Trust · how we work
How We Compare Testing Services
LabScored exists to answer the question the testing services themselves cannot answer neutrally: how do the options actually differ? Every service's own site says it is fast, private, and trusted. An independent, evidence-first comparison of panels, pricing, turnaround, and privacy is what was missing. That gap is our job — and only that gap.
We are a research desk, and we say so plainly. We are not clinicians, we do not operate a laboratory, and we do not order or take the tests we compare — no staged “we tried it” theater. What we do is documentary: read what each service publishes — panel menus, pricing pages, certifications, turnaround statements, privacy policies — cross-reference it, and lay it out on one consistent sheet. When a fact can only be known by using a service, we say that instead of inventing it.
And none of it is medical advice. Whether to test, when, and what a result means are clinical questions for a licensed healthcare provider. For medical background we cite primary public-health sources — the CDC, the FDA, major medical centers — by name, and we link readers to them rather than paraphrasing beyond our lane.
The comparison rubric
Every comparison runs the same five axes, so a $24 single test and a $200 panel are judged on one sheet.
- Panel contents
- What a test or panel actually measures versus what its name implies — the exact marker or infection list, drawn from the service’s own published menu.
- Lab quality
- The certifications behind the result: CLIA-certified processing, CAP accreditation where held, and AABB accreditation for relationship DNA testing.
- Pricing & value
- Published all-in price against the field — including the fees marketing leaves out, like retail-kit lab fees — plus HSA/FSA acceptance where advertised.
- Turnaround & experience
- Stated result timelines, collection method (lab visit, mail-in, telehealth), state availability, and what support the service publishes.
- Privacy & data practices
- What the published privacy policy actually says: portal-only results, discreet shipping, cash-pay billing, data sharing and retention.
Where our numbers come from
Prices, panel contents, turnaround estimates, and HSA/FSA notes are drawn from each service's own published pages and documentation. Lab certifications come from what the services and their laboratory partners publish. Where independent, authoritative information exists — CDC testing guidance, FDA material on diagnostic tests — we use it for background and cite it by name.
Prices and panels move constantly, so any figure on this site is a snapshot, not a quote. The live number always comes from the provider at the moment you click through — which is why our links go to the service's current pages rather than freezing a number we cannot keep current.
Kept current, honestly
When a service changes its panels, pricing, or policies, we update the affected comparisons — and the date you see reflects that real change, not a cosmetic refresh. If we get something wrong, we correct it and say so.
Independence, disclosure, and our medical-content rules are covered on the editorial standards page. Questions about a comparison? Reach the desk.