Viome vs Floré: Which Gut Health Test is Better?

What exactly is gut health and why is it so important? Nearly 40% of adults suffer from some sort of gastrointestinal issue. Additionally, 27% of individuals who suffer major depression are also likely to suffer from symptoms of IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). Then there are the millions of adults who wake up anxious, tired, and fatigued. But is it all connected?

The short answer: Yes.

Recent research indicates that your gut health may be linked to everything from depression, immunity, and obesity to skin health, autoimmune diseases, sleep, and many other factors.

In this article, we’ll dive into the science of gut health, including how the microbiome in your stomach affects your general health. We’ll also compare leading gut health testing companies — Viome vs Floré — over different categories such as accuracy of results and pricing to find which is better for your gut health testing needs!

First: what’s the connection between gut health and overall health?

The billions of bacteria that dwell in your gut, including fungi, archaea, and even viruses, are crucial for your health. Not all of these bacteria are harmful. It is a symbiotic relationship in which these microorganisms break down difficult-to-digest foods, neutralize poisons, and even transform chemicals in our stomachs into helpful nutrients for our bodies. They also regulate messages throughout our bodies that interact with our immune systems and brains. Without gut microbes, our ability to absorb and flourish would be severely hampered.

It is widely understood there is a direct correlation between what you eat and your gut health. For example, some foods typically thought to be healthy may cause a spike in blood sugar or gut inflammation for some and be super foods for others. That is why it is important to test your gut health and figure out what foods and supplements are right for you.

Balancing your gut health can help you achieve good skin, better sleep, more energy, greater immunity, a healthier weight, and healthy aging. Ultimately, it is difficult to know whether you have good or bad gut health just by….trusting your gut 😉  Because the state of your gut can impact a host of other symptoms, it’s a great idea to get tested and learn how to maintain your good standing, or what you can do to improve.

How can I test my gut health?

Most gut health tests are simple at-home stool sample kits which you order online, then mail in and wait for your results. And believe us, we have sampled various companies’ tests, and while the sample collection isn’t exactly fun, it’s not bad at all, and only takes a couple minutes.

Years ago, this sort of testing could cost thousands. However, as the science has improved and as testing has become more efficient, prices have become quite affordable. At-home tests are not only much cheaper than in-person lab testing, they are also just as accurate and way more convenient. Thus, your best bet is to opt for an at-home gut health test from a company like Floré or Viome — but how do you know which to choose?

Viome vs Floré: Which at-home gut health test is more accurate?

There are a fair number of gut health testing companies, but not all are created equal. Some big considerations are price, accuracy (science), and additional offerings (like customized probiotics and supplements based on your test results). Today, we will look at two of the leading companies, Viome and Floré by Sun Genomics.

Both Viome and Sun Genomics (now known as Floré by Sun Genomics), were founded in 2016 with the same basic goal in mind: to make testing your gut more accessible to all and thus help improve overall health.

Both companies offer a convenient and affordable gut health test, as well as personalized probiotics regimens. The subtle difference is in their accuracy in determining how the microbes in your gut actually impact and interact with your body.

To be clear: both the Viome Gut Intelligence and Floré Gut Health Test Kit detect microbes in your gut, including bacteria, fungus, yeast, parasites, and viruses. However, there is one major difference: 

Floré uses whole genome sequencing technology, which can identify up to 23,000 microbes in your gut microbiome by sequencing DNA. This sequencing can come from food and dead microorganisms and can give you false information about the microbial colonies in your gut ecosystem. So essentially it shows you what is in your gut, but not how it is interacting with your body. This makes it difficult to determine if the microbes are acting in ways that are good for you, or bad for you. Are they helping with inflammation or causing inflammation? Floré’s gut health test results are a bit murky here. 

Source: Floré

Did you know that Viome testing has shown that 49% of people tested (out of 250,000+ participants) shouldn’t eat broccoli? That’s because it is good for some, while causing inflammation in others, depending on the make-up of your gut microbiome.

The Floré Personalized Probiotics are based on the same technology. Probiotics customized based on DNA sequencing. The problem is, DNA doesn’t change. Like the DNA of the trillions of microbes found in your gut, your own DNA is the same when you are born and when you die. The genes in your DNA do not change. However, your gut health and gene expression does. A diverse gut microbiome typically means a healthy gut microbiome, and that diversity can decrease or increase over time depending on diet and many environmental factors. You need gut health testing and probiotics that are based on the state of your current gut health, not the state you are born with.

How accurate is Viome’s gut health test?

Source: Viome 

Viome, on the other hand, uses metatranscriptomic sequencing technology. That means they sequence the complete ‘transcriptome’ or gene (RNA) expression of each person’s entire microbial community, and by focusing on what our microbial cells (and our own cells) are actively doing, they can give us a better idea of how well – or poorly – they’re functioning. They are the only gut health testing company to use this superior technology, which was developed by the U.S. Department of Defense at Los Alamos National Lab and is exclusively licensed to Viome.

Viome’s Precision Probiotics + Prebiotics is a personalized probiotics subscription based on your current gut health. Viome uses the results from processing your personal test samples, in combination with their AI platform to formulate the strains of probiotics that will be most beneficial for your microbiome. As you retest every six months or so to measure your gut health changes, your personalized probiotic formula may change as well, based on your current needs.

What do you get with the Viome and Floré gut health tests?

Source: Floré

• Both tests provide access to a gut health report on intuitive, easy to use apps

• Viome provides you with 20 scores related to your gut microbiome health, while Floré provides 5 scores

• Both tests tell you whether your individual microbiome is not working properly to process certain foods and nutrients
• Both tests let you know whether you’re getting unhealthy growth of pathogens inside the microbiome
• Both tests provide recommendations on which foods, probiotics and supplements are best for you. Viome offers an upgrade to both a personalized supplements and pre +probiotics or just a pre +probiotics subscription. Floré only offers the option to add probiotics

• To take it a step further and measure your cellular health, mitochondrial health, immune health, stress response and biological age in addition to your gut health, you can upgrade to the Viome Health Intelligence Test for just a bit more

Source: Viome

Which gut health is more affordable, Viome or Floré?

While the two brands’ prices are often changing and going on sale, the Viome Gut Intelligence Test, at the time of publication, was significantly more affordable than Floré. Additionally, the Viome Precision Probiotics + Prebiotics subscription is $40 less per month than the Floré Personalized Probiotics subscription, and they even offer a 50% off coupon for the first month.

Viome’s gut health test costs $79 vs Floré’s $169. That’s a pretty big gap!

Viome vs Floré: What do the customers have to say?

Viome customer reviews for gut health test kits

User testimonials on Viome’s website are overwhelmingly positive, with customers stating how they’ve dropped weight and begun to sleep better. Customers also appear pleased with the large number of individualized recommendations.

Source: Viome

Floré customer reviews for gut health test kits

Floré consumers are similarly satisfied, with many praising the customer experience and the company’s ability to provide personalized suggestions.

Source: Floré

The Verdict: Which gut health test is better, Viome or Floré?

While both seem to offer quality at-home gut tests, the accuracy of the metatranscriptomic sequencing technology, combined with a lower price and wider product offerings put Viome on top. For the best gut health testing and personalized probiotics, we strongly recommend Viome!

Give it a try and let us know about your experience in the comments below. If you’re not quite convinced and would like to compare your options a bit more, check out this review of gut health tests which includes other brands like Thryve and Everlywell, too.