Janoshik tests samples that vendors or buyers send in, Kovera tests mostly vendor-submitted samples and hosts the records, and Finnrick routes anonymised samples to partner labs and turns the results into vendor ratings. Purity numbers for the same vial can differ between labs because of method, reference standard and how purity is defined. Compare price, turnaround and whether you can verify the result before you compare purity.
Three labs dominate public peptide testing in 2026, and they do three different jobs. Janoshik runs the instruments and sells tests to anyone. Kovera Labs runs instruments too but mostly for vendors, who post the certificates. Finnrick buys or receives samples, strips the vendor's name, sends them to partner labs and publishes vendor ratings. Finnrick's front page counted 11,999 published tests on 29 September 2026.
The question "which lab is best" has no single answer. A buyer checking one vial, a vendor building a COA page and a reader trying to rank vendors need different things.
Which peptide testing lab should I use?
- Cheapest check on one vial (US): Finnrick community testing. Free, four weeks, results public.
- Fastest full panel with the most add-ons: Janoshik. $360 for a GLP-1 blind test, seven business days on average, and endotoxin, sterility, heavy metals and LC-MS add-ons.
- Verifying a certificate a US vendor showed you: Kovera's per-record verifier, with a retrieval date noted, because records can change.
- Ranking vendors rather than testing a vial: Finnrick's leaderboards, read with the standard you care about selected.
| Janoshik | Kovera Labs | Finnrick | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who sends samples | vendors and buyers | mostly vendors | buyers, plus samples Finnrick sources |
| Where | Czech Republic | Buffalo Grove, Illinois (per directories) | Texas intake, US only |
| Runs its own instruments | yes | yes | no, partner labs |
| Base test | GLP-1 blind test, $360: ID, amount, purity by HPLC | base package: HPLC purity, net content, LC-MS identity | free community or $249 standard |
| Turnaround stated | 7 business days | 3 to 7 days (per directories) | 4 weeks free, 2 weeks standard, from 1 week custom |
| Endotoxin | +$180, LAL | add-on | in $249 standard |
| Sterility | +$290, 14 days | add-on, 2-day rapid or 14-day | not standard |
| Public record | test ID at verify.janoshik.com | code at Kovera's verifier | vendor ratings, original COAs on vendor pages |
| Publishes failures | yes, client chooses what goes public | yes, 0.8% in our mirror | yes, every eligible result counts |
Janoshik prices are from its GLP-1 blind test page. Finnrick prices are from finnrick.com. Kovera's pricing page loads inside its web app and did not render for us; the add-on names come from that app, and the figures in the next section come from a third party.
How much does peptide testing cost?
Janoshik lists the common GLP-1 blind test at $360. It identifies semaglutide, tirzepatide or retatrutide without being told which, and reports mg per vial plus peptide purity. Add-ons on the same page: endotoxin $180, sterility $290, LC-MS contamination screen $205, heavy metals (As, Cd, Pb, Hg) $105, CHNS net-peptide content $145, TFA content $290, aggregate analysis $150, fentanyl screen $75, vial-to-vial variance $75. A full panel on one GLP-1 vial runs past $1,000. Several less common peptides carry a flat $450 compound-specific test on Janoshik's list, which matches a Reddit complaint that "Janoshik charges $450 to test only for identification and mass" (r/Biohackers).
Search results also surface janoshik.store, jano-shik.com and janoshiklab.com with different prices. We have not established who runs those domains. The verification records live on janoshik.com subdomains, so order from that domain.
Finnrick offers free community testing (identity, purity, quantity; all vial details required; public results; about four weeks) and a $249 standard test that adds endotoxin with a two-week target. A build-your-own option starts at one week. Intake is a Finnrick facility in Texas and accepts US shipments only.
Kovera prices are second-hand. The directory Disclosed Labs lists a $200 base package, $100 endotoxin, $100 rapid sterility, $240 14-day sterility and $60 heavy metals, labelled self-reported. Peptide Critic reports a $500 minimum per order. We could not confirm either on Kovera's site.
Which tests should a COA include?
A Reddit thread from 27 September asked the right question: "How many tests do you require your vendor to run in their COAs?" (r/PeptidePathways). Here is what each test answers.
| Test | Answers | Misses |
|---|---|---|
| Identity by HPLC retention | does a peak elute where the reference does | close analogues that co-elute |
| Identity by mass spectrometry | is the molecule's mass right | quantity |
| Purity by HPLC | what share of peptide signal is the target | water, salts, counter-ions, endotoxin, metals |
| Quantity / net content | how many mg are in the vial vs the label | contaminants |
| Endotoxin (LAL) | bacterial endotoxin in EU per vial | live bacteria |
| Sterility | bacterial and mould growth | endotoxin |
| Heavy metals | As, Cd, Pb, Hg | everything else |
Two failure modes from our vendor failure taxonomy show why purity alone is not enough. An identity swap can produce a clean HPLC peak for the wrong molecule. An underfilled vial can be 99.9% pure and hold half the label amount. Janoshik's GLP-1 test is HPLC-based and puts LC-MS screening behind a $205 add-on. Kovera's certificates carry LC-MS identity as standard. Finnrick asks its partner labs for HPLC as the primary method.
Why did two labs give different purity numbers for the same vial?
One Reddit poster split a vial between Janoshik and Finnrick and got 97.8% and 94.1% (r/Biohackers). We have not seen either report, and a near-identical post appeared in r/longevity, so treat the specific figures as unverified. The gap itself is ordinary. Five causes account for most of it.
- Purity is a calculation, not a weighing. HPLC purity is the target peak's area as a share of all UV-detectable peptide peaks, usually read at 214 to 220 nm. Finnrick's own COA guide notes it "does NOT measure salts, fillers, excipients, water content". Column chemistry, gradient and where the software draws peak boundaries all move the result.
- Reference standards differ. Quantity in mg comes from comparing the sample's signal to a reference standard. A different standard, or a standard of different purity, shifts every content figure from that lab.
- Gross weight is not net peptide. A lyophilised vial holds peptide plus counter-ions (TFA or acetate) and water. Janoshik sells CHNS for net peptide content and a separate TFA assay because the default report does not separate them.
- Vials vary. Two vials from one batch are two samples. Janoshik sells variance testing ($75) for this reason.
- Time and temperature. A vial that sat in a mailbox before reaching the second lab may have degraded.
A few points of purity between labs is noise. A different identity, or a quantity gap above about 10%, is a finding.
Can you verify a COA from each lab?
Janoshik. Each test carries an ID and a QR code that resolves at verify.janoshik.com. A test ID points at one fixed report. Vendors choose which tests go public, so the public database leans towards passes. In our audit of 200 public Janoshik reports, 5 carried an identity flag and the failures sat in the listing next to the passes (is Janoshik testing legit). The step-by-step check is in how to verify a Janoshik COA, and our Janoshik hub collects the rest.
Kovera. Each certificate code resolves at Kovera's verifier. Our registry holds 1,816 certificates from 146 vendor-clients with a 0.8% published failure rate (is Kovera Labs legit). On 1 to 2 August 2026 we re-fetched all 1,828 records we then held and found 57 revised in place under the same code. None crossed the pass line (Kovera revised 57 COAs in place). Kovera has also closed the endpoint that let outsiders list its whole corpus.
Finnrick. Finnrick does not issue certificates for vendors; it publishes results against vendor names. Since 6 July 2026 it shows a percentage instead of a letter grade. Under the default Finnrick Standard a sample passes at 99.5% purity or higher, fill within plus or minus 25% of claim and a minimum labelling score (methodology). The public Purity Focus mode widens fill to plus or minus 35%. Newer tests count more (half-life 730.5 days) and thin histories are pulled towards the peer average. Change the standard and the ranking changes. Its retatrutide board held 4,367 tests across 378 vendors on 25 September 2026.
Vanguard Laboratory. Each report has a record page on Vanguard's portal, verifiedbyvanguard.com, which listed 285 client brands on 9 October 2026. The lab holds A2LA accreditation, but its scope covers food microbiology, trace metals, preservatives and residual solvents, not peptide purity, assay or identity. Our Hello Stacks audit opened all 34 records the portal holds for that vendor: every one resolved, and none included an identity test.
What does a re-dated COA mean?
A buyer on r/PeptidePathways noticed a vendor certificate showing the same results but a new date: "date issued at the bottom is 9/9/26 now" (thread). We saw the same thing at scale in the Kovera revisions: 37 of the 57 revised records changed only a timestamp, with no change to purity or content. A new date on old numbers usually means the record was re-issued, not re-tested. It does not prove fraud. It does mean "tested 9 September" may not be true. Note the date you first pulled a certificate and compare it later.
How do I ship a sample to Janoshik?
Order on Janoshik's site; it emails shipping instructions. Expect customs. One US buyer reported UPS holding the parcel in the Czech Republic because "Power of Attorney documentation is missing" (r/Peptides). If that risk or the extra week bothers you, Finnrick (Texas) and Kovera (Illinois, per directories) keep the sample inside the US.
Verdict
Use Janoshik when you need a fast, broad panel on a vial you hold and can wait out customs; budget $360 for identity, content and purity on a GLP-1, and about $540 with endotoxin. Use Finnrick if you are in the US, cost matters more than speed, and you accept public results. Treat Kovera certificates as real lab records with a retrieval date attached, not as permanent citations. Skip any vendor whose only evidence is a PDF on its own site. That failure mode put a vendor owner in federal prison this year (Paradigm Peptides).
What we read
Janoshik's GLP-1 blind test page and price list on janoshik.com; finnrick.com front page, methodology, product-test page and its 6 July and 15 September 2026 posts; Kovera's site and web app; Disclosed Labs and Peptide Critic profiles of Kovera; our mirrors of Janoshik and Kovera public records; Reddit threads on r/Biohackers, r/Peptides and r/PeptidePathways from August to September 2026.
What we did not read
Kovera's own price page, which did not render. Prices for Freedom Diagnostics, Krause, Gold Standard Analytics and other US labs, which buyers ask about but we have not audited. Which partner labs Finnrick uses for a given sample. The two reports behind the 97.8% vs 94.1% Reddit post.
Sources
- Janoshik, common GLP-1 peptide blind test and add-ons, checked 5 Oct 2026
- Janoshik, endotoxin analysis
- Finnrick, home page and pricing, 11,999 tests as of 29 Sep 2026
- Finnrick, methodology
- Finnrick, Testing, your way, 6 Jul 2026
- Finnrick, order a product test
- Disclosed Labs, Kovera Labs profile (secondary)
- Peptide Critic, Kovera Labs review (secondary)
- r/Biohackers, split-vial thread
- r/Biohackers, Janoshik pricing thread
- r/PeptidePathways, COA test scope thread
- r/PeptidePathways, re-dated COA thread
- r/Peptides, Janoshik power of attorney thread
Frequently asked
Which peptide testing lab is the cheapest?
Finnrick's community testing is free if you accept public results and a four-week wait, with US intake only. Its standard test is $249 with endotoxin and a two-week target. Janoshik's GLP-1 blind test is $360 with a seven-business-day average. Kovera's own price page did not load for us; a directory lists a $200 base package.
Why did two labs give different purity numbers for the same vial?
HPLC purity is the share of the UV signal that belongs to the target peptide. Column, gradient, wavelength and peak integration all move it, and labs use different reference standards for content. Vial-to-vial variation and degradation in transit add more. A gap of a few points between labs is normal; a different identity is not.
What tests should a peptide COA include?
For an injectable research peptide: identity (ideally mass spectrometry), purity by HPLC, quantity in mg against the label, and endotoxin. Sterility and heavy metals are add-ons at every lab here. Purity alone hides underfilled vials and wrong molecules that happen to run clean.
Can I verify a Janoshik, Kovera or Finnrick result myself?
Yes for all three, in different ways. Janoshik test IDs resolve at verify.janoshik.com. Kovera certificate codes resolve at its verifier, but records can be revised under the same code. Finnrick publishes eligible results and links original lab certificates on vendor pages.
Why does anyone still trust a vendor's own COA?
A vendor-hosted PDF proves only that the vendor produced a file. Paradigm Peptides forged its certificates and its owner was sentenced to 70 months in July 2026. Trust starts when you resolve the certificate on the lab's server and the lot number matches the vial in your hand.
How do I ship a sample to Janoshik from the US?
Janoshik sends shipping instructions after you order. Buyers report that UPS held parcels in Czech customs pending a power-of-attorney document, so read the courier paperwork closely and expect a week or more in transit. Finnrick and Kovera take samples inside the US, which avoids customs and the paperwork entirely.