How many organizations actually offer the cryopreservation of humans - and how do they differ?
We will focus here on the four most relevant providers (Alcor Life Extension Foundation, Cryonics Institute, KrioRus and Tomorrow Biostasis) and compare them. However, there are certainly other facilities that are worth mentioning, for example Oregon Cryonics (since 2023 Sparks Brain Preservation) and Trans Time in the USA, Cryonics Germany, which offers neuro storage in Germany - or also those that cover other parts of the world. Examples of these are Southern Cryonics in Australia and the Shandong Yinfeng Life Science Research Institute in China.
Read our introductory post on cryonics if you are hearing about it for the first time.
Which cryonics provider is right for me?
When looking for the provider that is best suited to you, there are various points to consider. Probably the most important question is how quickly it can reach you in the event of a sudden death. After all, the first hours after the declaration of death are the most important because of the decay processes that set in rapidly.
We compare the four providers mentioned according to the most relevant criteria in a table and then discuss each of them individually. Important: This text is intended only as an initial orientation. If you are interested in a cryonics contract, we strongly recommend that you do further research, take into account all the circumstances of your own case and then contact the provider of your choice before you make a final decision.
The four most important cryonics organizations compared
| Alcor | Cryonics Institute | KrioRus | Tomorrow Biostasis | |
| Year founded | 1972 | 1976 | 2003 | 2019 |
| Services | Whole-body and neuro preservation | Whole-body, DNA and tissue preservation | Whole-body, neuro, DNA and tissue preservation | Whole-body and neuro preservation |
| Price of cryo- preservation | Whole body for $200,000, neuro for $80,000 | Whole body for $28,000 or $35,000 | Whole body for €36,000, neuro for €18,000 | Whole body for €200,000 |
| Membership fee | $55 per month | $1,250 one-time or initially $75 and then $120 per year | ? | €25 per month |
| Cryoprotectant | M22 | VM1 | ? | VM1 |
| Storage location | Scottsdale, Arizona (USA) | Clinton Township, Michigan (USA) | Moscow (Russia) | Rafz (Switzerland) |
| Members | 1415 | 1942 | ? | 357 |
| Cryopreserved members | 208 | 243 | 94 | none |
| Standby | yes - own standby teams for members near the facility - otherwise via an external service | optional via an external service | optional | yes - standby teams in Berlin, Amsterdam and Zurich |
| Research activity | yes | partly | yes | yes |
| Preservation of pets | yes - for members | yes - for members | yes - for members | yes - for members |
Alcor Life Extension Foundation
The oldest and most renowned cryonics facility is the Alcor Life Extension Foundation. It is located in Scottsdale, a city in the US state of Arizona. The city lies in a region where the risk of natural disasters is very low, in order to ensure long-term safety for the cryopreserved members.
Alcor illustrated this with a risk map that summarises four types of natural disasters: earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and blizzards. Scottsdale lies in the area with the lowest risk. Even a lower risk is still significant over a very long period of time, though. The map is no longer available from Alcor.
Alcor offers both whole-body and neuro preservation. In the latter, only the brain is stored, which, according to current knowledge, is the seat of memory, identity and personality. The organization also has an in-house standby team for people who are near the facility. This is a team of medical professionals that is sent to a member's location even before the foreseeable death of that member in order to begin the procedure immediately after the legal declaration of death. Terminally ill members are therefore advised to move to the area before their legal death. Under the standby program, they are entitled to relocation assistance of up to 10,000 US dollars. If, however, the patient is farther away, Alcor works with an external service. This service takes care of standby, stabilization and transport (SST). Alcor currently uses the companies Suspended Animation, Inc. and International Cryomedicine Experts for this.
Another special feature of Alcor: if a family member has already signed a contract, there is a discount for additional family members: 33 dollars per month for each adult and eight dollars per month for children.
Alcor uses the cryoprotectant M22, which was developed by the cryobiology company 21st Century Medicine. M22 is currently the best-documented cryoprotectant and, according to Alcor, promises the best overall results. However, this also comes at a price. Each use of M22 costs a mid-five-figure amount, which increases the cost of cryopreservation many times over.
Cryonics Institute (CI)
The Cryonics Institute, founded in 1976 by Robert Ettinger, is located in Clinton Township (US state of Michigan). The price there is so much lower mainly because the costs of standby and transport are not included. Nevertheless, the Cryonics Institute is still cheaper overall than Alcor or Tomorrow Biostasis - the difference is just not as big as it seems at first glance.
Unlike the other three providers we analyze here, the Cryonics Institute has specialized in whole-body preservation.
The Cryonics Institute offers both an annual and a lifetime membership. With the former, you pay a one-time fee of $75 and then $120 per year. In this case, the cryopreservation costs $35,000. With the lifetime membership, the member pays a one-time fee of $1,250, and the cryopreservation costs $28,000. Last-minute cases (provided they can be carried out and are accepted) cost $45,000.
The Cryonics Institute uses the cryoprotectant VM1. Although VM1 is somewhat less well documented, it has a comparatively low price of only a few hundred euros per application.
KrioRus
For a long time, KrioRus was the closest option for cryonicists from Europe and Asia. It offers whole-body and neuro preservation as well as the storage of DNA. In addition, KrioRus is the only one of the four organizations compared here that does not accept funding through life insurance.
Tomorrow Biostasis
Tomorrow Biostasis is the youngest of the four facilities offering cryopreservation - and also the first in Central Europe. The Berlin startup has a standby team in Berlin, Amsterdam and soon also in Zurich. At Tomorrow Biostasis, the entire sign-up process can be completed online. Since the startup has only existed since 2019, it does not yet have as many members as Alcor or CI. The average age of its members is 36, which is why the company has not yet cryopreserved any of its own members. However, its employees regularly support cases of non-members.
Like the Cryonics Institute, Tomorrow Biostasis uses VM1 for cryopreservation, but a slightly modified version of the agent that is produced directly by the company's research department.
Sources
Compare:
https://www.reddit.com/r/cryonics_europe/comments/r37uh7/whichcryonics_company_is_the_best_for_you/ | https://timeskipper.com/get-crazy-about-cryo/choosing-a-cryonics-company-which-one-is-right-for-you/ | https://www.tomorrow.bio/post/best-cryonics-company-for-you | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/QRhZ4JpNsfKhmBeb9/3-choosing-a-cryonics-provider
Websites of the providers not discussed in detail:
https://sparksbrain.org/ | https://www.transtime.com/ | https://cryonics-germany.org/ | https://southerncryonics.com/ | https://en.yinfenglife.org.cn/
Further reading
- M22 patent: https://patents.google.com/patent/US8679735B2/en
- Tomorrow Biostasis section on the different cryoprotectants: https://www.tomorrow.bio/post/what-agents-used-human-cryopreservation
- Websites of Suspended Animation, Inc. and International Cryomedicine Experts:
- https://suspendedanimationlabs.com/ | https://www.cryomedics.org/
- Article explaining how the cost differences between the various providers come about: https://timeskipper.com/legal/decoding-the-cost-of-cryonics/