research on a key ingredient. Every review shows a last-updated date so you can see how current the score is.
Editorial Independence
Our score has no relationship to affiliate commission rates — a higher-paying product does not get a boost, and a lower-paying one isn’t marked down. Full detail on how we earn money is in our [Affiliate Disclosure].
Questions About a Specific Score?
If you think we’ve got something wrong — a dose, a guarantee term, a piece of research — [contact us]. We’d rather fix it than leave it inaccurate.