Short answer. You start with your own gut. Accredited CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited labs sequence your microbiome sample; Flore then reads that strain-level picture and formulates a custom multi-strain synbiotic — probiotics plus prebiotics — matched to your profile and your gut and gut–brain goals. You receive a formula built from your data as capsules or powder (never a liquid) — not a bottle chosen off a shelf. Flore doesn't run the lab; Flore is the formulator that turns your results into a made-to-order intervention.
Most probiotics ask you to guess. You read a label, hope the strains inside are the ones your body actually needs, and try to feel a difference. Flore flips that around: it begins with a real picture of your gut and works backward to a formula built for the person holding it. Here's what happens, in plain language — and, honestly, where Flore draws the line on what it will and won't reveal.
What does Flore actually do with my microbiome data?
Flore reads your results at the strain level and builds you a personalized synbiotic from them. Your report shows which microbes are present in your gut and in what balance. Flore's formulation engine uses that picture to decide which probiotic strains and which prebiotics belong in your formula, and at what emphasis — with your goals (digestion, regularity, mood, calm, focus, everyday resilience) factored in. The output is a made-to-order formula, manufactured for you, in the delivery format you choose.
Does Flore run the lab test itself?
No — and that's deliberate. The sequencing is performed by CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited laboratories running validated lab-developed tests. Flore is the formulator: it designs the matching engine and manufactures your formula from accredited results. Many microbiome companies rely on research-use-only testing and gloss over accreditation; Flore leans on accredited labs for the read, and focuses its own work on turning that read into a product that fits you.
How does Flore decide which strains go in my formula?
Flore matches strains and prebiotics to your microbiome profile and your stated goals — that's the honest, transparent answer to what happens. The how — the specific method Flore uses to sequence-interpret and match — is proprietary and is the part Flore doesn't publish. That's a "transparent, not overshare" choice: you deserve to know that your formula is built from your own data rather than guessed at, and you don't need the internal recipe to trust that. What you can count on: two people with different guts get genuinely different formulas, not the same bottle with a different label.
Can a personalized probiotic support my gut–brain goals, not just digestion?
Yes — supporting the gut–brain connection is a core reason people come to Flore. Your gut and brain are in constant conversation along the gut–brain axis, and the microbes in your gut take part in it. When Flore builds your formula, it can weight toward the organisms and prebiotics associated with that gut–brain community — what Flore calls your neurobiome — to support everyday mood, calm and focus. To be clear: this is support, not a treatment or cure for any medical condition, and your Flore results are not a diagnosis.
What's actually in my Flore formula?
A personalized synbiotic: probiotic strains paired with prebiotics that feed them. Flore formulas are drawn from a library of up to 68 curated strains and 40+ prebiotics — more than 100 ingredients in all — and yours is assembled from that library to fit your data. It is delivered as capsules or powder. It is never a liquid.
Is there evidence this works?
Here's the honest picture. Across 18,382 customers analyzed, 95.1% never requested a reformulation of their personalized formula — a tolerability and satisfaction signal, not a clinical outcome. In an observational paired analysis of 651 people (two microbiome tests and two symptom surveys each), 47.4% of tracked symptoms resolved between baseline and follow-up — small-n, self-reported, observational. Flore's published work includes a peer-reviewed open-label pilot study in mSystems (ASM, 2024) — a pilot, explicitly not a randomized controlled trial. Flore has no published RCTs, and does not diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any condition. We'd rather tell you that plainly than oversell it.
Do I need microbiome results already, or can Flore get me tested?
Either path works. If you don't have recent results, Flore's Test-to-Treat program bundles an accredited at-home microbiome test with 6 months of your custom formula ($658.50). If you already have recent sequencing — from Flore/Sun Genomics, a clinic, or another service — you can bring your own results and start a 6-month Flore Custom program ($564). Programs run a defined 3-, 6- or 12-month term (totals $297 / $564 / $1,069) and are billed monthly via installments — a program with an endpoint, not an open-ended subscription.
Capsules or powder — how do I choose?
Both formats carry the same personalized formula; you pick the one that fits your routine at checkout. See our capsules-vs-powder guide to decide. And if you'd rather have a person walk you through your results, 1:1 microbiome coaching is $99 for 30 minutes with Dr. Marina De León, PhD.
Ready to build a formula from your own gut data?
Keep exploring
Not sure where to start with your gut?
Ask the Flore Microbiome Concierge — a guided, personalized walkthrough of testing, your results, and a formula matched to your goals.
Talk to the Concierge →