Best Type II Collagen (2026): 8 Checked, UC-II vs Hydrolyzed
Buy Healthy Origins UC-II. It is 40 mg of UC-II, the trial dose, and nothing else, for $0.27 a day, the least of the 8 type II products we checked. UC-II is undenatured type II collagen. No product here is on a public testing list.
By Erin Rose Updated October 24, 2026 How we score
Amazon prices per day at the label dose, checked November 2, 2026.
Our pick for: Most people
- Type II collagen
- 40 mg UC-II1 capsule a day, undenatured
- Per day
- $0.27Amazon price, 120 capsules
- Also in it
- Only UC-IINo other active ingredient on the label
- Made from
- Chicken cartilageNamed on the label
- Testing list
- Not on oneWe searched five lists on October 24, 2026
Why we pick it It holds the ingredient and dose the trial used, 40 mg of UC-II, and nothing else. It costs the least a day of the 8 we checked.
What you give up Like every product here, it is not on a public testing list. The bottle says “third-party tested”; that is the brand’s own claim.
Which type II collagen is right for you?
Choose the kind first: undenatured (UC-II) at 40 mg, or hydrolyzed at grams a day. Why they differ: collagen types compared.
Thinking of hydrolyzed type II (BioCell)?
It is a different product from UC-II, not a stronger dose. It is broken into small pieces and taken in grams. Our collagen types page found no trial of it on its own, so we do not pick one. If you want it anyway, NOW BioCell Collagen costs the least a day of the hydrolyzed ones: 2 g holds 1,140 mg of type II plus chondroitin and hyaluronic acid, for $0.85 a day.
NOW BioCell Collagen
$0.85 a day · 2 g BioCell
Want a collagen powder? That is types I and III.
Scoops of collagen peptides from cows or fish are types I and III, taken in grams. No product on this page is a powder. Our pick there: best collagen.
Every type II collagen we checked, ranked
We read each product’s Supplement Facts panel, searched five testing lists for it, and priced a day at the label dose on Amazon. Our pick first, then the other undenatured products, then the hydrolyzed ones, each from lowest cost a day.
| Type II collagen | Per day | Why it is or is not a pick |
|---|---|---|
| Healthy Origins UC-IIUndenatured, 40 mg UC-II a day, nothing else added | $0.27 | Our pick: 40 mg of UC-II and nothing else, the lowest cost a day |
| Nutricost UC-IIUndenatured, 40 mg UC-II a day, plus calcium from seaweed | $0.28 | The same active ingredients as NOW UC-II |
| NOW UC-II Type II CollagenUndenatured, 40 mg UC-II a day, plus calcium from seaweed | $0.29 | The same 40 mg of UC-II, plus 80 mg of calcium |
| Naturalis UC-IIUndenatured, 40 mg UC-II a day, plus hyaluronic acid and shea nut oil | $0.33 | A softgel with hyaluronic acid and shea nut oil added |
| Move Free Ultra Triple ActionUndenatured, 40 mg UC-II blend a day, plus boron and hyaluronic acid | $0.46 | One small tablet; boron and hyaluronic acid added |
| Jarrow Type II Collagen ComplexHydrolyzed, 1 g BioCell a day, in 2 capsules | $0.67 | The same BioCell ingredient at half the daily amount on NOW’s label |
| NOW BioCell CollagenHydrolyzed, 2 g BioCell a day, with chondroitin and hyaluronic acid | $0.85 | The lowest cost a day of the hydrolyzed ones; we do not pick hydrolyzed type II |
| Vital Proteins Cartilage CollagenHydrolyzed, 3 g type II from cows a day, plus chondroitin and glucosamine | $1.37 | From cow cartilage; the highest cost a day here |
Undenatured or hydrolyzed: how to tell from the label
Look for “undenatured” or “UC-II” and 40 mg. As of September 14, 2026, 54 of the 67 undenatured type II collagen labels in NIH’s label database that state a daily amount say 40 mg. The typical label sold as hydrolyzed type II says 2,000 mg a day, 50 times more. Of the 8 products here, 5 are undenatured and 3 are hydrolyzed. BioCell is the hydrolyzed ingredient in two of them, NOW and Jarrow.
What the 40 mg trial tested
The 40 mg dose comes from one 180-day trial of 191 adults aged 40 to 75 with knee osteoarthritis, run in India; 164 finished. A score of knee pain, stiffness and function fell more on 40 mg of UC-II than on a placebo. The maker of UC-II paid for the trial, and two of its three authors worked for the maker (Lugo 2016).
Is any type II collagen third-party tested?
Not one of the 8 we checked. On October 24, 2026 we searched NSF/ANSI 173, NSF Certified for Sport, Informed Choice and USP Verified for each one, and found none. The one type II product we found on any of these lists, Shaklee’s Liquid BioCell Pure, is a liquid that did not come up in Amazon’s results for this search. Informed Sport’s list, as of August 2026, has none of these 8 either. Healthy Origins and Nutricost print “third-party tested” on the bottle; that is the brand’s own claim.
Questions people ask
Is UC-II the same as type II collagen?
UC-II is one brand of undenatured type II collagen, made from chicken cartilage. NOW, Healthy Origins, Nutricost, Naturalis and Move Free all use it at 40 mg. Hydrolyzed type II, such as BioCell, is a different product, taken in grams.
Who should not take type II collagen?
UC-II is made from chicken cartilage, so read the label if you avoid chicken. The labels say to ask a doctor first if you are pregnant, nursing or take medicine.
When should I take UC-II?
Once a day. NOW and Healthy Origins say to take the capsule at bedtime on an empty stomach. Naturalis says to take it with food. Nutricost and Move Free say only once a day.
Sources
- Amazon listings and Supplement Facts images, read October 24, 2026: NOW UC-II B014MHI0P8, Healthy Origins B06XW695RT, Nutricost B0G457SS6C, Naturalis B0F1SSHN95, Move Free Ultra Triple Action B07VLJN7C6, NOW BioCell B07HYXJ8Z7, Jarrow B0025UUU9E, Vital Proteins Cartilage Collagen B07TC4D55L.
- Testing lists, searched October 24, 2026: NSF/ANSI 173; NSF Certified for Sport; Informed Choice (October 2026); USP Verified; Informed Sport (list as of August 2026).
- Lugo JP, Saiyed ZM, Lane NE. Efficacy and tolerability of an undenatured type II collagen supplement in modulating knee osteoarthritis symptoms: a multicenter randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Nutr J. 2016. Paid for by the maker. PubMed 26822714
- Labels: NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database (dsld.od.nih.gov), 247 labels that name type II collagen, read September 14, 2026.