Female hormone panels compared: Basic, Standard and Comprehensive

A “female hormone panel” sounds like a deeper look at your hormones. Mostly it is not. The seller’s Basic, Standard and Comprehensive panels are mostly general health markers: a metabolic panel, a blood count, a cholesterol panel and a urinalysis, plus thyroid tests and a few hormones. Many of the items are routine health tests that have nothing to do with your cycle or fertility.

That can be useful if you want those markers. It is a poor buy if you want to know about your cycle, ovulation, egg supply or periods.

Basic female hormone panel

The lowest-priced panel with estradiol, total testosterone, thyroid and general health markers. The seller says to fast for at least 8 hours.

$199

See this test at HealthLabs

Price checked October 2026. Not available in ND, RI, NY, NJ, MD and HI. We earn a commission on sales.

What each panel includes

This table follows the seller’s own pages, checked 31 October 2026. “Not listed” means the seller’s page does not list it for that panel.

	Basic	Standard	Comprehensive
Estradiol	Yes	Yes	Yes
Testosterone	Total (the page describes “the total amount of testosterone”)	Listed as total (see note)	Free, with total
Total estrogens	Not listed	Yes	Yes
DHEA sulfate (DHEA-S)	Not listed	Not listed	Yes
IGF-1	Yes	Yes	Yes
Growth hormone	Not listed	Yes	Yes
Thyroid tests	Yes	Yes	Yes
Comprehensive metabolic panel (CMP)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Complete blood count (CBC)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Lipid panel	Yes	Yes	Yes
Urinalysis	Yes	Yes	Yes
Uric acid	Not listed	Not listed	Yes
Hemoglobin A1c	Not listed	Not listed	Yes
Vitamin B12	Not listed	Not listed	Yes
Folic acid (folate)	Not listed	Not listed	Yes
Homocysteine	Not listed	Not listed	Yes
High-sensitivity CRP	Not listed	Not listed	Yes
FSH, LH, progesterone, AMH, prolactin, SHBG	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Fasting, per the seller	Required	Required	Required

Notes on the table:

• Standard is Basic plus two tests: growth hormone and total estrogens.
• Comprehensive swaps total testosterone for free testosterone with total, and adds DHEA-S, uric acid, hemoglobin A1c, vitamin B12, folic acid, homocysteine and high-sensitivity CRP.
• Testosterone on the Standard page is unclear. Its marker list says total testosterone, but a description block on the same page is headed “free and total” and says it measures both. Because the page contradicts itself, this page counts only total testosterone for Standard. Check your order before assuming free testosterone is included.
• “Estrogens, Total” is not defined. The Standard and Comprehensive pages describe it as the total amount of the estrogen in the blood. They do not say it is estrone, estradiol and estriol together, so do not assume it matches the separate total estrogen test, which lists those three.
• Thyroid tests are listed as T3 uptake, total T4 and a free thyroxine index. No TSH is named. MedlinePlus says TSH is usually the first thyroid test a provider orders.
• The urinalysis is described by the seller as examining a urine sample. The pages give no panel-level statement of what sample you provide, so expect more than a blood draw.

How many of the markers are hormones?

The counts follow the seller’s item lists. A metabolic panel and a blood count each count as one item here, though each holds many measurements.

	Items listed	Sex or adrenal hormone tests	Other hormone tests (IGF-1, growth hormone, thyroid)	General health markers
Basic	8	2 (estradiol, testosterone)	2	4
Standard	10	3 (estradiol, testosterone, total estrogens)	3	4
Comprehensive	17	4 (estradiol, testosterone, total estrogens, DHEA-S)	3	10

So on Comprehensive, the most expensive panel, the largest group is general health markers such as hemoglobin A1c, uric acid, vitamin B12, folic acid, homocysteine and CRP. Those can be useful. They do not make an estradiol or testosterone result clearer.

• Basic female hormone panelTwo sex hormones, thyroid tests and general health markers $199 See this test at HealthLabs
• Standard female hormone panelAdds growth hormone and total estrogens $299 See this test at HealthLabs
• Comprehensive female hormone panelThe widest panel, so check a smaller option first $799 See this test at HealthLabs
• Bioidentical hormone panelProgesterone, estrogen and estradiol on one order $175 See this test at HealthLabs

Sold by HealthLabs. Prices checked October 2026. Not available in ND, RI, NY, NJ, MD and HI. We earn a commission on sales.

The last one is a smaller option for the ovarian hormones only. Its page lists a progesterone test, an estrogen test and an estradiol test, and does not say which forms of estrogen “estrogen” covers.

Pick by what you want to check

Tick the markers you want. The list narrows to the tests that cover all of them, cheapest first, with prices and the date they were checked. It includes single tests as well as panels, so you can see whether one smaller test does the job, and whether ordering two or three singles costs less than a panel.

When a single test is enough

Start from the question you want answered.

• “Why are my periods irregular or gone?” FSH and LH are the usual starting tests, and a clinician may also look at prolactin and testosterone. A panel lists none of these except testosterone. See LH and FSH tests and the prolactin test.
• “Have I ovulated?” Progesterone, timed to your cycle. See when to test progesterone.
• “What is my egg supply?” AMH. See the AMH test.
• “Could this be PCOS?” MedlinePlus says there is no specific test for PCOS. A provider combines history, an exam, an ultrasound and blood tests. See PCOS tests.
• “I’m 45 or older and have hot flashes.” The Office on Women’s Health says your provider can usually tell from your age, symptoms and changes in your periods, and that blood hormone tests are not usually needed. See perimenopause tests.
• “I want to look at estradiol.” A single estradiol test covers it.
• “A clinician already ran general bloodwork.” Ask whether the metabolic panel, blood count or cholesterol panel need repeating before you pay for them again.

If you are not sure, the women’s hormone test guide goes through the choices, and the test finder narrows it down.

When a panel can make sense

A panel can make sense if you want several of its general health markers anyway and would rather have one fasting draw than several orders. Compare the panel’s price with the single tests you would otherwise buy, using the picker above. Nothing on the seller’s pages says a panel gives a different or better hormone result than the matching single test.

What the extra markers are

These are the tests in the panels, described as MedlinePlus describes them. A panel result is a set of numbers to review with a clinician, not a diagnosis.

• Estradiol is the main estrogen in nonpregnant females of childbearing age. In females, levels fluctuate, so you may need more than one test to see a trend.
• Testosterone comes as total, which is the most common, and free, which is less common. MedlinePlus says low testosterone is normal for women and that a testosterone test alone cannot diagnose any health condition.
• DHEA sulfate is used to look for the cause of masculine features in women, to check adrenal function and to evaluate ovary disorders.
• Growth hormone: MedlinePlus says growth hormone levels rise and fall with diet and activity, so a single standard blood test usually is not helpful, and that testing is not common in adults. It says IGF-1 is steadier through the day and is a reliable way to track growth hormone. IGF-1 is on all three panels.
• Thyroid tests: MedlinePlus lists the TSH, T3 and T4 blood tests. The panels list T3 uptake, total T4 and a free thyroxine index.
• Comprehensive metabolic panel: a routine blood test that checks 14 substances, including blood sugar, calcium, electrolytes, proteins, liver enzymes, bilirubin and kidney waste products.
• Complete blood count: assesses red cells, white cells, platelets, hemoglobin and hematocrit.
• Lipid panel: measures total cholesterol, LDL, HDL and triglycerides, which help judge heart disease risk.
• Urinalysis: a test of your urine. MedlinePlus says it is often done to check for a urinary tract infection, kidney problems or diabetes, and may be done during a checkup. It looks at things such as color, appearance, pH, and whether blood, protein, glucose, cells or bacteria are in the urine.
• Hemoglobin A1c: shows your average blood glucose over roughly the past two to three months.
• Uric acid: MedlinePlus says the blood test helps diagnose gout.
• Homocysteine: most often used to check whether you have enough vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid.
• High-sensitivity CRP: a related but separate test from standard CRP that detects very small increases and is mainly used to estimate heart disease risk.
• Vitamin B12 and folic acid are vitamins. MedlinePlus says homocysteine is most often used to check whether you have enough of them.

How to prepare

The seller’s pages for all three panels say fasting is required: no food or drink other than water for at least 8 hours, and that not fasting may affect your results. The Comprehensive page gives only the 8-hour statement. MedlinePlus says the lipid test may need roughly nine to twelve hours without food, so if your lab order gives a different number, follow your order. See fasting for hormone tests.

None of the seller’s panel pages that we checked gives a cycle timing instruction for the draw. Hormone levels in females change through the cycle, and MedlinePlus says some tests may need to be taken at a specific point in it. See when in your cycle to test.

The seller says most results arrive in one to three days. See results timing. The tests are not sold in every state. See where testing is unavailable.

What a panel can’t tell you

• It does not look at everything. None of the three panels lists FSH, LH, progesterone, AMH, prolactin or SHBG.
• It is not how perimenopause is usually identified. The Office on Women’s Health says your provider can usually tell from your age, symptoms and changes in your periods.
• A number outside a lab’s range is a reason to talk with a clinician. It is not a diagnosis. MedlinePlus says healthy people sometimes fall outside the reference range, and that labs use different ranges, so take the range from your own report. See your clinician if your periods change, and sooner if you are pregnant or might be.