Peptide purity testing cost: what an HPLC test costs, what LC-MS adds and what purity alone misses

Peptide purity testing cost in 2026

A purity-only HPLC test cost about $200 in September 2026 at the US labs that list one, and £325 in the UK. Most labs sell purity together with identity and content in mg, for $150 to $325 on one common peptide. The fuller test answers the two questions purity cannot: which peptide is in the vial, and how much of it.

All prices are published list prices for one sample, before shipping and tax, read on each lab’s or service’s pages in September 2026 (Prodigy Labs: 4 October 2026). A list price is not a quote, and prices change.

Purity alone vs the fuller test at the same lab

Lab	Purity only	Fuller test	Identity method
CheckPeptide (tests run by Ethos Analytics)	$199	$325, adds identity and mg	HPLC retention time
Vanguard Laboratory	$200, for raw powders	$250, adds identity, mg and solubility	Retention time match, per its HPLC guide
PeptideVerify (UK)	£325	£430, adds LC-MS identity	LC-MS
ACS Peptide Testing Labs	$150–$300, by quote	$350–$650, adds identity	LC-MS/MS
Freedom Diagnostics	Not sold alone; $200 with identity, the price of identity alone	$225, adds net content in mg	LC-MS

At the two US labs that list fixed prices for both, a purity-only order saves $50 or $126, and leaves the larger questions open.

HPLC test cost per sample: the core test

The core test covers identity, purity and mg content. Published prices for one common peptide such as BPC-157:

Lab	Price	What the price covers
Bioviridian	$150	Identity by mass spectrometry, purity, net peptide content
Chromate	$180; GLP-1s $300	HPLC analysis, qualitative and quantitative
ILS Laboratories	$200	Identity by retention time, purity, quantity
Janoshik	$215	mg per vial and HPLC purity
Prodigy Labs	$225	Identity by retention time, purity, mg
Accumark Labs	$250, any listed peptide	Identity by retention time, purity, quantity
PharmLabs	$275	Potency and purity by HPLC
Horizon Analytical	$325	Purity, identity and quantity by HPLC with mass spectrometry

More labs are in the peptide testing price comparison. Four things move the price of an HPLC analysis:

• The peptide. Content in mg is measured against a reference standard of the same peptide, and each peptide needs its own method. Chromate lists BPC-157 at $180 and cagrilintide at $380; Janoshik lists $215 and $450. For a peptide that is not on a menu, ACS quotes custom method development at $3,500 to $15,000.
• Raw data. Janoshik sells raw data for $25. Peptide Test Canada includes raw HPLC data, and Uzorak lists raw data as free.
• Extra vials. A second vial of the same batch costs $50 at ILS, $60 at Uzorak, and $75 at Janoshik and Prodigy.
• Rush and volume. Rush adds 25% at Prodigy and doubles the price at Janoshik. Horizon’s core test falls from $325 for one sample to $225 each in a bundle of 10.

LC-MS test cost: what mass spectrometry adds

HPLC with a UV detector measures purity and, against a reference standard, mg. A mass spectrometer measures the mass of the molecule, which shows which peptide is in the vial. See our purity and identity tests, and HPLC vs mass spectrometry.

How it is sold	Published prices
Mass spectrometry identity included in the core test	Bioviridian $150; Freedom Diagnostics $200 with purity; Peptide Test Canada CA$249; Ozcanium A$400 before GST
Added to a purity or HPLC test	PeptideVerify £105 more (£325 to £430); Prodigy Labs $250 per declared peptide, plus $150 for each extra blend component
Same peptide, two methods	Janoshik, AOD-9604: $215 by HPLC, $340 by LC-MS with CHNS analysis
LC-MS screen for peptide contamination	Janoshik, $205 added to a peptide test
High-resolution LC-MS characterisation	Uzorak, $1,080: accurate-mass identity in ppm, MS purity next to UV purity, impurities named by mass shift

So the cost of mass spectrometry for a peptide runs from nothing extra, where it is part of the core test, to about $250 as an add-on, and $1,080 for a full characterisation at Uzorak.

Tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) test cost

Tandem mass spectrometry selects an ion, breaks it and reads the fragments. Labs use it to measure a known peptide selectively or to confirm a sequence. Ozcanium runs its identity test on a triple-quadrupole LC-MS (LCMS-8030), a tandem instrument, within its A$400 core price, and ACS quotes LC-MS/MS identity at $200 to $400. The EMA guideline on synthetic peptides lists LC-MS/MS of the intact molecule among the methods that confirm a sequence. Many searches for this phrase mean the newborn screen, a clinical blood test; we test products, not people.

Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) test cost

Gas chromatography needs molecules that turn into a gas, and intact peptides do not, so GC-MS does not measure peptide purity. In peptide testing, headspace GC finds residual solvents left from synthesis. Published prices for a residual solvent test were $150 at Vanguard and Prodigy, $157.50 at PharmLabs (headspace GC-FID), from $119 extra through Finnrick at Krause, and $200 to $400 by quote at ACS. More in residual solvents in peptides.

What a purity-only test misses

HPLC purity is the main peak’s share of the UV peak area. It leaves three questions open.

1. Which peptide it is. A vial of the wrong peptide can still give one clean peak. ICH Q6A says identification by a single retention time “is not regarded as being specific”. LC-MS identity covers the evidence that does count.
2. How many mg are in the vial. Purity is a ratio; content per vial is mg against a reference standard. The powder also holds counter-ions and water: in Bachem’s example, net peptide content of 85% means 1 mg of powder holds 0.85 mg of peptide material. Finnrick’s default standard fails a sample below 99.5% purity or outside ±35% of the label, so a purity result alone cannot show whether a sample passes. In one published case, Krysia’s Substack reported one tesamorelin batch at 99.985% purity and 10.055 mg from Freedom Diagnostics, and 97.779% and 11.057 mg from Janoshik: the higher purity came with 1 mg less peptide. It is a single case and does not show which lab is right.
3. Contamination. Purity does not test for endotoxin or microbes; see endotoxin and sterility test cost.

Whether the purity number is right

A purity number depends on which peaks the lab counts. Finnrick’s public corrections log lists two tesamorelin results from July 2025 first reported at 79.802% and 80.151% purity. A second peak, later identified as histidine buffer, had been counted. Recalculated, they read 99.294% and 99.395%. In March 2026, a missed blank correction gave a 97.4% result that was reissued. Only the chromatogram and peak table show errors like these. In our September 2026 review of public COAs from 25 labs and Finnrick, 8 printed a full, native chromatogram and 4 a peak table with areas. Most of the rest showed a partial or flawed chart, and 4 showed none. HPLC peptide purity lists what a checkable purity result shows.

Safe savings and false savings

Ways to pay less that keep the answer:

• Order purity, identity and mg together, rather than a second order later.
• Split one test in a group. Each member pays a share and gets the same report: see group testing and how to run a peptide group test.
• Test extra vials at the extra-vial price. A second vial of one batch costs $50 to $75 at the labs above.
• Skip rush, and ask about volume tiers.

Savings that cost you the answer:

• Purity alone, when you need to know what is in the vial and how much.
• Identity by retention time only, for peptides with close relatives, such as GLP-1s.
• No chromatogram or peak table, so no one can check which peaks were counted.
• Purity printed as “>99%”, with no number behind it.

The checks to run on any low-price offer are in is cheap peptide testing reliable, and the lowest published prices for a full test are in cheapest peptide testing.

Peptide purity testing cost in the USA, UK, Canada and Australia

• USA: $150 to $325 for the core test at the labs above, or from $39 through Finnrick with a published result.
• UK: PeptideVerify lists £325 for HPLC purity, £430 with LC-MS identity and £490 for express LC-MS in 3 to 5 business days, VAT included.
• Canada: Peptide Test Canada lists CA$249 for HPLC purity and mass spectrometry identity, with raw HPLC data.
• Australia: Ozcanium lists A$400 before 10% GST, falling to A$325 each at 15 or more samples.

On Reddit, buyers often say the price of testing one vial alone is too high. A group test splits that bill.

What HK Analytical quotes for purity testing

HK Analytical has no published price list. Ask for a quote on the quote form; group tests and batch testing for brands are quoted per sample. Our running costs are lower, and our quotes reflect that. The evidence does not change: every number comes with its raw data, in a signed record you can check.

Purity (HPLC) can be ordered alone or with any other test we offer, per sample, such as identity (LC-MS), content per vial, residual solvents, endotoxin (LAL) and Sterility (USP <71>, 14 days). Results within days of receipt. Sterility (USP <71>, 14 days) is the one test that takes 14 days, because the method incubates for 14 days. Each report prints the chromatograms and spectra behind its numbers and can be checked on /verify. The example report shows the format.