Krill oil vs fish oil: which costs less per dose of EPA and DHA?
Our pick for each type, each format ranked separately: Fish Oil, capsules, softgels and tablets: Nature Made Omega-3 from Fish Oil 1200 mg (100 softgels); Algal Oil: Momentous Vegan Omega-3 (60 capsules) (before delivery). Types with no certified product are listed below. Where to buy
Per 1,000 mg of combined EPA and DHA, the cheapest fish oil capsule or softgel we track costs $0.208 and the cheapest krill oil $0.728, about 3.5× as much, both before delivery. The panels differ again in how much you swallow: 1.0 to 6.7 softgels of fish oil, 5.0 to 11.4 softgels of krill oil and 2.0 to 3.7 units of algal oil to reach the same amount.
1,000 mg of combined EPA and DHA is the yardstick this site prices omega-3 against. It is not a recommended amount. This page compares one thing: the EPA and DHA each panel states, what that costs, and how many units it takes to get there. It does not measure absorption and it does not settle any claim about it.
| Source | Cheapest per 1,000 mg | Units per 1,000 mg | Packages we price | Cheapest package |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fish oil A softgel's total oil is not its EPA and DHA, so a bottle price tells you little. Priced per 1,000 mg of EPA+DHA; panels that omit those get no price per dose. | $0.208 | 1.0 to 6.7 | 52 of 54 | Micro Ingredients Triple Strength Omega-3 Fish Oil 4,200 mg (240 softgels) D · None located buy |
| Algal oil Vegan omega-3 from algae, priced per 1,000 mg of combined EPA+DHA as the panel states it. Some carry DHA and no EPA, so the panel figures sit next to the price. | $0.416 | 2.0 to 3.7 | 3 of 4 | BulkSupplements.com Algal Oil Softgels (180 count) D · None located buy |
| Krill oil Krill oil is sold by milligrams of oil, which is not the same as EPA and DHA. Where a panel states no EPA or DHA amount, there is no price per dose. | $0.728 | 5.0 to 11.4 | 8 of 10 | Micro Ingredients Antarctic Krill Oil 2,000 mg (240 softgels) D · None located buy |
Every figure is per 1,000 mg of combined EPA and DHA as each product's own Supplement Facts panel states it, and is the package price before delivery. Of the 68 capsule and softgel packages we track across these three sources, 63 have a price per dose. Of the rest, 4 state no combined EPA and DHA amount and 1 states an amount but has no current price at a retailer we track. Each is listed on its category page with no price per dose. 3 more packages are sold in another format, such as a liquid, and are priced against their own format on the category page.
Where to buy: the pick for each type
The pick is the cheapest certified product, at the exact package sold where the certifier names packages, with no adverse finding on record, a price its retailer let us read recently, and no more than a year’s supply at the label’s serving; per delivered dose where the retailer publishes a delivery rate. Where none does, it is the cheapest such product before delivery, and it says how far the order is from free delivery. It is the same pick the category page shows.
How these lines are chosen
Among 54 products and 54 retailer listings we track; Amazon and Walmart are not included. A month is thirty doses of the size in the heading, priced the same way as the per-dose figure beside it. “Delivery known” ranks only products whose retailer publishes a delivery rate; a cheaper product with an unpublished rate is on its own line, or in the full list below.
A pick has to be independently certified, at the exact package sold where the certifier names packages, with no recall or failed test, a price its retailer let us read recently, and no more than a year’s supply at the label’s serving. Where the retailer publishes no delivery rate, the pick is priced before delivery and says so. Nothing we track here clears all of those yet. This one clears the certification bar; what holds it back is on its line:
A pick has to be independently certified, at the exact package sold where the certifier names packages, with no recall or failed test, a price its retailer let us read recently, and no more than a year’s supply at the label’s serving. Where the retailer publishes no delivery rate, the pick is priced before delivery and says so. Nothing we track here clears all of those yet. This one misses at least one bar, and says which:
How these lines are chosen
Among 4 products and 4 retailer listings we track; Amazon and Walmart are not included. A month is thirty doses of the size in the heading, priced the same way as the per-dose figure beside it. “Delivery known” ranks only products whose retailer publishes a delivery rate; a cheaper product with an unpublished rate is on its own line, or in the full list below. No product here that clears every other bar publishes a delivery rate below its free-delivery threshold, so the pick is priced before delivery.
A pick has to be independently certified, at the exact package sold where the certifier names packages, with no recall or failed test, a price its retailer let us read recently, and no more than a year’s supply at the label’s serving. Where the retailer publishes no delivery rate, the pick is priced before delivery and says so. Nothing we track here clears all of those yet. This one misses at least one bar, and says which:
- Is Sports Research fish oil third party tested?
- Is Momentous fish oil NSF certified?
- What is the cheapest omega-3 per 1,000 mg of EPA+DHA?
- Why does my fish oil label not say how much EPA and DHA it has?
- Which fish oil and omega-3 brands are third-party tested?
- How many fish oil capsules make 1,000 mg of EPA and DHA?
Full comparison of every product in this category: Omega-3. Every question we answer: the question index.
What this rests on: prices we last recorded at the retailer named on each product page, which go stale, and each page says when it was checked; the products we track, not every product sold, and Amazon and Walmart are not among the stores; listings and labels read at the source, each linked from the page. Found an error? Tell us. The full method: How we compare.