Best vegan omega-3 (algae oil): 7 compared on EPA and DHA

Our pick is Deva Vegan Omega-3 DHA-EPA 500 mg: one softgel a day, 500 mg of DHA and EPA, registered with the Vegan Society. Compare other bottles on EPA plus DHA, not the number on the front. Doctor’s Best prints “2000 mg Per Serving” and its panel adds up to 1,200 mg of EPA and DHA (our arithmetic).

The 2,000 mg is the weight of the algal oil concentrate in two softgels. The panel says that oil provides 1,300 mg of omega-3 fatty acids, of which 800 mg is EPA and 400 mg is DHA, so 1,200 mg is the figure to compare (our arithmetic). That would still have been the most EPA and DHA per daily serving in this set (our arithmetic), so the bigger number buys Doctor’s Best nothing it needed. Sports Research is more open about it: 770 mg of omega-3 on the front, 630 mg of DHA plus EPA on the line below, from 1,400 mg of algal oil concentrate. Nordic Naturals’ 715 mg includes other omega-3s alongside 195 mg of EPA and 390 mg of DHA, which make 585 mg (our arithmetic). Future Kind goes furthest. Its product is called “500mg DHA + EPA”, and its own facts panel gives one softgel 500 mg of algal oil, 275 mg of omega-3 and 75 mg of EPA plus 150 mg of DHA, which is 225 mg of the two you came for (our arithmetic). Deva’s two potencies lead with a number that is all EPA and DHA, and so does Garden of Life’s Minami, whose 500 mg is all DHA and no EPA at all. Whether you need a bottle in the first place is the question our piece on algae omega-3 for vegans takes on. This page assumes you have decided to buy one.

What the softgel is made of, and who says it’s vegan

The capsule is the first thing to read after the EPA and DHA. Every product here uses a plant-based softgel, but they are built differently: tapioca starch at Deva, Sports Research and Future Kind, and carrageenan, a seaweed extract, at Doctor’s Best, Nordic Naturals and Garden of Life. Carrageenan is not an animal ingredient. Some people avoid it anyway, and if you do, that leaves four of the seven.

Then check where the vegan claim comes from. Deva cites its Vegan Society registration, and Sports Research and Nordic Naturals carry a Certified Vegan seal on the bottle. Doctor’s Best and Garden of Life print vegan wording without naming a certifier, and Future Kind’s page says vegan and cruelty free in its own words. The raw-material question is the same one that decides whether vitamin D3 is vegan, and there the answer splits within a single brand.

Last, look for the word that tells you what the big number measures. “Oil concentrate” or “algal oil” means the weight of the oil. “Total omega-3” can include omega-3s other than EPA and DHA, as Nordic’s footnote says outright. The line you want is the one that says EPA and the one that says DHA, added together, divided by the number of softgels you will actually take.

Seven algae omega-3 supplements, by EPA and DHA per day

We read every maker’s own US product page in November 2026, and took the full panels for Doctor’s Best, Sports Research, Nordic Naturals and Garden of Life from the label images in NIH’s Dietary Supplement Label Database, with the date each label entered it given in its own section. Future Kind’s figures come from the facts panel image on its product page. Prices are what each maker’s page showed on 8 November 2026, before subscription discounts. Labels and prices change; read the panel on the bottle you actually pick up. EPA plus DHA figures marked “our arithmetic” are sums we did from the panel.

Product	Daily serving	EPA + DHA per serving	EPA	DHA	Maker’s price	Vegan, per the maker or label
Deva Vegan Omega-3 DHA-EPA 500 mg	1 softgel	500 mg	150 to 210 mg	300 to 420 mg	Not on its page	Registered with the Vegan Society
Sports Research Vegan Omega-3	2 softgels	630 mg	210 mg	420 mg	$26.95 for 60	Certified Vegan seal
Doctor’s Best Vegan Omega-3	2 softgels	1,200 mg, our arithmetic	800 mg	400 mg	$35.09 for 60	Labeled vegan
Nordic Naturals Algae Omega	2 softgels	585 mg, our arithmetic	195 mg	390 mg	$30.95 for 60	Certified Vegan seal
Future Kind Vegan Omega-3	1 softgel (2 suggested)	225 mg a softgel, our arithmetic	75 mg	150 mg	$29 for 60, $26.10 on sale	“Vegan & Cruelty Free”
Deva Vegan Omega-3 DHA-EPA 300 mg	1 softgel	300 mg	90 to 126 mg	180 to 252 mg	Not on its page	Registered with the Vegan Society
Garden of Life Minami Algae Omega-3	2 softgels	500 mg, all DHA	None listed	500 mg	$39.19 for 60	Labeled “Vegan DHA”; contains soy

Deva Vegan Omega-3 DHA-EPA 500 mg

Our pick, because the number in its name is the number you get. One softgel a day carries 1,000 mg of microalgae oil that, in Deva’s words, “typically provides” 500 mg of DHA and EPA in total. Deva says the product is registered with the Vegan Society, names the source as Schizochytrium microalgae grown in a land facility, and says the oil is extracted without hexane. The other ingredients start with non-GMO tapioca starch and run through vegetable glycerin, high oleic sunflower oil, mixed tocopherols, organic orange oil, annatto color, rosemary extract and ascorbyl palmitate, and the product is sold as carrageenan-free.

Two things to know before you buy. The split is given as ranges, 300 to 420 mg of DHA and 150 to 210 mg of EPA, and the extremes of those ranges add up to anything from 450 to 630 mg (our arithmetic), so the 500 mg total is the figure Deva commits to and the split is not. And Deva’s page shows no price, so you will be comparing it at a retailer. Don’t buy it if you want a published price and a fixed EPA figure before you order.

Sports Research Vegan Omega-3

Our pick if you want more per day and don’t mind two softgels. The label in NIH’s database, entered in February 2024, gives 1,400 mg of algal oil concentrate (life’sOMEGA, from Schizochytrium) per two softgels, providing 770 mg of omega-3s: 420 mg of DHA, 210 mg of EPA and 140 mg of other omega-3s. The front of the bottle prints both 770 mg and the 630 mg of DHA plus EPA, so the figure that matters is on the side you see first. Its own store lists the 60-capsule bottle, 1,400 mg a serving, at $26.95, which at two a day is 30 days (our arithmetic).

The capsule is what Sports Research calls Plantgel, made of modified tapioca starch, vegetable glycerin and purified water, with no carrageenan in the list. The label carries a Certified Vegan seal and says third party tested, non-GMO tested and gluten-free. Its caution panel asks you to consult a healthcare professional first if you are pregnant, nursing, have a diagnosed medical condition, take a prescription medication such as a blood thinner or are planning surgery.

Doctor’s Best Vegan Omega-3

The most EPA and DHA per daily serving of the seven, at 1,200 mg in two softgels (our arithmetic), and the only one of the seven with more EPA than DHA: 800 mg against 400 mg. The oil is Elantria, from Schizochytrium microalgae. That split sits oddly beside the launch release, which describes Elantria as a pure algal oil “with one of the highest levels of DHA in the market”. The release gives no milligram figures; the label we read, entered in NIH’s database in December 2024, gives this bottle twice as much EPA as DHA, and the store page carries the same panel. Go by the panel.

The store lists it at $35.09 for 60 softgels, 30 days at two a day (our arithmetic). The softgel is carrageenan, modified food starch, purified water, glycerin and sorbitol, and the label warns you to consult a physician first if you take anticoagulants. Skip it if you avoid carrageenan, or if what you are after is DHA in particular. And read “2000 mg Per Serving” on the front as oil, not omega-3.

Nordic Naturals Algae Omega

Two soft gels give 715 mg of total omega-3s, and a footnote on the panel says that figure includes EPA, DHA and other omega-3s. EPA is 195 mg and DHA 390 mg, 585 mg between them (our arithmetic). The front of the bottle shows 715 mg, a Certified Vegan seal and the line “Plant-based EPA & DHA”.

The oil is Schizochytrium algal oil with high-oleic sunflower oil, and the soft gel capsule lists modified cornstarch, glycerin, carrageenan, sorbitol, water and carob color. The label in NIH’s database, marked Rev. K1, entered it in July 2023, and Nordic’s own product page still gives the same 715, 195 and 390 mg and the same capsule, at $30.95 for 60 soft gels. If carrageenan is on your list of things to avoid, Sports Research’s tapioca capsule gives a little more EPA and DHA without it, for less money.

Future Kind Vegan Omega-3

Future Kind makes the best case in this set for reading the panel. The product name says “500mg DHA + EPA”, and the facts panel says one softgel holds 500 mg of algal oil, providing 275 mg of omega-3 fatty acids, 75 mg of EPA and 150 mg of DHA. That is 225 mg of EPA and DHA a softgel (our arithmetic). The FAQ’s “Our Omega-3 contains 275mg” matches the panel’s total omega-3 line, not EPA and DHA, and the note under the panel pairs “250mg (1 softgel)” with a figure one softgel doesn’t reach, before suggesting two a day. Two give 450 mg (our arithmetic).

The rest of the page is easier to like. Future Kind says the softgels are vegan tapioca rather than gelatin, and carrageenan-free, which the ingredient list on the panel bears out: algal oil, modified tapioca starch, glycerin and purified water. It says the algae is grown in fermentation tanks in a controlled environment, and that the product is third party tested for potency, heavy metals and pathogens. It lists $29 for 60 softgels, shown at $26.10 when we looked, which is 30 days at the two a day it suggests (our arithmetic). The page also says the product “Supports mood & joint health”, which nothing we read for this article backs. Don’t buy it on the number in its name; buy it if 450 mg from two tapioca softgels is what you were after.

Deva Vegan Omega-3 DHA-EPA 300 mg

The smaller sibling of our pick, for anyone aiming at the 250 mg figure below rather than over it. One softgel carries 600 mg of microalgae oil providing 300 mg of DHA and EPA, given as 180 to 252 mg of DHA and 90 to 126 mg of EPA, and the bottle holds 90. Deva says this one is registered with the Vegan Society too, and the other ingredients all come from non-animal sources, starting with tapioca starch. Deva calls these softgels carrageenan-free too. Like its sibling, it has no price on the page.

Garden of Life Minami Algae Omega-3

Two mini softgels give 500 mg of omega-3s, all of it DHA, plus 1.5 mg of astaxanthin, and there is no EPA on the panel. If you want EPA as well, this is the wrong bottle.

Read the rest of the label carefully. It says “Contains: Soy”. The suggested use says “Not intended for children”, and the caution panel names people allergic to iodine, people on blood thinners and people who are pregnant or nursing among those who should consult a practitioner first. The label adds that it is made in a facility that also processes peanut, tree nuts and fish, and that the bottle is made in the EU; the softgel uses carrageenan and vegetable starch. That label entered NIH’s database in October 2020 and is the oldest in this set. Garden of Life now sells the product as Minami Algae Omega-3 Vegan DHA Orange, under the same item number, as a “100% Vegan Adult Formula” at $39.19 for 60 softgels, the highest of the five maker prices we read. Don’t buy it if you have a soy allergy or are buying for a child.

How much EPA and DHA a day?

EFSA, the European Union’s food safety agency, is the one body we read that puts a number on it. In its 2012 assessment of long-chain omega-3s, its panel said 250 mg a day is enough to maintain normal cardiac function and is an adequate intake for general cardiovascular health in healthy adults and children. The same panel said 2 to 4 g a day of EPA and DHA is needed for claimed effects such as keeping blood pressure and triglyceride levels normal, and that supplemental intakes up to 5 g a day (EPA and DHA combined) raise no safety concerns for adults. The servings in our table with a stated EPA and DHA total run from 225 mg (one Future Kind softgel) to 1,200 mg (our arithmetic), nowhere near 5 g.

The one study of vegans we read used almost exactly the 250 mg figure. Sarter and colleagues measured the omega-3 index, the share of EPA and DHA in red blood cell membranes, in 165 long-term vegans and found a mean of 3.7%. They then gave 46 of them, all with an index under 4%, a vegetarian omega-3 supplement providing 254 mg of DHA and EPA a day for four months, and the index rose from 3.1% to 4.8%. The authors wrote that the vegans responded robustly to a relatively low dose. The abstract describes no comparison group for that part of the study, so what it shows is the change in the people who took the supplement.

On whether algae oil does the same job as fish, a 2008 trial in 32 adults compared 600 mg a day of DHA from algal-oil capsules with DHA from cooked salmon over two weeks, and found similar rises in DHA in plasma and red blood cells. The authors concluded the two sources appear to be bioequivalent. That trial measured DHA only, and it measured blood levels, not anything that happens to you later.

So on dose, the reading we can support is narrow. In plain numbers, one Future Kind softgel, at 225 mg, sits below the 250 mg figure EFSA gives, and every other daily serving in our table, from Deva’s 300 mg up, sits above it. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, buying for a child or take a blood thinner, set the product and the dose with your doctor or a registered dietitian rather than from this page.

Omega-3 is one gap among several, and our guide to the supplements vegans need covers the others.

Best vegan omega-3 supplements: 7 algae oils compared on EPA and DHA, not the number on the front

What the softgel is made of, and who says it’s vegan