CoQ10 UK: Ubiquinone vs Ubiquinol, Milligram Strengths and Softgels vs Capsules

Coenzyme Q10 has one of the widest price ranges on the shelf. In our range, products described as CoQ10 run from around £14.55 to £57.99, and the packs do not look all that different from one another. Some of that gap is dose. Some of it is the form. Some of it is a trademarked raw material. None of it is obvious from the front of the box.

Here is how to read a CoQ10 label and work out which of those you are actually paying for.

Start with the regulatory position

It shapes the whole category, so it is worth stating plainly: there are no authorised health claims for coenzyme Q10 in Great Britain. A compliant label therefore describes what is in the capsule — the form, the milligrams, the other ingredients — and stops there.

That is why packaging in this category leans on words like "high absorption", "active" and "complete" rather than sentences. Those phrases are generally part of a product's registered name rather than a claim about what it does. And it is a useful filter when you are shopping around: if a listing tells you what CoQ10 will do for you, that seller is not following GB rules, whatever else they might be getting right.

Ubiquinone and ubiquinol: the two forms

Both are coenzyme Q10, and both are labelled as such. The difference is chemical state.

Ubiquinone is the oxidised form. It is the long-standing standard, it is what "CoQ10" on a label usually means when nothing else is specified, and it is consistently the cheaper of the two per milligram. NOW Foods CoQ10 100mg is 150 softgels at £15.17. Allnutrition Q10 Coenzyme is 100 capsules at £16.99. BioTechUSA Q10 Coenzyme 100mg is 60 capsules at £16.99.

Ubiquinol is the reduced form. It is a more expensive raw material and the finished products reflect that: NOW Foods Ubiquinol 100mg is £43.99, Doctor's Best Ubiquinol with Kaneka 100mg is 60 softgels at £53.99, and Jarrow Formulas Ubiquinol QH‑absorb 100mg is 60 softgels at £51.99.

The practical point is the price gap, which is large and consistent. At 100mg, ubiquinol products in our range sit at roughly three times the price of ubiquinone ones. Whether that is worth it to you is a question for your GP or pharmacist rather than a product page, but you should at least know that is the choice you are making, because the front of the pack often does not spell it out.

The milligram strengths

CoQ10 is sold across a wide range of strengths, and this is where most of the value comparison lives:

• 30–60mg — typically found in combination products. NOW Foods CoQ10 with Omega‑3 60mg is 120 softgels at £14.55.
• 50mg — Doctor's Best Ubiquinol with Kaneka 50mg, 90 softgels at £44.99.
• 100mg — the most common single-ingredient strength, and the easiest to compare across brands.
• 200mg — Jarrow Formulas Co‑Q10 200mg at 60 vcaps for £35.99, Dorian Yates DY LIFE Coenzyme Q10 200mg at 60 softgels for £25.99, Doctor's Best 200mg at 60 veggie softgels for £30.99.
• 300–400mg — the high end. Doctor's Best 300mg is 90 veggie softgels at £57.99 and 400mg is 60 vcaps at £50.99.

Note how little the pack price tells you. The £15.17 product contains 150 units; the £50.99 one contains 60 at four times the strength. You cannot rank these without doing the sum.

Cost per 100mg

This is the number that makes the category comparable. It works across forms, strengths and pack sizes:

pack price ÷ (mg per serving × servings per pack) × 100 = cost per 100mg

Run it on NOW Foods CoQ10 100mg, 150 softgels at £15.17: that is 15,000mg in the pack, giving roughly 10p per 100mg. Run it on Doctor's Best Ubiquinol with Kaneka 100mg, 60 softgels at £53.99: 6,000mg in the pack, giving around 90p per 100mg. Both are legitimate products serving different buyers, but a ninefold difference in cost per 100mg is worth seeing before you decide.

Check the serving size while you are there. Some labels are per capsule and some are per two capsules, and that alone halves or doubles the answer.

Softgels, capsules and veggie softgels

CoQ10 is fat-soluble, which is why it is so often presented as an oil suspension inside a softgel rather than as a dry powder in a capsule. Standard softgel shells are gelatin.

If you need a plant-based option, look for it stated explicitly — Doctor's Best lists several products as "veggie softgels" and others as "vcaps", and Jarrow and Cytoplan use vcaps too. Do not assume from the ingredient; assume from the shell description. The wider ranges are in Softgels and Capsules.

Many labels in this category also direct you to take the product with a meal. That is a direction on the pack rather than advice from us, but it is worth reading before you settle into a routine of taking it first thing.

Trade names on the label

Two crop up repeatedly and both are ingredient trademarks rather than claims:

• Kaneka identifies the manufacturer of the ubiquinol raw material. Seeing it tells you which supplier's ingredient is in the capsule.
• BioPerine is a standardised black pepper extract added to some formulations. It appears in the registered product names of Doctor's Best High Absorption CoQ10, which is sold from £19.21 at 100mg up to £50.99 at 400mg. The words are the product's name; what BioPerine tells you factually is that there is a black pepper extract on the ingredients list.

Watch out for doubling up

CoQ10 turns up inside other products more often than people realise. NOW Foods CoQ10 with Omega‑3 combines it with fish oil; Cytoplan CoQ10 Multi is 60 vcaps at £29.99 and sits in the multivitamin category. If you already take one of these, a standalone product on top is duplicated spend. Our multivitamin guide covers how to audit what you are already taking.

A short buying checklist

1. Ubiquinone or ubiquinol — and did you mean to choose that one?
2. Milligrams per serving, and how many capsules make a serving.
3. Cost per 100mg across your shortlist.
4. Softgel or vcap, and is the shell plant-based if that matters to you?
5. Anything else in your cupboard that already contains it.

And one non-negotiable: if you take any prescribed medication, check with your GP or pharmacist before adding CoQ10, because it is one of the supplements most worth asking about.

Shop at NE Commerce

CoQ10 and ubiquinol sit within our Vitamins & Health range, across softgel and vegetarian capsule presentations from brands including NOW Foods, Doctor's Best, Jarrow Formulas, Cytoplan and BioTechUSA.

A quick note

This article is general information, not medical or nutritional advice. Food supplements are not a substitute for a varied, balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle, and should not be used to prevent or treat any illness. Always read the product label, do your own research, and speak to a qualified doctor, pharmacist or registered nutritionist before starting a new supplement — especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, under 18, taking medication or managing a health condition.