Price Comparison of the Top-Rated Multivitamin Brands
Multivitamins with an Effectiveness Score of 8.0 and above are more expensive than low-end supplements you find in retail stores. However, considering that the nutritional benefits of the best multivitamins far outweigh the cost, you are better off spending a little more money on a high-potency, high-quality supplement.
The table below shows a detailed cost comparison of the top-ranked nutritional supplements. You’ll find the price of each multivitamin, the number of tablets per bottle, and the recommended daily dose. These numbers are used to calculate the product’s cost per day.
Product Cost of Top-Rated Multivitamin Brands
| Company | Product | MSRP | Contents | Daily Dose | Cost/Day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xtend-Life | Total Balance | $52.00 | 120 tablets | 4 | $1.73 |
| Douglas Laboratories | Ultra Preventive X | $68.50 | 240 tablets | 8 | $2.28 |
| USANA Health Sciences | Essentials | $51.00 | 224 tablets | 8 | $1.82 |
| Shaklee | Vitalizer Gold | $84.95 | 180 tablets | 6 | $2.83 |
| Source Naturals | Life Force Multiple | $44.98 | 180 capsules | 8 | $2.00 |
| FreeLife | Reverse! | $90.00 | 240 tablets | 8 | $3.00 |
| Nutrilite (Amway, Quixtar) | Double X | $79.20 | 186 tablets | 6 | $2.55 |
| Life Extension Foundation | Life Extension Mix | $73.50 | 315 tablets | 9 | $2.10 |
For a visual comparison of the cost per day for the top multivitamin brands, see the graph below.
As you can see, Xtend-Life costs significantly less than the other top vitamins and packs a more powerful nutrient punch, making it the best buy for your money.
Cost-per-day comparison of top-rated vitamin supplements
Typically, high-end multivitamins are not available through retail outlets such as supermarkets and health food stores. These supplements cost more to manufacture due to their extensive research and development programs and the superior quality of the raw materials used in the product. If these companies sold their products at retail, the store’s markup would mean the cost would rise dramatically.
The companies avoid those markups by offering their premium products directly to the consumer. You receive the highest quality products at the lowest cost possible—often not much more than lower-quality vitamins sold at retail outlets.
How do store-brand vitamins compare?
Commonly available multivitamin brands include Centrum, One a Day, Kirkland Signature (Costco brand) and Equate (Walmart brand). These brands are popular because of their low cost and high availability.
Unfortunately, none of the above products is very effective from a medical point of view, so they are a waste of money. Centrum and One a Day multivitamins have Effectiveness Scores of 4.6 and 4.5, while Kirkland Signature and Equate multivitamins have scores of 1.9 and 0.6 respectively. The top five vitamins have much higher scores than any of the store brands.
The diagram below shows the price versus effectiveness relationship of the most popular multivitamin brands relative to the top-ranked nutritional supplements. For simplicity, only the top three nutritional supplements were included in this comparison.
Cost vs. Effectiveness comparison of vitamin supplements
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