Buying all the latest biohacking technologies promoted by influencers like Dave Asprey, Dr. Andrew Huberman, Ben Greenfield, or Tim Ferriss would cost a small fortune.
Just look at longevity enthusiast Bryan Johnson. His routine costs $2 Million per year.
Although experts agree that most of the best biohacks are free or cheap.
Generally, these expensive technologies mimic natural biohacks. Saving you:
- Time
- Energy
- Convenience
I often experiment with the fancy gear because they’re fun and sexier. Over time, I’ve gotten several questions about more accessible versions of these.
If you’re on a tight budget, here are some great free or cheap alternatives to expensive biohacks that you can consider.
Cryotherapy
Thanks to Dr. Andrew Huberman and plenty of others, cold thermogenesis has become one of the hottest biohacking trends of the last few years. It affects both your psychology and physiology in myriad ways.
Cryotherapy involves standing in a chamber filled with -166°F to -320°F air. It’s much riskier and less effective than a traditional cold plunge. So I much prefer the latter.
To learn more, check out my guide to the benefits, risks, and tips for cold plunge therapy.
Cheap alternative: Build your own cold plunge ($800 DIY vs $3,000-8,000 for commercial products) by getting a large chest freezer and chiller. Much cheaper if you get the chest freezer second-hand too.
Or, buy 50 lbs of ice from your local grocer and fill your bathtub (although this gets expensive over time).
Free alternative: Take a cold shower. If you already have the bathtub and ice, submerge your head to activate the mammalian dive reflex as well.
Red Light Therapy
If biohacking had a color, it’d certainly be red. Red light therapy has grown tremendously over the last 5 years. Moving from the fringe into mainstream vocabulary—for good reason. It works.
Specific wavelengths of red and near infrared light have tremendously beneficial effects on the body Share on XThey’re considered the healing spectrums of light—a quasi-nutrient most of us severely lack.
To learn more, check out my ultimate guide to the uses, benefits, dosing, and side effects of therapeutic red and infrared light.
Cheap alternative: Mini panels sacrifice the large treatment area but let you powerfully spot target particular areas.
Obviously, this wouldn’t work as well for full body treatment, but is still great for improving injuries or particular body parts. I use one to optimize my thyroid and gut most days. Here are other red light panel options you can consider.
I’ve seen small high-quality panels for under $199. Although I still wouldn’t go for cheap Amazon red light LEDs.
Free alternative: Practice sun gazing and spend more time outside (not through a window) specifically during sunrise and sunset when red and infrared spectrums naturally dominate sunlight. Alternatively, sit in front of a (real) fire.
Sauna
Extreme temperatures, this time through heat, drive many beneficial adaptations. First, they help you better tolerate hot days outside the treatment. Athletes love saunas because they can improve recovery, cardiovascular health, cognition, sports performance, detoxification, and even longevity.
I use the sauna 4-5 times per weeks and it’s among my favorite biohacks. But quality saunas are pricey. Especially the top and most beneficial infrared saunas.
Cheap alternative: This guide shares how to build your own near infrared sauna for $100 – $200 instead of the $2,000 – $5,000 sticker price of commercial units.
Free alternative: In a pinch, you can use a space heater and/or fireplace combined with wearing sweatpants and a hoodie. Then do some cardio. Or, wear that clothing and sit inside a hot car. That’s how wrestlers simulate a sauna to cut weight fast.
Alternatively, you could take a long and hot bath and submerge as much of your body as possible. But it must already be hot to yield a similar effect.
Brown’s Gas
Molecular hydrogen (H2) is a unique antioxidant so far researched in 2000 studies across nearly 200 disease models.
Unlike most antioxidants, it’s selective, meaning that molecular hydrogen only neutralizes the destructive free radicals while leaving the beneficial (i.e. nitric oxide, post-exercise inflammation) intact.
Molecular hydrogen is one of the most protective molecules for human health Share on XBrown’s Gas is the upgraded form of molecular hydrogen therapy popularized by George Wiseman’s AquaCure AC50 machine. I use mine every day and regularly get comments about how this system changed other people’s lives. But, it’s expensive.
Cheap alternative: Most biohackers don’t have an AquaCure, so instead they rely on these potent molecular hydrogen supplements. Simply dissolve a tablet/s in a glass of water. Plus, you get some highly bioavailable magnesium at the same time.
Free alternative: Our ancestors got tons of molecular hydrogen! That’s because, when you have the right bacterial species in your gut, H2 becomes a byproduct of fermenting fiber. Specifically, anaerobic bacteria such as Bacteroides, Prevotella, and Firmicutes.
Limiting antibiotic use paired with a diet rich in fiber, prebiotics, and natural probiotics helps. Biohack and fully optimize your gut today!
IV Nutrient Therapy
Go to any wellness clinic, and they’re surely administering intravenous nutrients. Myers cocktails, glutathione, and more recently, NAD+. While these can work wonders to address deficiencies, on top of the expense, they can also cause potential issues.
For example, NAD+ is a signaling molecule. When administered via IV, it plays a part in activating the cell danger response. Basically, throttling your body’s energy producing mitochondria.
Cheap alternative: Liposomal supplement technology has exploded in popularity because it can boost absorption comparable to an IV while also resisting the destruction of the molecule by your stomach acid extending the half-life of the benefits.
You can get liposomal versions of most of the popular nutrients like liposomal NMN, liposomal NR, liposomal glutathione, etc.
Free alternative: There’s no direct free alternative to IV nutrients. The closest thing would be to take digestive enzymes while consuming a high-quality, nutrient-dense meal.
Smart Wearables
Wearables like the Oura ring, Whoop, Apple Watch, and Ultrahuman automatically quantify your health 24/7. Without changing a thing, it passively collects data so that you can make informed decisions in the future.
You also can’t find a high-accuracy, quality device under $200.
Cheap alternative: If you don’t mind sacrificing some accuracy or potentially data privacy, the cost of minimalist wearables has dropped dramatically.
Lara from the Outliyr team, for example, uses a Xiaomi Smart Watch. This one costs just $43.
Free alternative: If you have a phone, you’re in luck. Modern smartphones can do all kinds of things. From tracking your steps and distance walked, to analyzing your HRV, to estimating total calories burned. Not the most accurate, but decent enough.
Ozone Therapy
Of the many useful tools, ozone therapy stands out for several reasons. Namely, it’s a potent anti-microbial and oxygenator of the body.
In the body, ozone (O3) splits into oxygen (O2) and an oxygen atom (O). Introducing reactive oxygen species into the body causes the body to respond by ramping up defense pathways.
But the best at-home ozone therapy machines can cost north of $2,000. Here are some potential replacements.
Cheap alternative: You can DIY an ozone therapy machine for several hundred dollars with some careful perusal of sites like Alibaba. You won’t have the same safety guarantees, warranty, or proof of efficacy.
Ozone gas is highly oxidative. When buying the components, you’ll need to source ozone-resistant materials. Otherwise, you’ll do more harm than good. If this interests you, check out this post on all the equipment you need to perform ozone therapy at home.
Free alternative: Hydrogen peroxide therapy involves administering hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) into the body. It breaks down into water (H2O) and oxygen (O2), again, releasing reactive oxygen species.
It’s typically administered orally (diluted), intravenously, or topically. Although ozone is typically considered more potent and controlled.
Whole Body Vibration
Vibration therapy is one of those topics that sound gimmicky, but actually has a fair bit of scientific evidence. It can help everything from strength, flexibility, circulation, bone density, natural detoxification, balance and coordination, muscle soreness, stress, and even weight loss.
As you may suspect, the top whole body vibration platforms get pricey.
Cheap alternative: The very cheapest system I could find costed several hundred dollars. While that’s not much compared to most, you have other options.
Instead of a vibration machine, you can either bounce on a rebounder or jump rope. These also stimulate the lymphatic system, enhance the detoxification process, build bone density, improve circulation, and more.
Free alternative: The closest way to replace WBV would be to do a combination of inversion therapy with physical shaking.
Inversion therapy involves (safely) hanging upside down for a minute daily. For the second half, I mean standing and slightly hopping while you shake your limbs. You may look a little weird, but these activate similar mechanisms too.
KAATSU BFR
KAATSU is the industry-leading form of blood flow restriction training. Actually, it’s in a league of its own.
This technology lets you gain the benefits of heavy strength training but with only bodyweight or extremely light load. It works by modulating the blood flow returning to the heart from the muscles (but not from muscle to heart). Making it a safe and effective technique, even for injured folks and the elderly. Learn more in my KAATSU BFR System Review.
As this technology was originally developed for Japanese hospitals, it’s expensive.
Cheap alternative: I regularly used KAATSU from 2011 to 2013 as I trained for collegiate football and rugby. As a college student, I couldn’t afford the systems, so I purchased some cheap BFR Bands.
They work similarly to KAATSU. Albeit, without the same safety safeguards, different training modes, or proven efficacy. You kind of guess the appropriate tightness. But they definitely work, and I gift them often!
Free alternative: There isn’t really a safe and effective free version of KAATSU. You could try to use an extra wide tourniquet and keep it quite loose. But this is dangerous, ineffective, and widely considered a major no-no.
Instead, I’d suggest using a different fitness tool together. Something like super slow strength bodyweight training.
Probiotics
Over the last decade, as the immune-centric health paradigm has emerged, probiotics have made every list of the most commonly recommended supplements. Microbes outnumber your human cells by at least 4-fold. So technically, you’re more bacterial than human.
Theoretically, probiotics introduce new microbes into your body, which shifts the overall ecosystem. Unfortunately, most probiotics are basically scams, which is why I recommend these great probiotic supplement alternatives.
The right products, on the other hand, have all kinds of benefits. From suppressing appetite and facilitating weight loss, to boosting levels of testosterone and oxytocin (the “love hormone”), to improving sleep, to enhancing focus, and beyond.
Cheap alternative: Joel Greene’s Immune Code protocol focuses on improving two of the most important (and lacking) species—Akkermansia and Bifidobacteria. You do this by consuming HMO powder and polyphenol-rich food/supplement sources.
Free alternative: Consume more raw, unpasteurized, fermented foods (sauerkraut, kimchi) and raw dairy if you can get it.
Multivitamins & Multiminerals
Multivitamins are, by far, the most universally consumed supplements. Yet most modern humans still have major nutrient deficiencies. So I’m not a fan for many reasons. With only a few exceptions.
These are some dangers & drawbacks of multivitamin supplements.
If you’re taking a premium product with clinical dosages of methylated (”activated”) forms of everything, you’ll pay a hefty premium. The real, high-quality multis are quite expensive. Daily users spend hundreds per year.
Cheap alternative: Choose a simple product that contains the essential nutrients (or, ideally, get blood work done and only supplement the nutrients you already need).
In a pinch, if you’re taking an expensive supplement, you could reduce your dosage. If you normally take three capsules, you could scale back to one or two. Or change the frequency you dose.
Free alternative: Skip the multi altogether! I don’t take a multivitamin because I already get plenty of vitamins, minerals, and trace minerals from my diet and other supplements. If one of my blood test comes back low in a particular nutrient, I’ll increase my consumption of foods rich in that.
If you opt for this route, I highly suggest you plug in your foods from a normal day of eating into an app like Cronometer. That’ll breakdown the levels of each nutrient you get and help you spot any deficiencies.
Protein Supplements
Unlike carbohydrates and fats, which serve as bodily fuel sources, the body uses protein to build (and repair) things. From neurotransmitters, to hormones, to organ systems. If proteins are a house, the raw materials that make up that house are called amino acids.
In between those, you have smaller structures called peptides, which are short strings of amino acids.
Without adequate protein (amino acids), your body simply won’t perform. You won’t look or feel as good either. Unfortunately, high-quality sources like grass-fed whey protein supplements can cost as much as $500 per year.
Cheap alternative: My favorite and potentially superior alternative to whey protein (and tolerable to more people) are essential amino acid supplements.
A small 3-5 gram scoop has the equivalent effect of an entire steak, at a small fraction of the cost. If supplement taste doesn’t matter, you can buy bulk unflavored essential amino acid powder for incredibly cheap.
I often buy a kilogram at a time. Just make sure to get essential amino acids and not the far inferior branched chain aminos.
Free alternative: As with everything nutritional, you won’t find a completely free source. The cheapest high-quality source of the essential amino acids is dairy. Milk specifically is high in bioavailable protein.
If you exercise or don’t like the taste of normal milk, chocolate milk is another great option. As athletes know, higher levels of simple carbohydrates make it even more potent to build muscle. Some research suggests that it’s comparable to whey protein.
Unfortunately, vegetarian and vegan sources of complete tissue-building protein are much harder to find.
Nootropics
Contrary to what your neuroscience professor may have taught you, you can absolutely rewire your brain. You can elevate your focus, concentration, memory, motivation, clarity, energy, and every other facet of brainpower. That’s exactly what the special class of “nootropic” supplements does.
I’ve personally tested over 203 different nootropic ingredients. I’ve spent as much as $375 on one order as explained in my premium white-glove Nootopia nootropics review. You can reap the benefits at a much lower cost.
Cheap alternative: Instead of buying one of the high-end nootropic supplements, you can experiment with single ingredients and build your own stack. This is my usual go-to.
If you have the restraint and a non-addictive personality, you can also try nicotine. Not cigarettes, but rather a low-dose topical nicotine patch. I had a neuroscience professor that explained how nicotine (aside from the addictive potential), is nearly the perfect nootropic. Patches last the entire day too.
Just make sure not to use it over three times per week.
Free alternative: The closest thing to free nootropics would either be using an audio-based brain-shifting technology called binaural beats.
Or, adding some of the extremely cheap amino acid L-theanine to your coffee/tea. The effects aren’t as strong as some of the more potent ingredients, but the theanine smoothes out and balances the effects of caffeine. This is the original nootropic.
Brain Training
Everyone agrees that physical fitness plays an important role in overall health. Yet few people discuss the profound importance of mental fitness.
Just like you train our fitness in a gym, so too can you exercise your mind. When you do, you can increase your baseline state
I train my mind five days per week, and despite participating in high-level collision sports for over a decade, my brain’s never worked better. Although I’m a huge fan of neurotech (as I mentioned in my Sensai neurofeedback review), you don’t need clinical-grade gear to exercise your mind either.
Cheap alternative: Data lovers can practice heart rate variability training with inexpensive biofeedback tools. The brain and heart maintain coherence, so by optimizing your HRV, you also improve your brainwaves.
In fact, the best neurofeedback technologies require you to practice this HRV training before moving into direct brain training. You can even do basic HRV training with nothing more than your phone and an app.
Free alternative: The ultimate budget way to work on your brain health and performance are the tried-and-true strategies. Regularly engaging in puzzles, crosswords, games that require hand-eye coordination, Scrabble-style vocabulary building activities, and of course, meditation.
You can use free guided meditation apps like Insight Timer (my favorite).
Eight Sleep & OOLER Bed Cooling
Sleep is the bedrock of high-performance. Many elite athletes like NBA-star LeBron James famously sleep as much as 12 hours per day. The quality and duration of your sleep impact virtually every facet of your health. One of the biggest determinants of sleep is temperature.
Systems like OOLER and more recently, Eight Sleep, promise to upgrade your sleep by letting you customize the exact temperature of your bed. I have both, and as described in my Eight Sleep Pod Pro system review, they’re expensive and have monthly memberships.
Cheap alternative: While still not exactly cheap, you can get other units like the BedJet for as low as $359 when on sale. Instead of cooling your mattress via water (which is most effective), this system uses air.
Though much more affordable compared to the premium units, I’ve heard mixed reviews from owners.
Free alternative: If the BedJet is still out of your budget, you can pre-cool yourself before sleeping. When I travel (especially when there’s no AC), I take a cold shower about 60-90 minutes before bed.
Then, I put on a pair of socks. Paradoxically, this actually cools you down while sleeping. If you have a fan available, you can hang a wet rag over it, which will blow cool air onto you throughout the night.
Earthing Mats
Throughout antiquity, humans spent most of the day touching the bare Earth. Either completely barefoot, or wearing conductive shoes. This changed with the invention of rubber-soled shoes. Plus, multi-story homes and even skyscrapers.
As you may have noticed if you’ve ever spent time touching the ground, this contact has several health effects. From accelerating wound repair, to muscle recovery, to circulation improvements, to pain & inflammation improvements, and beyond. Learn more in my ultimate guide to “Earthing”.
Cheap alternative: You no longer need to spend $375 on the original Earthing gear. You can get Earthing mats, pads, bedding, and other gear for a fraction of the cost.
It may not conduct quite as well or feel as comfortable, but it still works. Just make sure you choose a model that does not plug in to an outlet and rather connects to a stake that you drive into the ground in your yard somewhere.
Free alternative: Practice some forest bathing or nature therapy and do Earthing the old-fashioned way.
Expose your bare skin to the ground. Or, take a swim in a natural body of water. Shoot for at least 20 minutes.
Biological Age Testing
The world of anti-aging and longevity has exploded over the last four years. It’s one of the fastest growing verticals of health and wellness. The goal is to extend the number of healthy self-sufficient years you live.
Healthspan, not just lifespan. Share on XSince health is incredibly bioindividual, the best biological age tests help you determine the factors leading to accelerated or slowed speed of biological aging. Yet performing quarterly testing will cost north of $1,200 per year.
Cheap alternative: You can get an inexpensive genetic analysis that will last your entire lifetime. Since your genes themselves won’t change, unlike most health diagnostics, you don’t need to retest.
Then, you can capitalize on your annual blood panel that’s complimentary with most medical insurance plans. With some sweet-talking, you can convince your doctor to add-on a few other important blood tests too.
Free alternative: Several great free tools can semi-accurately predict your biological age. First, you have the indirect proxies of health. Then, you have some free apps that claim to predict your bioage more accurately than the expensive tests that were the industry-standard half a decade ago.
Some of the many top proxies of biological age include grip strength, walking speed, ability to sit and stand without assistance (wall or human), VO2 max, overall strength, and several others.
From my research, this is the best free biological aging testing app.
How to Biohack Your Life on a Budget
If you follow any of the top biohacking influencers, pick up a read from my biohacker book list, or peruse the major biohacking websites, you’ll likely conclude that this is an industry for multi-millionaires.
Many of the popular biohacks cost a small fortune. Some machines cost more than cars. I’ve gotten more and more questions from my email list about cheaper or even free alternatives.
As I and the experts often say, the best biohacks are free.
The fancy designer gear often either:
- Saves time
- Works faster
- Reduces effort
- Yields stronger results
Contrary to what you’ll read elsewhere, this isn’t an all-or-nothing game.
Budget options effectively mimic the benefits of the hottest premium biohacks Share on XI hope this article has given you a few ideas.
If you found this helpful, please send it to your friends that complain that biohacking is too expensive. Or share it on social media.
I’m sure that I’ve missed some important ones, so drop a comment, question, or suggestion below!
