Verified
“Lowest cost per serving in the category”
At roughly $0.07/serving across a 240-count bottle, it's the cheapest per serving among the nine picks reviewed.
Reviewed
Verified by SAC team
+20
XP on completion
Best Budget
Nutricost
Nutricost Vitamin B12 (Methylcobalamin) 1000 mcg - 240 Capsules Review
8.9/10SAC Product Score™
If you've decided you want methylcobalamin and you want it cheap, nothing in this field beats Nutricost. It's the active methyl form in a vegetarian, single-ingredient capsule, dosed at the sensible 1,000 mcg, and its 240-count bottle works out to roughly seven cents a serving — an honest eight-month supply for pocket change. The one honest trade-off: its testing is brand-reported rather than an independent USP or NSF seal.
Check on AmazonAffiliate link — Super Achiever Club earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Read the complete Vitamin B12 guide →How we built the SAC Product Score™ — 8.9/10
Form & Bioavailability20%9.2/10
Single-ingredient methylcobalamin, the active coenzyme form, in a vegetarian capsule. Bioavailability is on par with the other methyl picks — you don't drop down to cyanocobalamin to hit this price.
Dose vs Clinical Range20%9.5/10
1,000 mcg per capsule lands in the established oral repletion range — enough to correct a deficiency without a wasteful megadose.
Third-Party Testing & Purity25%7.8/10
Made in a GMP + ISO facility and described as third-party tested, but that testing is brand-reported rather than an independent USP or NSF seal. For a low-risk nutrient that's an acceptable trust level, but it's a clear step below the verified picks.
Value Per Serving15%9.8/10
At roughly $0.07/serving across a 240-count bottle, this is the lowest cost per serving in the entire set — a genuine ~8-month supply.
GI Tolerance & Format Suitability20%8.8/10
A single-ingredient vegetarian capsule with nothing extra to irritate a sensitive gut. Easy to swallow, no flavoring or sugar alcohols.
The product at a glance
- Form
- Methylcobalamin (active)
- Dose
- 1,000 mcg per capsule
- Count
- 240 capsules / 240 servings (~8 months)
- Testing
- GMP + ISO facility; third-party tested (brand-reported)
- Delivery
- Vegetarian, single-ingredient capsule
- Cost per serving
- ~$0.07
Marketing claims vs. reality
Partial
“Third-party tested”
Testing is brand-reported (GMP + ISO facility) rather than an independent USP or NSF seal, so you're trusting the manufacturer's compliance rather than a verified third-party audit.
Verified
“Active methylcobalamin form”
Labeled as single-ingredient methylcobalamin at 1,000 mcg per capsule — the active coenzyme form.
Partial
“Methyl outperforms cyanocobalamin”
Only for the minority with impaired methylation; otherwise the two forms correct deficiency equivalently (Paul & Brady 2017).
What our test actually found
01Cheapest, without dropping the form
Budget B12 usually means cyanocobalamin. Nutricost keeps the active methyl form at the lowest cost per serving here — the reason it earns Best Budget.
02An honest testing trade-off
'Third-party tested' is brand-reported, not a USP or NSF seal. For a low-risk oral nutrient made under GMP, that's a reasonable trade for the price — just know what you're trusting.
03Eight months in one bottle
240 capsules is a genuine long-haul supply, which is a big part of why the per-serving cost lands so low.
04Nothing extra to react to
Single ingredient, vegetarian capsule, no flavoring or sugar alcohols — an easy fit for sensitive stomachs.
Pros & cons, no sugar-coating
Pros
- Lowest cost-per-serving in the set (~$0.07)
- Active methyl form without dropping down to cyano
- 240-count is a genuine ~8-month supply
- Vegetarian, single-ingredient capsule
Cons
- 'Third-party tested' is brand-reported, not an independent USP or NSF seal
- Same 'methyl doesn't beat cyano' caveat applies for anyone who isn't deficient
The budget methyl champion
If you've decided you want methylcobalamin and you want it cheap, nothing here beats Nutricost's cost per serving. The trade-off is honest: its testing is brand-reported rather than an independent USP or NSF seal, so you're trusting GMP compliance instead of a third-party audit. For a low-risk oral nutrient like B12, that's an acceptable trade for many budget-minded buyers.
Check Nutricost on AmazonIf this doesn’t fit — try these
Nature Made B12 1000 mcg
9/10Pay a hair more for the only USP Verified bottle here.
See it on the list →THORNE Vitamin B12 (Methylcobalamin)
9.2/10Same active form with elite third-party testing.
See it on the list →Pure Encapsulations Methylcobalamin
8.6/10Step up to a hypoallergenic, physician-channel formula.
See it on the list →Sources & further reading
- Paul C, Brady DM. Comparative Bioavailability and Utilization of Particular Forms of B12 Supplements. Integr Med (Encinitas). 2017;16(1):42-49.Paul C, Brady DM · 2017 · Integrative Medicine (Encinitas) · PMID 28223907
Comparative Bioavailability and Utilization of Particular Forms of B12 Supplements With Potential to Mitigate B12-related Genetic Polymorphisms
Methylcobalamin and cyanocobalamin both replete B12 effectively; methyl offers a meaningful edge only for a subset with impaired methylation.
- Stabler SP. Vitamin B12 Deficiency. N Engl J Med. 2013;368(2):149-160.Stabler SP · 2013 · New England Journal of Medicine · PMID 23301732
Vitamin B12 Deficiency
Oral cobalamin around 1,000 mcg/day reliably corrects deficiency in most patients.
- Wang H, et al. Oral vitamin B12 versus intramuscular vitamin B12 for vitamin B12 deficiency. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018;3:CD004655.Wang H, Li L, Qin LL, et al. · 2018 · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · PMID 29543316
Oral vitamin B12 versus intramuscular vitamin B12 for vitamin B12 deficiency
Oral B12 at repletion doses can be as effective as injection for normalizing B12 status.