I Tested 18 Whey Proteins: These Are the Winners

Whey protein is everywhere. You can find it in shakes, bars, cookies, smoothies, and in almost all of the top protein powders on the market. As a former NFL/CFL athlete, I’ve come across A LOT of these products, so I launched a dedicated YouTube channel to review them. I focus on protein powders since they’re probably the most common supplement athletes and gym goers use.

In this article, I summarize all 18 whey protein powders I’ve tested this year in 2024. My goal is to help you choose the best protein powder based on your budget, fitness goals, and dietary restrictions, as well as other common considerations. As you read along, you’ll see I’ve provided some background on my testing methods, major categories, and other helpful information to consider when choosing the best whey protein powder for you.

That said, sorting through all of the nutritional data and running numbers is no small task, which is why I often refer to my amazing team, who helped me organize all of my research throughout this review.

Read through each of these subsections thoroughly and carefully. I’ve done the majority of the work for you, but your health is important and is worth taking the extra time to fully understand. Now, let’s get to it!

In This Review:

• How We Tested
• Best Whey Protein Overall
• Best Tasting Whey Protein
• Best Budget Whey Protein
• Highest Purity Whey Protein
• Best Mixing Whey Protein
• Best Naturally Sweetened Whey Protein
• Other Things to Know
• Questions?

Prefer to watch than read? Check out my Best Whey Proteins playlist on YouTube:

The Best Whey Proteins for 2024

The following whey proteins are the 6 highest scoring whey proteins by type we’ve tested to date.

How We Tested

We tested each whey protein powder based on 8 key criteria, weighted by importance:

1. Taste (20%)
2. Digestibility (15%)
3. Protein Density (15%)
4. Cost (15%)
5. Nutritional value (15%)
6. Mixability (10%)
7. Brand reputation (5%)
8. Third party testing (5%)

The percentages reflect the importance of each criterion. We determined these weights by considering a balance of nutritional quality, usability, and consumer preferences. You can read more about our testing process here.

A few other things to keep in mind:

• Everything reviewed was purchased with our own money
• No products were provided to us nor were we paid for any of our reviews or sponsored by any company
• I use “I” and “we” interchangeably because of the help from my team
• I’ve added disclaimers where needed—be sure to read them

Best Overall Whey Protein Powder

Choosing the best whey protein powders, even with detailed measuring criteria, can be challenging, but we feel confident that this is a solid list.

On a scale of 1–10, these whey proteins all had an average score above 6, with a top score of 8.64 by Dymatize ISO100.

Of course, you have to test them yourselves and make your own subjective judgements, but these 18 are a great starting point.

Best Tasting Whey Protein Powder

We all have different taste preferences, but I thought these whey proteins tasted the best. Because it’s so subjective, you’ll have to try them yourself, but know that we looked at texture, consistency, aftertaste, and overall flavor.

Disclaimers for this section:

• All taste tests reflect my real-time, first impression—I didn’t develop a taste for them over time
• I only mixed with water and added nothing else
• I tried multiple flavors for each brand, so individual flavors might score higher, but we averaged the scores and used that number for ranking
• We simplified the scoring process to only use full and half numbers half way through the exercise, so you may see what appear to be discrepancies in the numbers, but the qualitative representation remains the same

Best Whey Protein on a Budget

If you’re on a budget, this group of lower-cost whey proteins is for you. They give you the best “bang for your buck” compared to others on the market, but remember—just because something costs less doesn’t necessarily mean it’s lower quality. These are still great proteins with a lot to offer.

When evaluating cost, we looked at Cost Per Gram of Protein and Cost Per Serving across our proprietary database of 150+ whey protein powders, beyond the 18 that I personally tested.

The list is ordered with the least expensive (per serving and gram of protein) at the top while also considering how the protein scored on the original 8 criteria (my team did the math, so if you’re curious about the rubric, check it out here)

Disclaimers for this section:

• Tub size, retailer, and time of purchase all impact price
• You may be able to get better deals when you buy at discount stores or buy in bulk

Highest-Purity Whey Proteins:

The “purity,” or density, score for each whey protein simply tells you how much of the powder you’re consuming is actually protein.

The score is determined by the number of calories each product gets from protein (separate from fat or carbohydrates—the other macronutrients).

We calculate protein density by multiplying grams of protein by 4 (since there are 4 calories in every gram of protein) and divide it by the total calories per serving. So, for example, if there are 20 grams of protein and 100 total calories in a serving, it has a protein density of 80%.

Disclaimers for this section:

• Calorie counts, and therefore density, can vary by flavor
• Be sure to double-check protein density yourself using the above formula—before making a purchase—if this is important to you

Best Mixing Whey Protein Powders:

Texture and consistency play an important role in the quality of a protein. Let’s be honest—no one wants a shake that’s clumpy, foamy, and hard to mix. If you hate drinking your shake, you’re not likely to continue taking it, and that’s why Mixability is weighted so highly in our overall score.

Disclaimers for this section:

• All proteins were tested the same way—using a shaker bottle, shaker ball, and shaking for 15-30 seconds
• You can get better results using a blender or hand mixer.

Best Naturally Sweetened Whey Protein Powders:

Artificial ingredients are constantly being debated by dietitians, doctors, and other health professionals. Some say they are to be avoided like the plague, others believe the fear is overhyped.

According to studies like these by the NIH and these callouts by the Huber-man, the jury is still out. If you’re on the side of the fence that would rather not take the chance, check out these 6 NOT using artificial ingredients to sweeten their formulas.

Disclaimers for this section:

• Sweeteners may differ across flavors
• Be sure to double-check the label before buying since recipes change often

Bottom Line

There isn’t an objective “best” whey protein out there. It really just depends on your 1) budget, 2) fitness goals, 3) dietary restrictions.

If you’re like me and are watching your calories, don’t mind paying a premium, and really value the purity of the protein, I would recommend Isopure, Ascent, or Dymatize ISO100.

But if you care more about taste and avoiding artificial ingredients, I would recommend Boba Tea or Naked Whey.

Other non-obvious things to consider when choosing a protein:

1. Is it third party tested? Not all protein products are independently verified. Be sure to research this if it’s important to you.
2. How many flavors are there? The more flavors you have to choose from, the less likely you’ll get bored of whichever product you choose.
3. When was the company founded? Newer companies have had less time to “work out the kinks”. That’s not to say all new products are bad; just something to keep in mind.

Still Have Questions?

If you still aren’t sure which whey protein is best for you, ask me on Instagram, YouTube, or in the comments section below, and I’ll do my best to point you in the right direction.

Thanks for stopping by 🙏🏾