Quick answer: Function Health and Ways2Well both offer comprehensive blood testing, but they operate on fundamentally different models. Function Health runs 100+ biomarkers twice a year for a flat annual membership and stops there: you get results and physician review, no prescriptions pushed. Ways2Well adds a treatment layer, pairing labs with optional hormone optimization protocols and prescriptions through its own clinicians. If you want clean data with no upsell pressure, Function wins. If you already know you want hormone therapy and want labs bundled with it, Ways2Well is worth considering. A third option, Superpower, sits in between: 100+ biomarkers with doctor review, no in-house prescribing, at about $199 per year.
What is Ways2Well and how does it differ from Function Health?
Ways2Well is a concierge wellness clinic that leads with lab work but ends with a prescription. The company targets people interested in hormone optimization, peptide therapy, and metabolic health. You order a panel, get labs drawn at a local Quest or Labcorp, and then do a telehealth consult with a Ways2Well clinician who reviews your results and, if you qualify, can prescribe treatments directly through the platform.
Function and Ways2Well take different paths after your results. See how a straightforward 150-biomarker membership compares. One at-home Superpower draw checks 100+ biomarkers, physician-reviewed.
Function Health, by contrast, is a pure-data membership. Launched by physician and longevity researcher Peter Attia as a founding partner, it runs roughly 100 biomarkers twice per year and delivers results with an AI-assisted interpretation layer plus physician review. There is no prescription service and no affiliated pharmacy. The philosophy is: arm the patient with data, let them work with their own doctor on treatment decisions.
The practical difference shows up fast. If your testosterone comes back low on a Ways2Well panel, a clinician on their platform can write a TRT prescription the same week. On Function Health, you get a flag on your dashboard and a prompt to discuss it with your primary care doctor or a specialist you choose yourself. Neither approach is wrong; they just reflect very different beliefs about what a lab service should do.
Ways2Well cost vs Function Health: what you actually pay
Ways2Well pricing is not a simple flat annual fee. The company charges for the initial consultation, the lab panel, and then separately for any ongoing protocol. Here is how the cost structure breaks down in practice:
- Initial lab panel plus consult: roughly $299 to $499 depending on the panel tier selected.
- Hormone optimization protocol: ongoing monthly fees in the range of $150 to $350 per month if you start a treatment program, plus medication costs.
- Follow-up labs: required every 3 to 6 months once on a protocol, billed separately or bundled depending on your plan.
Function Health is a flat $499 per year (2026 pricing) for two full draw sessions of 100+ biomarkers, with no ongoing monthly fees and no prescription costs. See the detailed function health cost breakdown for what each add-on test costs above the base membership.
A realistic 12-month comparison for someone who starts hormone therapy through Ways2Well: $400 initial plus $200 per month for protocol plus periodic follow-up labs can easily reach $3,000 to $4,500 per year. Function Health at $499 for data only is not an apples-to-apples comparison if you actually need treatment, but it is dramatically cheaper if your goal is surveillance and prevention rather than active hormone management.
| Cost item | Function Health | Ways2Well |
|---|---|---|
| Annual membership / initial cost | $499/year (2 panels) | $299 to $499 initial panel + consult |
| Ongoing monthly fees | None | $150 to $350/month if on protocol |
| Follow-up labs | Included in membership | Additional cost every 3 to 6 months |
| Prescriptions | Not offered | Available through platform clinicians |
| Realistic 12-month cost (labs only) | $499 | $600 to $1,000+ |
| Realistic 12-month cost (labs plus treatment) | Not applicable | $2,500 to $4,500+ |
Ways2Well biomarkers tested: how the panel compares
Ways2Well does not publish a universal fixed biomarker list the way Function Health does. The panel you receive depends on which tier you select and what the consulting clinician deems relevant for your stated health goals. Core panels typically include:
- Complete blood count (CBC) and comprehensive metabolic panel (CMP)
- Full thyroid panel: TSH, free T3, free T4, and often reverse T3
- Sex hormones: total testosterone, free testosterone, estradiol, SHBG, LH, FSH
- Adrenal markers: DHEA-S and sometimes cortisol
- Lipid panel and advanced cardiovascular markers: ApoB, Lp(a) on higher tiers
- Insulin and fasting glucose; sometimes HOMA-IR calculated
- Inflammation: CRP, sometimes homocysteine
- Nutrient status: vitamin D, B12, ferritin
That is roughly 40 to 70 markers depending on the tier, materially fewer than Function Health’s 100+ marker panel. Function Health’s draw includes ApoB, Lp(a), uric acid, GGT, full iron studies, IGF-1, homocysteine, omega-3 index, and several metabolic markers that Ways2Well’s standard tiers do not cover. If your goal is genuinely comprehensive surveillance catching things your doctor’s annual physical misses, Function Health’s breadth is an advantage.
Ways2Well’s panel design reflects its clinical purpose: it runs the markers most relevant to hormone and metabolic optimization because that is the product it is building toward. Broader surveillance markers are lower priority. Neither approach is wrong, but the intent shapes the test menu.
Does Ways2Well prescribe medication, and is that a feature or a conflict?
Yes, Ways2Well clinicians can prescribe. Common treatments include testosterone replacement therapy (testosterone cypionate injections or gels), human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), thyroid medications, metformin for metabolic optimization, and various peptides such as semaglutide, tirzepatide, or BPC-157 depending on state regulations and their current formulary.
Whether this is a feature or a conflict of interest depends on your perspective. The practical upside: if you are already seeking hormone therapy, bundling labs and treatment with a single care team is genuinely convenient. You skip the step of taking your labs to a separate provider, explaining the panel, and waiting for a referral. The clinicians at Ways2Well see these panels constantly and can act quickly.
The legitimate concern: the business model creates pressure toward prescribing. A lab-only service like Function Health has no financial incentive tied to what your results say. A service that sells both labs and ongoing treatment protocols does. This does not mean Ways2Well clinicians are reckless, but it does mean you should compare any treatment recommendation to published clinical thresholds rather than assuming the company’s protocol guidelines match independent medical standards. Labs that come back in the low-normal range can reasonably be treated differently by a clinician who sells TRT versus one who does not.
For people who are genuinely symptomatic and want a streamlined path to evaluation and treatment, Ways2Well handles the workflow well. For people who want objective data to bring to their own provider, Function Health’s independence is cleaner.
The simplest way to actually get this done
Superpower is a full-body lab membership that runs 100+ biomarkers, has each result reviewed by a doctor, and tracks your numbers year over year (about $199/year). It is what we point readers to when they would rather get one clean, complete draw than chase single tests one at a time. Here is superpower blood test reviewed in full.
Function Health vs Ways2Well: physician review and follow-up
Both services provide clinician review, but the follow-up model is completely different.
Function Health assigns a physician to review your panel results, flag any abnormal values, and leave notes in your dashboard. The interaction is asynchronous: you read their comments in the app, ask questions via messaging, and they respond. There is no synchronous consult built into the base membership. If you want a live conversation, you need to book a separate session.
Ways2Well’s model is built around a telehealth consult as the core deliverable. After your labs come back, you meet with a clinician via video, review results together in real time, and discuss treatment options during that same appointment. This is more like a traditional clinical encounter and suits people who process information better through conversation than through a dashboard.
For someone who already knows how to read labs and just wants data, Function’s async model is efficient. For someone who finds lab reports overwhelming and wants a guide, Ways2Well’s consult structure is genuinely more supportive. The difference is not quality; it is communication style and clinical intent.
Is Ways2Well worth it for people who do not want treatment?
Probably not at current pricing. If you have no interest in hormone therapy or active intervention and you simply want detailed preventive labs, you are paying for a clinical infrastructure you will not use. Ways2Well’s value proposition is built around the treatment pipeline. The labs are a door into that pipeline, not a standalone product.
Compare what $499 buys you at Function Health (100+ markers, twice annually, physician review, longitudinal tracking, no upsell) versus roughly $300 to $500 at Ways2Well for a single panel with fewer markers and an implicit invitation to start a protocol. The math favors Function for surveillance purposes.
A similar argument applies to function health vs empirical health and other treatment-first lab services. If your goal is comprehensive data collection over years, a pure-data membership holds up better economically and structurally.
The exception: some people find that a scheduled consult built into the process makes them actually follow through on reviewing results and taking action. If the Ways2Well model gets you from data to decision faster than staring at a dashboard alone, the extra cost may be justified for that behavioral reason alone.
Where you get blood drawn: Quest, Labcorp, and logistics
Both services use national phlebotomy networks rather than proprietary draw centers, which means your draw location will typically be a Quest Diagnostics or Labcorp patient service center near you.
Function Health uses Labcorp as its primary lab partner for processing. You schedule a draw at a local Labcorp draw site after activating your kit online. Most members can book within a few days in any mid-size or large metro area.
Ways2Well also routes draws through Quest and Labcorp depending on your region and the specific tests ordered. The process is similar: you receive a lab requisition, book at a local draw site, and results flow back to the Ways2Well platform before your consult.
Logistics are a draw (forgive the term) for neither company. Both work. The practical difference is that Function Health has built its app experience around this workflow with tight Labcorp integration, while Ways2Well’s draw process is more manual. If you have run standard labs through your GP before, Ways2Well’s requisition process will feel familiar.
How Function Health and Ways2Well handle longitudinal tracking
Longitudinal tracking is one of the clearest advantages Function Health built for. Your dashboard shows each biomarker over time with trend lines, so you can see whether your ApoB has been slowly climbing over three draw cycles, whether your vitamin D bottoms out every February, or whether your testosterone has drifted down 15 percent over two years. This is the intelligence layer that makes a twice-annual membership genuinely more valuable than a one-time panel.
Ways2Well does not have the same emphasis on longitudinal data visualization. Results are stored and accessible, but the platform is oriented toward the current clinical episode: your presenting symptoms, the current panel, and the recommended protocol. If you continue as a patient over years, data accumulates, but the product is not built around surfacing trends the way Function Health is.
If you are interested in quantified health tracking over time, the function health review covers the dashboard depth in more detail. The short version: Function Health’s longitudinal layer is genuinely useful and stands apart from one-time panels or treatment-first services.
Function Health vs Ways2Well: a direct feature comparison
| Feature | Function Health | Ways2Well |
|---|---|---|
| Biomarker count | 100+ per panel | 40 to 70 depending on tier |
| Panels per year (base) | 2 (included) | 1 initial; follow-ups billed separately |
| Physician review | Async dashboard notes | Synchronous telehealth consult |
| Prescriptions | No | Yes, through platform clinicians |
| Longitudinal tracking | Full trend visualization | Basic result storage |
| Lab network | Labcorp | Quest and Labcorp |
| HSA/FSA eligible | Generally yes (check with plan) | Consult portion generally yes; protocol costs vary |
| Best for | Preventive surveillance, data-first users | Hormone optimization, users who want treatment bundled |
Which service fits which type of person
The function health vs ways2well decision usually comes down to where you are in your health optimization journey and what you plan to do with the data.
Choose Function Health if: you want the most comprehensive available preventive panel, you prefer bringing data to your own physician rather than a platform-affiliated clinician, you want year-over-year trend tracking as a core feature, and you are not currently pursuing active hormone or peptide protocols.
Choose Ways2Well if: you are symptomatic for low testosterone, thyroid dysfunction, or other hormone-related issues, you want labs and treatment evaluation handled by the same team, and you are comfortable with the bundled care model. The consult-first structure suits people who want guidance, not just data.
Consider Superpower as a third path: at about $199 per year, it covers 100+ biomarkers with physician review and tracks trends over time at a meaningfully lower price than Function Health. It does not prescribe either, keeping the same independence advantage. The how much does superpower cost breakdown shows where the value sits relative to both competitors discussed here.
If your comparison extends further, the function health vs 10x health comparison covers another treatment-adjacent service with a similar bundled model. The patterns repeat: treatment-first services cost more for labs-only customers, offer more to customers seeking active protocols.
How to read a hormone panel yourself before any clinic interprets it for you
One of the strongest reasons to understand a lab-only service is that it hands you the raw numbers without a treatment agenda attached. If you plan to use Ways2Well, Function Health, or any competitor, knowing how to read the core hormone and metabolic markers yourself protects you from both under-treatment and over-treatment. Here is how the markers that drive most optimization decisions actually work.
Total and free testosterone
Labcorp and the harmonized CDC reference range put adult male total testosterone at roughly 264 to 916 ng/dL, and the American Urological Association uses a total testosterone below 300 ng/dL as its threshold for clinically low testosterone. That range is wide for a reason: it pools men across a large age span. A result of 350 ng/dL is technically inside the reference interval, but for a 32-year-old it can sit well below what is typical for his age group, where mid-range values commonly land closer to 450 to 600 ng/dL. This is exactly where a treatment-first clinic and a data-only service can reach different conclusions from the same number. Free testosterone matters just as much, because most testosterone in the blood is bound to sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and albumin and is not biologically available. A man with normal total testosterone but high SHBG can have low free testosterone and still feel symptomatic.
SHBG, LH, and FSH: the context that changes the story
Reading testosterone in isolation is the most common mistake. SHBG tells you how much of your total testosterone is actually usable. Luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) tell you whether a low testosterone reading is coming from the testes (primary, where LH runs high as the body tries to compensate) or from the pituitary and hypothalamus (secondary, where LH is low or inappropriately normal). This distinction matters because the workup and treatment differ. A clinic that jumps straight to testosterone replacement without checking LH and FSH is skipping a step that any careful endocrinologist would insist on.
Thyroid: TSH plus free T4 and free T3
TSH alone is a screening tool, not a full picture. A normal TSH with a low free T4 or low free T3 can still leave someone symptomatic. Reverse T3, which some optimization clinics emphasize heavily, is more controversial and is not routinely recommended by mainstream endocrinology societies for typical hypothyroid evaluation. If a clinic builds a treatment plan largely around reverse T3, that is a cue to ask for the reasoning and to compare it against standard guidance from bodies like the American Thyroid Association.
Cardiovascular markers: why ApoB and Lp(a) deserve more weight than standard cholesterol
This is the area where Function Health’s broader standard panel gives it a clear edge for prevention, and where a hormone-focused Ways2Well entry tier may leave gaps. A basic lipid panel reports LDL cholesterol, but ApoB counts the actual number of atherogenic particles, and particle number tracks cardiovascular risk more tightly than LDL-C alone in many people.
Under the direction current preventive cardiology and the 2026 ACC/AHA lipid guidance have moved toward, ApoB goals are tiered by risk rather than set at a single cutoff. For general primary prevention an ApoB under roughly 80 mg/dL is commonly cited as favorable, while high-risk individuals are pushed toward under 70 mg/dL and those with existing cardiovascular disease or diabetes toward under 60 mg/dL. The practical takeaway is that a person can have a normal looking LDL and still carry a high particle count, which is precisely why a comprehensive panel that includes ApoB is worth more than a cheaper one that stops at basic cholesterol.
Lp(a) is the second marker most standard physicals miss. It is largely genetically determined, typically measured once in a lifetime unless something changes, and elevated levels raise cardiovascular risk independently of LDL. If it is high, that information reshapes how aggressively you and your doctor manage every other modifiable risk factor. Function Health runs both ApoB and Lp(a) on its standard panel at each draw cycle; on Ways2Well these often appear only on higher tiers, so anyone with a family history of early heart disease should confirm inclusion before ordering.
Sample interpretation scenarios: putting the panel together
Numbers rarely tell a clean story in isolation. Here are realistic patterns that show why reading markers together beats reading them one at a time.
- Low-normal testosterone with high SHBG: total testosterone at 380 ng/dL looks acceptable, but with elevated SHBG the free fraction is low. A man here may be genuinely symptomatic. The next question is why SHBG is high, which can involve thyroid status, liver factors, or medications, not automatically a testosterone prescription.
- Low testosterone with low LH and FSH: this points to a central (secondary) cause. Chasing testosterone alone without asking why the pituitary signal is low can miss an underlying issue that deserves its own evaluation.
- Normal LDL but elevated ApoB: the standard cholesterol looks reassuring while particle count says otherwise. This is a classic case where the cheaper panel misses the more important number, and where a preventive conversation with your own doctor is warranted.
- Normal fasting glucose but high fasting insulin: glucose can stay normal for years while insulin climbs to keep it there. A panel that includes fasting insulin (and lets you estimate HOMA-IR) catches early insulin resistance that a glucose-only reading would miss entirely.
None of these scenarios point to a single answer. They point to the same conclusion the whole comparison keeps returning to: the value is in getting the complete, accurate data first, then deciding on treatment with a provider whose incentives are transparent.
Data ownership, privacy, and what happens to your results
When you use any online lab service you are handing over some of the most sensitive information about your body. It is worth understanding the difference in posture between a pure-data membership and a treatment-first clinic. A lab-only service holds your results primarily to display and trend them. A clinic that also sells treatment holds your results inside a broader relationship that may include marketing for its protocols. Neither is inherently wrong, but they are not the same.
Before you order from any of these services, it is reasonable to ask three concrete questions: Can I export my raw results in a portable format to take to my own doctor? Are my de-identified results used for research or shared with partners, and can I opt out? If I cancel, does my historical data remain accessible or is it deleted? Reputable services answer these clearly. Function Health emphasizes portable results you can bring to your own physician, which fits its data-first identity. With any treatment-oriented clinic, read how your contact information is used, since a company that sells ongoing protocols has a commercial reason to keep marketing to you.
How to switch, cancel, or use these results with your own physician
A practical part of choosing a lab service is knowing how easily you can leave it or fold it into care you already have. This is where the labs-versus-treatment distinction matters most.
- Leaving a data-only membership is simple. You stop renewing, you keep or export your results, and there is no active prescription to unwind. This low switching cost is an underrated advantage of services that do not prescribe.
- Leaving a treatment protocol is not just a cancellation. If you have started hormone therapy or a peptide protocol through a clinic, stopping requires a clinical plan, not just an account setting. Suddenly discontinuing testosterone therapy, for example, has real physiological effects and should be managed with a clinician. Factor this in before you enter a treatment pipeline, because the decision to start is much easier than the decision to stop.
- Bringing results to your own doctor works best with clean, complete data. A comprehensive panel with markers your primary care physician can act on (ApoB, Lp(a), full thyroid, iron studies, fasting insulin) gives that appointment real substance. Walk in with a printout, flag the values outside range, and ask specifically what each one changes about your plan.
The recurring theme across every section of this comparison is control. A data-first membership maximizes your control and portability. A treatment-first clinic trades some of that control for convenience and a faster path to intervention. Deciding which trade you want is the real choice behind the function health vs ways2well question.
Turn what you just learned into action.
Superpower lets you test 100+ biomarkers from home, then re-check them over time so you can actually see progress, physician-reviewed at every step.
FAQ
Is Ways2Well a legitimate medical service?
Yes. Ways2Well operates as a telemedicine clinic with licensed physicians and nurse practitioners. Labs are processed through accredited CLIA-certified labs (Quest and Labcorp). As with any telehealth service, the quality of care depends on the individual clinician you work with. It is a real medical service, not a wellness supplement company with a lab offering bolted on.
Can Ways2Well replace my primary care doctor?
Not entirely. Ways2Well is specialized around hormone optimization and metabolic health. It does not handle acute illness, preventive screenings like colonoscopy or mammography, or the full scope of what a primary care relationship covers. Think of it as a specialized channel for one aspect of your health, not a PCP replacement. Talk to a clinician about results outside its focus area.
Does Ways2Well accept insurance?
Generally no for the membership and protocol fees. The lab draw itself may produce a lab bill that some insurance plans partially reimburse, but you should not count on insurance covering the consult or treatment costs. HSA and FSA funds can typically be used for the diagnostic portions; confirm with your plan administrator before assuming.
How does Function Health compare to just ordering your own labs at Labcorp?
Ordering individual tests through Labcorp’s direct-to-consumer portal costs significantly more when you try to replicate Function’s full 100+ marker panel. A detailed look at the math is in the function health cost article, but the short answer is that the membership almost always wins on total cost for comprehensive panels. The bigger advantage is physician review and longitudinal tracking, which DIY ordering does not include.
Ways2Well biomarkers tested: does the panel include ApoB and Lp(a)?
ApoB and Lp(a) are available at Ways2Well on higher-tier panels but are not standard on entry-level options. If cardiovascular risk stratification is a priority for you, confirm explicitly before ordering that those markers are included. Function Health runs both as part of its standard panel at every draw cycle.
Is Ways2Well worth it for someone already on TRT?
It can be. If you are already on testosterone replacement therapy and want a platform that understands that context, provides monitoring labs, and can adjust your protocol without you switching providers, Ways2Well offers a reasonably clean experience. The ongoing cost is meaningful, so compare it to what your current TRT provider charges for monitoring panels before making the switch.
Does Function Health offer a treatment option if my results show a problem?
No. Function Health does not prescribe or refer to affiliated treatment providers. If your results flag something that needs intervention, the expectation is that you take that data to your own physician or a specialist. This is a deliberate design choice: the company positions itself as a diagnostic tool, not a care provider. For some users that independence is a selling point; for others it feels like an incomplete service.
What does Ways2Well offer that Function Health cannot?
A clear, fast path from lab results to prescription treatment, handled by a single care team that has already reviewed your panel. For hormone and metabolic optimization specifically, Ways2Well eliminates the gap between getting data and taking action. Function Health cannot replicate that for users who need or want active intervention, by design.
