Vanquish is better for a broad abdomen with nothing to grip. Panels held above the skin send a radiofrequency field that heats the fat layer without touching you. CoolSculpting is better for a pocket of fat you can hold between your fingers. An applicator clamps a fold of tissue and freezes it for 35 to 60 minutes.
| The difference | Vanquish | CoolSculpting |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | No published price | $3,268 on average, $750 to $8,800 |
About four weekly sessions of 45 minutes Panels sit above the abdomen and send a radiofrequency field through the tissue. Nothing touches your skin. The energy is said to gather in fat rather than in the skin above it, and it warms the fat layer. That session count comes from clinic pages, not from a trial.
Side by side
Vanquish
About four weekly sessions of 45 minutes
Panels sit above the abdomen and send a radiofrequency field through the tissue. Nothing touches your skin. The energy is said to gather in fat rather than in the skin above it, and it warms the fat layer. That session count comes from clinic pages, not from a trial.
CoolSculpting
One or more freezing cycles per area
An applicator draws a fold of tissue against a chilled plate and holds it there for 35 to 60 minutes. Cold harms fat cells more easily than skin, nerves or muscle. In the largest real-world review, of 3,262 patients, the median was 1 session and 4 cycles.
Vanquish
A smaller waist measurement
Thirteen patients came back four years after treatment. They had lost 5.88 cm off the waist at first. At four years they were 4.42 cm below where they started, about three quarters of the original change.
CoolSculpting
A thinner fat layer where it is applied
The FDA's own pooled review put the average drop in the fat layer at 21%, across a range of 10% to 26%. An independent trial found about 14%.
Vanquish
Not for anywhere but the abdomen and waist
Nothing is clamped on, so it does not need a bulge to grip. But the published work covers the waist and abdomen, not other areas.
CoolSculpting
Not for a flat area with nothing to pinch
The vacuum cup needs tissue to draw into it. It covers seven named body areas, plus under the chin and jaw.
Vanquish
Warmth, and little else reported
The four-year follow-up reported no long-term side effects. But that was only thirteen people.
CoolSculpting
Numb, red and firm for days to weeks
Bruising from the vacuum is common. So is pain that starts a few days later. One review of 554 procedures found it lasted 3 to 11 days.
Vanquish
No published price
No average and no price range have been published for Vanquish.
CoolSculpting
$3,268 on average, $750 to $8,800
That is self-reported by 1,928 RealSelf reviewers. It is priced per cycle, not per session.
Vanquish
No home version of the machine
Handheld radiofrequency wands are sold for home use. They put far less power into the surface, and the energy does not reach the depth in the fat layer that clinic panels work at.
CoolSculpting
Freezing at home is not the same
Ice packs and cold wraps only cool the skin. The clinic device holds a fold of fat at a set low temperature for up to an hour. An ice pack cannot do that, and cooling your own skin that hard is a way to injure it.
Vanquish
CoolSculpting
CoolSculpting
Three blood disorders rule CoolSculpting out. In each one, the blood reacts badly to cold. They are cryoglobulinemia, cold agglutinin disease and paroxysmal cold hemoglobinuria.
CoolSculpting
CoolSculpting's paperwork is easier to follow. A De Novo authorisation, DEN090002, was granted 24 August 2010 and created the FDA device category for cryolipolysis. Thirteen later 510(k) clearances added body areas and body mass index limits. The claim is cold-assisted lipolysis of the upper arm, bra fat, back fat, banana roll, thigh, abdomen and flank, in people with a body mass index of 30 or less. CoolSculpting Elite is K212707, cleared 5 November 2021. Under the chin and jaw are cleared separately, up to a body mass index of 46.2. Blinded photo picking is the main endpoint in most of these clearances, which is a spot-the-difference test rather than a measurement of fat.
Common questions
The paperwork here is lopsided.
FDA does not publish a link between BTL's trade names and its clearance numbers, so no public record confirms which filing "Vanquish" is sold under. BTL holds 49 510(k) records in all, most of them cleared for other things.
Two BTL radiofrequency clearances do carry body claims of the right shape. K143559 covers the XP1000 RF, decided 11 June 2015, for "temporary reduction in circumference of the abdomen". K152731 covers the XP1100 RF, decided 20 July 2016, for the abdomen and thighs. Neither claims fat, lipolysis or a lasting change. The word in both is temporary, and the thing reduced is a tape measurement, not the thickness of a fat layer.
A 510(k) clearance is a finding that a device is much the same as one already on sale. It is not a finding that the device works. That is true of every clearance on this page, on both sides.