Blueprint Omega 3 vs Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega

Omega 3 is where label reading pays off fastest. Two bottles can sit at similar prices and deliver very different amounts of the two fatty acids that matter, EPA and DHA.

These are the two bottles buyers cross shop most. Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega is the fish oil standard. Blueprint Omega 3 is the algae oil challenger, built for people who want the same fatty acids with no fish involved.

This article compares the two labels and the two prices. It is a label comparison, not a hands on review. I have not tested either product, and nothing here is sponsored.

The short version: Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega delivers more on paper. Two soft gels give 1,280 mg of total omega 3s, of which 1,100 mg is EPA and DHA, for $29.95 per 60 count bottle, about $1.00 a day. Blueprint Omega 3 gives 800 mg per two capsules, split evenly at 400 mg EPA and 400 mg DHA, for $39, about $1.30 a day. Nordic wins the dose math and the cost math. Blueprint wins the sourcing question, because its oil comes from algae and the product is fully vegan. Prices are as of November 2026. If you are new to Blueprint, you can get $50 off your first Blueprint order through this referral link, which is more than the price of the bottle.

The Biggest Trap: Comparing the Wrong Number, and the Wrong Nordic Bottle

The first trap is the headline number. Nordic prints 1,280 mg of total omega 3s per serving. Blueprint prints 800 mg. That looks like a rout until you split the Nordic figure. Of its 1,280 mg, 1,100 mg is EPA and DHA and 180 mg is other omega 3s. All 800 mg on the Blueprint panel is EPA and DHA. The honest gap is 1,100 against 800, not 1,280 against 800.

The second trap is the name on the other Nordic bottle. Nordic Naturals also sells a product called Algae Omega, a vegan algae oil with a lower EPA and DHA dose. It gets compared with Blueprint in roundups, because both are algae. It is not the product in this article. Ultimate Omega is the fish oil flagship, and it is the comparison buyers are actually making at the shelf.

Read both labels on EPA and DHA alone, and the rest of this comparison gets simple.

The Two Labels, Side by Side

Amounts are per serving, as printed on the current labels. Nordic prices are for the 60 count bottle sold on its own site.

Two details deserve a plain statement. First, the split differs, not just the total. Blueprint is an even 400 and 400. Nordic leans toward EPA at 650 and 450. Buyers who care about one fatty acid more than the other should read their own column, not the total.

Second, both oils sit in the triglyceride family. Blueprint oil holds the natural triglyceride form it had inside the algae. Nordic concentrates its fish oil and converts it back into triglyceride form, which is the form better fish oils use. Neither product is the cheaper ethyl ester style of concentrate.

The Cost Math That Matters

Omega 3 is bought by the milligram of EPA and DHA, so cost per 1,000 mg is the honest figure. Blueprint works out to $1.63 per 1,000 mg. Nordic works out to about $0.91. Per day, Nordic gives about 37 percent more EPA and DHA while costing about 23 percent less.

Autoship narrows the Blueprint side a little without changing the order. At $37.05, a Blueprint bottle costs about $1.24 a day, still above the Nordic list price per day.

If you are a first time Blueprint buyer, the referral credit is the largest saving on this page. You can claim $50 off your first Blueprint order with a referral link, and since one bottle costs $39, the credit covers it. The discount applies at checkout, no code needed.

Source and Form: Where Blueprint Makes Its Case

The dose math favors fish oil. The sourcing math is where Blueprint argues back, and the argument is factual rather than sentimental.

Fish do not make EPA and DHA. They accumulate both from the algae they eat. Blueprint grows its Schizochytrium algae in indoor fermentation tanks and extracts the oil at the source. No fish is caught, and the oil never passes through an ocean food chain, so the contaminant exposure that fish oil testing exists to catch is mostly designed out before testing starts. The capsule is hypromellose rather than gelatin, and the only other ingredients are orange oil and lemon oil. The full panel is in my Blueprint Omega 3 ingredients breakdown.

Nordic starts where the category started. Its oil comes from wild caught sardines and anchovies, it is certified by Friend of the Sea, and the soft gel is gelatin, which is why the product is not vegan despite the clean label. The lemon flavor is there to solve the oldest fish oil complaint, the taste that comes back.

The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements omega 3 fact sheet treats the two sources as delivering the same nutrients, since algal oil provides EPA and DHA just as fish oil does. It also notes that up to 5 g a day of combined EPA and DHA from supplements is generally recognized as safe, a ceiling both of these servings sit far below. Neither brand product has been trialed against the other. The choice is sourcing and arithmetic, not study results.

Testing: What Each Brand Puts in Writing

Both brands claim third party testing, and the wording differs in a way worth noticing.

Nordic states that every product is tested to verify potency, purity, and freshness, and that a certificate of analysis is available for every product. That is a per product promise a buyer can act on.

Blueprint states that its omega 3 is third party tested for heavy metals, contaminants, and toxins, and it publishes batch reports across its line. For this specific bottle, I could not locate a public batch report with measured values, so there are no oxidation or metals figures to quote here. I explained how Blueprint testing reports work, and what to look for in one, in Blueprint Third Party Testing. On paperwork alone, Nordic makes the easier file to check. On sourcing, Blueprint has less to test for. Both statements are true at once.

Which Buyer Each Label Fits

Pick Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega if dose per dollar is the decision. It delivers the most EPA and DHA per serving of the two, at the lowest cost per 1,000 mg, with a long record in the category.

Pick Blueprint Omega 3 if the source is the decision. It is the one to buy when you want EPA and DHA with no fish, no gelatin, and an even split between the two fatty acids, and you accept paying more per milligram for that sourcing.

What to Look For on Any Omega 3 Label

• EPA and DHA printed as separate milligram amounts, not folded into one total.
• The share of the total that is other omega 3s, which pads the headline number.
• Cost per 1,000 mg of EPA and DHA, worked out from the price and the servings.
• The source species or algae strain, named on the label rather than implied.
• The form, triglyceride or ethyl ester, and whether the capsule shell is gelatin or plant based.
• Testing you can open yourself, ideally a certificate tied to the product in front of you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which one has more EPA and DHA?

Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega. A serving carries 650 mg of EPA and 450 mg of DHA, for 1,100 mg combined. Blueprint carries 400 mg of each, for 800 mg combined. Nordic also prints 180 mg of other omega 3s, which is how its total reaches 1,280 mg.

Is Blueprint Omega 3 vegan?

Yes, completely. The oil comes from algae grown in fermentation tanks, and the capsule shell is hypromellose instead of gelatin. Ultimate Omega is not vegan. Its oil comes from sardines and anchovies, and its soft gel shell is gelatin.

Is Nordic Algae Omega the same comparison?

No. Algae Omega is a separate Nordic product, a vegan algae oil with a lower EPA and DHA dose than either bottle here. This article compares Blueprint against Ultimate Omega, the fish oil flagship most buyers mean when they say Nordic Naturals.

Which one is cheaper?

Nordic, on both measures. It costs about $1.00 a day against $1.30 for Blueprint, and about $0.91 per 1,000 mg of EPA and DHA against $1.63, at one time prices as of November 2026. A first Blueprint order is the exception, since the $50 referral credit is larger than the $39 bottle.

Is either product in a bundle?

Ultimate Omega is a standalone Nordic product. Blueprint Omega 3 is also sold on its own. It appears in none of the Easy, Medium, or Big Stacks, as mapped in Blueprint Stacks Explained.

The Bottom Line

This is the rare comparison where both sides win something real. Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega wins the arithmetic, with more EPA and DHA per serving at a lower cost per milligram. Blueprint Omega 3 wins the sourcing, with the same two fatty acids grown in a tank instead of caught at sea, in a fully vegan capsule, at an even split most algae oils do not offer.

If the Blueprint label is the one that fits, you can get $50 off your first Blueprint order here and put the credit toward your first bottle.

Related reading:

• Blueprint Omega 3 Ingredients: Every Dose on the Label
• Blueprint Third Party Testing
• Blueprint Collagen Peptides vs Vital Proteins
• Blueprint Essential Capsules vs Ritual