Choosing Between Capsules and Tablets: Understanding the Tradeoffs and Benefits

Choosing between a tablet and a capsule might look like a minor packaging decision, but it sits at the intersection of chemistry, cost, and consumer trust. In this Peer Exchange, David Foreman, The Herbal Pharmacist, talks with Irfan Qureshi, global head of product development for Metagenics and Hank Ramsey co-founder and general manager of Elevate Organic, about how that choice actually gets made — and why it rarely comes down to a single rule of thumb.

Their conversation shows how a dosage form decision ripples outward, touching everything from ingredient stability and manufacturing cost to how a product is perceived on the shelf. Qureshi and Ramsey bring different vantage points to the table — one rooted in practitioner-focused, therapeutic formulation, the other in a retail brand built around organic certification — and their contrast reveals just how much a company's identity and target customer shape what "clean" or "premium" even means.

Viewers will come away with a clearer sense of the practical constraints formulators navigate daily: how ingredient sensitivity can rule out a tablet before cost ever enters the conversation, why capsule shells and binder systems carry hidden price tags, and how certifications like USDA Organic can both open doors with consumers and close them with suppliers. It's a candid look at the tension between formulation science and brand storytelling — and a reminder that behind every supplement facts panel are trade-offs most consumers never see.

Transcript:

David Foreman: Today we're gonna start our discussion with something I find extremely boring, but hey, it's part of the conversation. We're going to be talking about dietary supplements, and using tablets and capsules, primarily because of their versatility and reliability, and I know that, as a baby boomer—yeah, I'm that old—boomers are probably more likely to be taking tablets and capsules until we can't chew and swallow anymore. But of course, there are other things we're going to be talking about today, so let's talk about capsules and tablets. So the first question is, is there a rule of thumb for choosing between tablets and capsules?

Let's just start there.

Irfan Qureshi: Yeah, I mean, I would say, like, from my perspective, it's not really a rule of thumb, but definitely there are considerations when you look at tablets versus capsules. And I would say you have to look at the formula overall. If you're using multiple ingredients, if the doses … of a particular ingredient are high, if you're looking to deliver the ingredient in a specific way, as far as controlled release, tablets may be preferable. And then, obviously, there are ingredient considerations as well. There are things like probiotics, enzymes, which may be damaged by compression forces, moisture; they're probably not the most conducive to go into a tablet, and so we'd prefer capsules there.

Ingredients like botanicals, powders, again, formulas that require lower moisture activity, you'd probably lean towards capsules. So I would say it really depends on the formulation, the ingredients, as well as what you're looking to deliver from an efficacy standpoint.

David Foreman: Anything you want to add to that, Hank?

Hank Ramsey: Yeah, what I'd like to say is, from a sales perspective, because we kind of look at it through those lens or data, you know, we would always probably tend to go to a capsule, just because it's easier to swallow, right? They're usually a little bit smaller, usually easier to swallow, so that usually is the preference we would go with.

And then I would also say…the amount of capsules. You know, I'm a heavy user, as they would say. I take a lot of capsules and tablets, so if I'm taking a lot, I would like it to be a lot easier. We always try to opt for, from a sales perspective, a once-daily. The problem there is that you can't get a whole lot in one. You get more in a once-daily with a tablet than a capsule, but people don't want to take tablets, so at Elevate Organic, we're always organic and non-GMO. We try to use regenerative ingredients where we can. I know we'll talk about ingredients and dosages as we go, but that's a challenge for us a lot of times, too. So, we just dipped into the probiotic space, where Irfan was talking about; the heat, moisture, those things are damaging to probiotics. Our background has always been to kind of tend towards the Bacillus or the Sol base or, you know, HSO-type strains that are super hardy, super resistant to heat and moisture. So they could be compressed into a tablet, but we just launched them in a capsule form.

David Foreman: So, quick question, and I've done some formulating, but it's more of just figuring out what ingredients work best for whatever health challenge, but, never really get into the money part of it. Is there… is there a significant cost difference between a tablet or a capsule?

Irfan Qureshi: Well, the difference in cost would come from the fact that you're paying for the shell material of the capsule, whereas with tablets, you don't necessarily do that.

So it can be significant, depending on how many capsules per day your serving size is. You know, if it's a 30 count, it's probably not very significant. There will be probably some added cost factors there to consider, but if it's a formula where you're taking 6 capsules a day, then there can definitely be a significant bump in cost there, as well as the fact that if you do have a formula where you're taking 6 a day, maybe you get it into 3 tablets, you know, or something like that. So there's that factor as well.

David Foreman: And what about the “other” ingredients? I'm kind of the weird guy, I think it's my pharmacy background. First thing I look at is the supplement facts panel, but then I look at the other crap. I was gonna use another word, but I'm trying to keep it clean for everybody. The other stuff, or whatever, is there more stuff in a tablet or a capsule, or is it just depend?

Irfan Qureshi: Oh, I would say generally there's more stuff in a tablet, because you need binders, lubricants, fillers, then you also have to consider whether the tablet coated. That's going to add excipients as well, and that's going to add things to the label, so know we're gonna jump into a discussion about clean label and what that actually means, but from a consumer perception standpoint, I think capsules versus tablets, I think capsules are probably a more premium format, and cleaner, at least from the standpoint of potentially less ingredients on the label.

David Foreman: You guys made me want to run into my kitchen right now, because everything I take is in a capsule, or a tablet. I kind of want to go see what I have more of within my arsenal. So, anyway, you kind of broke the ice on the clean label. We're definitely going to go there right now. So, from a clean label perspective, is it more challenging to produce a clean label tablet or a capsule. And then I want to get into, like, what constitutes, quote, “clean label” for that matter?

Hank Ramsey: I can jump into that. With a name like Elevate Organic, it's risky, because if organic is in your name, it's got to always be organic, so that's a challenge right off the bat. If it's not certified organic, we can't and won't launch it. Certified organic and Non-GMO, or CCOF. But for us, yes, there is a challenge there when it comes to tablets versus capsules. First of all, organic capsules was huge. You know, to get those, it really made a brand like us a lot more possible. To give that dosage when we wanted a capsule, and to have an organic capsule, it really made it possible.

But then from a tableting perspective, there's a few challenges when, you know, when Irfan talked about coatings, bindings, excipients, flow agents, when you're trying to source all of those to keep it USDA organic and 95% or more certified organic material, it's challenging. The bigger challenge is finding manufacturers that are willing to bring that into the facility, have the knowledge to use those binders and flow agents to make a tablet that's “clean,” that will flow, and that will bind together without using the traditional binders, fillers, and excipients. For us, we're a premium brand, and that's unfortunately sometimes reflected in our price, but we feel like that customer base is willing to pay for that premium.

David Foreman: Irfan, how important is that at Metagenics? I'm just curious, has it always been a thing, or is it just because the market's now saying consumers are looking for clean label, etc? Where are you guys on that?

Irfan Qureshi: We're definitely moving more towards the clean label. We don't go as far as Hank probably does, you know, as far as, like, the organic certifications and things like that. That's not really a thing. I mean, for us, we're not organic certified, at least from a facility perspective. You know, we will use organic ingredients when it makes sense, but we're definitely moving towards clean label. We're also, like, in the process of constantly redefining what clean label is, you know? And, so… so, and I think… I think it's really, like defined by consumer preference or industry trends. I know there are some definitions out there. I think each company probably also has their, you know, their go or no-go list as far as ingredients are concerned, and so we definitely have that. And that's really what we follow from a clean label perspective.

Hank Ramsey: My background, you know, coming from Garden of Life and Ancient Nutrition, which is where the clean label with us started, and organic and non-GMO, we were retail-focused, right? I mean, I know Metagenix is more practitioner-focused and maybe that's not so much needed because they're in a very therapeutic environment, results-oriented, and sometimes you can't get that with just an organic, plant-based, food-based type of ingredient because of the dosage forms. We feel like it is, but sometimes there's some protocols that need more intense therapeutic amounts. And, you know, the reason we went and the reason we're doing USDA Organic and Non-GMO a lot of times, it's because the market dictated it for us, right? It's been on the food side of the business, the beverage side of the business, people are starting to look for those labels. And in the retail environment, which is where we spend a lot of the time, and even online, a lot of labor's been pulled out of those retail stores. We call it the NASCAR effect sometimes, you know, on a NASCAR, you got all those logos on the bottom of the car when there's not staff in the store, or there's nobody to explain it to the wife or the husband shopping for the household, they can see those callouts and those labels, or those certifications, and think, ”Nobody's here to explain it to me, but this one's organic, this one's non-GMO, this one's regenerative organic certified, so therefore, possibly it's better for us.”

David Foreman: I have to say, Hanky, your company put itself in a box by those…I'll call them limitations. Does it make it a struggle bus for you to… to actually source the ingredients?

Hank Ramsey: Yeah, it is. Luckily, hopefully the supply chain's opening up more. I know we're going to talk about that a little bit, but it's just something we believe in, and, you know, regenerative Organic Certified is really our avatar and we feel like we're more activists for a healthy planet and rebuilding topsoil more than we are selling products. We make a product to tell a story, and we know if we don't get our topsoil back, and unfortunately, regenerative organic certified isn't there yet, so that supply chain is weaker, but it puts us in a box, and then I know we're going to talk about gelatin or plant versus animal, and with our ownership group and our philosophies, we won't do animal. I have at other brands, I worked at Ancient Nutrition, which is collagen and bone broth, but our main owners and investors are Hindu, so we will do whey protein, of course. We can do byproducts of animals, but we won't do animal-based, so it gives us more of a challenge when it comes to PD and commercialization.