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Data study
What 63 creatine labels say and what a gram of creatine costs
The labels of 63 published creatine products from 32 brands, as two independent readers transcribed them, priced at the brands’ own stores. What a gram of creatine costs across the shelf, how that changes with size, how much creatine a serving states, which form of creatine the label names, and what else is in the tub.
Data as of . Label images captured from to ; prices read on .
At a glance
| Figure | Result | Out of |
|---|---|---|
| Creatine labels studied | 63 | 32 brands |
| With a cost per gram of creatine (an in-stock price and a servings count) | 58 (92%) | 63 labels |
| Median cost per gram of creatine | $0.094 | 58 labels with a cost per gram |
| Middle half of cost per gram (lower to upper quartile) | $0.066 to $0.146 | 58 labels with a cost per gram |
| Largest size costs less per gram of creatine than the smallest | 14 (100%) | 14 products priced in two or more sizes |
| Median creatine per serving | 5 g | 62 labels |
| State creatine at or above the reference dose | 50 (79%) | 63 labels |
| Name creatine monohydrate on the label | 59 (94%) | 63 labels |
| State an amount for another ingredient besides creatine | 18 (29%) | 63 labels |
| Median price per serving | $0.400 | 59 labels with a price |
Cost per gram of creatine
Each product’s figure is the one the creatine ranking prints: its lowest price per serving among the sizes in stock at the brand’s own store, up to 5 kg, divided by the grams of creatine a serving states. 58 of the 63 labels (92%) have one; the rest had no in-stock size up to 5 kg with a servings count on the day prices were read.
Across those 58, the median is $0.094 per gram of creatine. The middle half runs from $0.066 (lower quartile) to $0.146 (upper quartile): a quarter of the 58 cost less than $0.066 a gram and a quarter more than $0.146.
The same figures as a table
| Cost per gram of creatine | Labels | Share of 58 |
|---|---|---|
| under $0.050 | 8 | 14% |
| $0.050 to under $0.075 | 13 | 22% |
| $0.075 to under $0.100 | 11 | 19% |
| $0.100 to under $0.150 | 13 | 22% |
| $0.150 or more | 13 | 22% |
Size and cost per gram
Most creatine is sold by servings, not by weight, so a size here is measured in the grams of creatine it holds: its servings times the creatine a serving states. 42 of the 63 products have a priced size whose servings the store’s option itself states, by weight or as a servings count.
The same product, in different sizes: 14 of those 42 products are priced in two or more sizes. In 14 of those 14 (100%) the largest size costs less per gram of creatine than the smallest; in 0 it costs the same, and in 0 more. The median difference is 34% less per gram at the largest size than at the smallest.
| At the largest size, against the smallest | Products (out of 14) |
|---|---|
| Costs less per gram of creatine | 14 |
| Costs the same per gram (to $0.0001) | 0 |
| Costs more per gram of creatine | 0 |
Across the shelf, every priced size grouped by the creatine it holds. These medians mix products, so they describe the sizes on sale, not what any one product costs in another size.
The same figures as a table
| Creatine in the size | Sizes (out of 68) | Products | Median cost per gram of creatine |
|---|---|---|---|
| under 250 g | 21 | 21 | $0.125 |
| 250 g to under 500 g | 26 | 25 | $0.082 |
| 500 g to under 1 kg | 14 | 14 | $0.057 |
| 1 kg or more | 7 | 6 | $0.045 |
A size is one priced option of one product, in stock at the brand’s store and up to 5 kg, whose servings come from the option itself: its weight over the label’s serving weight or the servings count it states. Options counted in capsules or by a bare number are left out of this section. Two options within 5% of each other’s creatine content are one size, at its lowest cost per gram: the same tub is often listed in several flavours.
Creatine per serving
62 of the 63 labels state an amount of creatine per serving; the median is 5 g. The figure adds the amounts of the rows the dose audit identifies as creatine monohydrate or creatine HCl, as the ranking does; a row naming another creatine compound (magnesium creatine chelate) is not added, as the ranking does not add it. A label states the weight of the creatine compound, and the study uses that weight as printed, without converting it to creatine alone. A serving is whatever the label calls one, so a price per serving compares unlike amounts of creatine.
The same figures as a table
| Creatine per serving | Labels | Share of 62 |
|---|---|---|
| under 2 g | 6 | 10% |
| 2 g to under 4 g | 5 | 8% |
| 4 g to under 5 g | 1 | 2% |
| 5 g to under 6 g | 50 | 81% |
| 6 g or more | 0 | 0% |
Against the reference dose. 50 of the 63 labels (79%) state creatine at or above the reference dose the dose audit uses. A label counts when its creatine monohydrate row, or its creatine HCl row, states an amount at or above that form’s reference dose; the audit compares each form on its own. A reference dose is the amount a cited study or guideline used; it is not a recommendation for anyone.
| Form | Reference dose | Labels listing it (out of 63) |
|---|---|---|
| Creatine Monohydrate | 5 g position-stand range | 59 |
| Creatine HCl | 5 g trial dose | 5 |
- Creatine Monohydrate: 5 g, the high end of 3-5 g/day, a position-stand range (Kreider et al., ISSN Position Stand 2017).
- Creatine HCl: 5 g, a trial dose (Londoño-Velásquez et al., J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2025;22).
The sources of every reference dose, and which end of a range is used: how we rate.
The form of creatine the label names
Read only from the names of the ingredient rows two readers transcribed from the label’s panel. A product’s name, its store page and a callout on the front of the pack are never used, so a product sold as micronized whose panel row names only creatine monohydrate is not counted as micronized. Every label is in exactly one row of the first table.
| Creatine rows on the label name | Labels | Share of 63 |
|---|---|---|
| Monohydrate only | 57 | 90% |
| HCl only | 4 | 6% |
| More than one form | 2 | 3% |
| Another creatine compound only | 0 | 0% |
| No row naming creatine | 0 | 0% |
Counted on their own, a label can be in more than one row of this table:
| A creatine row’s name | Labels | Share of 63 |
|---|---|---|
| Names monohydrate | 59 | 94% |
| Names HCl | 6 | 10% |
| Says micronized | 10 | 16% |
| Carries a trademark symbol (® or ™), a trademarked ingredient name | 15 | 24% |
The rule used
- A creatine row is a transcribed ingredient row whose name contains “creatine”.
- Monohydrate: the row’s name contains “monohydrate”. HCl: it contains “HCl” or “hydrochloride”. Another creatine compound: a creatine row naming neither.
- Micronized: a creatine row’s name contains “micronized” or “micronised”. Trademark symbol: it contains ® or ™.
- Matching ignores capital letters. The words only record what the label prints; the study does not compare forms or say what a word means for a product.
Other ingredients besides creatine
18 of the 63 labels (29%) state an amount for at least one ingredient row that does not name creatine (vitamins, minerals, other actives, or a blend’s total). 8 of the 63 (13%) list another active the dose audit compares with a reference dose:
| Other audited active | Labels (out of 63) |
|---|---|
| HMB | 3 |
| Taurine | 3 |
| Caffeine | 2 |
| Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol) | 2 |
| Alpha-GPC | 1 |
| Beta-Alanine | 1 |
| Betaine Anhydrous | 1 |
| Citrulline Malate 2:1 | 1 |
| EGCG (Epigallocatechin Gallate) | 1 |
| L-Theanine | 1 |
The price of a label with other ingredients pays for those too, so its cost per gram of creatine is not a like-for-like comparison with a creatine-only label:
| Labels | With a cost per gram | Median cost per gram of creatine |
|---|---|---|
| No other ingredient row with an amount | 40 | $0.080 |
| Another ingredient row with an amount | 18 | $0.200 |
Price per serving
The median price per serving is $0.400, across the 59 of the 63 labels with an in-stock price at the brand’s own store and a servings count: each product’s lowest price per serving among the same sizes its cost per gram is priced from. Servings state different amounts of creatine, so cost per gram of creatine is the figure that compares across them.
How to compare creatine costs
- Price the creatine, not the tub. Divide the price by the servings the size states, then by the grams of creatine a serving states. That gives the cost per gram of creatine, which compares across serving sizes, powders and capsules.
- Check what a serving holds. The median serving here states 5 g of creatine, but 6 of the 62 labels state under 2 g, so two prices per serving can buy very different amounts of creatine.
- Compare sizes of the same product. In 14 of the 14 products sold in more than one size, the largest cost less per gram. Use the servings each size states, not the servings on another size’s label.
- Note what else is in the tub. Labels with other ingredients had a median of $0.200 per gram of creatine (18 priced), against $0.080 for labels with none (40 priced); part of that price buys the other ingredients.
- Read the facts panel, not the front of the tub. Every figure here, the form of creatine included, comes from the label’s panel and the brand’s own store; a callout on the front of a pack is never used as data.
- Note the date. Store prices change; each figure here is from the day it was read.
A longer walk-through of the arithmetic, for protein: cost per gram of protein. Every product’s verified dose against the reference: Creatine Monohydrate and Creatine HCl.
How we computed this
- Records. The 63 of the 63 published creatine records whose labels were read by two independent readers (what “verified” means). On 2 of them the first two readings differed, and a third reading agreed with one of them. They are records the creatine ranking lists, from 32 brands: 1st Phorm, Alani Nu, Animal (Universal Nutrition), Ascent Protein, BSN, BulkSupplements, Cellucor, Double Wood Supplements, Dymatize, EVL Nutrition, Ghost, Gorilla Mind, Horbaach, Huge Supplements, Jocko Fuel, Kaged, Legion Athletics, Momentous, MusclePharm, Naked Nutrition, NutraBio, Nutricost, Optimum Nutrition, Orgain, PEScience, Promix Nutrition, Redcon1, Rule 1 Proteins, RYSE, Swanson, Transparent Labs, Vital Proteins.
- Cost per gram of creatine. As the ranking computes it (how we rate): the lowest price per serving among the in-stock sizes, divided by the grams of creatine monohydrate and creatine HCl per serving on the label. Sizes over 5 kg are not used.
- Reference doses. As how we rate prints them, with their type, source and, for a range, the end used.
- Form. From the transcribed ingredient row names only, by the rule printed above.
- Prices. Only from the brand’s own store, read on the dates above. No retail-listing price is used.
- Arithmetic. Shares are rounded to the nearest whole percent, and each states what it is a share of. The median of an even count is the mean of the middle two; the quartiles are the medians of the lower and upper halves of the sorted figures, the middle figure of an odd count left out of both. Costs per gram print to the tenth of a cent, as the ranking prints them. A figure that cannot be computed is printed as “not enough data”, never estimated.
- Regenerated. The page is rebuilt from the records with the rest of the site, so its figures move as labels and prices are re-read. Errors we find are logged on corrections.
Data and citation
Download the CSV: one row per label studied (63 rows), with the product, its page, the label and price capture dates, creatine per serving and whether it is at or above the reference dose, the form the label names, other ingredient rows with an amount, the price per serving, the cost per gram of creatine and the size it is priced at, and the smallest and largest compared sizes with their cost per gram.
To cite: Gym Product Review editorial team, “What 63 creatine labels say and what a gram of creatine costs”, gymproductreview.com/studies/creatine-labels-2026, data as of October 27, 2026. Please link the method page with any figure.
The full list, product by product: the creatine ranking. The other data studies: all data studies.