Home / Data studies / What a gram of protein costs across 86 protein powders
Data study
What a gram of protein costs across 86 protein powders
The labels of 86 published protein powders from 27 brands, as two independent readers transcribed them, priced at the brands’ own stores. What a gram of protein costs across the shelf, how that changes with container size, how much protein a serving states, and what a serving costs.
Data as of . Label images captured from to ; prices read on .
At a glance
| Figure | Result | Out of |
|---|---|---|
| Protein powder labels studied | 86 | 27 brands |
| With a cost per gram of protein (an in-stock price and a servings count) | 77 (90%) | 86 labels |
| Median cost per gram of protein | $0.080 | 77 labels with a cost per gram |
| Middle half of cost per gram (lower to upper quartile) | $0.067 to $0.095 | 77 labels with a cost per gram |
| Largest size costs less per gram of protein than the smallest | 25 (100%) | 25 products priced in two or more sizes |
| Median protein per serving | 25 g | 86 labels |
| Median price per serving | $1.98 | 77 labels with a price |
Cost per gram of protein
Each product’s figure is the one the protein powder 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 protein a serving states. 77 of the 86 labels (90%) 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 77, the median is $0.080 per gram of protein. The middle half runs from $0.067 (lower quartile) to $0.095 (upper quartile): a quarter of the 77 cost less than $0.067 a gram and a quarter more than $0.095.
The same figures as a table
| Cost per gram of protein | Labels | Share of 77 |
|---|---|---|
| under $0.050 | 5 | 6% |
| $0.050 to under $0.070 | 20 | 26% |
| $0.070 to under $0.090 | 23 | 30% |
| $0.090 to under $0.110 | 19 | 25% |
| $0.110 or more | 10 | 13% |
Container size and cost per gram
The same product, in different sizes: 25 of the 48 products with a priced size that states a weight are priced in two or more sizes. In 25 of those 25 (100%) the largest size costs less per gram of protein than the smallest; in 0 it costs the same, and in 0 more. The median difference is 24% less per gram at the largest size than at the smallest.
| At the largest size, against the smallest | Products (out of 25) |
|---|---|
| Costs less per gram of protein | 25 |
| Costs the same per gram (to $0.0001) | 0 |
| Costs more per gram of protein | 0 |
Across the shelf, every priced size option that states a weight, grouped by size. 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
| Container size | Size options (out of 110) | Products | Median cost per gram of protein |
|---|---|---|---|
| under 1 kg | 59 | 33 | $0.094 |
| 1 kg to under 2 kg | 20 | 18 | $0.072 |
| 2 kg to under 3 kg | 20 | 18 | $0.074 |
| 3 kg to 5 kg | 11 | 11 | $0.068 |
A size option is one weight of one product, in stock at the brand’s store and up to 5 kg, priced at its own servings (the servings the option states, or its weight over the label’s serving weight). Two options within 5% of each other’s weight are one size, at its lowest cost per gram: the same tub is often listed under its printed net weight and under the store’s option name.
Protein per serving
86 of the 86 labels state grams of protein per serving; the median is 25 g. A serving is whatever the label calls one, so scoop sizes differ, and a price per serving compares unlike amounts of protein. Cost per gram of protein divides that difference out.
The same figures as a table
| Protein per serving | Labels | Share of 86 |
|---|---|---|
| under 20 g | 0 | 0% |
| 20 g to under 25 g | 31 | 36% |
| 25 g to under 30 g | 42 | 49% |
| 30 g to under 40 g | 5 | 6% |
| 40 g or more | 8 | 9% |
Price per serving
The median price per serving is $1.98, across the 77 of the 86 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.
What else the labels carry
Amino-acid profile. 11 of the 86 transcriptions (13%) carry an amino-acid profile: amounts for 9 or more amino acids, agreed by two readings. A label may print the profile as a separate table outside the facts panel; where the label image transcribed does not include one, the record carries none. So this counts what the records hold, not what every tub prints.
Amino-spiking check. The check looks for glycine, taurine or creatine among the first 5 entries of a label’s ingredient list, which runs in descending order by weight (how we rate). It ran on 78 of the 86 labels, those with a transcribed ingredient list, and flagged 2 of those 78 (3%), with 2 flags in all. A flag reports where an ingredient sits on the list, not how much was added or why.
| Ingredient flagged | Flags (labels checked: 78) |
|---|---|
| Glycine | 0 |
| Taurine | 0 |
| Creatine | 2 |
More on the check and what it cannot see: amino spiking.
By protein type
Not computed. The records carry no protein-type field, and many labels combine sources (isolate with concentrate, whey with casein, several plant proteins), so sorting them into whey isolate, whey concentrate, casein, plant and blends would be a guess. The study does not split cost by type.
How to compare protein costs
- Price the protein, not the tub. Divide the price by the servings the size states, then by the grams of protein a serving states. That gives the cost per gram of protein, which compares across scoop sizes.
- Check what a serving holds. The median serving here states 25 g of protein, and 8 of the 86 labels state 40 g or more, so two prices per serving can buy very different amounts of protein.
- Compare sizes of the same product. In 25 of the 25 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.
- Read the facts panel, not the front of the tub. Every figure here comes from the label’s facts 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: cost per gram of protein. To work one out for a tub not listed here: the cost-per-gram calculator.
How we computed this
- Records. The 86 of the 92 published protein powder records whose labels were read by two independent readers (what “verified” means). On 18 of them the first two readings differed, and a third reading agreed with one of them. 6 more published protein powder records were parsed once from a brand’s nutrition table, and are left out. They are records the protein powder ranking lists, from 27 brands: 1st Phorm, Animal (Universal Nutrition), Ascent Protein, BSN, BulkSupplements, Dymatize, EVL Nutrition, Ghost, Gorilla Mind, Jocko Fuel, Kaged, Legion Athletics, Momentous, MusclePharm, Naked Nutrition, NutraBio, Nutricost, Optimum Nutrition, Orgain, PEScience, Premier Protein, Promix Nutrition, Redcon1, Rule 1 Proteins, RYSE, Transparent Labs, XWERKS.
- Cost per gram of protein. As the ranking computes it (how we rate): the lowest price per serving among the in-stock sizes, divided by the grams of protein per serving on the label. Sizes over 5 kg are not used.
- 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 (86 rows), with the product, its page, the label and price capture dates, protein per serving, the price per serving, the cost per gram of protein and the size it is priced at, the smallest and largest priced sizes with their cost per gram, whether the record carries an amino-acid profile, and the amino-spiking check.
To cite: Gym Product Review editorial team, “What a gram of protein costs across 86 protein powders”, gymproductreview.com/studies/protein-powder-cost-2026, data as of October 27, 2026. Please link the method page with any figure.
The full list, product by product: the protein powder ranking. The other data study: pre-workout labels.