Various Retailers / Brands: Protein Powder Per-Gram of Protein Cost Analysis
from $0.02/gram
(May Vary By Location)
+141Deal Score
62,469 Views
Note: While some items listed may not be on sale currently, we are promoting these offers on the Frontpage due to strong feedback from and excellent contributions made by the community, who view this as a way to compare products and save money on a more consistent basis between stronger sales.
Various Retailers have select Protein Powders starting at 1.88 Cents per Gram of Protein. Pricing may be subject to change as determined by the manufacturer and/or retailer.
Thanks to WolfTheCat and all other community members involved in contributing to and evaluating this list.
Pricing and availability may vary in-store vs. online (where applicable) and/or by region.
A higher or lower cost-per-gram-of-protein may not be indicative of quality.
Cost Per Gram of Protein Analysis (lowest to highest):
Visit the main forum post here and consider bookmarking this page to check back for any potential future updates/additions.
WolfTheCat:"The primary metric here is cost per gram of protein, because I figure that is what you want in protein powder. I also list:
The type of protein (Whey, soy, etc...). If it is a blend, I include the first two main components in order. For example Isolate > Concentrate means the blend is primarily isolate and has some concentrate.
The size of the container, in pounds. Some people don't want 15lb containers.
The percent of protein that is Leucine, considered the most important BCAA and a metric of a quality amino acid profile.
The percent of product mass that is protein. More mass-dense proteins have fewer ingredients that you may not want, such as inert ingredients, moisture, fat, and carbs (or, in some cases, heavy metals...).
The percent of calories that is protein. This is important for folks avoiding fat and/or carbs."
*** Edited with more products, and new notes in red at the bottom***
* Products with an Amazon link assume a full 5-product S&S discount for calculations. If you aren't getting the full discount, check out this post.
This post isn't about a single deal, but more a comparison of recent SlickDeals and options from Costco, Amazon, MyProtein, and Aldi that compare well. I added Muscle Milk to have a main URL, and it's competitive, but it doesn't conclusively "win" the comparison - you should look at the other options.
(*)MyProtein has constantly revolving sales and coupons that I can't keep up with. You can usually find a 50% off coupon if you search for one online, so I based the calculations assuming you have one, but YMMV.
Notes:
The primary metric here is cost per gram of protein, because I figure that is what you want in protein powder. I also list:
The type of protein (Whey, soy, etc...). If it is a blend, I include the first two main components in order. For example Isolate > Concentrate means the blend is primarily isolate and has some concentrate.
The size of the container, in pounds. Some people don't want 15lb containers.
The percent of protein that is Leucine, considered the most important BCAA and a metric of a quality amino acid profile.
The percent of product mass that is protein. More mass-dense proteins have fewer ingredients that you may not want, such as inert ingredients, moisture, fat, and carbs (or, in some cases, heavy metals...).
The percent of calories that is protein. This is important for folks avoiding fat and/or carbs.
Stuff I don't consider, but you are free to debate in the comments:
Vegan, Non-GMO, Kosher, types of flavorings/sweeteners.
Whether the supplier is honest. The supplement industry is unregulated, and I am only comparing what they claim. That may or may not match what is actually in the product, and I have no way of knowing if they tell the truth or not.
Serving/scoop size because it is an irrelevant metric. This is normalized by giving a price per gram protein. You can adjust your servings to have as much or little protein as you want.
Extra ingredients (wanted or unwanted).
New Notes:
If you want another product considered, add a comment and add a deal so I have a link and discounted price for calculations.
If the link is to SlickDeals, I use the deal price for calculation.
I will add and remove products, and will post a comment when I do so. If you want to stay current, subscribe to this post.
Model: Muscle Milk 100% Whey Protein Powder, Chocolate, 5 Pound, 66 Servings, 25g Protein, 2g Sugar, Low in Fat, NSF Certified for Sport, Energizing Snack, Workout Recovery, Packaging May Vary
Deal History
Deal History includes data from multiple reputable stores, such as Best Buy, Target, and Walmart. The lowest price among stores for a given day is selected as the "Sale Price".
Sale Price does not include sale prices at Amazon unless a deal was posted by a community member.
Muscle Milk 100% Whey Protein Powder, Chocolate, 5 Pound, 66 Servings, 25g Protein, 2g Sugar, Low in Fat, NSF Certified for Sport, Energizing Snack, Workout Recovery, Packaging May Vary
Manufacturer:
CYTAB
Model Number:
71954
Product SKU:
B0106ZJ27K
UPC:
660726760703
ASIN:
B0106ZJ27K
Brand:
Muscle Milk
Item Dimensions LxWxH:
12 x 5 x 16 inches
Item Weight:
5 pounds
Item model number:
71954
Manufacturer:
CYTAB
Community Wiki
Last Edited by WolfTheCat
April 4, 2024
at
07:10 AM
*** Moved to Wiki - I will try to keep this current-ish.
- Anyone can add/remove products now, but I may whomp changes when I re-copy from my spreadsheet
* Products with an Amazon link assume a full 5-product S&S discount for calculations. If you aren't getting the full discount, check out this post.
* Products with a SlickDeals link use the price shown in the deal.
[b](*)MyProtein has constantly revolving sales and coupons won't be able to keep up with. You can usually find a 50% off coupon if you search for one online, so I based the calculations assuming you have one, but YMMV.
Stuff I don't consider, but you are free to debate in the comments:
Vegan, Non-GMO, Kosher, types of flavorings/sweeteners.
Whether the supplier is honest. The supplement industry is unregulated, and I am only comparing what they claim. That may or may not match what is actually in the product, and I have no way of knowing if they tell the truth or not.
Serving/scoop size because it is an irrelevant metric. This is normalized by giving a price per gram protein. You can adjust your servings to have as much or little protein as you want.
Extra ingredients (wanted or unwanted).
If you want another product considered, add a comment and add a deal so I have a link and discounted price for calculations.
I will add and remove products, and will post a comment when I do so. If you want to stay current, subscribe to this post.
More accurate information and additional products available in this post's wiki.
Slickdeals Frontpaged this deal, which takes away my ability to edit the main post.
They also removed several of the products in the comparison and altered some of the pricing in ways that no longer make sense (for example, they changed a 50% my protein coupon to a 35% coupon, but didn't change the per-gram price, making the math wrong).
I have put the original post in the wiki, where I (or anyone else) can edit it.
More accurate information and additional products available in this post's wiki.
My favorite, being an obligate carnivore, but didn't include on list because it isn't a protein powder.
Thanksgiving Turkey. An 18lb bird, 59c/lb near thanksgiving, with about 7lb yield after roasting:
- 1.23c per gram of protein
- $10.62 for 7lb of meat
- 53% of calories from protein
- 27.3% of edible mass from protein
- 6.7% of protein is Leucine
I have ten of these in my freezer outside.
It's a sad day in August when you run out of Thanksgiving turkey.
More accurate information and additional products available in this post's wiki.
Cost is not the only important thing. Some powders may have more value to you for various reasons that are not considered in this analysis, such as merchant reputability, additional ingredients like Creatine, how well it dissolves, how good it tastes, GMO, Vegan, Kosher, etc... Feel free to discuss all that here in the comments.
As an example, I think Muscle Milk is competitive. It's not the cheapest in cost/g, but it's a major brand sold at stores, probably more reputable, and is primarily whey isolate, but I am suspicious of it's low percentage protein (in both calories and mass), making me think it has a lot of extra stuff that you may not want/need.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
More accurate information and additional products available in this post's wiki.
My favorite, being an obligate carnivore, but didn't include on list because it isn't a protein powder.
Thanksgiving Turkey. An 18lb bird, 59c/lb near thanksgiving, with about 7lb yield after roasting:
- 1.23c per gram of protein
- $10.62 for 7lb of meat
- 53% of calories from protein
- 27.3% of edible mass from protein
- 6.7% of protein is Leucine
I have ten of these in my freezer outside.
It's a sad day in August when you run out of Thanksgiving turkey.
More accurate information and additional products available in this post's wiki.
For MyProtein, the coupon code MYPRMN is good for 50% off, and should work until 3/20.
I haven't bought from my protein for a few years. I believe there was a sale (5 bags maybe?) that was supposed to be a great value. I bought them and enjoyed them. (Impact whey isolate 2.2 lb bags multiple flavors) I'm looking to purchase more. Is their current sale worth stocking up? Or just a good/decent price to pickup a bag or couple bags?
Thanks
More accurate information and additional products available in this post's wiki.
Quote
from CowboysFan4Life
:
I haven't bought from my protein for a few years. I believe there was a sale (5 bags maybe?) that was supposed to be a great value. I bought them and enjoyed them. (Impact whey isolate 2.2 lb bags multiple flavors) I'm looking to purchase more. Is their current sale worth stocking up? Or just a good/decent price to pickup a bag or couple bags?
Thanks
MyP obnoxiously obfuscates their pricing in a way that makes that question really hard to answer.
They constantly change their base price, default on-site coupon, and coupons that you can find online from coupon sites.
Without doing a year-long daily study and searching, I don't know how one could even answer that question with any reasonable accuracy.
As of today's sale, they compare well to competitors. I have no idea how they compare to their previous sales.
I haven't bought from my protein for a few years. I believe there was a sale (5 bags maybe?) that was supposed to be a great value. I bought them and enjoyed them. (Impact whey isolate 2.2 lb bags multiple flavors) I'm looking to purchase more. Is their current sale worth stocking up? Or just a good/decent price to pickup a bag or couple bags?
Thanks
A few years ago Myprotein's Black Friday/Christmas deal for Whey Protein Isolate was around $4-5/pound. That may be the one you are talking about. The last sale I saw from them & bought was around Dec last year for $9/pound, but I don't track them that closely so I could have easily missed another sale since then. Everything I have seen from them lately seems to be right around the same price as everyone else. One week it might be up a bit, then the next week down a little.
I haven't bought from my protein for a few years. I believe there was a sale (5 bags maybe?) that was supposed to be a great value. I bought them and enjoyed them. (Impact whey isolate 2.2 lb bags multiple flavors) I'm looking to purchase more. Is their current sale worth stocking up? Or just a good/decent price to pickup a bag or couple bags?
Thanks
Refer yourself (I used my middle name) and got the referral that I then used for almost free bags.
Can anyone suggest a good protein that is most similar to whey in terms of nutrition profile and protein density? Whey or any diary based protein wrecks my body. I've been using the trunutriton pea+rice blend but it's getting pretty expensive overt time.
Pea+brown rice is going to be the closest from what i know. Good luck. Egg white is a great option too. If you are ok with new worl nutritionals they sell the cheapest egg white ive seen. Ive used and didnt die or get sick.
More accurate information and additional products available in this post's wiki.
Quote
from MoeTheCat1799
:
Pea+brown rice is going to be the closest from what i know. Good luck. Egg white is a great option too. If you are ok with new worl nutritionals they sell the cheapest egg white ive seen. Ive used and didnt die or get sick.
Egg protein tends to be expensive. The few I have analyzed were more expensive per gram than anything on the list in the wiki, to the point that I didn't list it.
Pea+brown rice is going to be the closest from what i know. Good luck. Egg white is a great option too. If you are ok with new worl nutritionals they sell the cheapest egg white ive seen. Ive used and didnt die or get sick.
I got the whey isolate from ispoure and been using it for the last 2 days. It tastes great and is so light. Haven't had any tummy issues so far.
Everyone is trying to get the lowest price, but fail to think about quality standards and micro plastics in their protein.
Some of the whey protein supplement companies have third party testing. Although I think they are mainly testing for heavy metals(lead, arsenic, mercury, etc...). It was mainly the vegan proteins that were having problems with heavy metals
Does anyone in even the food industry check for microplastics? Anything wrapped in plastic or sold in plastic containers is probably going to have this issue.
Some of the whey protein supplement companies have third party testing. Although I think they are mainly testing for heavy metals(lead, arsenic, mercury, etc...). It was mainly the vegan proteins that were having problems with heavy metals
Does anyone in even the food industry check for microplastics? Anything wrapped in plastic or sold in plastic containers is probably going to have this issue.
My wife's cousin's husband - he's in food safety. He overseas many plants and they run random testing for "foreign materials" being detected.
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Slickdeals Frontpaged this deal, which takes away my ability to edit the main post.
They also removed several of the products in the comparison and altered some of the pricing in ways that no longer make sense (for example, they changed a 50% my protein coupon to a 35% coupon, but didn't change the per-gram price, making the math wrong).
I have put the original post in the wiki, where I (or anyone else) can edit it.
My favorite, being an obligate carnivore, but didn't include on list because it isn't a protein powder.
Thanksgiving Turkey. An 18lb bird, 59c/lb near thanksgiving, with about 7lb yield after roasting:
- 1.23c per gram of protein
- $10.62 for 7lb of meat
- 53% of calories from protein
- 27.3% of edible mass from protein
- 6.7% of protein is Leucine
I have ten of these in my freezer outside.
It's a sad day in August when you run out of Thanksgiving turkey.
Cost is not the only important thing. Some powders may have more value to you for various reasons that are not considered in this analysis, such as merchant reputability, additional ingredients like Creatine, how well it dissolves, how good it tastes, GMO, Vegan, Kosher, etc... Feel free to discuss all that here in the comments.
As an example, I think Muscle Milk is competitive. It's not the cheapest in cost/g, but it's a major brand sold at stores, probably more reputable, and is primarily whey isolate, but I am suspicious of it's low percentage protein (in both calories and mass), making me think it has a lot of extra stuff that you may not want/need.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
My favorite, being an obligate carnivore, but didn't include on list because it isn't a protein powder.
Thanksgiving Turkey. An 18lb bird, 59c/lb near thanksgiving, with about 7lb yield after roasting:
- 1.23c per gram of protein
- $10.62 for 7lb of meat
- 53% of calories from protein
- 27.3% of edible mass from protein
- 6.7% of protein is Leucine
I have ten of these in my freezer outside.
It's a sad day in August when you run out of Thanksgiving turkey.
For MyProtein, the coupon code MYPRMN is good for 50% off, and should work until 3/20.
I haven't bought from my protein for a few years. I believe there was a sale (5 bags maybe?) that was supposed to be a great value. I bought them and enjoyed them. (Impact whey isolate 2.2 lb bags multiple flavors) I'm looking to purchase more. Is their current sale worth stocking up? Or just a good/decent price to pickup a bag or couple bags?
Thanks
Thanks
They constantly change their base price, default on-site coupon, and coupons that you can find online from coupon sites.
Without doing a year-long daily study and searching, I don't know how one could even answer that question with any reasonable accuracy.
As of today's sale, they compare well to competitors. I have no idea how they compare to their previous sales.
Thanks
Thanks
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
Pea+brown rice is going to be the closest from what i know. Good luck. Egg white is a great option too. If you are ok with new worl nutritionals they sell the cheapest egg white ive seen. Ive used and didnt die or get sick.
Added MyProtein Casein, just to have a Casein protein in the list. It assumes a 50% off MyProtein coupon, like the other MyP listings...
Does anyone in even the food industry check for microplastics? Anything wrapped in plastic or sold in plastic containers is probably going to have this issue.
Does anyone in even the food industry check for microplastics? Anything wrapped in plastic or sold in plastic containers is probably going to have this issue.
My wife's cousin's husband - he's in food safety. He overseas many plants and they run random testing for "foreign materials" being detected.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
But, protein powder is not classified as a food. It's classified as a supplement, with looser (almost non-existent) regulation.
And, why would I trust independent testing paid for by the manufacturers being tested?