Gene synthesis price, compared on published per-base rates
Gene synthesis is quoted per base pair, and the per-base headline is the number vendors compete on hardest: it is printed on the front of the service page, it moves with promotional cycles, and it is almost never what you finally pay. The table below shows what each vendor advertises as its entry rate, quoted verbatim from its own page on the date shown, so you can see the spread before you send a sequence to anyone for a real quote.
- median advertised gene synthesis price per base pair
- $0.11
- vendors with a verified published price
- 4
- service classes with measured demand
- 1
Figures on this page come from the BioBricks Synthesis Price Index: 4 vendors with a verified published price, median advertised gene synthesis $0.11 per base pair, checked against each vendor's own service page.
- 4 vendor service pages verifiedevery figure matched verbatim to the vendor's page
- Quoted and dated, never estimatedlast verification pass 2026-08-24
- 1 service classes coveredeach with measured search demand behind it
Advertised prices, verified
| Vendor | Gene synthesis | Flat-rate construct | Sequencing | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twist Bioscience | $0.07/bp | vendor service page checked August 2026 | ||
| Quintara Biosciences | $0.08/bp | $2.99/sample | vendor service page checked August 2026 | |
| Bio Basic | $0.15/bp | vendor service page checked August 2026 | ||
| GenScript | $0.15/bp | $89/construct | vendor service page checked August 2026 |
How a synthesis order is actually priced
- The per-base entry rate. Every vendor advertises a 'from' price per base pair, and that figure assumes the easy case: a sequence of ordinary length with no difficult structure, in the vendor's standard vector, on standard turnaround. It is a real price for real orders, but it is the floor of a range rather than a quote.
- Sequence complexity re-tiers the rate. High GC content, long repeats, homopolymer runs and strong secondary structure all push a construct into a higher complexity tier, and the same vendor will quote a materially higher per-base rate for it. Vendors that publish more than one rate are showing you the tier structure directly; ones that publish a single rate still apply it.
- Cloning, vector and prep are separate lines. A synthesised fragment is not a usable plasmid. Cloning into an expression vector, the vector itself, and the plasmid prep that gives you working DNA are priced separately by most vendors, which is why a flat-rate-per-construct price and a per-base price are not comparable until you add the same lines to both.
- Turnaround is a price lever, not a service level. Express turnaround is sold as an uplift on the same construct. When you are comparing two vendors whose per-base rates look close, check what each charges to hit the date you actually need, because that surcharge routinely exceeds the per-base difference on a short construct.
Why the per-base headline is a poor single comparison
On a 1.5 kb construct the difference between the cheapest and dearest advertised entry rate in this index is real but small in absolute terms, and it is routinely swamped by the lines that are not in the headline: the vector, the cloning, the prep and any complexity uplift. A vendor with a higher per-base rate that bundles cloning and plasmid prep into a flat construct price can easily land below a cheaper per-base rate quoted bare.
That is why this index publishes the flat-rate construct price beside the per-base rate wherever a vendor advertises one. They are different pricing models for the same job, and reading them side by side is the only way to see which is cheaper for the construct you actually have.
What to send a vendor to get a comparable quote
Send the sequence, the vector you want it delivered in, the amount of DNA you need, and the date you need it. Those four things determine almost the whole quote, and sending them to two vendors on the same day is the only genuinely like-for-like comparison available to a buyer.
Ask each vendor to itemise: synthesis, complexity uplift, cloning, vector, prep and shipping. Vendors will do this readily, and an itemised quote is what turns two incomparable headline rates into a decision you can defend to whoever signs the purchase order.
Common questions
- How much does gene synthesis cost per base pair?
- The vendors in this index that publish a rate advertise entry prices spanning the range shown in the table above, each quoted verbatim from the vendor's own page with the date we checked. Those are entry rates for standard-complexity sequences; a difficult construct is quoted higher by the same vendor.
- Why is my quote higher than the advertised price?
- Almost always sequence complexity, or lines the headline excludes. High GC, repeats and secondary structure move a construct into a higher tier, and cloning, the vector and plasmid prep are separately priced by most vendors. Ask for the quote itemised and the gap is usually explained on the first line.
- Is a flat rate per construct cheaper than a per-base price?
- It depends entirely on construct length. A flat rate wins on longer constructs and on anything where you would have paid separately for cloning and prep; a per-base rate wins on short fragments delivered bare. This index publishes both wherever a vendor advertises both, for exactly that reason.
- Do these prices include cloning into my vector?
- Only where the vendor says so. One flat-rate price in this index explicitly includes cloning and plasmid preparation, and its source quote says as much; the per-base rates generally do not. The quote beside each figure is the vendor's own wording, so you can check what is covered.
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Cite or embed this figure
The median advertised gene synthesis price per base pair in the US research synthesis services market was $0.11 in August 2026, across 4 verified vendor service pages recorded in BioBricks Synthesis Price Index.
Cite as: "BioBricks Synthesis Price Index", updated 2026-08-24, https://biobricks.org/gene-synthesis-price/.