How much does Elysium Basis cost?

$65.00 for a 30-serving bottle bought outright, which is a month at two capsules a day. Elysium also offers a monthly subscription at $50.00 and an annual plan at $480.00.

Is the 40% NAD+ claim true?

It holds up. The trial is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 120 healthy adults aged 60 to 80, published in 2017 in the peer-reviewed npj Aging and Mechanisms of Disease. At the recommended dose, whole blood NAD⁺ rose about 40% within four weeks and stayed there through the eight-week trial; at double the dose it rose about 90%. Elysium funded the study and five of the seven authors were company employees, though the trial itself was run by an outside contract research organization.

What about the six-month liver study the page mentions?

That one is worth reading before you accept how the page frames it. Published in Hepatology in 2023, it followed 111 adults with fatty liver disease for six months. Its primary endpoint was hepatic fat fraction, and on that endpoint there was no significant change against placebo. Among prespecified secondary outcomes, two liver enzymes and one toxic lipid did fall in the group taking the standard dose. That is a promising secondary signal in a trial that did not meet the goal it set itself, and "confirmed these initial findings" is a generous way to describe it.

What does the pterostilbene add?

On the evidence, an unanswered question. Pterostilbene is a polyphenol chemically related to resveratrol, and the human data on Basis tested it only in combination with nicotinamide riboside — there is no arm isolating what it contributes. It is a real ingredient at a stated 50 mg, and it is part of the reason Basis costs more than a plain nicotinamide riboside capsule, but nobody has shown what you are getting for it.

Is it better than a cheaper nicotinamide riboside capsule?

On research, yes — this is one of very few NAD⁺ products whose actual formula has been through peer-reviewed randomized trials rather than borrowing a study about an ingredient. On milligrams, no: a 300 mg nicotinamide riboside capsule costs around $40 a month and delivers more NR than Basis does. Which matters more depends on whether you are paying for the powder or for the evidence.

Is Elysium Basis expensive compared with other NAD⁺ precursor supplements providers?

Elysium Basis publishes a starting figure of $65/mo. Across the 116 NAD⁺ precursor supplements providers we review that publish a single monthly figure, those run $17.97 to $799 with a median of $175, which puts Elysium Basis below the median, toward the cheaper end. The other 33 NAD⁺ precursor supplements providers we review quote only after an intake or price by dose, so they are not in that comparison. A starting figure is not a bill — labs, consultations and shipping are often charged separately, so confirm what your own quote includes.

Updated September 2026

Elysium Basis review

Real trials, stretched claims

The NAD⁺ supplement with the most peer-reviewed research behind it — and a product page that describes one of those papers more warmly than the paper does.

Our verdict

Basis has something almost nothing else in this category has: peer-reviewed, placebo-controlled human trials of the finished product, in real journals, with the funding disclosed. The 40% NAD⁺ increase it advertises is accurate and comes from exactly the study it names. Where we part company is the later six-month liver trial, which the page presents as confirmation and which actually missed its primary endpoint. Buy it for the first claim. Do not buy it for the second.

Disclosure: NAD Picks is reader-supported. Some links below are affiliate links — if you start care through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. Partners are listed first; a commission never changes what we write about a provider. How we make money.

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At a glance

Category: NAD⁺ supplement
Format: Oral precursor
From: $65.00
Dose published: Yes
Prescription: Not required
Compounded: No
Updated: September 2026

What it is

A two-capsule daily supplement combining 250 mg of Elysium's own nicotinamide riboside chloride with 50 mg of pterostilbene, a polyphenol related to resveratrol. Thirty servings per bottle. Developed by Leonard Guarente, the MIT biologist who co-founded the company and serves as its chief scientist.

How it works

Retail, not telehealth. No intake, no prescriber, no clinician. Elysium sells direct and by subscription, and states that Basis is third-party tested during and after manufacture and independently verified as NSF Certified for Sport.

Pricing transparency

$65.00 for a 30-serving bottle bought outright — a month at the stated two capsules a day. A monthly subscription runs $50.00 and an annual plan $480.00; we quote the standing one-off rate rather than either, because a prepaid year is a different product from a bottle. The dose is published on Elysium's supplement facts page: 250 mg of nicotinamide riboside chloride and 50 mg of pterostilbene per serving. Against a plain 300 mg nicotinamide riboside capsule at around $40, you are paying roughly $25 a month for the pterostilbene and for the research program behind it.

Branded vs compounded

A dietary supplement, not a drug. It is not FDA-approved and the FDA does not review supplements for safety or efficacy before sale. What separates Basis from most of the category is that the exact combination in the bottle — 250 mg NR plus 50 mg pterostilbene — has been through randomized, placebo-controlled human trials published in peer-reviewed journals, rather than the more common arrangement where a study of one ingredient is used to sell a blend that was never tested.

Pros and watch-outs

What we like

The finished formula, not just one ingredient, has been through peer-reviewed randomized human trials
The 40% NAD⁺ claim is accurate and traceable to the study it names
Full dose published: 250 mg nicotinamide riboside chloride, 50 mg pterostilbene
Company funding of the trials is disclosed in the papers themselves
States third-party testing and NSF Certified for Sport verification

Watch-outs

The page describes a six-month liver trial as confirmation when that trial missed its primary endpoint
$65 a month is roughly 60% more than a plain 300 mg nicotinamide riboside capsule
The foundational trial was funded by Elysium and largely authored by its own staff
Raising NAD⁺ is proven; the healthy-aging outcomes it is marketed for are not
A supplement, so no FDA review of safety or efficacy before sale

Best for

Someone who wants the best-researched finished formula in the category and is willing to pay for it, and who would rather buy from a company that publishes in journals than one that publishes in press releases.

Who should look elsewhere

Anyone buying on cost per milligram, or anyone expecting the liver or skin benefits the page gestures at. Those results are thinner than the page makes them sound.

How Elysium Basis compares

A few alternatives worth a look, depending on what you’re optimizing for.

Care Bare Rx
Anyone who wants the price up front
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Breeze Meds
The lowest listed injection price
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The lowest published NAD⁺ price
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Laura Bennett

Evidence & trials · Reviewed and last verified September 2026

How we assessed this. This review reflects NAD Picks’s own read of Elysium Basis’s publicly-stated model — pricing transparency, clinical oversight, medication clarity, and access — against our editorial methodology. We publish no fabricated ratings or first-hand outcomes. A partnership never changes the assessment — see how we make money.

Frequently asked

How much does Elysium Basis cost?: $65.00 for a 30-serving bottle bought outright, which is a month at two capsules a day. Elysium also offers a monthly subscription at $50.00 and an annual plan at $480.00.
Is the 40% NAD+ claim true?: It holds up. The trial is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 120 healthy adults aged 60 to 80, published in 2017 in the peer-reviewed npj Aging and Mechanisms of Disease. At the recommended dose, whole blood NAD⁺ rose about 40% within four weeks and stayed there through the eight-week trial; at double the dose it rose about 90%. Elysium funded the study and five of the seven authors were company employees, though the trial itself was run by an outside contract research organization.
What about the six-month liver study the page mentions?: That one is worth reading before you accept how the page frames it. Published in Hepatology in 2023, it followed 111 adults with fatty liver disease for six months. Its primary endpoint was hepatic fat fraction, and on that endpoint there was no significant change against placebo. Among prespecified secondary outcomes, two liver enzymes and one toxic lipid did fall in the group taking the standard dose. That is a promising secondary signal in a trial that did not meet the goal it set itself, and "confirmed these initial findings" is a generous way to describe it.
What does the pterostilbene add?: On the evidence, an unanswered question. Pterostilbene is a polyphenol chemically related to resveratrol, and the human data on Basis tested it only in combination with nicotinamide riboside — there is no arm isolating what it contributes. It is a real ingredient at a stated 50 mg, and it is part of the reason Basis costs more than a plain nicotinamide riboside capsule, but nobody has shown what you are getting for it.
Is it better than a cheaper nicotinamide riboside capsule?: On research, yes — this is one of very few NAD⁺ products whose actual formula has been through peer-reviewed randomized trials rather than borrowing a study about an ingredient. On milligrams, no: a 300 mg nicotinamide riboside capsule costs around $40 a month and delivers more NR than Basis does. Which matters more depends on whether you are paying for the powder or for the evidence.
Is Elysium Basis expensive compared with other NAD⁺ precursor supplements providers?: Elysium Basis publishes a starting figure of $65/mo. Across the 116 NAD⁺ precursor supplements providers we review that publish a single monthly figure, those run $17.97 to $799 with a median of $175, which puts Elysium Basis below the median, toward the cheaper end. The other 33 NAD⁺ precursor supplements providers we review quote only after an intake or price by dose, so they are not in that comparison. A starting figure is not a bill — labs, consultations and shipping are often charged separately, so confirm what your own quote includes.

Check availability →

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