Decode vs Function Health
These two do different jobs. Function Health sells you the blood test: $365 for the first year, 160+ lab tests across two draws, every result reviewed by a clinician. Decode draws no blood. It reads a panel you already have, puts each number next to the figures physicians and research scientists have put on the record, and checks the supplements you take against it, for $12.99 a month.
Last updated 11 August 2026 · Function Health prices verified on functionhealth.com the same day
| Decode | Function Health | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | An iPhone app that reads bloodwork you already have | A membership that orders and pays for your bloodwork |
| Price | $12.99 a month or $79.99 a year, 7-day free trial | $365 for the first year, charged annually |
| Blood draw | None. Add a photo, a PDF, or Apple Health | Two a year, at 2,000+ US lab locations |
| Tests covered | Whatever your panel already contains, from any lab | 160+ lab tests a year: 100+ at the annual, 60+ mid-year |
| Where “optimal” comes from | Not ours to set. A physician or research scientist put the number on the record, and you can watch them do it and judge the reasoning yourself | Function’s own ranges, explained by its medical group |
| Supplement label scanning | Point the camera at the label, get a pass, weak or skip at your numbers | Not offered |
| Asking a follow-up question | Type a question about a result or a supplement. The answer names who said it and opens the video at that second; when nobody has said it, the answer tells you so | A member chat for support; Function states it does not offer medical advice |
| Clinician review | None. Decode never diagnoses | Clinicians review every result and flag issues |
| Imaging | Not offered | MRI and CT scans available as add-ons |
| Where it works | Any iPhone, with any lab’s report | All US states; New York and New Jersey cost more |
Decode is an iPhone app launching soon — the app-side rows above describe what ships at launch. Function figures are from Function’s own pricing and FAQ pages on 11 August 2026 and change without notice; check their pricing page before you buy.
What Function Health does that Decode doesn’t
- Orders and pays for the draw, with no insurance involved
- 160+ lab tests a year, far wider than a standard checkup
- A clinician reviews every result and flags what needs attention
- MRI and CT scans as add-ons
- HSA and FSA funds are accepted
What Decode does that Function Health doesn’t
- Reads a report from any lab — Quest, Labcorp, a hospital printout, Apple Health, or a Function export
- Scans a supplement label and grades it against your own numbers
- Links every threshold to the video and the minute it was said
- Says out loud when nobody has stated a number for a biomarker
- Answers follow-up questions with the speaker named and the video cued to the second
- Sells no supplements and takes no affiliate money
Which one should you pick?
- Pick Function Health if you want the panel itself.
- You have not had proper bloodwork in years, you want far more than the twenty-odd tests a standard physical runs, and you would rather pay a flat $365 than fight over what insurance covers. A clinician reading every line is worth real money on its own.
- Pick Decode if the results are already in your hand.
- You get labs from your doctor, or you just paid for a big panel and the summary left you flat. Your questions are “what does this number mean for someone my age” and “are the four supplements on my shelf doing anything about it.” $12.99 a month, no new draw.
- Use both if you are serious about it.
- Function twice a year for the draw and the clinician. Decode year-round for the second reading and for every supplement you pick up in a shop.
Do you need both?
Before either: most people arrive at this question already holding results. A physical last spring, a panel your doctor ran to chase a symptom, three years of PDFs in a portal you have logged into twice. If that is you, the thing you are short of is not a blood test.
Often, yes, and the order matters. Function is how you get a wide panel without arguing with insurance. Decode is what happens to that panel afterwards, and to every panel you already have sitting in a portal.
If your doctor already runs bloodwork once a year, you may not need a second testing subscription at all — you need someone to read the results you keep getting back. That is the whole job Decode does.
Where does the optimal range come from?
This is the real difference, and it is worth more than any row in the table above. Both products will tell you a number is fine or not fine. The question is who decided.
Function explains your results through its own medical group. Its chief medical officer is Mark Hyman, M.D. — one of the physicians whose stated numbers also show up inside Decode, which should tell you these are not opposing camps.
Decode holds no opinion of its own. Every optimal range in the app is a sentence a physician or research scientist said out loud, with the number in it. Take ApoB, the lipid particle count most panels bury near the bottom.
Your lab stops flagging at 100. The number on the record is 60.
“by the time you're in your late 30s or early 40s if you have any measure of apo b that's even north of the 20th percentile that should be completely lowered, so in some ways i would view an apob ceiling of 60 as the limit and that's probably at about the fifth percentile, you'd sort of want everybody to be below the fifth percentile”
Most US labs print an ApoB range topping out around 100 mg/dL. So a result of 88 comes back unflagged, nobody mentions it, and it sits 28 above where that sentence puts the ceiling. Decode shows both lines and the video, and you decide what to do with your doctor. See the full page on optimal ApoB levels.
Fourteen physicians and research scientists have put numbers on the record in Decode — blood targets and supplement doses both — and Attia is one of them. A few of the others, and where each drew their line:
- Dr. Mark Hyman, M.D.Fasting insulin · under 5 µIU/mL23:23 →
- Dr. Rhonda Patrick, PhDVitamin D · 40–60 ng/mL15:08 →
- Dr. Bill Harris, Ph.D.Omega-3 Index · 8–12%1:23:04 →
- Dr. Sarah Hallberg, D.O.Triglycerides · under 100 mg/dL22:06 →
Why a testing membership is unlikely to do this
It is structural rather than a feature Function could add next quarter. When the panel is the product, the reading has to justify the panel — and a number sourced to somebody outside the company, on a page that also says you might not need another draw this year, argues against the sale. Decode has no draw to protect and no house range to defend, which is the only reason it can afford to point at other people's numbers.
On 73 of 98 markers, nobody has named a number
Decode’s library covers 98 biomarkers. 25 of them carry a range a named physician or research scientist actually stated, backed by 57 quotes with links to the video. On the other 73 there is no second line: your lab’s own range is what you get, and the page says plainly that nobody we cite has put a number on it. Browse the lot at all biomarkers.
Common questions
Is Decode an alternative to Function Health?
Not really, because the two do different jobs. Function orders and pays for your blood draw and gives you 160+ lab tests a year. Decode draws no blood — it reads a panel you already have, from any lab, and checks the supplements you take against those numbers. Plenty of people would use both.
How much does Function Health cost in 2026?
$365 for the first year, charged annually, which Function describes as $1 a day. That covers 160+ lab tests: a 100+ test annual panel and a 60+ test mid-year follow-up. MRI and CT scans are separate add-ons, and Function notes that testing in New York and New Jersey can cost more. Verified on functionhealth.com on 11 August 2026.
How much does Decode cost?
$12.99 a month or $79.99 a year, with a 7-day free trial. There is no blood draw to buy and no panel to order. One mid-range supplement runs $20–40.
Can Decode read my Function Health results?
Decode reads a lab report as a photo, as a PDF, or straight from Apple Health. If you can export or screenshot your results, Decode can read them. It works the same way with a Quest, Labcorp or hospital printout.
Where does each one’s optimal range come from?
Function explains results through its own medical group, led by chief medical officer Mark Hyman, M.D. Decode never sets a number of its own: every optimal range is a sentence a named physician or research scientist said on the record, linked to the second they said it. Where nobody has stated a number, Decode says so and the lab’s own range is what you get.
Does Function Health work in every US state?
Function states that its $365 first-year membership covers 160+ lab tests in all states except New York and New Jersey, where testing can cost more due to state regulations.
Does Decode diagnose or give medical advice?
No. Decode reports what named physicians and research scientists have said on the record and puts your number next to theirs. It is educational, not medical advice. It never tells you that you have a condition. Talk to your doctor before you change anything.
Does Decode sell supplements?
No. Decode sells no supplements, takes no affiliate money, and has no panel to buy. The subscription is the only thing it earns from.
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