Pendulum Probiotics Reviews

Looking at the probiotics market, you might understandably feel overwhelmed by the breadth of choice. It’s complicated enough to understand what qualities go into a good probiotic, and no easy thing to clear away the brush and topsoil of lesser products to identify any truly truffle-tier supplements.

It’s in this market that Pendulum distinguishes itself in a couple of ways. One is by having earned the backing of none other than the Mayo Clinic, a globally recognized healthcare provider renowned for medical research. The other is by formulating around a well-researched but relatively underused probiotic species, supported by mindfully selected complementary species for gut health, diabetes management, and metabolic improvement.

So, how does Pendulum fare against competitors in the saturated probiotics market? We explain in this review, using the current scientific literature to inform our assessment.

Pendulum’s three probiotic supplements are well-formulated and almost all well-dosed. Two of them include widely researched prebiotics to feed the helpful bacteria, and a separate triple-prebiotic blend is available to purchase on its own or as a bundled add-on. They’re all third-party tested and vegetarian-friendly, and Pendulum as a brand even has the backing of the Mayo Clinic. Cost may be a sore spot at the one-time-purchase level, but subscriptions unlock steep discounts that bring the prices down to more competitive points. Pendulum’s products are also FSA/HSA eligible and protected by a variable-length money-back guarantee.

Over the past two decades, Innerbody Research has helped tens of millions of readers make more informed decisions about staying healthy and living healthier lifestyles.

Our Pendulum review builds on the years of work we’ve put in to the probiotics space, a level of experience that helped us determine where Pendulum stands in the vast microbiome landscape. The efforts we put into this review alone involved more than 40 hours of research, hands-on testing, fact-checking, and comparisons with competitors. We even went so far as to devise an experiment to test Pendulum’s encapsulation integrity, which we’ll detail below.

Additionally, like all health-related content on this website, this guide was thoroughly vetted by one or more members of our Medical Review Board for accuracy and will continue to be monitored for updates by our editorial team.

We evaluated Pendulum’s probiotics based on four criteria that are likely to influence consumers’ purchasing decisions:

• Effectiveness: Can Pendulum’s capsules deliver well-researched probiotic species in clinically relevant numbers to the intestines and colon, where they can do their work?
• Safety: What risk of adverse effects, if any, do Pendulum’s products pose?
• Cost: How does Pendulum compare in terms of affordability with its closest competitors?
• Customer experience: What does Pendulum do to create an ecosystem of customer satisfaction?

Here’s what we’ve found:

Effectiveness

Rather than packing its capsules with as many probiotic strains as possible (à la competitor Seed), Pendulum’s catalog sticks to a small roster of five species with substantial research supporting their effects on gut health, metabolism, diabetes management, and weight control:

• Akkermansia muciniphila, found in clinical trials to help people reduce BMI and improve diabetic biomarkers12
• Clostridium butyricum, an effective species against common gastrointestinal (GI) pathogens16
• Anaerobutyricum hallii, shown to inhibit fat storage and reduce serum cholesterol24
• Clostridium beijerinckii, capable of supporting other beneficial bacterial species in the gut while inhibiting harmful ones9
• Bifidobacterium infantis, an alleviator of irritable bowel symptoms26

Pendulum includes all five species in its Metabolic Daily and Glucose Control supplements, and exclusively Akkermansia in its product of the same name. In two out of three cases, the bacteria are present in high enough numbers per serving to align with clinical research; only in Metabolic Daily do the counts appear low.

But to improve efficacy mostly across the board, Pendulum takes two key measures. One is the addition of prebiotics, at least in Akkermansia and Glucose Control. The other is the use of an acid-resistant capsule designed to withstand the stomach's corrosive fluids long enough to preserve the contents for the intestines. So, even with the seemingly underdosed Metabolic Daily, users may have a better chance of seeing the species’ associated benefits than with brands that don’t use acid-resistant capsules.

Furthermore, Pendulum has taken the step of funding or sponsoring clinical trials of its products, in which participants saw such improvements as lower hemoglobin A1c and reduced fatigue and bloating.27 28 Notwithstanding the potential bias that self-conducted studies may have, these trials give us insight into Pendulum’s efficacy that other brands have not provided, and which may not have come to light without Pendulum’s funding.

Safety

While probiotics are generally safe for healthy adults, a probiotics manufacturer can certainly take measures to improve safety profiles. One is by testing its products through third parties, which Pendulum does. Another is by subjecting its products to trials, which Pendulum has also done, with good tolerability among participants. A third way is by choosing low-risk ingredients to begin with, and Pendulum’s probiotic species have been shown to be exactly that.38 39 40 41 42

That being said, two of Pendulum’s products (Akkermansia and Glucose Control) contain fructan prebiotics, which are not suitable for people with FODMAP sensitivity. Taking these supplements, FODMAP-sensitive people may experience uncomfortable symptoms such as gas, bloating, and abdominal pain. Such effects may not be life-threatening, but they’re enough for us to dock a few tenths of a point from Pendulum’s safety rating.

Cost

Pendulum is generally expensive on the one-time-purchase level. Compared with competitors such as Seed, Ombre, and Gundry MD, you’re looking at paying at least twice as much for Metabolic Daily, Akkermansia, or Glucose Control. Pendulum, however, offers subscribers an enormous discount and free shipping, making prices mostly competitive with those of the brands we’ve just named.

Further savings are attainable through bulk-level subscriptions and bundles. The bulk-level subscriptions, which entail three-month supplies, bring the monthly-equivalent cost of Metabolic Daily and Glucose Control down to the sub-$40 price point, while the bundles pair your supplement with a low-FODMAP prebiotic blend in a package that cuts up to around $20 from what you’d otherwise pay.

Customer experience

There are two key customer experience factors that Pendulum does well. One is that its website features a questionnaire to help you choose the right Pendulum probiotic for your health needs. It’s a small thing, but one we scarcely see outside of the telehealth space. For some customers, it should provide peace of mind that they’ll end up with a product that can really help them.

The other is that Pendulum’s money-back guarantee is pretty decent. It’s a variable-length guarantee that gives customers 30–90 days to try a product and then 15–30 days to initiate a return. Effectively, then, we’re talking about a 45- or 120-day return period, which ought to be plenty of time to see whether Pendulum is having any effect on your health.

But for all that, Pendulum’s customer support could use some work. The website has an AI chatbot feature that actually works better than most chatbots we’ve used, but connecting with a human representative might be a challenge. Case in point, we still haven’t received a response from the support team about a question we sent them four days ago (as of this writing). If the chatbot weren’t so adequate at its job, we’d have given a much lower score in this category.

Pendulum is a supplement brand that specializes in probiotics and probiotic-support ingredients. As of mid-2026, its probiotic line consists of:

• Metabolic Daily, a blend of four strains to improve metabolism, appetite regulation, mood, and energy
• Akkermansia, a single probiotic-prebiotic pairing for gut health
• Glucose Control, a probiotic-prebiotic complex for type 2 diabetes management

Glucose Control contains the same probiotic species as Metabolic Daily, but in higher amounts and with the addition of inulin and oligofructose to feed the bacteria. The Akkermansia species is present in all three probiotic products, but the Akkermansia supplement is where it goes solo, with inulin for support.

Pendulum also sells a product called Polyphenol Booster, a blend of three prebiotics designed to enhance the effects of the three marquee formulas. It can be purchased on its own or bundled with a probiotic for additional savings.

Pendulum’s brand reputation

Pendulum appears to be a decently reputable brand. By that, we mean it consistently seeks to do right by its customers and satisfy their expectations.

It is, for example, a BBB-Accredited organization, which means it upholds the Better Business Bureau’s standards for business practices, ethical advertising, sales, and customer experience. Its BBB profile bears a few customer complaints, but Pendulum has responded and offered resolutions to all of them.

On its Trustpilot profile, Pendulum currently holds a 4.4-star rating out of five, indicating “excellent” overall consumer opinion. As of this writing, 65% of the reviewers have left positive reviews, many reporting positive health outcomes and praising the company’s customer support. On the other end of the spectrum, negative reviews account for 32% of the overall rating and largely relate to the high cost of products or the difficulty with managing subscriptions. There are some qualitative statements about poor or nil health results, as well as a few complaints about poor customer service, but several of these seem to stem from misunderstandings of the terms of service or misinterpretations of GI microbial assays.

The diametric nature of reviews seen on Pendulum’s Trustpilot profile is common in the online health supplements space. Not everyone sees the same results from the same product, and the quality of shipping and customer support logistics is always in flux with e-commerce business models. With all that considered, we think it’s to Pendulum’s credit that it has responded to nearly every complaint with an apology, an explanation of circumstances, or an offer for further support.

Another point worth mentioning here is that the Mayo Clinic (you know, the medical center) was one of Pendulum’s early investors. In the health and wellness space, this is the sort of big-name endorsement that matters, and having such an institution as a backer gives Pendulum’s reputation a boost. Or, at the very least, high expectations to live up to.

With any probiotic supplement, the efficacy broadly depends on these factors:

• Mode of administration: the means by which the bacteria are delivered into the body
• Viable quantity: the amount of bacteria in each serving
• Mechanisms of action: what therapeutic effects each bacterial species and strain is verified to provide

A fourth consideration, when applicable, is the presence of prebiotics (i.e., “food” for probiotics).

Pendulum appears to perform solidly in all four aspects. But let’s examine them on a more granular level.

Mode of administration

Probiotics are meant to reach the intestines and colon, where they have their greatest impact.1 But first they must pass through the stomach. There, unprotected from gastric acid, a probiotic supplement can quickly degrade into an unviable nothingness. So, for probiotic manufacturers, basic physiology presents a sort of river-crossing puzzle, in which they need to resolve a way to hurdle a lethal obstacle with the principals unscathed.

To that end, Pendulum claims to use an acid-resistant capsule. Such capsules exist,2 but we were unable to find definitive proof (e.g., a clinical trial mentioning it) that Pendulum uses them.

So we tested it ourselves. In an off-the-cuff experiment, we dropped a capsule of Metabolic Daily into a bowl of distilled white vinegar and closely monitored the degradation. (Distilled white vinegar has a pH of around 2.7, which is within the acid range of human gastric juice.3 4) For a control, we placed an ordinary, nonresistant capsule of beetroot powder in a separate bowl of vinegar.

And lo! the Pendulum capsule held up.

We began the experiment at approximately 1:30 in the afternoon —

— and before the 30-minute point, we saw that the beetroot capsule had begun to warp and blister while Pendulum remained unchanged.

At an hour-plus, Pendulum was still unchanged, whereas the beetroot capsule was toast. Only after around two hours did we start to see changes in the Pendulum capsule.

But not until more than 2.5 hours had elapsed did the capsule really fissure and really bleed its contents out into the liquid.

For reference, a capsule can take around 2–4 hours to pass into the small intestine on a full stomach, and much less time on an empty one.5 Pendulum retained its structural integrity within that time frame.

Our little experiment was imperfect, of course — vinegar isn’t chemically identical to stomach acid, which fluctuates in pH depending on its state of fullness — but it suggests that Pendulum’s capsules are indeed much more acid-resistant than an ordinary capsule, and therefore may stay intact long enough to preserve more of their contents for the target destination.

Viable quantity

While most probiotic supplements measure their viable bacterial quantity in colony-forming units (CFU), Pendulum instead uses active fluorescent units (AFU). We’ve discussed the relative merits of each method in our review of Seed, a competing probiotic brand that also uses AFU. In short, AFU is considered more precise because it counts both culturable and nonculturable viable bacteria.6 In other words, AFU detects probiotic players that don’t produce discernible populations in lab settings but hold the potential to yield effects in the body.

The remaining question, then, is whether Pendulum’s probiotics deliver enough bacteria per serving. Pendulum doesn’t specify the quantity of each bacterial species in its formulas, but lists the following gross amounts:

• Metabolic Daily: 300 million AFU
• Akkermansia: 100 million AFU
• Glucose Control: 2 billion AFU

Even though 1 billion CFU is generally regarded as the minimum effective amount, 7 that doesn’t mean Pendulum fails to hit therapeutic thresholds. Concerning the species used in Pendulum’s products, most of them have been found to impart health benefits at much lower quantities:

• Clostridium butyricum: 1 million CFU8
• Clostridium beijerinckii: 10 million CFU in animal models9
• Anaerobutyricum hallii (formerly Eubacterium hallii): 100 million CFU in animal models10
• Bifidobacterium infantis: 100 million CFU11
• Akkermansia muciniphila: 100 million CFU12

There’s no direct translation between CFU and AFU, but these numbers should give you a sense of Pendulum’s efficacy with respect to viable bacterial quantity. Akkermansia and Glucose Control likely provide sufficient amounts of their respective strains to make the desired impacts. It’s Metabolic Daily that seems to fall short, as it contains all five species in amounts that can’t possibly meet the lowest effective clinical doses.

Species and strains

While some probiotic supplements cram as many bacterial species as possible in a capsule (e.g., Seed’s Daily Synbiotic has two dozen), Pendulum has elected to build its product line around just five species selected to deliver a relatively narrow set of health improvements:

• General gut health and metabolism
• Appetite regulation
• Type 2 diabetes management

Below, we discuss the science behind each strain. (The following appear in both Metabolic Daily and Glucose Control. The Akkermansia probiotic contains only the eponymous strain alongside a prebiotic.)

In all cases but one (Bifidobacterium infantis), Pendulum specifies each species down to the strain level. That’s important because different strains of the same species may be more or less effective at yielding the desired benefits. 7 But Pendulum also uses proprietary strains, so the research on them is currently limited to studies funded by Pendulum itself. For example:

The presented findings are consistent with research on the species used in Pendulum’s products, so although the studies were conducted or sponsored by Pendulum, they don’t assert any seriously doubtful conclusions. They were also published in reputable journals, so that’s a plus.

And we recognize that the insights gained from self-funded research may not have come to light had the manufacturer not invested its resources, and we also appreciate that Pendulum is consistently willing to invest such resources, as there are even more clinical trials upcoming on the company’s docket.

Prebiotics

Akkermansia and Glucose Control include prebiotics in their formulations, and a separate prebiotic-only blend is available to purchase on its own or as part of a bundle with any one of the marquee supplements.

Akkermansia’s prebiotic partner is chicory inulin. It’s a good choice for the gut health benefits this supplement is designed to impart, as a pair of randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled trials in 2019 found that a 10g daily dose of the stuff significantly improved stool frequency in a cohort at increased risk for constipation (ages 40–75).29 Other studies, including a 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis, determined that chicory inulin may even help with weight management.30 The issue is that successful studies have used very high doses — at least 10g per day, as opposed to the 276mg in Akkermansia — so the chicory’s role here appears to be exclusively as a food for the bacterial species.

Glucose Control has chicory inulin, too, but also oligofructose. The latter is another good choice for the formula it’s in, as a 2022 study concluded that it may help prevent metabolic disorders associated with a high-fat diet (in mice).31 Again, though, we’re talking about a large dose, with the study calculating a human-equivalent dose to be 10–20g per day. Glucose Control doesn’t specify its oligofructose quantity, but a two-capsule serving weighs no more than 650mg, so it’s clearly orders of magnitude lower than the study’s authors would recommend.

As for Polyphenol Booster, it contains:

• Pomegranate extract (375mg), shown in a 2022 study to increase short-chain fatty acids and regulate GLP-1 secretion at 375mg doses,32 while a 2025 study found that pomegranate in general can help proliferate beneficial bacteria, including Akkermansia33
• Grape seed extract (275mg), which produces a significant prebiotic effect on Akkermansia, as in a 2021 study that used 200mg doses34
• Green tea extract (225mg), which also favors Akkermansia proliferation,35 potentially at doses as low as around 50mg in a 150lb human (as suggested by mouse studies)36

All very well-dosed to support Pendulum’s probiotic supplements. As a further upside, Polyphenol Booster’s three prebiotics are low-FODMAP, so it ought to be suitable for people with FODMAP sensitivity.

Probiotics in general are considered safe for healthy adults.37 Regarding Pendulum in particular, the bacteria used in its probiotics have been designated safe on either a specific species level or a broad genus level, especially at the quantities likely given in Metabolic Daily, Akkermansia, and Glucose Control.38 39 40 41 42 Its products are also third-party tested.

But not everyone is a healthy adult. Some research describes a theoretical health risk of probiotics in immunocompromised people, in particular.43 In 2013, for example, a case report described a 17-year-old with universal ulcerative colitis developing sepsis after taking the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus.44 L. rhamnosus isn’t a species used in Pendulum, but it’s extremely common and not typically associated with severe adverse effects. To ensure safety, anyone who’s severely ill or otherwise immunocompromised should speak with their doctor before taking Pendulum or another probiotic supplement.

Of final note, Pendulum Metabolic Daily and Glucose Control contain fructan prebiotics (inulin, oligofructose). Therefore, they are not suitable for people with FODMAP sensitivity. Taking them may result in gas, bloating, and/or abdominal pain.

After all the positives we’ve covered, it’s time for the pendulum to swing a little bit the other way. Because take a look at these price points —

— and compare them with those of these well-regarded competitors:

At the one-time-purchase level, a Pendulum probiotic costs more than any of the lead alternatives. The same could be said about the one-month subscription level (which, to be fair, represents an enormous discount), except Metabolic Daily is negligibly less expensive than its Seed counterpart there. Only once you get into the bulk-level subscriptions and bundles do you see Pendulum gain an appreciable cost edge.

One could reasonably argue that Pendulum’s record of research backing and clinical trials (not to mention the ongoing series of the latter) provides peace of mind that’s reflected in the price tags. But for many people, the base prices are too high a barrier to consider scaling.

That being said, even if you’d only like to sample a Pendulum probiotic, there’s nothing stopping you from selecting the subscription option and then canceling before your next shipment. Per Pendulum’s terms and conditions, there’s no penalty for doing so.

And at any rate, Pendulum offers a variable-length money-back guarantee on all first-time purchases. It goes like this:

• Trial period: The trial period lasts either 30 days (Metabolic Daily, Akkermansia) or 90 days (Glucose Control), starting on the date that you receive your order. During that time, you take your product once daily, as directed.
• Post-trial period: Then you have 15 days (Metabolic Daily, Akkermansia) or 30 days (Glucose Control) to request a full refund. No need to return the product.

The return window, then, effectively lasts 45–120 days, depending on the product you choose, and ought to give you plenty of time to gauge its effectiveness.

Pendulum’s probiotics are suited for healthy adults seeking health improvements in these areas:

• Appetite regulation
• Metabolism
• Diabetes management
• General gut health

Akkermansia and Glucose Control, with their more clinically relevant AFUs, are more likely than Metabolic Daily to provide beneficial outcomes.

But even among healthy adults, Pendulum might be contraindicated for anyone who’s pregnant or breastfeeding, as the probiotics have not been tested in these cohorts. A doctor’s green light would be advised to validate an individual’s use.

Keep in mind, too, that even the best probiotics aren’t always a solution for specific health conditions. So, while Pendulum uses species with a clinical track record of helping people lose weight or improve GI function, its supplements may not make a meaningful difference in cases such as severe obesity and inflammatory bowel disease. A doctor’s examination and prescription medication would be better indicated.

People with FODMAP sensitivity, or those with strict budgets exploring their options, may prefer to try a gut health solution without fructans or such high one-time-purchase prices as Pendulum has. Here are some options, then, to consider:

• A fructan-free probiotic: A decent choice here is Gundry MD Bio Complete 3, which uses the low-FODMAP Sunfiber as its prebiotic. A single bottle has a one-time price tag of $69.95 (approximately $15–$90 less than a Pendulum supplement at the same purchase level) and comes with a 90-day money-back guarantee.
• A butyrate supplement: Our choice for the best butyrate supplement is BodyBio Calcium Magnesium Butyrate. It costs just $36.99 for a 100-capsule bottle and can give you some of the benefits of Pendulum’s C. butyricum, A. hallii, and C. beijerinckii.
• A digestive enzyme supplement: Digestive enzymes provide some of the same gut health benefits as probiotics, and sometimes include probiotic species, but they often cost less. Our favorite digestive enzyme supplement, for instance, costs just around $40.

If even these alternatives don’t strike your fancy, you could forgo supplements altogether and work on modifying your diet. Eating high-fiber or fermented foods, in particular, may help you naturally cultivate a healthier gut microbiome.45