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NOW Foods vs Solaray Pumpkin Seed Oil (2026)
Disclosure: We earn commissions on purchases made through our links. This never influences our scores. Editorial policy
The Verdict
NOW Foods takes it on our rubric, 89 to 84 on our 0-100 execution score, and holds our Top Pick badge in the pumpkin seed oil scorecard. The gap splits between value, 23 against 20, and purity verification, 18 against 16; the two tie at a full 25 on dosing and form and a full 23 on transparency, which is the right result, because both labels are genuinely detailed. NOW's win is mostly the bottle: 200 softgels for $25.99 against 90 for $17.99 is a lower daily cost and far fewer reorders.
Solaray's per-serving fatty acid breakdown is the better disclosure of the two in one specific respect, and if that is what you want to see on a panel, it is the only place in our review you will find it. In our view NOW is the workhorse buy and Solaray is a fair alternative at a modest premium. One caveat applies to both: 1,000mg per softgel is well above the 320mg used in the Vahlensieck trial, and neither is easy to dose down without splitting a softgel.
Pumpkin Seed Oil 1000 mg, 200 Softgels
NOW Foods
Pumpkin Seed Oil 1000 mg, 90 Softgels
Solaray
Head-to-Head Comparison
| Category | Pumpkin Seed Oil 1000 mg, 200 Softgels NOW Foods | Pumpkin Seed Oil 1000 mg, 90 Softgels Solaray |
|---|---|---|
| Brand Score | 89/100Winner | 84/100 |
| Dosing & Form | 25/25Winner | 25/25 |
| Purity | 18/25Winner | 16/25 |
| Value | 23/25Winner | 20/25 |
| Transparency | 23/25Winner | 23/25 |
| Cost/Day | $0.13Winner | $0.20 |
| Dose/Serving | 1000mg | 1000mg |
| Form | Cold-pressed pumpkin seed oil (softgel) | Cold-pressed pumpkin seed oil (softgel) |
| Third-Party Tested | No | No |
| Proprietary Blend | No | No |
Why This Comparison Matters
Both products are cold-pressed pumpkin seed oil at 1,000mg per softgel, and both comfortably cover the trial doses our profile lists: 320mg in the Vahlensieck trial and 400mg in the Cho hair-growth trial. Neither carries an independent USP, NSF, or ISURA certification, so this comes down to what the labels say and what the bottles cost.
Both labels are unusually good for this category, in different ways. NOW names the species, Cucurbita pepo, discloses cold-pressing, and quantifies essential fatty acid and phytosterol content on the panel. Solaray quantifies its fatty acid composition per serving, listing linoleic acid at 520mg, oleic at 180mg, and palmitic at 125mg, which per our notes is the only product in our pumpkin seed oil review that puts those three numbers on the panel. Solaray also runs an in-house lab testing program in Utah; NOW manufactures in an NPA A-rated GMP facility.
On cost, NOW is about $0.13 per day at one softgel from a 200-count bottle at $25.99, roughly six months of supply. Solaray is about $0.20 per day from 90 softgels at $17.99. We scored both on dosing and form, purity verification, value, and label transparency.
Detailed Score Breakdown
Pumpkin Seed Oil 1000 mg, 200 Softgels
NOW Foods
1000mg cold-pressed Cucurbita pepo oil per softgel; comfortably covers the 320-400mg trial doses with margin and matches the form used in the Vahlensieck and Cho trials
GMP-certified manufacturing, NPA A-rated facility; phytosterol content disclosed on label; no independent USP/NSF certification on the SKU
Around $0.13/day at 1 softgel - best per-day value of any reputable cold-pressed pumpkin seed oil on Amazon
Cold-pressed disclosure, species (Cucurbita pepo) named, essential fatty acid and phytosterol content quantified on the panel, no proprietary blend
NOW's 200-count cold-pressed Cucurbita pepo oil is the workhorse pick - one softgel per day comfortably covers the prostate and hair-growth trial doses and gives 6+ months of supply.
Pumpkin Seed Oil 1000 mg, 90 Softgels
Solaray
1000mg cold-pressed pumpkin seed oil per softgel; label quantifies linoleic acid (520mg), oleic acid (180mg), and palmitic acid (125mg) per serving
Manufactured in a GMP-certified facility with in-house lab testing in Utah; no independent USP/NSF certification
Around $0.20/day at single-softgel dosing; solid but not the cheapest cold-pressed option
Fatty acid composition explicitly quantified per serving (rare in this category) - linoleic 520mg, oleic 180mg, palmitic 125mg; cold-pressed method disclosed
Solaray's per-serving fatty-acid quantification is unusually transparent for this category - the only product here that puts linoleic, oleic, and palmitic acid amounts on the panel.
How We Compared These Products
Every product in our database is scored on four equally-weighted pillars: dosing accuracy and form quality, purity verification (third-party testing), cost per clinically effective dose (not cost per pill), and label transparency. Each pillar is worth 25 points for a total of 100.
Cost per effective dose is calculated using the clinically studied dose from published research, not the manufacturer's suggested serving. If a product requires multiple servings to reach the dose used in clinical trials, that cost is reflected in the value score.
For a full explanation of our scoring methodology, see our methodology page. Prices were last checked on the dates listed for each product and may have changed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which pumpkin seed oil is cheaper per day?
NOW Foods, at about $0.13 per day against Solaray at about $0.20, both at one softgel. The bottles are $25.99 for 200 softgels and $17.99 for 90 softgels respectively, so NOW is the larger purchase but the lower running cost, worth roughly six months of supply.
Is either pumpkin seed oil third-party certified?
Neither carries USP, NSF, or ISURA certification, and our notes list that as a con on both. NOW manufactures in an NPA A-rated GMP facility; Solaray is GMP certified with an in-house lab testing program in Utah. Our purity verification pillar splits 18 to 16.
How much pumpkin seed oil did the trials use?
Per our profile: 320mg per day in the Vahlensieck prostate trial, 1g to 1.6g per day in the Nishimura overactive-bladder trial, and 400mg per day of pumpkin seed oil in the Cho hair-growth trial. Both products are 1,000mg per softgel, which clears the lower two comfortably but is not adjustable without splitting.
More Pumpkin Seed Oil Comparisons
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