Ranking the Most Reviewed Protein Powders on Amazon

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After getting the chance to check out 1st Phorm Phormula-1 Pure Whey Protein, I started looking at more and more protein powders online and decided that I needed to see if the reviews were worth the hype.

Each of the proteins I selected for this round-up has over 20,000 reviews on Amazon, with several products far exceeding that mark. That gave me a strong pool of feedback to cross-check against my own testing.

Here is my round-up of the 8 most reviewed protein powders on Amazon.  I’ve got several different flavors in this review, as well as plant-based protein powders, organic options, and several different types of whey protein powder, including grass-fed whey.

No matter what your preferences when it comes to your protein powder, you can shop with confidence based on my review.  I’ll rank the protein from best to worst based on consistent key criteria (such as taste, mixability, protein percentage and label transparency) to make it easy to compare the different options.

Key Takeaways

Honest Review Guarantee from FeastGood: Our testing team purchases each product 100% independently and uses the product for several weeks up to several months before writing a review. Learn more about our review process here.

• My number one pick for protein powder is Premier Protein Chocolate Milkshake Whey Protein Powder.

• If you prefer high-quality ingredients including grass-fed whey and natural organic sugar, and want to avoid artificial ingredients (and are willing to pay a slight premium and sacrifice on taste), then Naked Whey Grass-fed Whey is a good choice.

• Based on my experience, avoid taking Orgain Organic unless you really need a plant-based, organic option and you don’t mind added carbohydrates and fat in your protein powder.

• For any of our options, online is the way to go, and Amazon generally offers the best price.

Protein Percentage Guidelines

Before I get into the article, I want to remind you of our general guidelines when it comes to the percentage of calories that we think should come from protein in every scoop of protein powder:

• Excellent protein content: >85% per scoop
• Good protein content: 75-85% per scoop
• Reasonable protein content: 65-74% per scoop
• Poor protein content: <60-65% per scoop

I’m going to be referring to these guidelines when I talk about the percentage of protein for each brand, so this is a handy reference to understand what I mean.

1. Premier Protein

Best overall protein powder for taste, texture, and versatility.

I enjoyed Premier Protein so much that I’m looking forward to doing a full in-depth review in the future.  For now, here is my overall rating based on our “usual” criteria:

Overall Rating: 4.4/5

• Nutrition Label Transparency 4.0/5
• Fat Content Transparency 5.0/5
• Effective Ingredients 4.0/5
• Protein Percent of Calories 4.0/5
• Taste/flavor 4.0/5
• Mixability 5.0/5
• Texture 5.0/5
• Satiety 4.0/5

I’ll admit that I was skeptical about a protein powder that I could buy at Wal-Mart (no offense to Wal-Mart, it just hasn’t historically been a place to get high-quality protein powders or other sport supplements compared to supplement stores or online).

For me, Premier Protein really knocked it out of the park (scored very well) because of its super-easy mixability (it shook up into a smooth, creamy shake with just water in a shaker cup) and great texture for ALL applications.  

As an isolate-concentrate blend with an added thickener (xanthan gum), it made the thick, fluffy smoothies I love AND it was great in my beloved protein baked goods (protein skillet cookies!) and protein ice cream.

I’m also a chocoholic, so the chocolate milkshake flavor appealed to me.  That said, just like the 1st Phorm whey protein, it’s not as intensely chocolate as I would ideally like, so it didn’t score perfect marks with me on taste.  

Each scoop provides 80% of calories from protein (30 grams of protein per 150 calories) so it lands squarely in the middle of our “good” protein category.

Some people do have a problem with digesting xanthan gum and/or artificial sweeteners like acesulfame potassium and sucralose (Premier Protein has all of these), so it’s not a good choice for people with sensitive tummies (perhaps due to irritable bowel syndrome). 

All in all, I loved it for its versatility, good taste and texture and solid protein content.  If you don’t have dietary sensitivities holding you back, I say go for it!

For more read our full review of Premier Protein Shakes here.

2. Dymatize Iso 100 Protein Powder

Best post-workout whey isolate for fast digestion and lean recovery.

Dymatize Iso 100 was already on our radar at FeastGood, with a full in-depth review published back in 2023 awarding it a rating of 4.4/5.  As the name suggests, it’s 100% whey protein isolate, making it fast-digesting (perfect for refueling after a workout but not so good for long-term satiety, e.g. as a bedtime snack). 

Not only is it quick and easy to digest, it also mixes easily and tastes great.  However, because it’s hydrolyzed whey isolate, it doesn’t have the same texture as whey protein isolate-concentrate blends.  

Pure whey isolate doesn’t work as well for high-protein baked goods.  This was the deciding factor for me when it came to ranking it just behind Premier Protein.

Dymatize actually comes in ahead of Premier Protein on protein content: depending on the flavor, it delivers 83-90% protein per serving.

The most annoying thing for me about Dymatize wasn’t the protein powder itself.  It was the cost of the product, which seems to fluctuate wildly depending on where you buy it.  I guess that’s more of a problem with local retailers than with the company itself, though.  

Plus, it’s on the pricey side, with some options costing more than $3 US per serving.  Given that this review is based on protein powders available on Amazon, my recommendation is to purchase it there.

Finally, some reviews complain that it’s too sweet, but I have a massive sweet tooth and I didn’t find any of the flavors too sweet.

3. Isopure Protein Powder

Best high-protein % powder and the leanest option on the list.

Isopure stands out in our extensive listing of protein powder reviews with an overall rating of 4.3/5.  It offers 25 g of protein per 100-110 calorie serving, giving it a protein percentage of 91-100% (depending on the flavor), or Excellent.  It’s the only protein on this list to score 5.0/5 for protein percent of calories.  

It’s worth noting, however, that Isopure is not third-party tested so we can’t know for sure if it really is as pure as the label and name suggest.  Is the actual protein content as high as the label says?

On top of its stellar protein content, it also has a vitamin and mineral blend to offer micronutrients in addition to its favorable macronutrient profile.  It advertises as a low-carbohydrate protein powder, and it’s also gluten-free and very low in fat.

I’m a huge fan of the Dutch Chocolate flavor because it’s got the rich, true chocolate flavor that I prefer over a sweeter, less intense Chocolate Milkshake flavor.

I’ll admit that the texture isn’t quite as good as Premier Protein, but both brands do have xanthan gum and lecithin (sunflower or soy) to enhance the thickness and smoothness of the product.  Premier Protein is just ever-so-slightly gritty when mixed with water.

The biggest drawback for Isopure was its relatively high price point, ranging from $1.58-$2.28 US per serving.

4. Naked Whey Protein Powder

Best clean-label organic whey (if you can sacrifice taste).

Naked Whey caters to “purists” who want a minimal list of high-quality ingredients in their protein powder, such as grass-fed whey, and none of what they don’t want, such as artificial sweeteners.  

The tradeoff is that sometimes those added ingredients are what make protein powders palatable: Naked Whey only scores 1.0/5 for taste in our detailed review, pulling its overall score down to 3.8/5.

The other drawback is that because they use organic coconut sugar as the only sweetener, each flavor has added carbohydrates (3-8 g of carbohydrates of which 2-7 g come from sugar), and the overall protein percentage can range anywhere from 63% (poor) to 83% (good).

But, for someone who is sensitive to artificial sweeteners (or simply prefers to avoid them as a matter of principle), this could be a worthy tradeoff.  In the context of an overall day, it just means eating fewer grams of carbohydrate from another source.

Since I don’t fit into this category (I don’t have a sensitivity to artificial sweeteners), it wasn’t worth an unpalatable protein powder.  I want to look forward to and enjoy my protein shakes and smoothies and not feel like I have to choke them down just because they’re good for me.

5. Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey Protein Powder

Best budget-friendly whey with a long track record of trust.

There is a reason this product has the name “Gold Standard” – it’s been around for decades, and it’s got an overall “good” protein content across its 18+ flavors (~80% protein content).  

The product also has Informed Choice certification, which is important for athletes and other clients who need to be sure that there are no unlisted ingredients that could disqualify them from their sport.

It’s also a budget-friendly option, with a cost (at time of publication) of around $1.00-$1.15 US per serving (the average serving of protein powder is around $1.50 US).

That said, there are certain drawbacks to Optimum Nutrition’s Gold Standard Whey, and our in-depth review only grants it a rating of 3.5/5.

Despite having a lot of flavors, several of them are pretty bland, so that overall “taste” rating is middle of the road (3.0/5).  My colleague Jennifer Vibert is a supplement store manager and has tried pretty much every protein powder on the market, so if she says it tastes “watered down,” I take her opinion seriously.

Also, Jennifer’s long-term experience in the industry and her eagle eye meant that she noticed when Optimum Nutrition actually started providing less information on their nutrition labels, instead of more.  For example, they used to include the exact amount of artificial sweeteners, and then they stopped.

6. MuscleTech Grass-fed Whey Protein Powder

Best tasting budget option, but with low protein % per scoop.

Our experience with our detailed review of MuscleTech gave it an overall rating of 3.4/5

MuscleTech ends up near the bottom of the barrel for me because of its low percentage of protein: only 57% of the calories in a scoop come from protein.  Each scoop also has 9 g of carbs and 2.5 g of fat – that’s a lot of calories NOT coming from protein, for a protein powder.

I’m not personally bothered by artificial sweeteners, but if you’re sensitive to them, that’s another reason to steer clear of MuscleTech, which uses sucralose as a sweetener along with maltodextrin (corn sugar).  

This is also a bit misleading because the label states that it has no artificial flavors, but fails to point out the use of an artificial sweetener.  The label also says “no added sugars” – according to FDA rules, they can legally say ‘no added sugar,’ even though maltodextrin is a sugar from corn.

Not surprisingly, the cost per scoop is low, at ~$1.00 per serving, but you’re also not getting as much protein per serving as higher cost options.

It does however mix well and it tastes good.  These are important factors: it doesn’t matter how high the protein percentage is if you don’t like the taste.  If this was the deciding factor between MuscleTech and a higher-protein content option, I’d recommend that my clients pick the protein powder they would actually enjoy consuming.

7. Vega Protein and Greens

Best plant-based protein with added greens (for on-the-go nutrition).

Since I haven’t yet had the chance to write a full in-depth review of Vega Protein and Greens here is my summary of my overall rating:

Overall Rating: 3.4/5

• Nutrition Label Transparency 4.0/5
• Fat Content Transparency 5.0/5
• Effective Ingredients 4.0/5
• Protein Percent of Calories 3.5/5
• Taste/flavor 3.0/5
• Mixability 2.0/5
• Texture 2.0/5
• Satiety 4.0/5

Even though it does have a higher protein percentage than MuscleTech Grass-fed Whey (Vega has 66% protein per scoop, which just barely scrapes into our “Reasonable” category), I just couldn’t get past the unappealing smell, flavor, and poor mixability.

When I first opened the tub and looked inside and took a whiff, I was hit with a very “artificial” berry smell (despite the fact that they do not use any artificial flavors).  The berry smell just reminded me of artificial strawberry flavoring, and the taste was no better.

The protein powder was gritty and didn’t mix well with just water. It was better with a blender.  I didn’t bother trying to bake or make protein ice cream with it (I’ve had enough experience with various types and textures of protein powders to know when it’s just not going to work).

In a pinch, though, this is a great way to get a serving of greens if for some reason you don’t have access to actual vegetables (whether fresh or frozen).  I advocate for getting vegetables in a whole-food form whenever possible, but sometimes that’s not a reality (for example, when traveling). 

For plant-based clients looking to augment their protein intake, I see why Vega is a popular choice.  Since I’m not an exclusively plant-based eater myself, I’d always choose a higher-protein whey over this (not MuscleTech, given its low protein content).

8. Orgain Organic Protein Powder

Best organic plant-based pick if you want more of a meal replacement than a shake.

Like Vega, I haven’t yet had the chance to write a full in-depth review of Orgain Organic Protein Powder, so I’m sharing a summary of my overall rating here to show how it stacks up (or not) against the other options:

Overall Rating: 3.1/5

• Nutrition Label Transparency 5.0/5
• Fat Content Transparency 5.0/5
• Effective Ingredients 3.0/5
• Protein Percent of Calories 1.0/5
• Taste/flavor 3.5/5
• Mixability 2.0/5
• Texture 1.5/5
• Satiety 4.0/5

You can see that it’s even worse than MuscleTech Grass-fed Whey Protein Powder, with only 56% of calories per scoop coming from protein (21 g of protein per 56 g serving, providing 84 out of 150 total calories).

With a whopping 15 g of carbohydrates per serving, and 4 grams of fat, this felt like more of a meal replacement shake than a protein shake.  

Visually, the product was also unappealing. You can see from the pictures below that it was a strange beige color with a gritty, chalky texture.  

It mixed very poorly, with thick “sludgy” chunks left at the bottom of my shaker cup, no matter how many times I re-shook it. 

It was marginally better when I used a blender to mix it up, but even then I didn’t get the thick, fluffy milkshake-like texture I enjoy from whey protein powders.

That said, the label is very transparent with a detailed list of ingredients, and I was impressed that the fat content also included the split between Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids.  That is not a labeling requirement and it is not information that I’ve seen often on protein powders.

For someone who is looking for a more whole-foods based meal replacement shake, and feels strongly about having a plant-based option with organic ingredients, I’d point them to Orgain Organic.

For Further Reading

If you really want to explore how nearly two dozen brands stack up, be sure to check out “ULTIMATE Protein Powder Tier List: 22 Brands Tested.”