Whey isolate vs concentrate: which is cheaper per gram of protein?
The cheapest concentrate we track is $1.63 per 25 g of protein; the cheapest isolate is $1.77. Both are prices before delivery. Today the cheapest concentrate is the cheaper of the two, which is a statement about prices today, not a rule.
9 packages name both isolate and concentrate on the panel, a blend, and are in neither column here; they are on the whey protein page with the label read.
Isolate is filtered further, so a scoop carries a higher share of protein and less fat and lactose. Whether that is worth paying for is a question about your digestion and your goals, and this page does not answer it. What it answers is what each costs for the same 25 g of protein.
| Brand | Concentrate | Isolate | Protein / serving |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nutricost | $1.75 | $1.77 | 25 g vs 30 g |
| BulkSupplements.com | $1.65 | $1.79 | 23 g vs 25 g |
| Bare Performance Nutrition | $2.04 | $2.60 | 25 g vs 25 g |
| EVLution Nutrition | $2.09 | $3.29 | 25 g vs 20 g |
Where a brand's isolate comes out cheaper per 25 g than its own concentrate, the reason is in the last column: the isolate scoop carries more protein, so fewer scoops make the same 25 g. A bigger scoop is not more protein for your money.
Every product, either way
Both types sit in one table on the whey protein page, and the cheapest-per-25 g page ranks them together, with each product's verification beside it.
Where to buy: the whey protein shortlist
The pick is the cheapest certified product, at the exact package sold where the certifier names packages, with no adverse finding on record, a price its retailer let us read recently, and no more than a year’s supply at the label’s serving; per delivered dose where the retailer publishes a delivery rate. Where none does, it is the cheapest such product before delivery, and it says how far the order is from free delivery. It is the same pick the category page shows. Any answer shown beside it is the cheapest under a different rule and says so on its own line; answers that cost more than the pick fold under one line until you ask for them.
How these lines are chosen
Among 33 products and 33 retailer listings we track; Amazon and Walmart are not included. A month is thirty doses of the size in the heading, priced the same way as the per-dose figure beside it. “Delivery known” ranks only products whose retailer publishes a delivery rate; a cheaper product with an unpublished rate is on its own line, or in the full list below.
Full comparison of every product in this category: Whey Protein. Every question we answer: the question index.
What this rests on: prices we last recorded at the retailer named on each product page, which go stale, and each page says when it was checked; the products we track, not every product sold, and Amazon and Walmart are not among the stores; listings and labels read at the source, each linked from the page. Found an error? Tell us. The full method: How we compare.