Summary at a glance
Viome does not release the measurements behind its health scores, and there is no way to download your results.
Function Health stopped Quest from posting results to members' own MyQuest portals, so export means a PDF. Function now accepts inbound wearable data via Connected Apps, but lab results still do not flow out.
Viome's 1.64 out of 5 on the Better Business Bureau page is complaint-channel data from 22 reviews, never a product rating.
Viome's $279 kit price leaves out the $119 a month supplement subscription its results recommend.
Function Health's $365 membership sits on top of lab draw fees in some states, which one tester put at just over $200 a visit in early 2025.
This article compares two consumer test products and reports what buyers say about them in public. It is not medical advice. Gut symptoms, blood biomarkers and inflammation markers need a clinician to read them against your own history. We have not used either product first-hand. Talk to your doctor before changing your diet, starting supplements, or acting on any result.
Viome vs Function Health: which one should you buy?
Viome and Function Health test different biology. Viome sequences RNA from a stool sample and returns health scores and a food list, starting at $279. Function Health runs blood labs twice a year for $365 and shows you the numbers. Gut symptoms point to Viome. A broad baseline points to Function Health.
Most people ask which one is more accurate. The more useful question is which measurement you want.
One reads the microbes in your gut. The other reads what is circulating in your blood.
Price rarely settles it. Viome's Gut Intelligence kit is a one-off $279, so you pay once. Function Health is $365 a year, so year two costs you again.
Viome's $279 covers the kit alone. The supplement subscription its results recommend runs $119 a month and starts charging when your results are ready.
What is the difference between Viome and Function Health?
Viome works on gene activity. It sequences RNA from your stool, and on the $399 Full Body Intelligence kit from saliva and a finger-prick blood drop as well. What comes back is 25 or more health scores and 370 plus foods sorted into superfoods and avoids. viome.com
Function Health works on blood chemistry. One membership covers 160+ lab tests, two draws a year plus on-demand testing, clinician review of every result, and access to MRI and CT scans. functionhealth.com
Neither one follows you day to day. Both are snapshots you repeat, and both bill you again when you repeat them.
Viome Gut Intelligence test box with the brand wordmarkViome
$279 one-off (Gut Intelligence); $399 for Full Body Intelligence; supplements $119/mo
Function Health
$365/year
Viome
Stool sample (Gut Intelligence); Stool + saliva + finger-prick blood (Full Body Intelligence)
Function Health
Blood draw required
Viome
200K+ gene-activity biomarkers in the gut microbiome, 25+ health scores, 11 health-condition connections, 370+ food recommendations
Function Health
160+ lab tests, 2x/year + on-demand testing, clinician review, personalized protocols, MRI/CT access
Viome
People focused on gut symptoms who want an at-home test and a concrete food list
Function Health
Proactive individuals wanting deep biomarker baseline
Viome
People who want their raw lab data, a clinician to interpret it, or anything tracked day to day
Function Health
Budget-conscious or those with severe needle phobia
What do Viome users say about the Gut Intelligence test?
The loudest Viome complaint is about what you do not get back.
You see scores and a food list. The measurements underneath stay hidden, and there is no download button. A commenter on a February 2026 r/Biohackers thread, whose husband has paid for the supplement subscription for two years, wrote "They do not display any specific data (which would enable you to find your own supplements/treatments), nor can you download your test results. They just mention vague markers and assign a numeric score." reddit.com They had tried the supplements themselves and cancelled after a few days.
WIRED's Brent Rose tested the Full Body Intelligence kit in December 2025 and scored it 2 out of 10. His line: "there are very few actionable suggestions besides buying the company’s own line of very expensive supplements". wired.com
Support is the other constant. In June 2026 a reviewer on the Better Business Bureau page wrote, "I was repeatedly sent to automated prompts or AI-style responses and could not get a real person to address my issue." bbb.org
Plenty of people do get something from it. One App Store review, undated on the page and read in full in September 2026, describes finding a trigger they had missed: "To find out that those things created an inflammatory response in me was mind blowing." apps.apple.com
Viome Gut Intelligence test page showing the kit and priceViome
One at-home stool sample, with no lab appointment and no blood draw
370+ food recommendations, and a BBB reviewer in April 2026 said it gives you real, personalized data based on your body
RNA sequencing reads gene activity rather than which microbes are simply present
Kits ship to 20 countries, and the lab is CLIA-certified
You get scores, not the measurements behind them, and you cannot download your results
Food lists move between superfood and avoid across retests with no explanation users can see
The results point toward Viome's own $119 a month supplement subscription
Support is automated, and refund and sample problems fill the BBB complaint channel
What do Function Health members say about the $365 membership?
Function Health members like the breadth and grumble about nearly everything around it.
The 160+ headline carries a caveat from members themselves. A top comment on a November 2025 thread argues the count is test events rather than unique markers: "The true breadth is closer to ~100 meaningful biomarkers per year, with the 60+ mid-year number inflated by re-running basic, low-cost labs." reddit.com
Trustpilot runs warmer. A reviewer in mid-2026 wrote, "Love being able to compare where I was to where I am and look how things have changed". trustpilot.com
Two gripes repeat. Support is a chatbot, with no phone line behind it. An App Store review, undated on the page and read in full in July 2026, says: "There is only an AI chatbot or email back back-and-forth with random customer service reps that all gave me different answers." apps.apple.com
And your results are hard to move elsewhere. A 14-point comment from August 2025 says, "And the data is stuck into their platform. They no longer allow Quest to keep the data and there is no Apple Health integration." reddit.com
The PDF route does work, whatever the angrier threads say. Members in a December 2025 thread confirmed they downloaded a PDF and sent it to their own doctor.
The membership is not the whole cost. Writing about testing he did in early 2025, Dann Berg reported paying Quest "just over $200 for each of the two visits" on top of the membership, and his post carries a referral link. dannb.org
The Function Health app showing 147 biomarkers, in-range counts and a 37.2 biological age on a phoneFunction Health
160+ lab tests twice a year with clinician review of every result, for $365
Trustpilot reviewers in mid-2026 praise the year-over-year trend comparison
A member's October 2025 one-year review calls the interface clean, intuitive and easy to navigate
You can download a PDF of your results and hand it to your own doctor
Support is a chatbot or email only, with no phone line
Function stopped Quest posting results to members' own portals, and lab results do not flow out to any external app. Function now accepts inbound wearable data via Connected Apps
Many members read the clinician notes as generic AI text
Lab draw fees land on top in some states, which one tester put at just over $200 a visit in early 2025
Which test is worth your money in 2026?
Function Health is the better first purchase for most people. For $365 you get 160+ blood tests twice a year, clinician review of every result, and numbers you can hand to your own doctor. Viome earns its $279 when your question is specifically about gut symptoms and you want a food list to try.
Buy Viome if your digestion is the problem and you have already had standard bloods done. You get something concrete to test against how you feel. Treat the food list as a starting guess. Users report items moving between superfood and avoid across retests.
Skip Viome if you want your raw numbers. The company does not release them.
Skip Function Health if the membership will renew before you have acted on the first round. The second year is where the trends pay off, and only if you look at them.
If you can buy one test this year, buy the blood panel.
Viome bills the supplement subscription as soon as your results land. If you only want the test, cancel before that first charge.
Buy Function Health for a broad blood baseline you can repeat and trend. Buy Viome's $279 Gut Intelligence kit when digestion is the problem and you want a food list to test against how you feel.
Function Health, unless your question is specifically about your gut$365 buys 160+ blood tests twice a year, clinician review and numbers you can take to your own doctor. Viome hands you scores and a food list, and keeps the measurements behind them.
Blood work, scans, test results, medical reports — finally in one place and connected to how you actually feel. aelívra tracks biomarkers and health records over time, so you can see what's trending in the right direction and walk into your next appointment knowing exactly what to discuss.
How we researched this comparison
We have not used either product. This comparison reads what buyers wrote in public and what each company publishes about itself.
For Viome we read the Better Business Bureau page in full. It holds 22 customer reviews and 31 complaints filed over three years. We also read a WIRED first-hand test of the Full Body Intelligence kit, 10 full-text App Store reviews, three Google Play reviews and 21 Reddit threads. Only four of those threads are less than a year old, and the Google Play reviews are old enough that we treat them as background. Trustpilot blocked every attempt to read its Viome page, so there is no Trustpilot evidence for Viome here.
For Function Health we read Trustpilot, where 1,322 reviews sit behind a 4.3 score. The App Store gave us 10 full-text reviews out of roughly 23,000 ratings. Two published write-ups came from self-paying testers. Ten Reddit threads carried around 300 comments. Together that is roughly 340 separate Function Health opinions.
One number needs framing. Viome's 1.64 out of 5 on the Better Business Bureau page comes from 22 reviews on a channel people visit to complain, so it measures what goes wrong, never the product's rating.
Function Health pays for a Trustpilot subscription and invites reviews, so its 4.3 score leans on prompted customers.
Frequently asked questions
Can you use Viome and Function Health together?
Yes. They measure different things, so the results barely overlap. Expect $279 plus $365 in the same year.
Does Viome give you your raw data?
No. You get health scores, a food list and supplement suggestions. Viome's clinical lead told WIRED the raw RNA data is not interpretable without Viome's own analysis.
Is Function Health $365 or $499?
$365 a year is the current rate. Members who joined at $499 were first told renewals followed the older price, and Function later gave everyone the same rate.
Which one helps more with bloating or IBS symptoms?
Viome is aimed squarely at that question and will hand you a food list to test. A blood panel will not explain bloating on its own.
Does either one need a blood draw?
Function Health does, at a Quest lab. Viome's $279 Gut Intelligence kit needs a stool sample only; the $399 Full Body Intelligence kit adds saliva and a finger-prick.
Sources
Cameron founded aelívra after years of living an unknown no one could answer — navigating chronic health complexity through a medical system that wasn't built for it. That experience became a conviction: everyone deserves to feel truly alive, and no one should have to accept not knowing as a way of life. His work sits at the intersection of data science and functional health and wellbeing, turning the latest trusted medical research across news, health, wearables, biomarkers, and more into advice everyday people can use on their journeys toward feeling better. Every article is grounded in peer-reviewed evidence and linked to its primary source. This content is for informational purposes only and does not replace medical advice.
