Ultimate comparison of protein powders in Australia

Product Protein source Overall rating $/g protein
(qual. adj.)
RRP ($) DIAAS Protein (g/serve) Carbs (g/serve) Fat (g/serve)
Pure Product | Micellar Casein MC 5.0 0.02 37.00 1.75 27.0 2.0 0.2
Coles | Instant Skim Milk Powder SMP 3.0 0.03 10.00 1.19 8.3 13.8 0.3
Bulk Nutrients | Micellar Casein Protein MC 5.0 0.03 39.00 1.99 23.0 2.3 0.6
Pure Product | Whey Protein Isolate WPI 5.0 0.03 41.00 1.48 30.0 1.7 0.3
Black Belt Protein | Grass Fed Casein Protein MC 5.0 0.03 34.00 1.41 31.0 3.0 1.3
Coles | Pea Protein Concentrate PPC 3.0 0.03 10.00 0.79 20.2 0.1 2.3
VPA | Micellar Casein MC 5.0 0.03 47.00 1.87 23.6 0.9 1.5
NZ Protein | NZ Micellar Casein MC 5.0 0.03 45.00 1.64 25.1 2.0 0.8
Pure Product | Whey Protein Concentrate/Isolate WPC, WPI 4.0 0.04 33.00 1.17 24.0 2.5 2.0
INC | Micellar Casein MC 4.5 0.04 99.99 1.47 30.5 1.6 1.3
Bulk Nutrients | Whey Protein Isolate (WPI) WPI 4.5 0.05 43.00 1.08 25.6 1.3 0.5
Coles | Whey Protein Concentrate WPC 3.5 0.05 21.20 1.17 22.5 2.9 1.7
Black Belt Protein | Whey Protein Isolate WPI 3.5 0.05 49.00 1.17 34.0 2.0 0.7
Rip X | Whey Protein Isolate WPI 4.5 0.05 59.95 1.34 29.7 0.4 0.3
Bulk Nutrients | Essential Amino Acids EAA 4.5 0.05 62.00 1.18 10.0 0.0 0.0
Black Belt Protein | Grass Fed Whey Protein WPC 3.5 0.05 40.00 0.95 30.8 3.2 2.4
Bulk Nutrients | Whey Protein Concentrate WPC 4.5 0.05 35.00 0.87 22.3 2.9 1.8
Amino Z | Whey Protein Isolate WPI 3.5 0.06 53.32 1.20 26.7 1.8 0.8
Radix | Whey Protein DIAAS Complex 1.61 WPI, WPC 4.5 0.06 69.90 1.61 25.1 2.8 0.5
VPA | Whey Protein Isolate WPI 4.5 0.06 52.00 1.03 27.0 0.8 0.2
Genetix Nutrition | 8 Hour Night MC 4.5 0.06 59.95 1.36 31.0 3.1 0.7
Amino Z | Whey Protein Concentrate WPC 2.5 0.04 52.49 1.17 23.8 3.5 2.2
Muscle Nation | Protein 100% Whey Isolate WPI 4.5 0.06 68.00 1.60 23.4 4.2 0.4
Pure Product | Plant Protein Isolate PPI, RPC 3.5 0.06 36.00 0.75 24.0 0.3 0.4
INC | 100% Dynamic Whey WPC, WPI 3.0 0.06 54.99 1.15 26.2 3.0 3.0
Anabolix Nutrition | Primal Whey Protein WPC, MC, WPI, BCAAs 4.0 0.06 69.95 1.39 31.0 4.1 1.8
Coles | Coles Faba Bean Protein Powder FBPC 3.0 0.07 10.50 0.57 7.0 0.2 1.1
Rule One | R1 Protein WPI WPI 3.0 0.07 55.99 1.20 25.0 3.0 0.5
Radix | Plant Protein DIAAS Complex 1.31 PPC, RPC 3.0 0.07 69.90 1.31 25.3 3.8 2.9
INC | 100% WPI WPI 4.0 0.07 69.99 1.22 24.8 1.0 1.5
MuscleTech | Nitro-Tech Whey Protein WPC, WPI 2.0 0.08 39.95 1.17 30.0 4.4 2.8
Optimum Nutrition | Gold Standard 100% Casein MC 3.0 0.08 79.95 1.71 24.0 4.0 1.0
Woolworths | +SUM Whey Protein WPI, WPC 4.0 0.08 28.00 1.25 20.2 3.2 1.2
MuscleTech | Nitro-Tech Whey Gold WPC, WPI 2.0 0.08 59.35 1.09 24.0 2.0 2.5
Coles | Perform Whey Protein WPC, WPI 3.0 0.08 28.00 1.09 22.2 1.9 2.2
Cyborg Sport | Grass Fed WPI WPI 4.0 0.08 84.95 1.23 25.0 0.1 0.6
Nature's Way | Plant-Based Protein SPC 4.0 0.08 22.50 1.01 26.4 4.6 1.4
Musashi | 100% Whey WPC, WPI 2.5 0.09 67.99 1.15 24.4 2.4 2.1
Optimum Nutrition | Gold Standard 100% Whey WPI, WPC 3.5 0.09 79.95 1.19 24.0 4.0 1.5
Coles | Perform Elite Whey High Protein WPI, WPC 3.5 0.09 36.00 1.06 30.2 2.4 1.9
Genetix Nutrition | Lean WPI WPI 3.5 0.10 89.95 1.05 35.7 2.0 1.0
Genetix Nutrition | Lean Whey WPC, MC, WPI, CC 3.5 0.10 79.95 1.09 30.2 3.4 2.1
EHPlabs | Blessed Plant Protein PPC 1.0 0.11 59.95 0.79 23.0 6.0 3.0
Optimum Nutrition | Gold Standard 100% Isolate WPI 2.5 0.11 79.95 1.20 25.0 1.0 0.5
International Protein | Amino Charged WPI WPI 3.0 0.12 104.95 0.79 35.3 1.4 0.3
Coles | Perform Plant Protein Powder PPC, RPC, FBP 2.0 0.12 24.00 0.61 22.7 1.9 2.3
EHPlabs | Oxy Whey WPI, WPC, MC 2.0 0.13 79.95 0.97 25.0 3.0 1.5
Bulk Nutrients | Earth Protein (Vegan) PPC, FBP, RPC 2.0 0.13 38.00 0.38 22.5 1.5 2.5
Hemp Foods | Hemp Gold Protein HP 1.0 0.14 26.95 0.65 21.3 5.7 5.7
Rule One | Essential Amino 9 EAA 2.5 0.15 29.99 0.91 7.5 1.0 0.0
Amazonia | Raw Protein Isolate PPI, RPI 1.5 0.15 75.95 0.75 20.9 2.7 2.5
Dymatize | ISO 100 WPI WPI 2.5 0.15 89.95 1.20 25.0 2.0 1.0
Morlife | Plantiful Protein RPC, FBP, HP, etc. 1.0 0.19 39.95 0.66 22.9 4.0 2.5
Red Dragon | Dragon Fuel EAA 1.0 0.22 59.95 2.48 3.7 0.9 0.3
B Raw | Ultimate Plant Protein PPC, RPC, EAAs, etc. 1.0 0.23 69.95 0.41 30.0 3.6 2.0
Optimum Nutrition | Gold Standard 100% Plant Protein PPC, FBPI, RPC 1.0 0.44 79.95 0.38 24.0 6.0 3.5
Switch Nutrition | Amino Switch EAA 1.0 0.71 99.95 1.05 4.5 0.0 0.0

DIAAS = Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Score (calculated using FAO's Adult scoring pattern), RRP = Recommended Retail Price

BCAAs = Branched-Chain Amino Acids, CC = Calcium Caseinate, EAAs = Essential/Indispensable Amino Acids, FBPC = Fava Bean Protein Concentrate, FBPI = Fava Bean Protein Isolate, HP = Hemp Protein, MC = Micellar Casein, PPC = Pea Protein Concentrate, PPI = Pea Protein Isolate, RPC = Rice Protein Concentrate, RPI = Rice Protein Isolate, SPC = Soy Protein Concentrate, SMP = Skim Milk Powder, WPC = Whey Protein Concentrate, WPH = Whey Protein Hydrolysate, WPI = Whey Protein Isolate

Overall rating driven by:

  • cost per gram of protein quality-adjusted ( deducted for every extra serve you could buy of the lowest cost product with the effective cost difference)
  • nutritional information transparency ( deducted if no amino acid profile provided)
  • fat content ( deducted if >2g/serve)
  • carb content ( deducted if >5g/serve)

Not all proteins are equal

Not all proteins are equal in terms of helping with muscle growth (or "muscle protein synthesis" if you prefer the more technical term). When people talk about the "quality" of a protein, they mean how each protein (e.g., whey, casein, soy, etc.) is composed of a different mix of amino acids and how some proteins have a more balanced/complete range of amino acids in terms of human needs.

While there are 20 amino acids in total, there are nine that are considered essential/indispensable amino acids that we need to get from our diet as we can't produce them ourselves. They are: histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine.

We need a mix of all these essential/indispensable amino acids to support muscle protein synthesis. Critically, iIf you're deficient in one of these amino acids, then it will limit the overall rate of muscle protein synthesis. The theory is that if one amino acid in the diet is below requirement (i.e. is limiting), then all other indispensable amino acids cannot be fully utilised for protein synthesis and the excess is therefore oxidized. The World Health Organisation noted that "as the amount of the limiting amino acid is increased, the others will be progressively better utilised". Even though some amino acids, such as branch-chained amino acids (BCAAs), may play a special role in stimulating muscle protein synthesis, their impact will still be limited if you don't have enough of the other essential/indispensable amino acids.

If you're having trouble understanding the concept of "complete proteins" and "limiting amino acids", then let's use an example closer to home: setting the table for dinner. Let's say we've got 4 people for dinner tonight and you've asked me to set the table with 3 pieces of cutlery for each person (you were probably thinking 1 fork, 1 knife and 1 spoon). If I just put out 12 knives, that's pretty useless as no-one has a complete set of cutlery for their dinner and we're limited by the lack of spoons and forks. If I put out 8 knives, 3 forks and 1 spoon, then 1 person has a complete set of cutlery, but spoons are the rate limiting cutlery. However, if I put out a balanced/complete set of cutlery (4 knives, 4 spoons, 4 forks), then all of the cutlery can be used. You'll notice in all of these examples, we still had 12 items of cutlery overall (i.e., the same amount of total protein), but we had very different outcomes depending on the mix of cutlery (i.e., the amino acid profile of the protein).

This theory of a limiting amino acid aligns with other research that suggests that whey protein is more effective than soy protein at building muscle because whey is a more complete protein.

There's been work to try to quantify the "quality" of protein sources and the current standard is the Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Score ("DIAAS"). The DIAAS attempts to summarise the protein's quality into a single score by considering both the:

  • completeness of the protein relative to our typical needs (i.e., does it have enough of each essential/indispensable amino acid?); and
  • how readily the amino acids can be digested and used by humans

A score of less than 1 indicates that the protein is lacking in one (or more) essential/indispensable amino acids.

Protein absorbability matters (otherwise it just comes out your other end). Plant-derived protein tends to be less digestible/absorbable in its natural state (partly due to the fibre), but it can be made more digestible when it is extracted and purified into an isolate or concentrate form.

It can be tough to get enough protein from your meals

The "recommended" daily intake of 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight is more like a minimum required for maintaining muscle mass with a sedentary lifestyle.

The Australian Institute of Sports' Supplement Framework suggests 1.2-1.6g/kg for most athletes and Peter Attia suggests 1.6-2.2g/kg for people with an active lifestyle. The highest recommendations for protein (1.6-2.4 g/kg) are targeted at athletes who are undertaking weight loss programs as such athletes usually desire to achieve “high quality weight loss” in which they reduce fat mass but retain muscle mass.

For an active 80kg person, they'd need to consume roughly 100-130g of protein per day, which can be tough to do consistently based on normal meals alone. This is why many people use a protein supplement to help them consistently hit their daily protein targets.

Compare based on cost per gram of protein (quality-adjusted)

Protein powders can be expensive, so it's important to be sure you're getting the best value for money. If you're having one serve of protein powder per day (~25g) and it costs roughly $0.10 per gram of protein, then you could be looking at spending almost $1,000 per year on protein powder.

It's not good enough to compare "cost per serving" as each product's serving will contain different amounts of protein.

Nor is "cost per gram of protein" good enough as we've just seen that not all proteins are equal - some are low quality / unbalanced in terms of their amino acid profile.

When you think about it, what you're really buying is the nine essential/indispensable amino acids. They are ultimately what's going to help you build lean muscle mass. This means you want to be able to work out which protein powders are giving you more of these nine essential/indispensable amino acids in a balanced way.

That's why we compare protein powders based on "cost per gram of protein (quality-adjusted)" like we've done in the table at the top of this page.

When we say "quality-adjusted", we've estimated the effective protein based on each protein powder's DIAAS score. Unfortunately, not many protein powder brands list the specific amount of each protein in their product, or the overall DIAAS for their product, so we've had to use estimates based on the available information for our analysis. I feel these estimates are better than using unadjusted protein, but I recognise they're not as accurate as we might like.

An argument against using a product's DIAAS as an adjustment factor is that, in theory, you may combine different food items during a meal and the digestible amounts of amino acids in each food may complement each other to deliver a higher combined DIAAS for the meal. However, most people are simply downing a protein shake before/after a workout, rather than sitting down to a complete meal with a diverse range of proteins. As such, you're probably wanting a complete protein in your shake and it's reasonable to adjust the protein based on the DIAAS.

Go for low carb, low fat options

If you're focused on building lean muscle mass, rather than using protein powder as a meal replacement, then you probably want to keep the carbs and fat to a minimum. This might mean ruling out any protein powders with more than say 2 grams of fat per serve, or 5 grams of carbs per serve.

This what rules out skim milk powder for most people. While skim milk powder is a cheap quality-adjusted protein source, as you can see in the table, it comes with significantly more sugar/carbs than all the other protein powder options. While most protein powders have around 1g of sugar for every 25g of protein, skim milk powder has closer to 40g of sugar for every 25g of protein!

In the sample of products analysed, carbs per serve averaged 2.6g (ranging from 0g for EAAs to 13.8g for skim milk powder) and fat per serve averaged 1.4g (ranging from 0g for EAAs to 5.7g for hemp protein), so there's plenty of low carb, low fat options out there.

Also, don't fall into the trap of thinking similar products will have similar carb and fat content. For example, you might think all Whey Protein Isolates would have similar nutrition levels, but we saw that Muscle Nation's WPI had 10 times the carbs of Rip X's WPI (4.2g vs 0.4g). Always check the nutrition panel!

Once you rule out these higher carb and higher fat products, then you'll be left with a shortlist from which you can choose the product with the lowest cost per gram of protein (quality-adjusted).

Micellar casein has the lowest cost per gram of protein (quality-adjusted)

When you rank the products by cost per gram of protein (quality-adjusted), you'll notice that micellar casein (MC) powders generally rank well. The main reason micellar casein ranks so well is its high levels of essential/indispensable amino acids in balanced proportions with an average DIAAS around 1.7. They also tended to have relatively low carbs and fat content (none exceeded the 5g/serve carb threshold or 2g/serve fat threshold). They averaged 4 cents per gram of protein (quality-adjusted), which is 60% less than the average cost observed across the 50+ products analysed. Assuming one serve of protein powder per day, this represents a cost saving of roughly $600 per year without sacrificing muscle gains.

You might have heard micellar casein referred to as a "slow" protein and may be concerned that it won't deliver the same muscle gain as a "fast" protein like whey protein. While research has demonstrated that whey protein enables higher muscle protein synthesis than casein in the first two hours following consumption, another study showed that casein has the edge over whey protein in the subsequent two hours and that they had very similar cumulative fractional rates of protein syntehsis over a 4-hour period. Another study had a similar finding that "post-exercise drinks varying by the fast-to-slow protein ratio did not affect the responses of fat mass, fat-free mass and muscle strength to 9 weeks of resistance training (RT)".

Why is the best-selling Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey rated so low?

Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey is the best-selling protein powder in Australia on Amazon, but being the best-selling doesn't necessariliy mean it's the "best value".

When we applied our rating system to Gold Standard Whey, it received 3.5. Not a terrible score, but not the top 10 rating you'd expect from the best-selling protein powder in Australia. We were a bit surprised at first, but it ultimately boiled down to value-for-money. Gold Standard Whey had no rating deductions for nutritional transparency, carb content, or fat content. The reason that it lost 1.5 was because you're effectively paying over 3x as much for this product. The best value products were less than 3 cents per gram of protein (quality-adjusted), but Gold Standard Whey was roughly 9 cents per gram of protein (quality-adjusted). This means you effectively get two extra serves of these better value products for the same price!

You might argue that Gold Standard Whey is better quality than the other options, but remember we have already factored in protein content, amino acid profile and digestibility (via DIAAS) when calculating the cost per gram of protein (quality-adjusted). So what have we missed? Maybe you could argue that Gold Standard Whey is more likely to actually contain the protein claimed on the label while others might be over-stating their protein, but how big could this gap really be? Let's imagine all the other products actual protein is 20% less than claimed (around the largest margin observed by SupplementLabTest), the cost per gram of protein (quality-adjusted) for Gold Standard Whey would still be more than 2x the best value options (and interestingly Gold Standard Whey actually had a slight negative variance in Supplement Lab Test's analysis, but not sure whether this is statistically significant). So what else could we put under the better quality banner... it tastes better? Sure, taste is subjective and maybe you love the taste, but is that deliciousness worth paying 3x the price for?

Don't waste your money on too much protein

At this point, you may be thinking: if I can get protein even cheaper, then I can take even more protein and build muscle mass even faster!

Sorry to burst your bubble, but research suggests that "protein supplementation beyond a total daily protein intake of ~1.6 g/kg/day during resistance training (RET) provided no further benefit on gains in muscle mass or strength" (i.e., there's a breakpoint where extra protein stops having an impact on muscle protein synthesis). If you're spending money on protein supplements beyond this breakpoint, you could well be pissing away that money.

While the exact ranges are uncertain and everyone is different, if you're working out and you're currently consuming protein at a rate of:

  • less than 0.8g/kg/day, then it's highly likely that you'll get a benefit from consuming more protein
  • 0.8-1.6g/kg/day, then there's a reasonable chance you'll get a benefit from consuming more protein
  • 1.6-2.2g/kg/day, then it's unlikely you'll get much benefit from consuming more protein
  • more than 2.2g/kg/day, then it's highly unlikely you'll get any benefit from consuming more protein

Stock up when your protein is on special

Our analysis shows that discounting is common on protein powders with 30% of products on sale when we conducted our price check. We observed an average discount of 25% and the occasional 1/2 price sale.

Given that protein powder often has a decent shelf life and you'll probably get through a 1kg tub every month or so, it's generally worth stocking up on a couple tubs when your preferred product is on special. Just be sure to check they're not discounting it because it's about to expire!

The best vegan and vegetarian protein powders

While plant-based proteins are generally lower "quality" (i.e., less bioavailable and less complete in terms of amino acids), you can make up for this by finding a protein powder:

  • containing a combination of plant-based protein sources that complement each other in terms of their amino acid profile; or
  • fortified with free amino acids that makes up for any natural deficiencies / limiting amino acids (e.g., soy protein concentrate fortified with methionine); or
  • with a reasonable DIAAS that's cheap enough that you can simply consume more to make-up for the lower quality protein (e.g., pea protein concentrate)

For example, Radix's plant-derived protein powder has a DIAAS of 1.30 (i.e., a "complete" protein) and they've achieved this by combining yellow pea protein isolate and brown rice protein isolate. Individually, neither of these proteins are "complete" (i.e., they both have a DIAAS less than 1). Yellow pea protein's DIAAS is limited by its low methionine content while rice is generally low in lysine content. However, when you combine the two protein sources, the yellow pea's low methionine content is covered by the rice's higher methionine content.

There was a much bigger spread in cost per gram of protein (quality-adjusted) for the vegan options with some products more than 2-4x the average cost. This was primarily driven by the low protein quality of some blends. This means you simply need to pay even greater attention when comparing products.

The vegan/vegetarian protein powders with the lowest cost per gram of protein (quality-adjusted) were:

  1. Coles Wellness Road Pea Protein Concentrate
  2. Bulk Nutrients Essential Amino Acids
  3. Pure Product Plant Protein Isolate

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