TruDiagnostic TruAge vs Tally Health TallyAge: epigenetic age tests compared

TruAge vs TallyAge: two checks before you choose

Check that Tally still sells the kit. When checked on October 30, 2026, Tally’s test-kit page and membership page both returned a not-found error^{24, 25}. Its home page now describes the TallyAge test only as a membership benefit, sent every six months, and shows no price¹⁰. Its help center still says you can order a single test⁶.

We found no published study that tests TruAge and TallyAge on the same people. They use different clocks and different tissue, and Tally’s help center says it isn’t unusual for two epigenetic age tests to give different results¹³. Even one test repeated can move: Tally says fluctuations of around two years between tests are normal¹¹. Treat each number as one estimate from one test.

TruAge vs TallyAge side by side

None of these figures is evidence of a health or longevity effect. Prices are US list prices on each maker’s official pages, checked November 6, 2026 for TruAge and October 23 for TallyAge. Every figure is the maker’s own unless a study is named. ‘Not stated’ means the maker didn’t publish it.

These links go to each brand’s own store and earn us no commission.

Which epigenetic age test suits you

Each suits a different need, and this isn’t a ranking. Both send a result to an online account^{1, 8}, and neither presents itself as a diagnosis^{5, 15}. They differ in the sample you give, how many scores you get, what a retest costs and how much you can get back.

• Several aging scores from one finger-prick kit: TruAge. TruDiagnostic lists an OMICmAge biological age, a DunedinPACE pace of aging and telomere length, plus 11 organ-system ages that its page is unclear on whether the kit includes^{1, 2}. Results arrive 3 to 4 weeks after the lab receives your sample¹. The trade-off: the annual plan is billed up front and renews every year².
• A cheek swab instead of a blood sample: TallyAge. You get one epigenetic age, with free shipping and a prepaid return label^{6, 10}. Results take 4 to 6 weeks after the lab gets your sample⁸. The trade-off: a retest costs the same again unless you join the membership^{6, 9}.

What each test reports

TruDiagnostic lists nine reports for TruAge: an OMICmAge biological age, 11 organ-system ages, a DunedinPACE pace of aging, telomere length, an immune cell report, an inflammation score, grip strength and gait speed, and smoking and alcohol impact scores¹. It says it analyzes 1,000,000+ DNA methylation sites and reports 75+ biomarkers¹. DunedinPACE is a rate: TruDiagnostic describes it as how fast you’re aging compared with a single calendar year¹.

Two details are unclear. TruDiagnostic’s page says organ-system ages come with a purchase of ‘TruAge COMPLETE’, while the page title reads ‘TruAge Test’¹. The page also doesn’t say whether telomere length is measured or estimated from methylation, and it labels the CRP and IL-6 scores ‘epigenetic’¹.

Tally calls its result TallyAge and describes it as an indicator of how you’re aging on a biological level, built from DNA methylation in adult cheek cells¹⁰. You view results online, with a Results History for past tests⁸. The Tally pages we read list one number and no pace-of-aging score, organ-system ages or telomere length^{10, 13}.

The research behind TruAge’s clocks

DunedinPACE was built from the Dunedin Study, a New Zealand birth cohort from 1972 to 1973, and is read from blood¹⁷. It was built from 20 years of change in 19 body-system measures¹⁷. The 2022 eLife paper reports a test-retest ICC of 0.96 in one replicate dataset¹⁷. Higher scores were linked to earlier death, new chronic disease and disability in other cohorts, with effect sizes similar to GrimAge¹⁷. The authors note that the cohorts were mostly of white European descent, and that showing it can serve as a surrogate endpoint needs evidence that interventions change it¹⁷.

OMICmAge was published in Nature Aging in 2026¹⁸. It was built from DNA methylation, protein and metabolite data in Mass General Brigham biobank participants, then checked in TruDiagnostic’s biobank and in Generation Scotland¹⁸. For 5-year death prediction, its AUC was 0.892 in the Mass General Brigham test set¹⁸. In Generation Scotland it scored 0.861, and PCGrimAge scored higher at 0.870¹⁸. An AUC of 0.5 is chance and 1.0 is perfect. It measures prediction, not whether changing the score changes outcomes.

The paper was done under a sponsored research agreement with TruDiagnostic, and TruDiagnostic employees are among its authors¹⁸. The 0.998 replicate figure came from 30 duplicate blood samples in the Mass General Brigham cohort, and the death-prediction figures came from stored blood in that cohort and Generation Scotland¹⁸. TruDiagnostic’s biobank of commercial TruAge customers, whose blood was collected by lancet or capillary and mostly ordered through healthcare providers, was used for disease-history and lifestyle comparisons¹⁸. The authors say OMICmAge needs more validation across diverse populations¹⁸. We haven’t reviewed the research behind the organ-system, telomere, immune or inflammation reports.

The research behind TallyAge’s clock

Tally’s help center says its test was built from an in-house dataset of cheek swabs from more than 8,000 adults, and it points to the CheekAge paper as the foundation for its clock^{12, 13}. The 2024 GeroScience paper trained CheekAge on 8,045 swabs, each with answers to lifestyle and health questions¹⁹. In cross-validation, the mean absolute error against real age was 3.22 years¹⁹. The mean replicate error, how far repeat swabs from one person fall from their average, was 0.85 years for the full model and 1 year when cross-validated¹⁹. A held-out set of 225 swabs, which the paper says was collected the same way as the training data, had an error of 3.48 years¹⁹. The gap between CheekAge and real age was associated with BMI, smoking and alcohol intake¹⁹.

A second paper tested CheekAge in blood from 1,513 older adults in the Lothian Birth Cohorts²⁰. Each standard-deviation rise in the CheekAge gap carried a hazard ratio for death of 1.21, close to DNAm PhenoAge’s 1.23²⁰. That used blood, not cheek swabs, and the blood arrays covered only about half of the sites the clock uses²⁰. Tally provided internal funding, and four of the six authors are current or former Tally employees²⁰.

All authors of the GeroScience paper work for Tally, which funded it, and its raw data are proprietary¹⁹. Tally’s help center doesn’t say the test it sells uses the published model unchanged¹². We found no published study that follows CheekAge from cheek swabs to health outcomes.

What an epigenetic age test costs, and what retesting adds

TruAge was $499 when checked on November 6, 2026, and TallyAge $249 when checked on October 23^{1, 6}. TruDiagnostic doesn’t state shipping, while Tally’s help center says shipping is free and the kit includes a prepaid return label^{1, 6}. Both companies expect you to retest. TruDiagnostic says many customers retest every 3 to 6 months, and Tally says to test regularly and watch for a trend over time^{1, 7}.

At those one-off prices, two tests a year cost $998 for TruAge and $498 for TallyAge. Four a year cost $1,996 and $996. Tally’s suggested five to nine tests would cost $1,245 to $2,241 at $249 a kit¹¹. TruAge’s annual plan is $998 for 4 tests, billed up front and renewing every year, about $249.50 a test². The listing doesn’t say when the four kits ship or how to cancel².

Tally’s membership sends a TallyAge test every six months and bills monthly⁹. Tally’s membership page listed $129 a month when checked on October 20, 2026²⁵. When checked on October 30, 2026, that page returned a not-found error, so confirm the price with Tally. Membership fees are non-refundable, and you cancel at least 3 days before the next period starts¹⁵.

Privacy and data terms

TruDiagnostic’s privacy policy is dated September 12, 2022. It treats health and epigenetic data as sensitive information, and says it will ask for your consent before sharing individual-level epigenetic information with third parties, other than service providers that help deliver the service⁴. Research participation is tied to consent you can withdraw, though that doesn’t reverse completed research⁴. It keeps your results, date of birth and sex for CLIA record rules, and discards stored samples if you delete your account⁴. Its terms add that de-identified data is used for product development, which can include commercialization with a third party⁵.

Tally’s privacy policy and terms are dated April 29, 2026. Tally says it does not sell personal information, and that it may share it with corporate affiliates as needed to provide the services¹⁶. The terms let Tally keep information about your sample for future research, share de-identified sample data and research results with its parent company, and give you no rights in anything developed from it¹⁵. Health data is kept for the life of your account plus three years, de-identified data may be kept indefinitely, and the policy doesn’t say how long raw samples are kept¹⁶.

Both policies allow data to transfer if the company is sold, and both now sit under the same owner^{4, 16, 23}. Tally’s policy says its products aren’t intended to create a covered-entity relationship, and TruDiagnostic’s policy doesn’t mention HIPAA^{4, 16}. What to check in a testing service lists the questions to ask about sharing, deletion and stored samples.

Refunds, returns and replacements

TruDiagnostic’s policy, effective April 2, 2025, says that once an order ships, all sales are final and there are no refunds³. That includes dissatisfaction with results, used or damaged kits and orders cancelled after shipping, and annual subscriptions are final too³. If something outside your control goes wrong, such as not enough blood or a kit damaged in transit, it sends one free replacement³. If both samples fail because of lab error, you can get a full refund including shipping and transaction fees³.

Tally’s refund policy states no return window. It takes back items in the condition you received them, unused and in the original packaging, with proof of purchase, and you have to email Tally first¹⁴. Approved refunds go back to your payment method within 10 business days¹⁴. The policy doesn’t mention test kits, failed samples or memberships, and Tally’s terms say membership fees are non-refundable^{14, 15}. Tally’s help center doesn’t say what happens if a sample fails⁸.

Neither company gives a cooling-off period once a kit is in your hands: TruDiagnostic’s sales are final when the order ships, and Tally states no window^{3, 14}. If a refund matters to you, ask Tally in writing what applies to a test kit before you order.

Both tests now share an owner

Tally’s terms say Tally Health is a brand owned and operated by IE Tally Holdings, LLC, an affiliate of TruDiagnostic¹⁵. Infinite Epigenetics, whose business includes TruDiagnostic, bought Tally Health in an asset purchase announced April 29, 2026²³. NutraIngredients reported that Tally would stay a standalone consumer brand with its products and customer experience unchanged²³. The pages we read don’t say whether Tally’s samples will go to TruDiagnostic’s lab, so this isn’t a choice between two independent companies.

What an epigenetic age test can and can’t tell you

Both tests estimate age from DNA methylation, a chemical pattern on your DNA that shifts with age. Epigenetic clocks are widely used aging biomarkers, but their results can be unreliable²². A 2022 Nature Aging study found that technical noise produced differences of up to 9 years between replicates for six prominent clocks, and versions rebuilt from principal components brought most replicates within 1.5 years²². Both makers report tighter repeat figures for their own clocks, and Tally says swings of around two years between tests are normal^{1, 11, 19}.

A 2024 Nature Medicine review says no consensus exists on how aging biomarkers should be validated before they move into the clinic²¹. A score that predicts death across a group, like the AUC and hazard ratios above, doesn’t show that changing your own score changes your health^{17, 18, 20}. We found no trial showing that lowering a clock score by any means improves health outcomes. TruDiagnostic’s terms add that many of the epigenetic discoveries it reports have not been clinically validated⁵.

Neither maker presents its test as a diagnosis^{5, 15}. If you want a different method, GlycanAge reads IgG glycans instead of DNA methylation. The testing evidence review grades biological-age clocks and large marker panels ‘Not supported’ as a way to improve health. If you still want a result as one estimate to follow over time, keep the same test and the same sample type, and read a change of a year or two against the noise above.

Sources

1. TruAge Test TruDiagnostic · manufacturer
2. TruAge Test listing on TruDiagnostic's store, including the Annual Subscription plan TruDiagnostic · manufacturer · price read from the store’s product data
3. TruDiagnostic refund policy (effective April 2, 2025) TruDiagnostic · manufacturer
4. TruDiagnostic privacy policy (effective September 12, 2022) TruDiagnostic · manufacturer
5. TruDiagnostic terms of service (last updated January 1, 2020) TruDiagnostic · manufacturer
6. Help center: Purchasing and shipping logistics Tally Health · manufacturer
7. Help center: How does it work? Tally Health · manufacturer
8. Help center: Test sent back, what's next? Tally Health · manufacturer
9. Help center: Tally Health membership Tally Health · manufacturer
10. Tally Health home page Tally Health · manufacturer
11. Help center: How reliable are the TallyAge test results? Tally Health · manufacturer
12. Help center: How was the TallyAge test built? Tally Health · manufacturer
13. Help center: How does TallyAge differ from other tests? Tally Health · manufacturer
14. Tally Health refund policy Tally Health · manufacturer
15. Tally Health terms of service (effective April 29, 2026) Tally Health · manufacturer
16. Tally Health privacy policy (effective April 29, 2026) Tally Health · manufacturer
17. DunedinPACE, a DNA methylation biomarker of the pace of aging (Belsky et al.) eLife, 2022 · cohort study
18. OMICmAge quantifies biological age by integrating multi-omics with electronic medical records (Chen et al.) Nature Aging, 2026
19. CheekAge: a next-generation buccal epigenetic aging clock associated with lifestyle and health (Shokhirev et al.) GeroScience, 2024
20. CheekAge, a next-generation epigenetic buccal clock, is predictive of mortality in human blood (Shokhirev et al.) Frontiers in Aging, 2024 · cohort study
21. Validation of biomarkers of aging (Moqri et al.) Nature Medicine, 2024
22. A computational solution for bolstering reliability of epigenetic clocks: implications for clinical trials and longitudinal tracking (Higgins-Chen et al.) Nature Aging, 2022
23. Infinite Epigenetics acquires Tally Health in 'largest epigenetic testing deal to date' NutraIngredients, 2026 · news
24. TallyAge Test Kit page (returned a not-found error when checked October 30, 2026) Tally Health · manufacturer
25. Tally Health Membership page (listed $129 a month on October 20, 2026; returned a not-found error on October 30, 2026) Tally Health · manufacturer