Mind Lab Pro Review [2024]

Cognitive decline affects most people as we get older. But in the age of social media, you may find yourself flitting between ideas and unable to hold your usual concentration. To help recenter focus, some have turned to nootropic supplements to improve everything from memory and cognition to mood.1 Mind Lab Pro is a U.K.-based nootropic that advertises itself as the “world’s best all-in-one nootropic formula,” but it’s far from your only option. We investigated Mind Lab Pro to find out if it’s really the best at upgrading your brainpower.

Mind Lab Pro is a good place to start for anyone who wants a nootropic supplement that doesn’t rely on caffeine or other stimulants to jumpstart the mind. Like every other nootropic, its ingredient list consistently falls below the average dosage used in successful studies, so it isn’t possible to predict the magnitude of the effects you’ll see, and they’ll likely be less profound than you may hope. The company boasts successful clinical research on its particular formula, suggesting you may still see some results (though company-funded studies have the potential for bias). Ultimately, Mind Lab Pro seems to prioritize your safety over mind-blowing efficacy but still gives you enough flexibility to improve your cognition somewhat.

As nootropics have emerged as a key player in the supplement landscape, we’ve invested serious time to determine which formulas are worth your while. We’ve spent hundreds of hours researching and testing different nootropics, including both individual ingredients like ashwagandha and combinations like Mind Lab Pro. Over the course of researching Mind Lab Pro and other nootropics, we’ve read hundreds of clinical studies examining the safety and efficacy of various nootropic ingredients and the occasional study on a product itself (whenever available).

Over the past two decades, Innerbody Research has helped tens of millions of readers make more informed decisions about staying healthy and living healthier lifestyles. Additionally, like all health-related content on this website, this review was thoroughly vetted by one or more members of our Medical Review Board for accuracy. We continue to monitor Mind Lab Pro and update this review as necessary.

Nootropics are complex supplements, but understanding what makes one better than others doesn’t have to be. We evaluate nootropics on four major criteria: effectiveness, safety, cost, and convenience. For us, effectiveness and safety are the most important — it’s not worth it to purchase a supplement if it isn’t going to work. And because your brain is one of the most important organs in your body, safety is understandably vital. The steps a company takes to make a nootropic safe can vary.

Mind Lab Pro is a stand-out for safety among nootropics — so much so that it somewhat compromises how well it works. It contains 11 well-studied ingredients, but only three are available in the same doses as successful clinical studies, with the company often opting for half-doses compared to these studies. Its low dosing does offer a lot of flexibility in your schedule, including the option to slowly onboard if you’re new to nootropics.

A self-funded study revealed that most users — especially those 30 or older — had better reaction times and recall abilities after taking Mind Lab Pro. Ultimately, we think it’s a decent value, particularly for new nootropic users, but it would be better if the company offered a subscription program like many competitors and doses for seasoned nootropics users that may be more effective.

Effectiveness

Mind Lab Pro contains 11 nootropic ingredients, including three B vitamins, herbs, and precursors to amino acids and neurotransmitters important for learning, memory, and attention. Most of these ingredients have decent research backing up their effectiveness as nootropic supplements. However, eight of them are underdosed in Mind Lab Pro compared to what researchers use in clinical studies. (Vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and lion’s mane mushroom are properly dosed, but if you aren’t deficient in vitamin B, you might not experience benefits from the high levels of B6 and B12.)

Nearly every nootropic on the market underdoses at least one ingredient, so it’s highly unlikely you’ll find a nootropic with a perfectly balanced formula. That being said, many of these combinations are created with the expectation that they may work better together (though the current research on many of these combinations is either slim or nonexistent).

When it comes to the lower-dose ingredients, Mind Lab Pro gives you about half of what researchers found effective per serving. This is good from a safety standpoint, preventing you from accidentally taking too much, but it also makes it hard to recommend Mind Lab Pro for effectiveness alone. Some might be tempted to double up on serving size for that reason, but we do not recommend taking this or any supplement in amounts beyond what is considered a proper serving unless you are instructed to do so by your doctor. If you’re new to nootropics, the recommended dose may still be enough to feel Mind Lab Pro’s effects.

Additionally, the company ran two published clinical studies (one on information processing and one on memory) that suggest this nootropic works well, if not better than Onnit’s Alpha BRAIN, Focus Factor Original, and Qualia Mind (the three other nootropics that have undergone similar testing).38 39 Of course, studies conducted by the company selling the product may be affected by bias, but we still appreciate them even if we prefer to see independent ones.

Cost

Mind Lab Pro’s price is on the higher side of average. It comes in at $69 per month — assuming you’re only taking two capsules daily — which is no small payment. And while there are several prominent nootropics that are more expensive, there are also many that cost half (or less) what you’ll pay for Mind Lab Pro.

Here’s a quick comparison between Mind Lab Pro and some other top nootropic choices:

Unlike four of its five top competitors mentioned above, Mind Lab Pro doesn’t offer a subscription program when you purchase directly. You can “save” 5% if you purchase from Amazon, but we don’t recommend this avenue because it’s more expensive from the outset ($80, or $76 with the 5% off), doesn’t have a bulk option, and is sold by a third party.

The lack of a direct subscription means you’ll have to remember when to reorder a bottle, and you won’t have access to the savings commonly associated with an ongoing subscription. However, if you order a four-month supply (four bottles), you’ll get one of those four bottles for free as a slight bulk savings deal; this is also the only configuration that earns you free shipping. Shipping costs are steep otherwise — you’ll have to pay at least $9.95 for shipping that may take up to ten days to arrive. In comparison, Qualia Mind’s standard shipping costs $7.98, and Noocube’s shipping is free worldwide for all orders.

Safety

Nootropic ingredients — particularly those related to acetylcholine — can be dangerous if not used properly. Mind Lab Pro takes an interesting approach to get around this puzzle: eight of the formula’s 11 ingredients are underdosed by clinical standards. The three ingredients that are dosed in line with successful studies are either water-soluble (meaning your body expels what it doesn’t use) or have no known side effects. Yet, many of these ingredients have substantial amounts of research suggesting that they have some impact on your cognition, so its list is streamlined compared to nootropics with 25 or more ingredients of varying quality (such as Qualia Mind or Focus Factor). Rather than just a cost-cutting measure, not getting as much of each ingredient significantly lowers your risk of side effects or other problems.

Mind Lab Pro has recently become more transparent in its quality testing, which we appreciate. On the "Quality" section of the product website, you can easily find and look through the most recent third-party certificate of analysis (CoA) conducted by Labdoor.

This third-party testing ensures the purity, potency, and activity of Mind Lab Pro's supplements. The company also tests individual ingredients before using them to verify that the label matches what you actually get. And all manufacturing happens in an FDA-registered, GMP-certified facility.

Additionally, Mind Lab Pro was tested in 2021 by a group of researchers at the University of Leeds, which found clinical success and noted no side effects from the supplement. (Funding was provided by Mind Lab Pro, however, so there's potential for bias in this study.)[36]

Convenience

Mind Lab Pro is more lenient in its dosage schedule than other nootropics. One serving is two capsules, but you can take up to four capsules (two servings) daily. Each bottle contains 60 capsules total, so taking more than one serving daily means that you’ll run out in less than one month, and no subscription options make it a hassle to re-order. It’s suggested that you take Mind Lab Pro on an empty stomach, which is rare for a nootropic. If you find it’s too intense, you can also take it with food, but Mind Lab Pro offers significant flexibility here that isn’t often found in other places.

Mind Lab Pro also has two separate return policies. You can get a full refund within two weeks of delivery if you haven’t opened any bottles. It’s more complicated if you tried it and didn’t like it.

The company offers a 60-day money-back guarantee that only covers one fully empty bottle of Mind Lab Pro (but you’ll need to try it, or just hold onto it, for 30 days first). If you purchase more than one bottle at a time to take advantage of savings, you won’t be able to get all of your money back. You’ll also have to pay for return shipping and won’t be reimbursed for the initial cost of shipping, meaning you’ll (disappointingly) get about $40 back at most.

This is a lackluster policy, especially compared to other nootropic companies. You can get a full refund on your first purchase of a 30-count bottle of Onnit’s Alpha BRAIN within 90 days without having to return the bottle, for example (you will have to try it or wait for two weeks, though, similar to Mind Lab Pro). Shipping times stretch long with Mind Lab Pro, too; standard shipping takes up to ten days, which is twice as long as most competitors who average 3-5 days.

Mind Lab Pro is a nootropic supplement made from 11 different ingredients. Nootropics are any substance that enhances your cognitive performance, including prescription medications for ADHD or dementia. However, the term usually refers to a kind of supplement that aims to enhance cognition through vitamins, minerals, and botanicals. These supplements are generally designed to either affect one aspect of cognition — such as mood or memory, known as a focused nootropic — or to enhance your neural function at large, called generalized nootropics.

Mind Lab Pro is a generalized nootropic supplement that claims to improve the following:

Mind Lab Pro might be just as relevant in the nootropic industry for what’s not in its formula as for what is. It has one of the lowest allergen profiles of any nootropic, as its formula is:

• Vegan
• Gluten-free
• Soy-free
• Nut-free
• Synthetic additive-free
• Caffeine-free
• Non-irradiated

Mind Lab Pro’s parent company, Opti-Nutra Advanced Nutraceuticals (usually written as just “Opti-Nutra”), also uses capsules made from prebiotic fiber instead of cellulose or gelatin. Mind Lab Pro is completely vegan, with seals of approval from the Vegetarian Society for vegetarians and vegans. Of course, it’s worth noting that applying for this trademark is relatively easy; the food product (or, in this case, supplement) must:2

• Contain no animal-derived ingredients
• Avoid cross-contamination with non-vegetarian products in production
• Be GMO-free
• Avoid animal testing (in theory or practice)

Essentially, these seals mean an independent third-party verified Mind Lab Pro’s vegan status. It’s useful information, but it doesn’t ultimately differentiate them much from other vegan supplements. However, it’s the only worthwhile nootropic that advertises its vegan status, as several common nootropic ingredients, like omega-3 fatty acids, are difficult to find in vegan form. And since vegans are often at risk for vitamin B12 deficiency, Mind Lab Pro’s high B12 dose makes it an even better choice for vegans.

Mind Lab Pro is also a certified B Corp, and it invests serious effort in using recycled materials and sustainable production by partnering with CleanHub. We’ve yet to come across another nootropic company that’s this dedicated to its sustainability efforts.

Opti-Nutra also makes Performance Lab, a supplement brand with minimalistic profiles ranging from multivitamins to immune boosters and prebiotics. Performance Lab carries its own nootropic supplement, competing with Mind Lab Pro. This supplement — simply called Mind — costs about the same ($59) for significantly fewer ingredients that are less likely to work. One serving contains:

• Citicoline: 250mg
• Phosphatidylserine: 100mg
• L-tyrosine: 250mg
• Maritime pine bark extract, 95% proanthocyanidins: 75mg

As we’ll get into below, Mind Lab Pro contains seven more ingredients (including several vitamins) and swaps out L-tyrosine for L-theanine. Between the two, we definitely recommend Mind Lab Pro. If nothing else, you’ll get some B vitamins with Mind Lab Pro, which can help keep your cellular energy levels high.

Mind Lab Pro's online reputation

On the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website, Mind Lab Pro has a C+ rating and isn’t BBB accredited. There are no reviews on the page and only two complaints within the past three years. The only visible complaint is from 2021 and involves frustration over Mind Lab Pro’s return process, but the company ultimately resolved the issue.

On the company's claimed Trustpilot profile, Mind Lab Pro has a 4.3 out of 5 star review score or “Excellent” by Trustpilot’s standards. There are only 54 reviews at the time of this writing, though, which isn’t a lot to go off of. However, the company has replied to all three negative reviews in less than one week of them being posted. Most 1- and 2-star reviews are about side effects (such as feeling jittery) or the product simply not working for some people.

Overall, while everyone’s experience with a product or company is valid, we feel that neither the BBB page nor the Trustpilot one offers enough information to judge the company and product.

To understand how the ingredients in Mind Lab Pro work, let’s take a look at the research on each one.

Based on the ingredients alone, we might be inclined to say that Mind Lab Pro’s formula is reasonable and relatively effective. Most of these ingredients show at least some promise of improving your neural health in clinical research, though most need more studies before anything can be stated definitively. Mind Lab Pro lacks some of the experimental or scientifically unfounded ingredients often seen in other lists, so while there’s the slight potential you could be missing out on the next big thing, it’s much more likely that you’ll side-step ingredients that don’t work.

But to assess whether or not Mind Lab Pro really works, we need to take a deeper look at how much of each ingredient you get per serving. Unfortunately, low doses plague the nootropic industry: no nootropic we’ve discovered includes the same amount of every ingredient as successful scientific studies proclaim. Here, Mind Lab Pro is no exception. It’s a safe move — some nootropic ingredients can get a little dangerous when provided at high doses without a doctor’s supervision — but one that can be frustrating if you’re looking (and paying) for results. For example, Thesis’s Logic formula includes twice as much L-theanine (200mg), but it’s still not enough to meet average clinical thresholds.

Mind Lab Pro isn’t unique in listing its doses in full, but that simple statement is much less common in nootropics than you might hope. (Of our favorite nootropics, only Mind Lab Pro, Qualia Mind, and Thesis list their ingredients in full. Alpha BRAIN and Focus Factor contain proprietary blends that obscure some ingredient amounts.) We used that information to our advantage to help you determine whether or not Mind Lab Pro could really work for you.

Looking at the USDA’s recommendations for vitamins and minerals — and the average dose used in published studies for herbal and synthetic ingredients — we determined an approximate appropriate range and compared it to what Mind Lab Pro offers. Here’s what we found:

Except for vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and lion’s mane mushroom, all of Mind Lab Pro’s ingredients are under-dosed.

While its dosage information looks slim at first glance, Mind Lab Pro is one of the only nootropics that outright suggests that you take more than one serving at a time. One serving contains two capsules, but you can take between two and four capsules daily. This is likely because of the company’s under-dosing strategy; doubling up brings most of these doses closer to the optimal range used in research. Using lower doses of its ingredients improves Mind Lab Pro’s safety profile, making it safer for more people to try and allowing new nootropic users to ease into its effects. It also means you may not feel much at all (or have to purchase multiple bottles per month, reducing the convenience and raising the overall cost of the supplement).

As always, we recommend that you speak with your doctor first before trying Mind Lab Pro or any new supplement — just to ensure there aren’t any potential interactions with any medications you take or medical conditions you may have.

Previous Mind Lab Pro formulas

Mind Lab Pro is currently in its fourth iteration (v4.0). Though its prices have shifted ever so slightly higher over the years, most of what’s changed between versions is the ingredient profile.

Take, for example, the 2017 formula for Mind Lab Pro. It included:

• Vitamin B6: 2.5mg
• Vitamin B12: 7.5mcg
• Cognizin-brand citicoline: 250mg
• Bacopa monnieri extract, 45% bacosides: 150mg
• Lion’s mane mushroom: 500mg
• Phosphatidylserine: 100mg
• Pterostilbene: 500mcg
• NALT: 175mg
• L-Theanine: 100mg
• Rhodiola rosea: 50mg
• Vinpocetine: 6mg

This is relatively close to what Mind Lab Pro currently contains, with a few exceptions. The current formula adds vitamin B9 and maritime pine bark extract while removing pterostilbene and vinpocetine. Adding folate may or may not do much, but it may improve your cognition if you’re deficient. (If you’re concerned about a folate deficiency, you should reach out to your doctor and have lab work done first to check.) And the research behind maritime pine bark’s nootropic effects is relatively new but still promising.

Pterostilbene is an antioxidant found in blueberries that is chemically very similar to resveratrol, the antioxidant found in red wine. Scientists are mixed as to whether or not pterostilbene is an effective nootropic, but because it has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, it may help your brain stay effectively regulated with age.32 However, a few studies found that pterostilbene raises LDL (“bad” cholesterol) levels — though the evidence is mixed — so it was likely removed from Mind Lab Pro just to be safe.33 This removal is especially important for those with vascular disease (like coronary artery disease or previous strokes) as an increase in LDL cholesterol can be exceptionally dangerous.

Out of the four changes, removing vinpocetine is probably the best decision the company made. The FDA stated the year prior (2016) that vinpocetine doesn’t meet the definition of a dietary ingredient and had been submitted as a new pharmaceutical drug before it could be processed as a supplemental ingredient.34 Even more importantly, the FDA issued a safety warning three years later because vinpocetine can harm fetal development and cause miscarriages.35

Mind Lab Pro is generally safe for most healthy adults who aren’t pregnant or breastfeeding. Its relatively slim ingredient list reveals no serious contraindications nor much risk of scary side effects. Likewise, it has no caffeine or other stimulants, making it safe for those who are sensitive (or just want to keep enjoying their morning coffee uninterrupted). Opti-Nutra also doesn’t recommend cycling, which is taking days off from regular use. A cycling recommendation is often a sign that a nootropic is either very strong or contains ingredients such as huperzine A (derived from Huperzia serrata or “toothed clubmoss”) that can build up in your system over time, either inducing a dependence or causing stronger side effects.51

There are no proprietary blends in Mind Lab Pro; all ingredients and doses are listed outright. Many other nootropics — including Alpha BRAIN and Focus Factor — combine ingredients into blends to avoid sharing their formula, which is a net negative for you as a consumer because that makes it much harder to find out exactly what you’re taking.

Mind Lab Pro is also tested by an independent third party for purity, potency, and activity, and these results are available to the public. Its ingredients are tested for quality before going into the manufacturing process, too, which verifies that you’re actually getting what the label says. This isn’t particularly common among nootropics, though most companies test at least once during manufacturing. (Qualia Mind, for example, tests its supplements twice during manufacturing but does both tests in-house, introducing room for bias.) All Mind Lab Pro supplements are made in a GMP-certified, FDA-registered facility, which we expect from any high-quality supplement manufacturer.

Research studies

On Mind Lab Pro’s website, there’s a page dedicated to research on the supplement. Currently, the company notes that there are three studies: two completed, with links to results, and one ongoing. Of course, any studies conducted or funded by a company selling a product may be skewed by some bias, but we still appreciate that studies were done. The same applies to similar research conducted on Alpha BRAIN, Focus Factor Original, and Qualia Mind — we always prefer independent third-party studies, but any research at all is nice to see.

The first study, published in 2023, focused on Mind Lab Pro’s effects on information processing, specifically when it comes to reaction time. This pseudo-randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study had 105 participants (61 in the experimental group and 44 in the control group), and they were given either Mind Lab Pro or a placebo pill for 30 days. Both groups were tested on their simple reaction time (SRT), choice reaction time (CRT), and anticipation before and after the 30 days of supplementation. The control group “did not statistically improve in any of the tasks,” while the experimental group saw “significant improvements” in SRT, CRT, and information processing tasks.38

The second Mind Lab Pro study involved the nootropic’s effect on memory. This double-blind, placebo-controlled study was also published in 2023 but had a smaller group of subjects — 49 healthy adults (36 in the experimental group and 13 in the control group). Similar to the other study, this one had participants taking either Mind Lab Pro or a placebo pill for about a month. But, for this study, subjects were asked to complete a memory test at the beginning and end of the 30 days. In the end, the control group saw significant improvement in “auditory memory and immediate recall,” while the experimental group “significantly improved in all memory subtests assessed.”39 The fact that both groups saw improvement casts a bit of doubt on the effectiveness of Mind Lab Pro, but the supplement may still provide some benefit for memory, as found in the experimental group.

Interestingly, on the Mind Lab Pro website, you can find a 2021 PDF from the University of Leeds (which conducted these studies with funding from Opti-Nutra) summarizing the research behind the nootropic. It contains the information from the two studies detailed above, along with data from a third study, but not the same “ongoing” third study mentioned previously. That one involves “EEG brain mapping technology,” while the one in the document focuses on the effects of Mind Lab Pro on “information processing and memory for a duration of three months followed by two months withdrawal.” In a way, it’s like a follow-up to the other two studies, but it’s not published in an actual scientific journal as far as we could find.36

This as-yet-unpublished research had the smallest participant group of the bunch, with only “14 healthy individuals” completing the study (eight in the experimental group and six in the placebo one). Researchers note that the same tasks in the information processing study were used, along with a shortened version of the memory tasks from the second study. Overall, the control group generally either made little or no improvement and saw minimal change when taken off the placebo pill, while the group taking Mind Lab Pro improved for the three months on the nootropic, then declined back to around baseline after one month off the supplement.36

Ultimately, despite our reservations about the scientific practice, the results (even though the data is weak) indicate that Mind Lab Pro may work for healthy adults despite the supplement’s low doses. However, Opti-Nutra uses this research to say that Mind Lab Pro is scientifically proven to work. That’s bad science branding, though not terribly uncommon. Much more — entirely independent — research is necessary to make that kind of statement, as self-funded research can be prone to bias.

As mentioned previously, three other serious competitors have been subject to scientific studies: Onnit’s Alpha BRAIN, Focus Factor Original, and Qualia Mind. Alpha BRAIN’s research was conducted by consultants for the brand, yet that study still found less evidence it worked than the studies on Mind Lab Pro. Focus Factor used one test (the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, which measures attention and short-term verbal recall) and found significant results, but didn’t go to the same lengths as Mind Lab Pro’s study team. Qualia Mind set up the most robust study, looking at six areas with validated questionnaires and a daily diary:

• Executive functioning (Adult Executive Functioning Inventory, ADEXI)
• Attention (Attention Control Scale, ATTC)
• Inspiration (Inspiration Scale, IS)
• Perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale, PSS)
• Workplace engagement (Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, UWES-3)
• Mindfulness (Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale, MAAS)

Participants reported significant improvements up to 10% in all areas after taking Qualia Mind for five days, but these results weren’t significant improvements over placebo.

Since Mind Lab Pro is quite safe for a nootropic, the list of people who should avoid it is relatively slim. However, like all supplements, it’s not going to be the right choice for everyone.

Mind Lab Pro claims to support healthy mood stabilization, but anyone with a psychiatric or neurological condition shouldn’t take Mind Lab Pro. This goes double for anyone taking medication for a neurological or psychological concern; SSRIs and MAOIs, common depression treatments, interact very poorly with certain ingredients in nootropics. For example, taking the common nootropic ingredient Bacopa monnieri with fluoxetine (Prozac) can lead to confusion, agitation, and changes in body temperature or blood pressure.52 Speaking with your doctor first is essential to avoid any potentially dangerous medication interactions.

You should also avoid Mind Lab Pro if you’re taking a blood thinner, such as warfarin, or prescription medications for Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, including anticholinergic or cholinergic drugs.

Other conditions that may interact poorly with Mind Lab Pro include:

• High blood pressure
• Heart problems
• Endocrine disorders (such as diabetes, thyroid problems, or low testosterone)
• Cancer
• Phenylketonuria (PKU)
• Muscular dystrophy
• Compromised immune systems

People who are pregnant or lactating shouldn’t take Mind Lab Pro (or any nootropic supplement), and neither should children under age 18.

And, again, we recommend speaking with your doctor before starting any new supplement, regardless of your health status.

Opti-Nutra offers Mind Lab Pro in one-, two-, or four-bottle shipments for $69 per bottle. You stand to save the most when you purchase a four-bottle shipment because the company only charges you for three bottles. That takes the cost per bottle down to $51.75. Here’s how the pricing breaks down:

• One-month supply: $69 ($2.30 per serving)
• Two-month supply: $138 ($2.30 per serving)
• Four-month supply: $207 ($1.73 per serving)

Shipping on four-month supply orders is free, but one- and two-month orders incur shipping charges:

• Standard (3-10 days): $9.95
• Expedited (2-4 days): $14.95

In the last year, the company has lengthened these shipping times; previously, you could expect standard shipping to arrive within six days and expedited shipping within three.

Refunds and money-back guarantee

Mind Lab Pro offers two different ways to get your money back: a refund or a money-back guarantee. It can be confusing to determine which step is right for your situation.

The refund works best for those with buyer’s remorse or who ordered the wrong number of bottles in the first place. No matter what you ordered, you can return it within 14 days as long as you don’t open or tamper with the bottles and contact customer service.

The money-back guarantee has a few more steps. Ultimately, the most you can possibly recoup from the company is $69. That’s because the guarantee only applies to one bottle and only on your first order. Opti-Nutra recommends trying the bottle for at least 30 days to see how you feel, but you can claim a refund within 60 days. The company will also take back any unused bottles you have, but you’ll only get your money back for one of them (minus any shipping costs). To get your refund, you’ll need to email your full name, address, and order number to customer service.

You’ll have to pay for return shipping costs for both types of refunds, too. Here’s what it would look like to ask for a refund on each of the three shipping tiers:

• One bottle: Refund of $69 minus any initial and return shipping costs
• Two bottles: Refund of $69 minus any initial and return shipping costs
• Four bottles: Refund of $69 minus return shipping costs (initial shipping was free)

Realistically, you can expect to get about $40 back from a refunded bottle. It’s better than nothing, like Focus Factor (which will only offer a refund within seven days if you receive a faulty product), but many nootropic companies will give you all of your money back. Here’s what other nootropic companies’ return policies look like compared to Mind Lab Pro:

Mind Lab Pro is far from the only nootropic on the market. In fact, the market was valued at $10.7 billion in 2021 and is only growing.37 But we still know little about how our brains work, let alone how to influence their function, so the question remains: are there other nootropics that might work better than Mind Lab Pro? Or are there nootropics that work just as well but cost half as much? The answer ultimately depends on your goals.

Since some nootropics appear better for specific processes than others, we’ll compare Mind Lab Pro to other generalized and focused nootropics. However, note that generalized nootropics tend to be less effective. When you’re trying to improve everything at once, it can be harder to make a notable difference than a product that zeroes in on one concept. While you can read more about our favorite nootropics in our guide to the best, we’ll break down how Mind Lab Pro compares in a little more detail below.

Generalized nootropics

Even though generalized nootropics may be less effective than focused nootropics, you might be more interested in a smaller boost across multiple aspects of your life rather than a big boost in just one area. Your needs may also not be as simple as desiring reduced brain fog or heightened creativity — in these cases, generalized nootropics, like Mind Lab Pro, can be a good option.

One close comparison to Mind Lab Pro is Hunter Focus, another generalized nootropic. Hunter Focus has a very similar ingredient list to Mind Lab Pro, including (but not limited to):

• Vitamin B6
• Vitamin B9
• Vitamin B12
• Organic Lion’s Mane mushroom
• Bacopa
• Citicoline
• Rhodiola rosea extract
• L-Theanine
• Phosphatidylserine
• Maritime pine bark extract

It has the same amount of most ingredients, with the exceptions of Bacopa extract (300mg, or three times that of Mind Lab Pro) and L-theanine (200mg, twice as much as Mind Lab Pro). However, Hunter Focus also adds the following to its formula:

• Vitamin C
• Vitamin D3
• Vitamin K2
• L-Tyrosine
• Acetyl-L-carnitine
• Ashwagandha root
• Ginkgo biloba extract
• Panax ginseng
• Spanish sage
• Caffeine anhydrous

These ingredients are well-studied as seemingly effective nootropics, with the exception of vitamins C and K2 (which boost energy and support vitamin D uptake, respectively). Notably, Hunter Focus contains 100mg of caffeine, which is the rough equivalent of a cup of coffee. Caffeine is considered an effective nootropic (if you’re a regular coffee drinker, you’ve probably noticed the difference in your attention, focus, and alertness before and after your morning cup). Some people tolerate caffeine well, but Mind Lab Pro is a better option here if you don’t.

There aren’t a ton of non-caffeinated generalized nootropics, so if you struggle with a caffeine sensitivity, we recommend Mind Lab Pro over others. However, the addition of caffeine in Hunter Focus will likely increase your alertness, which may make the supplement feel more effective. That being said, Hunter Focus is slightly more expensive than Mind Lab Pro (starting at $90 for one bottle), though you will get more bang for your buck with its longer ingredient list.

Focused nootropics

Focused nootropics recognize that your brain has strengths and weaknesses. Maybe you can remember exactly what you ate for breakfast at this time last month but struggle to stay focused at work, or you can’t do mental math as fast as you used to. A focused nootropic uses vitamins and herbal ingredients to try and recoup one aspect of your cognition, and there are several on the market with different goals: Onnit’s Alpha BRAIN, for example, improved verbal memory in one study, whereas Focus Factor’s Brain and Vision supplement has lutein and zeaxanthin to ideally protect your retinas as much as your myelin sheaths.

While Mind Lab Pro is our preferred non-caffeinated generalized nootropic, Thesis is our favorite nootropic overall. Thesis offers six different formulas in both caffeinated and non-caffeinated forms. (Caffeine comes in its own capsule, which you can choose to omit.) The closest to Mind Lab Pro is Thesis’ Logic blend, which includes:

• Ginkgo biloba
• Theobromine
• Phosphatidylserine
• High DHA algae
• Uridine monophosphate
• Bacopa monnieri
• Caffeine
• L-Theanine

However, you aren’t committed to just one formula; you can choose up to four or, if it’s your first time trying Thesis, take a personality and cognitive capability quiz to have the company’s algorithm pick four blends for you. It’s important to note that these formulas (like many other nootropics and supplements) are created based on the potential the individual ingredients have shown in research, but the ingredient combinations haven’t been studied.

Like Hunter Mind, Thesis is more expensive than Mind Lab Pro at $79 per month with a subscription (or $119 for a one-time purchase). Ultimately, if you find that Mind Lab Pro doesn’t quite meet your specific needs, a slightly more expensive — but more focused — nootropic, like Thesis, might be more effective.

You can learn more about Thesis in our dedicated review.