How to use this comparison
This page compares Twist Bioscience and Agilent SurePrint for oligo pool synthesis. For a broader supplier shortlist, review the vendor comparison and public specification table alongside your quote requirements.
Quick Summary
Source basis: vendor identity, platform type, and stated ordering fit come from public product pages. Length, error-rate, uniformity, and turnaround wording below are summarized from the public vendor-spec review and should be reconfirmed in a live quote.
| Vendor | Best fit |
|---|---|
| Twist Bioscience | Longer pooled oligos, CRISPR screens, variant libraries, rapid iteration, and projects where sub-pools or strong uniformity are central ordering requirements. |
| Agilent SurePrint | NGS target-enrichment panels, SureSelect-oriented capture designs, very large probe sets, and teams already standardized on Agilent design and ordering systems. |
Comprehensive Comparison
Figures below are summarized from public vendor pages and the OligoPool public vendor-specification review. Treat them as a pre-quote screening aid, then confirm active limits, QC language, turnaround, and availability directly with each vendor.
| Feature | Twist Bioscience | Agilent SurePrint |
|---|---|---|
| Synthesis Technology | Silicon-based chip | Inkjet printing on glass slides |
| Published Oligo Length | Up to 350 nt for standard Oligo Pools | Public Agilent tables and store examples cover the 30-230 nt range |
| Published Pool or Chip Capacity | No stated limit on the public standard-pool page | Public store examples show capacities up to 244K unique sequences on a chip |
| Public QC Wording | Uniformity >90% within <2.0x of mean and error rate up to 1:3,000 for standard pools | Overview and HiFi pages describe multi-faceted QC; HiFi publishes error rates as low as 1 in 4,000 nucleotides |
| Published Turnaround | 2-4 business days for standard pools up to 350 nt | Standard pools are listed at as few as 3 business days with 90% complete within 6 business days; HiFi at as few as 5 business days with 90% complete within 8 business days |
| Delivery and Ordering Note | Standard ssDNA pools plus separate cloned-pool service | SurePrint pooled synthesis with separate HiFi tier and store-specific SKU constraints |
| Sub-Pool Support | Public standard-pool page describes sub-pool options; confirm current limits in quote | Confirm project-specific sub-pool or partitioning options directly with Agilent |
| Modifications | Biotin, phosphorylation | Biotin |
| Order File Format | Confirm current portal and CSV requirements before upload | Confirm current portal and CSV requirements before upload |
Source basis by section
- Platform and ordering fit: public Twist and Agilent product pages.
- Comparison table: public vendor-specification review plus vendor pages.
- Error-impact guidance: use a calculator only after selecting a clearly stated per-base error assumption.
Review notes: public vendor specifications review. Vendor pages and quote terms can change, so this comparison should not replace a current quote or technical confirmation.
Agilent HiFi changes the accuracy comparison
Agilent publishes a HiFi option with error rates as low as 1 in 4,000 nucleotides. Treat this as a separate service tier from standard SurePrint pools, then confirm availability, quote scope, turnaround, and QC deliverables directly with Agilent.
How to Model Error Impact Safely
The practical impact of per-base error rates depends on oligo length, vendor tier, purification or QC scope, and downstream validation. Public vendor pages do not always describe the same QC endpoint, so avoid comparing every error-rate or yield phrase as the same metric.
Use the Error Rate Calculator only after choosing the exact error assumption you want to model. Treat the output as a planning estimate, not a guaranteed vendor delivery value.
Use our Error Rate Calculator to model these scenarios with your exact oligo length and coupling efficiency.
Application-Specific Recommendations
CRISPR Library Screening
Public-page fit: Twist Bioscience. Twist publishes numeric standard-pool uniformity and error-rate wording, plus a standard-pool length range up to 350 nt. Confirm current sub-pool, QC, and quote details before ordering.
NGS Target Enrichment Panels
Public-page fit: Agilent SurePrint. Agilent's public pages position SurePrint and HiFi pooled oligos around target-enrichment and large probe-set workflows. Confirm the active SKU, probe length, QC scope, and delivery timing for the specific panel.
Gene Assembly (Synthetic Biology)
Public-page fit: Twist Bioscience. Twist and IDT are the primary public-page options elsewhere on this site for longer standard pool lengths. Use this two-vendor page only when the shortlist is specifically Twist versus Agilent.
Deep Mutational Scanning (DMS)
Public-page fit: Twist Bioscience. Twist's public uniformity wording and standard-pool positioning are usually the stronger first screen for variant libraries, but final selection should follow quote confirmation and downstream QC requirements.
Sequence file preparation
Before requesting quotes or placing an order, validate the sequence set and prepare the vendor-specific upload file. Use the Vendor Format Adapter for Twist and Agilent file formatting, and review the sequence set with Batch Sequence QC before submission.