Best ashwagandha supplement

We checked every ashwagandha capsule and stack we've audited, and these are the five things that matter most if you're choosing one.

• Look for a named extract

  The trials used named extracts, KSM-66, Prolanza and Shoden, and we also count Sensoril by name.²¹⁵ Double Wood, Nootropics Depot, Transparent Labs and Nutricost print KSM-66, Jarrow carries the KSM-66 mark without a withanolide figure, and Nootropics Depot's other capsule names Shoden.^121423181719

• The cheaper generic capsules miss it

  Nutricost also sells a generic root extract at 2.5% withanolides for half the price a capsule of its KSM-66, and Gaia's capsule is a root and extract blend with 2.5 mg of withanolides. Neither names a trial extract, so both score 5.0.²¹²²

• Shoden's 120 mg isn't less than KSM-66's 600 mg

  The root-extract trials gave 250 to 600 mg a day, and the Shoden trials 60 to 240 mg.¹²³⁵⁶⁷ By the labels, 300 to 600 mg of KSM-66 at 5% holds 15 to 30 mg of withanolides, and 120 mg of Shoden at 35% about 42 mg of withanolide glycosides, which are measured a different way. So check each one against its own trials. Every pick here reaches its form's studied amount in one capsule.

• It's for stress and sleep, and the makers ran most of the trials

  In stressed adults, KSM-66, Prolanza and Shoden lowered stress scores and cortisol more than placebo, and Shoden improved sleep.²³¹⁷⁶ Most of these trials were paid for by the extract's maker or used capsules it supplied. Liver injury has been reported, rarely, and Germany's risk agency says people with liver disease shouldn't take it.⁸¹⁰

• If your stack has ashwagandha, check the extract

  Innerbody Focus Support gives 300 mg of KSM-66 and Thesis Stress Reset 120 mg of Shoden, both studied amounts. CogniMax gives 200 mg of Sensoril and Terra ELMNT 250 mg of a 10% extract, and Hunter Focus doesn't say which extract its 300 mg is. Magic Mind hides ashwagandha in a blend with no amount.

The two forms can't be compared milligram for milligram. A 600 mg KSM-66 capsule at 5% holds about 30 mg of withanolides, and a 120 mg Shoden capsule at 35% about 42 mg of withanolide glycosides, a different measure, so each one is set against its own trials.

Double Wood's capsule gives 300 mg of KSM-66, the amount we check labels against, for 17 cents a day, and it's the one we'd choose. Nootropics Depot's capsule rates the same and costs a little more. Both publish a lab report that confirms the root but doesn't measure the withanolides. Transparent Labs, the pick most other guides lead with, rates the same at 33 cents a day for 600 mg in one capsule, and its lab report checks contaminants only. Jarrow and Nutricost name KSM-66 too, without a lab report.

We also audited Nutricost Ashwagandha Root Extract and Gaia Herbs Ashwagandha Root and don't recommend them, because neither names a trial extract and both print only 2.5% or 2.5 mg of withanolides. Nutricost's scores 5.0 out of 10 and Gaia's 5.0.²¹²²

Shoden has trials of its own, and Nootropics Depot sells it as a single capsule.

Nootropics Depot's capsule gives 120 mg of Shoden, inside the 60 to 240 mg a day the trials used, for 67 cents a day, and its batch report measured the withanolide glycosides.

It costs more a day than any of the KSM-66 picks, and its batch report measured more glycosides than the label promises.²⁰

The table ranks the brain supplements we've audited that contain ashwagandha by audit rating, with each one's form and the amount it gives, priced at its own form's studied amount.

The cost column scales each formula's full daily price to 300 mg of a root extract or 60 mg of Shoden, which is a price comparison and not a dose to take, so it isn't what the ashwagandha alone costs. Magic Mind isn't in the table, because its blend gives no amount.

If ashwagandha is why you're buying, a single KSM-66 capsule costs 17 to 33 cents a day at the brands' own sites, and the Shoden capsule its current price. The two Nootropics Depot capsules, Double Wood and Transparent Labs publish lab reports, and only the Shoden report measures the active compounds.^1315162420

We'd try ashwagandha for stress, as a named extract at the dose its own trials used. Those trials found lower stress scores and cortisol in stressed adults, but the makers paid for or supplied nearly all of them, and liver injury has been reported.²³⁵⁸

In Chandrasekhar 2012, 64 adults with chronic stress took 300 mg of KSM-66 twice a day for 60 days, and every stress scale and their cortisol fell more than on placebo.² Salve 2019 found 600 mg a day did more than 250 mg.³ Gopukumar 2021 gave 300 mg of Prolanza to 130 stressed adults for 90 days and found better recall as well as lower stress, in a trial the extract's makers paid for.¹

There are fewer Shoden trials. Mishra 2024 reported a two-thirds fall in cortisol at both 60 and 120 mg, in people who met the criteria for an anxiety disorder, and no other trial here comes close to that.⁵ Deshpande 2020 found better sleep at 120 mg, and Lopresti 2019 lower anxiety scores and cortisol at 240 mg, in a trial the maker funded.⁶⁷

Garage Gym Reviews' guide, updated in June 2026, cites Lopresti's 2019 testosterone trial as evidence for ashwagandha in general. That trial used Shoden, which the guide doesn't name.²⁵²⁶

It suits you if stress is the problem and you'll take a named extract every day for about two months. It doesn't suit you as a memory supplement, because only two of the root-extract trials here looked at memory and one was in people with mild cognitive impairment.¹⁴

Germany's BfR says children, pregnant or breastfeeding women and people with liver disease shouldn't take ashwagandha supplements, and Double Wood's label says not to use it if you're pregnant, nursing or under 18.¹⁰¹² In one trial in people with an underactive thyroid, 600 mg a day changed thyroid hormone levels.¹¹ Two case series describe liver injury, mostly jaundice that cleared, though three people who already had liver disease died.⁸⁹

Here's what the trials gave for each form, and how it maps onto capsules.

Study dose benchmark

300 mg a day

Doses in studies with a benefit

250 mg to 600 mg a day

Doses in the trials

250 to 600 mg a day of a named root extract

Length of the trials that found a benefit

8 weeks to 90 days

The root-extract trials that found a benefit gave 250 to 600 mg a day. Salve 2019 found gains at 250 mg of KSM-66 and more at 600 mg, and Chandrasekhar 2012 gave 300 mg twice a day.³² We check KSM-66, Prolanza and Sensoril labels against 300 mg, the dose in the Prolanza trial.¹

Study dose benchmark

60 mg a day

Doses in studies with a benefit

60 mg to 240 mg a day

Doses in the trials

60 to 240 mg a day of Shoden

Length of the trials that found a benefit

6 weeks to 60 days

The Shoden trials gave 60 or 120 mg once a day, and one gave 240 mg, so we check Shoden labels against 60 mg.⁵⁶⁷ Verified Supplement Data's guide, updated in October 2026, also says the two extracts' figures are measured a different way, and we found no trial that compared the two head to head.²⁷

Every pick here gives its form's studied amount in one capsule. The trials gave it once or twice a day, and we found none that compared times of day.

Ashwagandha's trials are mostly small, two months long and run with the extract makers, and each extract has its own.

ModerateTrials of KSM-66 and Prolanza in stressed adults found lower stress scores and cortisol, and the Prolanza trial also found better recall. A root-extract trial in mild cognitive impairment found memory gains. Most were run with or supplied by the extract's maker.

In stressed adults, both KSM-66 trials found lower stress scores and cortisol than on placebo.²³

Two of the root-extract trials here looked at memory, one in healthy adults under stress and one in people with mild cognitive impairment, and both found gains.¹⁴

PreliminaryThree trials of the maker's extract found less anxiety, better sleep and lower cortisol at 60 to 240 mg a day. The maker funded one and supplied the capsules for another, and the third used its extract.

All three Shoden trials found benefits, and Mishra 2024's cortisol drop is far larger than any other trial reports.⁵⁶⁷

Ashwagandha sits in only a handful of the stacks we've audited. These are its usual neighbors, and what's known about each pairing.

• Rhodiola RoseaModerateNext to ashwagandha in Thesis Stress Reset, Hunter Focus and two other stacks here. We found no trial of the pair on its own.
• Lion's Mane MushroomPreliminaryNext to ashwagandha in Innerbody Focus Support, Hunter Focus and Terra ELMNT. We found no trial of the pair on its own.
• Bacopa MonnieriStrongNext to ashwagandha in CogniMax and Hunter Focus. We found no trial of the pair on its own.

Rhodiola sits next to ashwagandha in four of the five stacks here, as two herbs sold for stress, and we found no trial of the two taken together.

27 sources cited

1. Gopukumar K, et al. Efficacy and safety of ashwagandha root extract on cognitive functions in healthy, stressed adults, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med, 2021. Abstract and full text read. Accessed Oct 23, 2026. PMID 34858513
2. Chandrasekhar K, et al. A prospective, randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study of safety and efficacy of a high-concentration full-spectrum extract of ashwagandha root in reducing stress and anxiety in adults. Indian J Psychol Med, 2012. Abstract and full text read. Accessed Oct 23, 2026. PMID 23439798
3. Salve J, et al. Adaptogenic and anxiolytic effects of ashwagandha root extract in healthy adults, a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical study. Cureus, 2019. Abstract and full text read. Accessed Oct 23, 2026. PMID 32021735
4. Choudhary D, et al. Efficacy and safety of ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) root extract in improving memory and cognitive functions. J Diet Suppl, 2017. Abstract read. Accessed Oct 23, 2026. PMID 28471731
5. Mishra DN, Kumar M. Shoden promotes relief from stress and anxiety, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study on healthy subjects with high stress levels. Heliyon, 2024. Abstract and full text read. Accessed Oct 23, 2026. PMID 39286132
6. Deshpande A, et al. A randomized, double blind, placebo controlled study to evaluate the effects of ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) extract on sleep quality in healthy adults. Sleep Med, 2020. Abstract and the trial protocol read. Accessed Oct 23, 2026. PMID 32540634
7. Lopresti AL, et al. An investigation into the stress-relieving and pharmacological actions of an ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) extract, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Medicine, 2019. Abstract and full text read. Accessed Oct 23, 2026. PMID 31517876
8. Björnsson HK, et al. Ashwagandha-induced liver injury, a case series from Iceland and the US Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network. Liver Int, 2020. Abstract read. Accessed Oct 23, 2026. PMID 31991029
9. Philips CA, et al. Ashwagandha-induced liver injury, a case series from India and literature review. Hepatol Commun, 2023. Abstract read. Accessed Oct 23, 2026. PMID 37756041
10. German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR). Ashwagandha food supplements with potential health risks, Communication 39/2024, Sep 10, 2024. Read. Accessed Oct 23, 2026. bfr.bund.de
11. Sharma AK, et al. Efficacy and safety of ashwagandha root extract in subclinical hypothyroid patients, a double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trial. J Altern Complement Med, 2018. Abstract read. Accessed Oct 23, 2026. PMID 28829155
12. Double Wood Supplements. KSM-66 Ashwagandha, product page, Supplement Facts label, warnings, price and refund policy. Accessed Oct 23, 2026. doublewoodsupplements.com
13. Intertek Champaign Laboratories for Double Wood. KSM-66 ashwagandha, lot 2506202, May 22, 2025, withanolide profile by HPLC conforms to the USP reference, no amount measured. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. Lab report (PDF)
14. Nootropics Depot. KSM-66 Ashwagandha Extract Capsules 300 mg, product page, Supplement Facts label, price and returns policy. Accessed Oct 20, 2026. nootropicsdepot.com
15. Omnient Labs for Nootropics Depot. Certificate of analysis, KSM-66 capsules, lot KSMCS1081726, Aug 17, 2026, root identity by HPTLC and heavy metals, no withanolide amount. Accessed Oct 20, 2026. Lot report (PDF)
16. Nootropics Depot. Meet our third party labs. Omnient Labs "was started as an ISO accredited lab to do advanced lab testing for Nootropics Depot." Accessed Oct 19, 2026. nootropicsdepot.com
17. Jarrow Formulas. Ashwagandha 300 mg, product page, Supplement Facts label, bottle images, price and satisfaction guarantee. Accessed Oct 23, 2026. jarrow.com
18. Nutricost. KSM-66 Ashwagandha 600 mg, product page, Supplement Facts label, price and return policy. Accessed Oct 23, 2026. nutricost.com
19. Nootropics Depot. Shoden Ashwagandha Extract Capsules 120 mg, product page, Supplement Facts label, price and returns policy. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. nootropicsdepot.com
20. Omnient Labs for Nootropics Depot. Certificate of analysis, Shoden capsules, lot SHACS1081726A, Aug 17, 2026, 74.88 mg total glycowithanolides a capsule by UPLC against a 42 mg specification. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. Lot report (PDF)
21. Nutricost. Ashwagandha Root Extract 600 mg, product page, Supplement Facts label (min. 2.5% withanolides) and price. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. nutricost.com
22. Gaia Herbs. Ashwagandha Root, product page, Supplement Facts label (2.5 mg withanolides in 350 mg) and price. Accessed Oct 21, 2026. gaiaherbs.com
23. Transparent Labs. KSM-66 Ashwagandha, product page, Supplement Facts label, price and satisfaction guarantee. Accessed Oct 23, 2026. transparentlabs.com
24. Advanced Laboratories for Transparent Labs. Test certificate, KSM-66 600 mg, lot 24111232, Nov 22, 2024, microbes and heavy metals only. Accessed Oct 23, 2026. Lab report (PDF)
25. Garage Gym Reviews. Best ashwagandha supplements. Updated Jun 2, 2026. Accessed Oct 23, 2026. garagegymreviews.com
26. Lopresti AL, et al. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study examining the hormonal and vitality effects of ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) in aging, overweight males. Am J Mens Health, 2019. Abstract and full text read. Accessed Oct 23, 2026. PMID 30854916
27. Verified Supplement Data. Best ashwagandha supplement. Updated Oct 8, 2026. Accessed Oct 23, 2026. verifiedsupplementdata.com