Prenuvo and Ezra are the two names most people mean when they say whole-body MRI, and they are usually compared on price alone. That comparison is broken, because their cheapest scans do not image the same anatomy. One leaves the spine out at its entry tier; the other bundles a blood panel and a results consultation into the same figure. This page sets out what each price actually buys, then what the published evidence says about buying either.
What each company is
Prenuvo is an independent whole-body MRI company that reports more than 170,000 completed scans across roughly 21 US clinics. Prices below are its published list as of August 2026. It restructured its offer around annual memberships: Core at $1,199, Comprehensive at $2,499, and Executive from $3,999, with location-based pricing at the top tier reaching $4,499 in major metros and $4,999 in New York City. Every tier pairs imaging with a blood panel and at least one Results Review, and the two higher tiers add follow-up labs at six months. Standalone scans are still sold: a Focused Scan at $1,199 and a Whole Body Scan at $2,499.
Ezra was the first US direct-to-consumer whole-body MRI provider and is now owned by Function Health, which acquired it in May 2025 and integrated its FDA-cleared imaging AI into the Function platform. Ezra still sells under its own name and price list, which as of August 2026 reads: a 22-minute MRI at $999 covering head, neck, abdomen and pelvis, a 47-minute version adding spine at $1,699, and a two-session skeletal and neurological assessment at $3,999. A Function membership is optional and discounts the first two tiers to $899 and $1,499. Ezra also sells a $349 Heart CT for coronary calcium and a $399 Lung CT on their own.
The Verdict
Prenuvo vs Ezra, side by side
The coverage rows matter more than the price rows. A cheaper scan that omits the spine is not a discount on the same product, it is a smaller product.
| Attribute | Prenuvo | Ezra |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns it | Independent company | Owned by Function Health, which acquired Ezra in May 2025 |
| Cheapest scan | Focused Scan, $1,199 | MRI Scan, $999 ($899 with a Function membership) |
| What the cheapest scan covers | A focused protocol, roughly 30 minutes standalone | Head, neck, abdomen and pelvis. Spine is not included at this tier |
| Whole-body scan | Whole Body Scan, $2,499; roughly 50 minutes standalone, about 60 on the Comprehensive membership | MRI Scan with Spine, $1,699 ($1,499 with a Function membership), 47 minutes |
| Top tier | Executive membership from $3,999/yr; adds body composition, an advanced brain scan and an advanced heart scan | Skeletal and Neurological Assessment, $3,999; adds hips and knees, a brain angiogram and body composition across two sessions |
| Fastest protocol | About 30 minutes for the Focused Scan | 22 minutes for the base MRI, using FDA-cleared AI to shorten acquisition |
| Sold as | Annual memberships (Core $1,199, Comprehensive $2,499, Executive from $3,999) or standalone scans | Standalone scans. A Function membership is optional and only discounts two of the MRI tiers |
| Blood panel included | Yes, at every membership tier, with follow-up labs at six months on Comprehensive and above | Not in the scan price. Labs come from a separate Function membership |
| CT options | Not sold separately; heart and brain assessments sit inside the Executive tier | Heart CT (coronary calcium) $349, Lung CT $399, sold on their own |
| Who reads the scan | Board-certified radiologist report, plus one or two Results Reviews depending on tier | Board-certified radiologist report, with AI assisting image analysis |
| Completed scans reported | More than 170,000, self-reported as of 2026 | Not published |
| US locations reported | Roughly 21 clinics | Roughly 100, reported at the May 2025 acquisition announcement |
| Insurance | Not covered. No major medical society endorses whole-body screening in average-risk adults | Not covered, for the same reason |
The coverage map, which is where the price comparison breaks
Buyers compare $999 against $1,199 and conclude Ezra is $200 cheaper. Those two scans do not image the same body. Below is what each tier actually reaches, which is the comparison that should drive the decision.
| Anatomy or measurement | Prenuvo | Ezra |
|---|---|---|
| Head and neck | Included in the Whole Body Scan | Included at every MRI tier, including the $999 base |
| Abdomen and pelvis | Included in the Whole Body Scan | Included at every MRI tier, including the $999 base |
| Spine | Included in the Whole Body Scan | Requires the $1,699 tier; not in the $999 scan |
| Hips and knees | Not itemised below the Executive tier | Requires the $3,999 tier |
| Brain angiogram | Advanced brain health scan sits in the Executive tier from $3,999 | Requires the $3,999 tier |
| Body composition | Executive tier from $3,999 | Requires the $3,999 tier |
| Coronary calcium | Advanced heart health scan sits in the Executive tier | Separate $349 Heart CT, buyable without any MRI |
| Lungs | MRI reads lung tissue poorly; not a strength at any tier | Separate $399 Lung CT, which is the right modality for lung |
Read down the spine row and the pricing question changes shape. Ezra at $999 is the cheapest way into the category, and it is a torso-and-head scan. Adding spine puts Ezra at $1,699, still below Prenuvo's $2,499 whole-body figure, but that Prenuvo figure carries a blood panel, follow-up labs at six months and two Results Reviews. Strip those out and the imaging gap narrows considerably. Add them back through a separate Function membership and Ezra's total moves up. The like-for-like comparison depends entirely on whether you want labs in the same purchase.
Where Prenuvo leads
- Labs in the same purchase. Every membership tier includes a blood panel, and Comprehensive and above add follow-up labs at six months, so the imaging arrives with biochemistry beside it.
- A scheduled results conversation. One Results Review at Core, two at Comprehensive, extended at Executive. A report you discuss is used differently from a report you receive.
- Scale of prior reads. More than 170,000 completed scans self-reported as of 2026, which is the larger self-reported examination base of the two.
- Year-over-year structure. The membership is built for repeat comparison against your own baseline, which is the only way a screening scan becomes a trend rather than a snapshot.
Where Ezra leads
- Entry price. $999, or $899 with a Function membership, is the lowest cost of entry to whole-torso MRI from either company.
- Time in the bore. 22 minutes against roughly 30 to 75 minutes depending on tier, achieved with FDA-cleared AI that shortens acquisition. For a claustrophobic buyer this is the deciding specification.
- Buying one thing once. No membership required, so a single scan is a single transaction with no recurring commitment.
- Right-modality add-ons sold separately. A $349 Heart CT and a $399 Lung CT cover the two things MRI reads worst, and either can be bought without an MRI at all.
What the evidence supports, for both
No randomised controlled trial has shown that whole-body MRI screening of asymptomatic average-risk adults reduces mortality. In June 2026, Dr Matthew Davenport of the University of Michigan and Dr Scott Reeder of the University of Wisconsin published Elective MRI Screening of the General Public: Buyer Beware in JAMA, arguing that preventive imaging companies market early detection while downplaying the invasive procedures that positive findings often trigger and the false-positive rate in healthy populations. Their point about incentives is worth reading directly: a definitive trial would either collapse pricing through insurance coverage or end the product, so neither outcome favours funding one.
That is an argument about population screening, not a claim that imaging never helps. Whole-body MRI answers a structural question well, and there are people for whom it is reasonable: a documented family history, a known cancer predisposition syndrome managed with a clinician, or a specific unexplained finding. It is also the wrong tool for several things it gets bought for. It under-reads lung nodules, which is why low-dose lung CT is the test with screening evidence in smokers. It does not replace mammography, colonoscopy, or a coronary calcium score. And it does not answer metabolic or hormonal questions at all, which is what our biomarker guides are for.
Who should pick Prenuvo
- Someone who wants imaging and bloodwork read together. The membership puts a panel, follow-up labs and a scan on one bill, and the Results Review is where the two get connected.
- Someone establishing a multi-year baseline. If the plan is to rescan and compare, the membership structure and the larger prior-read base are built for that comparison.
- Someone who wants the brain and heart assessments bundled. The Executive tier from $3,999 packages an advanced brain scan, an advanced heart scan and body composition rather than selling them piecemeal.
Who should pick Ezra
- Someone testing the category once. $999 with no membership is the cheapest way to find out whether a scan tells you anything you will act on.
- Someone who cannot tolerate a long scan. 22 minutes is a materially different experience from 50, and compliance beats specification on a test you have to lie still for.
- Someone whose real question is cardiac or pulmonary. The $349 Heart CT and $399 Lung CT are the correct modalities for those questions and cost a fraction of any MRI tier.
Public litigation
Prenuvo faces an open medical malpractice / negligence suit in New York (filed September 2024) alleging a radiologist missed stroke-related findings on a whole-body MRI. These are allegations, not findings: Washington Post. For Ezra, none publicly identified. This row is reported on every platform we cover, and it is a matter of public record rather than a judgement about scan quality.
Who should pick neither
Two groups should probably not book either scan. The first is anyone whose concern is cancer specifically rather than structure. A blood-based multi-cancer test reaches signals no scan can see, and Galleri is the main consumer example at a $950 list price with a reduced self-pay price of $799 or less through many providers, though it requires a clinician to order it. Our Galleri review covers what that class of test does and does not establish. Imaging and blood-based detection find different classes of signal, and buyers who can afford both frequently run both rather than choosing.
The second is anyone who wants someone to act on the findings. Both companies end at a report, with Prenuvo adding a review conversation. Neither manages what comes next. Fountain Life bundles imaging into a concierge membership starting above $19,500 a year, where the price buys coordination as much as tests. Below that, the practical route is a longevity clinic or a direct primary care practice that will receive the report and own the follow-up. Our doctor-led options page lists those programs with pricing.
Can you use both?
There is no technical reason not to, and one sensible reason to consider it: the tiers are cheap enough at the bottom that a $349 Ezra calcium score alongside a Prenuvo membership covers the coronary question MRI is poor at. Running two full whole-body scans in the same year is a different matter. It roughly doubles the cost, roughly doubles the chance of an incidental finding, and does not double the information, because the two scans are imaging the same anatomy with the same modality. If you want a second opinion on a specific finding, ask for the images and ask your clinician to arrange a second read, which costs far less than a second scan.
Expect the reports to differ in style rather than in substance. Protocol length, slice coverage and reporting conventions vary between the two, so a finding described one way in one report may be phrased differently in the other. That is not an error to reconcile. Both end at a board-certified radiologist reading soft-tissue anatomy, and the useful rule is to compare any rescan against a prior scan from the same provider on the same protocol.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Prenuvo or Ezra better?
Neither is better across the board, because they are priced and packaged around different purchases. Prenuvo sells an annual membership that bundles a scan with a blood panel and a results consultation, so the recurring relationship is the product. Ezra sells individual scans and separate heart and lung CTs, so you can buy exactly one thing once. Ezra is cheaper at the entry point and faster in the bore. Prenuvo includes labs and a review conversation that Ezra prices separately through Function Health. The scan itself is a magnet and a radiologist on both sides.
Which one is actually cheaper?
Ezra is cheaper at every matched tier, but the entry prices are not comparable because the anatomy differs. Ezra's $999 scan covers head, neck, abdomen and pelvis and leaves out the spine. Prenuvo's $1,199 Focused Scan and $2,499 Whole Body Scan carry different coverage maps again. Once you add spine to Ezra the price is $1,699 against Prenuvo's $2,499 whole-body figure, and the Prenuvo number includes a blood panel and results reviews that Ezra does not bundle. Match the anatomy and the inclusions before comparing the headline numbers, or the comparison is meaningless.
Is Ezra the same company as Function Health?
Ezra is owned by Function Health, which acquired it in May 2025 and folded its FDA-cleared imaging AI into the Function platform. Ezra still sells scans under its own name and its own price list. A Function membership is optional: it discounts the $999 base MRI to $899 and the $1,699 spine scan to $1,499, and it is where the blood-testing side of the offer lives. You do not need to be a Function member to book an Ezra scan. See our Function Health review for what the membership itself covers.
How long does each scan take?
Ezra's base MRI takes 22 minutes, which is the shortest whole-torso protocol either company sells, and it gets there using FDA-cleared AI that shortens acquisition. Adding spine takes Ezra to 47 minutes. The $3,999 skeletal and neurological tier runs about 60 minutes across two sessions. Prenuvo runs roughly 30 minutes for a standalone Focused Scan, about 45 minutes for the Core membership scan, about 50 minutes for a standalone Whole Body Scan, and about 75 minutes at the Executive tier. Time in a closed bore matters if you are claustrophobic, and it is the one specification where the gap is large.
Do either of these find cancer reliably?
Neither has randomised trial evidence showing that screening asymptomatic average-risk adults reduces deaths. A June 2026 JAMA piece by Dr Matthew Davenport of the University of Michigan and Dr Scott Reeder of the University of Wisconsin, titled Elective MRI Screening of the General Public: Buyer Beware, argues that the industry markets early detection without weighting the downstream harm. Davenport put the finding rate at roughly 20% to 40% of scans producing something that then drives further testing. Whole-body MRI also under-reads lung nodules and breast microcalcification, so it is not a substitute for the screening tests that do have trial evidence.
What does a whole-body MRI miss?
Both companies image soft tissue well and share the same blind spots. Lung nodules are poorly characterised on MRI, which is why Ezra sells a separate $399 Lung CT and why low-dose lung CT is the modality with actual screening evidence in smokers and former smokers. Breast microcalcification needs mammography. Hollow-organ lining, meaning colon and stomach, needs endoscopy. Coronary plaque needs a calcium-score CT, sold by Ezra at $349 and folded into Prenuvo's Executive tier. Our full body MRI guide works through the coverage gaps in detail.
Prenuvo vs Ezra for a first-ever scan?
For a first scan the deciding factors are usually clinic proximity, how long you can tolerate a closed bore, and whether you want labs in the same purchase. Ezra's 22-minute base protocol is the easiest first experience and the lowest entry cost. Prenuvo's membership tiers hand you a blood panel plus a scheduled results conversation, which is the difference between receiving a report and having someone walk you through it. Budget for what happens after either scan: on the JAMA finding rate, a meaningful share of first scans generate a follow-up recommendation, and neither company's price includes that workup.
Does insurance cover a Prenuvo or an Ezra scan?
No, and the reason is the same for both. No major medical society recommends whole-body MRI screening for asymptomatic average-risk adults, so payers have no obligation to reimburse it and generally do not. HSA and FSA eligibility varies by plan and by how the service is coded, so confirm with your administrator rather than assuming. Follow-up imaging or biopsies triggered by a finding are usually billed as diagnostic care and often are covered, which is a real asymmetry worth understanding before you book: the screening scan is on you, the cascade it starts may not be.