Helvy vs Medichecks.

Medichecks launched in 2014 and built the UK direct-to-consumer testing category. As of May 2026 the catalogue covers dozens of panels — from a 3-marker thyroid check at £29 to a 59-marker comprehensive at around £249, with hormone, metabolic, vitamin and inflammation panels in between. Sample collection is offered as finger-prick at home or venous draw at a partner clinic. Reports come as a PDF with doctor commentary on each flagged result. Medichecks ships from UKAS-accredited UK laboratories to ISO 15189.

The catalogue model is the strength. If you know exactly which markers you want — say, a follow-up TSH and free T4 after a thyroid concern, or a one-off vitamin D and B12 check — Medichecks lets you buy the exact panel at the lowest price point in the UK market. The breadth is real and the pricing is competitive. The downside of the catalogue model is the inverse: a customer who does not know which markers to pick has to navigate a broad menu without a routing layer.

Helvy takes the opposite design choice. The catalogue is curated to five panels: Hormone Balance (£99, 5 markers), Complete Male Hormones (£119, 9 markers), General Energy & Wellness (£149, 17 markers), Advanced Heart Health (£159, 13 markers), Metabolic Health (£159, 16 markers). The panel choice is downstream from a quiz that routes the customer to the right panel based on what they are trying to learn. Each panel is read against published optimal ranges, not just the standard reference ranges.

The output shape is the second difference. Medichecks returns a PDF: biomarkers, reference ranges, doctor commentary on flagged values, suggested follow-up where relevant. Helvy returns every biomarker explained in plain English against an optimal range and routed into a supplement protocol via the Helvy Plan layer. The customer journey is different: Medichecks ends at the report; Helvy continues into the protocol.

Medichecks is the UK catalogue testing platform that established the direct-to-consumer category. The model is straightforward and well-executed: the customer browses dozens of panels organised by category (thyroid, hormones, vitamin and mineral, sports performance, men's health, women's health, comprehensive). The customer picks a panel, the kit ships, the sample is collected at home (finger-prick) or at a partner clinic (venous draw), and the result comes back as a PDF with reference ranges and doctor commentary. The platform has a long-standing reputation for fair pricing, reliable turnaround and clean reporting.

The Medichecks pricing structure rewards the customer who knows what to test. The entry-level panels sit around £29 to £49. A mid-range comprehensive runs £79 to £139. The widest comprehensive (around 59 markers) sits around £249. Subscription is offered for repeat customers, with a small discount on each panel.

Helvy is built for the customer who does not yet know what to test. The Helvy quiz routes to the right panel based on the customer's starting question (energy and fatigue, hormone balance, cardiovascular risk, metabolic health). The five panel options are chosen so each answers one starting question well. The General Energy & Wellness panel covers the broadest baseline (17 markers, £149) and is the default route for the customer who wants a single starting test. The marker selection in each panel is fixed; the customer does not choose individual markers.

The interpretation is the wedge. The Medichecks report shows each biomarker, the reference range, a doctor commentary, and a flagged status. Interpretation is largely the customer's job, or the customer's GP's job if they share the report. Helvy's report leads with what needs attention, in plain English, and then expands into every biomarker underneath, read against published optimal ranges rather than just the NHS disease thresholds. The reading is a wellness output, not a diagnostic claim. The customer can see which markers have room to improve before anything is clinically wrong, and what each one means.

The supplement routing is the second wedge. Medichecks does not route into a supplement plan. The report ends at the doctor commentary. Helvy's Plan layer (£89 a month) takes the biomarker pattern and produces a supplement protocol: which supplements, which doses, which forms, which timing. The protocol is a wellness routing, not a medical prescription. The customer can use the Helvy Plan or take the report elsewhere; the routing is the product the Plan layer charges for.

Lab work is the same on both sides: UKAS-accredited UK laboratories to ISO 15189, the same standard as NHS pathology. Turnaround is similar (Medichecks 2-5 days, Helvy 5 days). Reference ranges are similar. Reporting clarity is similar; both ship clean PDF reports. The difference is the layer above the lab work: Medichecks ends at the report, Helvy continues into the plain-English interpretation and the supplement protocol.

Medichecks is the right choice if you have a specific marker in mind (a follow-up thyroid check, a one-off vitamin D, a sports-performance panel chosen by a coach), if you want the broadest UK catalogue to pick from, and if you are comfortable interpreting the report yourself or with your GP. The entry-level panels are the lowest published UK price points for a UKAS ISO 15189 result, and the platform is well-established.

If you have already worked out your supplement protocol and you only want the underlying data feed, Medichecks is a clean fit. If you want venous-draw collection at a clinic rather than finger-prick at home, Medichecks offers that route. If you want to buy individual targeted panels at the lowest possible price point without a programme wrapper, Medichecks is built for that purchasing pattern.

Helvy is not the right choice if you want to pick individual markers from a wide catalogue, if you want clinic venous-draw collection as the default, or if you only want the underlying data feed without an interpretation or supplement layer.

Helvy is built for the customer who does not want to pick from a catalogue. The quiz routes to the right panel. The plain-English interpretation and the supplement protocol are the output. The five-panel set is chosen so the customer can answer most starting questions with a single panel choice. The Helvy Plan layer adds the six-month retest cadence and the supplement routing on top.

The plan is the differentiator on this comparison. Medichecks ends at the doctor commentary. Helvy reads every marker against published optimal ranges, explains each one in plain English, and ends in a supplement plan built only on what the results justify. If the question you are trying to answer is closer to "what should I actually do about my results" than "what is my TSH", Helvy is the right shape.

Helvy is the routed UK option. Medichecks is the catalogue UK option. They cover overlapping ground at the lab-work layer; they diverge at the output layer. The right choice is which shape fits the purchasing question.