When you see a single number on a peptideone vendor card, it is not an opinion. It is a weighted average of up to three independent testing signals, each from a different source with a different methodology. This article explains what goes into that number, how it is calculated, and why one prominent source — PeptideBenchmark — is intentionally excluded.
What a "composite score" means
A composite score is only as trustworthy as its inputs, and the inputs are only useful if they are genuinely independent of each other. Double-counting the same test data under two different labels would make the score look more confident than it is. The peptideone Score (0–10) is designed to avoid that. It blends whichever of three signals are available for a given vendor, then renormalizes the weights over whatever is present. A vendor with all three signals gets a score from three sources; one with only one gets a score from that source alone, which is stated explicitly.
The three sources and their weights
| Source | What it measures | Scale | Weight in composite |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Finnrick](https://www.finnrick.com) | Blind-buy safety grade (purity, dose accuracy, batch quality) | 0–10 | 45% |
| [VialAudit](https://vialaudit.com) | Blind-buy composite audit (purity, label accuracy, shipping, service) | 0–100 (rescaled to 0–10) | 30% |
| [Peptigrity](https://peptigrity.com) | HPLC purity percentage from aggregated independent lab tests | % (mapped to 0–10) | 25% |
Finnrick carries the highest weight because its published methodology is the most transparent: it documents which scoring components it uses (purity by HPLC, quantity accuracy versus the label claim, and batch information quality), and it applies these consistently across blind-buy purchases. Finnrick publishes A–F letter grades derived from a 0–10 internal score; we store and display that score, attributed to Finnrick, not as our own measurement.
VialAudit contributes a complementary audit perspective. Its 0–100 score folds in shipping and service signals alongside analytical ones. We rescale it to the same 0–10 range for blending. VialAudit's testing is conducted as blind-buy audits, which makes it structurally independent of what Finnrick tests — the same vendor batch may or may not overlap.
Peptigrity publishes per-test HPLC purity data sourced from independent labs across multiple peptide purchases. We extract the mean purity percentage for each vendor from these underlying test records — not Peptigrity's composite Trust Score, which blends lab purity with community reviews. Because raw purity percentages are compressed near the top of the range (a vendor might reasonably fall between 95% and 99.5%), we apply a mapping that spreads the meaningful 90–100% band across the 0–10 scale. A result below 90% maps to 0; 100% maps to 10.
When more than one signal is present, the weights renormalize: if only Finnrick and VialAudit are available, their combined weight is treated as 100%, in proportion to their original 45/30 ratio.
Why PeptideBenchmark is excluded
PeptideBenchmark is a useful site and we reference it separately in our data pipeline. However, its Benchmark score is itself a composite that re-blends data from Finnrick and other sources we already count. Including it in our composite alongside Finnrick would give the same underlying tests a second vote — a form of double-counting that inflates apparent certainty without adding independent information.
The rule is: a source enters the composite only if it contributes data not already represented by another input. PeptideBenchmark does not pass that test. We still ingest and store PeptideBenchmark scores as attributed reputation signals, and they are visible on vendor profiles for reference. They are just not folded into the score calculation.
What the score does and does not tell you
The peptideone Score is a research-aggregation tool, not a purchasing recommendation. It summarizes publicly available independent testing data, attributed to the labs and sites that produced it. A higher score means independent testers have, on average, found stronger analytical results for that vendor's products. It says nothing about legality, dosing, or suitability for any purpose. Research peptides are sold for research use and are not approved for human consumption.
The full source breakdown — which signals contributed, their individual values, and the underlying test records — is shown alongside the score on every vendor profile.