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Athletic Greens, or AG1, has made the rounds on social media, turning it into one of the most buzzed-about greens powders out there. But it’s also one of the most expensive.
We’re big fans of the product, as you’ll see in our Athletic Greens review—it’s got loads of health-supporting nutrients from vegetables powders to probiotics—and it tastes good too. That being said, we totally understand if you’re looking for some Athletic Greens alternatives that are less expensive, but just as (or at least almost as) impressive.
To help you out, we looked at the ingredient lists, nutrition facts, and price tags of dozens of the best greens powders. We also tasted many of them ourselves. After narrowing down all the options, here are five popular alternatives to Athletic Greens and our thoughts about each.
Medical disclaimer: This article is intended for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for medical advice. For health advice, contact a licensed healthcare provider.
What Is Athletic Greens?
Athletic Greens is a super greens powder that the company says can help boost energy levels, support your immune system, help with recovery and promote gut health. These purported super greens powder benefits are tied to the plant-based ingredients, which offer a ton of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and help support your overall health and well-being in different ways.
There are 75 high-quality ingredients that are sourced from whole foods and broken down into four main categories:
- Superfood complex
- Extracts, herbs, and antioxidants
- Digestive enzymes and super mushroom complex
- Dairy-free probiotics
In addition to fruit and veggie powders, Athletic Greens also includes prebiotics, probiotics, enzymes, and adaptogens.
While the dietary supplement isn’t made with all organic ingredients, it does have a few, like organic spirulina, organic wheat grass powder, organic chlorella powder, and organic barley grass. It’s completely non-GMO and compatible with vegetarian, vegan, paleo, keto, and low-carb diets.
It’s also gluten-free, dairy-free, peanut-free, and there’s no added sugar. Athletics Greens are sweetened with stevia and don’t have any artificial sweeteners, colors, or flavors. The greens undergo third-party testing and are NSF-certified.
Is Athletic Greens Worth It?
In our opinion, Athletic Greens are worth the more expensive price tag.
According to a previous interview with supplements expert Bob Iafelice, while some plant-based greens powders are lacking in essential nutrients, Athletic Greens has it all. One notable micronutrient he pointed out is vitamin K2, which is most often found in animal products, but essential for bone health1.
But Athletic Greens doesn’t only have vitamins and minerals; it’s a true superfood blend. It contains supportive ingredients like a mushroom blend that provides adaptogens that can help your body manage stress and a plethora of digestive-health supporting nutrients.
We also think it’s one of the best-tasting greens powders we tried. Our tester, certified personal trainer and GGR editor Nicole Davis, says it tastes like pineapple and vanilla with a slightly earthy flavor.
Why Consider Athletic Greens AG1 Alternatives
While we love Athletic Greens, we’re fully aware that it’s expensive. In fact, it’s far and away the most expensive greens supplement of all the options we recommend. One bag, which supplies 30 servings, costs $99. If you do the math, that breaks down to $3.30 per serving. For comparison, our budget pick costs about just under $1 per serving.
If you can work it into your budget, we think it’s absolutely worth it. But, it’s understandable if you’re looking for an alternative that doesn’t cost as much.
5 Best Athletic Greens Alternatives
There are a lot of greens powders out there, but if you’re specifically looking for options that rival Athletic Greens, here’s that list:
- Live it Up Super Greens
- Vibrant Health Green Vibrance
- Amazing Grass Greens Blend Original
- Bloom Greens & Superfoods
- Naked Nutrition Naked Greens
Live it Up Super Greens
Live it Up Super Greens
Live it Up Super Greens
Product Highlights
- Powdered greens supplement with 20+ superfoods, probiotics, and digestive enzymes
- Live it Up (formerly Enso Superfoods) shares that this product aids digestion, immunity, and energy
- Caffeine-free formula
- Contains 2 g of plant-based protein
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Subscribe and save 33%
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Made in the United States in a GMP-certified facility
- Vegan and vegetarian
- Dairy-, nut-, caffeine-, sugar- and gluten-free
- No artificial flavors or sweeteners
- 3rd-party tested
Cons
- Only available in 30-serving containers
- Mixed reviews on taste
- Only available via company website
- $2.00 per serving
Bottom Line
Live it Up Super Greens is a powdered greens supplement with over 20 superfoods, probiotics, and digestive enzymes. Live It Up claims that this product improves digestion, decreases bloating, increases energy, supports immunity, and prevents illness. Most customer reviews for this product are positive.
The Live it Up Super Greens (formerly Enso Supergreens) and Athletic Greens have similar ingredient lists. Both start with a green superfood base, and have added gut health support in the form of probiotics and digestive enzymes. The biggest difference here is that the Athletic Greens contains more herbal and antioxidant-rich extracts like hawthorn berry and adaptogens like ashwagandha. Live it Up Super Greens has about 30 ingredients, while Athletic Greens has 75.
RELATED: Best Ashwagandha Supplement
The Athletic Greens also has a higher concentration of probiotics, but the Live it Up Super Greens is higher in digestive enzymes. Still, both contain significant amounts of each (the Live it Up has 5 billion CFUs of probiotics compared to the 7 billion in the Athletic Greens, so both are good sources.)
Another major callout is that the Live it Up ingredient list is mostly USDA certified organic. All of the superfood ingredients are organic—the probiotics and digestive enzymes are not. Like Athletic Greens, Live it Up Super Greens are non-GMO, sugar-free (these greens are sweetened with monk fruit), caffeine-free, gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free. Live it Up Super Greens are made in the USA in a GMP-certified facility, while Athletic Greens are manufactured in New Zealand, which has strict standards for supplements.
GGR staff writer and certified personal trainer Lauren Strong tested Live it Up Super Greens. She gave it a 3 out of 5 on taste because it’s flavored with mint. “The Mint flavor is a big surprise! There is nothing on the label preparing you for the minty flavor of this greens drink,” she says.
It does, however, blend well, according to Lauren: “It mixed well with a shaker or stirred in a glass. No chunks! It has some grainy texture to it but you won’t be able to shake or stir those out.”
The bottom line: If you prefer mostly organic ingredients and want to save some money—these break down to $1.33 per serving—the Live it Up Supergreens may be the better choice for you.
Vibrant Health Green Vibrance
Green Vibrance
Vibrant Health Green Vibrance
Product Highlights
- Supports healthy nutrition, digestion, circulation, and immunity
- Made with nutrient-dense whole foods
- Claim to source and supply every ingredient to ensure purity
- Provides 25 billion probiotics and prebiotics
- Notable ingredients include organic cereal grass powders and juices, astragalus, and spirulina
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Whole foods-based
- Probiotics and prebiotics aid digestion
- Quality ingredients
- Variety of sizes sold
- No artificial flavors or coloring
Cons
- On the pricier side
- Taste is not for everyone
Bottom Line
The Vibrant Health Green Vibrance is formulated with nutrient-dense whole foods to provide a comprehensive range of nutrients in order to effectively support healthy nutritional intake, digestion, circulation, and immunity. Made with high-quality and individually sourced ingredients, Green Vibrance powder has an added 25 billion probiotics and prebiotics to promote a healthy gut. Notable ingredients range from organic cereal grass powders and juices to holy basil, goji berries, and flaxseed powder.
There are more similarities than differences between the Vibrant Health Green Vibrance and the Athletic Greens. They contain a similar base of superfood ingredients like spirulina, chlorella, and beetroot, but the Vibrant Health greens just don’t have quite as many.
That being said, the Green Vibrance greens have a much broader array of some of the best probiotics. The Athletic Greens contains only one strain, while the Green Vibrance has 12 strains and almost four times the CFUs.
Lauren Strong, certified personal trainer and GGR staff writer, had strong feelings about the Green Vibrance taste. “I have to be honest: the taste is not good. It has a very strong grassy flavor and a strong smell. I found that using shaker bottle worked better than a glass because the shaker bottle cap prevented me from smelling the green drink every time I lifted it to my mouth for a sip,” she says. “That said, some folks will appreciate the fact there is no sugar to sweeten the taste.”
One other notable callout is that the Vibrant Health greens powder has 2 more grams of carbohydrates per serving. This might not matter much to you, but if you’re following a keto or low-carb plan, it’s worth taking note. Granted, one of those extra grams comes from fiber, so if you need the additional digestive support, this may have a slight edge there.
Like the Athletic Greens, some (but not all) ingredients are organic. This supplement is also soy-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, and vegan-friendly. However, the company doesn’t provide any information on third-party testing or where the supplement is manufactured.
The Vibrant Health Green Vibrance greens are about $1.65 per serving. Learn more in our Green Vibrance review.
Amazing Grass Greens Blend Original
AmazingGrass
Amazing Grass Greens Blend Superfood
Product Highlights
- Contains digestive enzymes and probiotics
- Caffeine-free version
- 2 servings of fruits and veggies per scoop
- No added sugar
- Made from whole food sources
- Gluten-free
- Kosher
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Very affordable (under $1 per serving)
- Multiple container sizes
- Same-day Prime shipping
- Subscription options available
- Grass flavor isn't too strong
- Contains probiotics and digestive enzymes
Cons
- Not the best source of vitamins and minerals
- Can remain gritty after mixing
- Flavored options may be too sweet for some
Bottom Line
A budget-friendly greens powder supplement that contains a moderate amount of vitamins and minerals.
Want a better-testing greens powder? GGR editor Frieda Johnson loves the taste of the Original. “I am really impressed with the taste. Hands-down, the best-tasting unflavored greens powder I’ve ever tried,” she says. “I wouldn’t necessarily say it tastes good, but it definitely doesn’t taste like straight-up dirt like most greens powders. It’s totally drinkable just mixed with water, but I prefer mixing it with juice.”
There are significantly fewer ingredients in the Amazing Grass Greens Blend Original, but if you’re just looking for a simple greens powder, that may work well for you. Notable ingredients in this blend include wheat grass, barley grass, alfalfa grass, spinach, spirulina, chlorella, rosehips, acai berry, and flaxseed—all of which are organic.
This greens powder also contains a prebiotic, probiotic, and digestive enzyme blend, but there’s no information about how many CFUs it provides—an important distinction for its effectiveness.
Despite the fact that there are fewer ingredients, it still serves as a significant multivitamin source, providing ample amounts of vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin K. It also provides essential minerals like iron, calcium, and potassium.
Unlike the other greens powders on this list, this one is sweetened mostly through the various servings of fruits—it doesn’t contain any stevia or monk fruit, but it does have some natural peppermint flavor for palatability.
This blend goes for $1.33 per serving.
Bloom Greens & Superfoods
Bloom Greens
Bloom Greens and Superfoods
Product Highlights
- 30+ ingredients to support gut health
- Bloom claims their product support immunity, energy, and gut health
- Available in 30- and 60-serving containers
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Subscribe and save 10%
- Available in 4 flavors
- Soy-, dairy-, and gluten-free
- Vegan
Cons
- Mixed reviews on flavors
- Uses Stevia leaf extract
- Mixed reviews on effectiveness
Bottom Line
Bloom Green and Superfoods is a greens product that contains more than 30 ingredients, including fruits, vegetables, antioxidants, probiotics, and more. Bloom shares that this product supports gut health, boosts energy, and decreases bloating. Reviews for this product are mostly positive, but there are negative reviews complaining about the taste and effectiveness. Some users experienced increased bloating which may be due to the stevia leaf extract.
For a tasty Athletic Greens alternative, TikTok-popular Bloom Greens is all the rage. GGR senior editor and certified nutrition coach Nicole Davis isn’t crazy about the formulation of Bloom, but loves the taste. “It’s sweet, but still grassy, and the mango flavor covers the greens powder taste just enough,” she says.
The Bloom Greens & Superfoods supplement is made with more than 30 ingredients, from leafy greens like spinach to matcha green tea leaf and moringa powders. It combines a green superfood blend with a fiber blend, fruit and vegetable blend, antioxidant blend, digestive enzyme blend, and adaptogen blend. While the entire ingredient list isn’t organic, most of the fruits, vegetables, and greens are.
Bloom Greens are pretty under-dosed though on all important ingredients, so even though it’s less expensive than AG1, you’d probably be better off investing in Athletic Greens if the actual greens are important to you.
You can get an unflavored version of the Bloom Greens & Superfoods, which is sweetened with stevia, but you also have four other options if you want to mask that naturally grassy taste: berry, coconut, citrus, and mango. All options use natural flavors, and are dairy-, soy-, and gluten-free.
As far as solubility goes? “Not great,” Nicole says. “Clumps and sediment at the bottom if you just try to mix with a spoon. It’s better with a shaker.”
It comes in 30- and 60-serving sizes so you can save some money if you buy the larger tub, but for the sake of apples-to-apples comparison, the 30-day size comes out to about $1.33 per serving.
For more, check out our Bloom Greens review.
Naked Nutrition Naked Greens
Naked Greens
Naked Greens
Product Highlights
- Powdered greens supplement
- 10 ingredients including vegetables, prebiotics, probiotics, and adaptogens
- Naked claims that their product boosts immunity and reduces inflammation and stress
Pros & Cons
Pros
- No additive or artificial sweeteners
- Made in the United States
- Subscribe and save 20% on first shipment then 10%
- Keto-friendly and vegan
- Dairy-, gluten-, soy-, and GMO-free
Cons
- Berry flavor only available in single-serve packets
- Mixed reviews on taste
Bottom Line
Naked Greens is a powdered supplement that contains only 10 ingredients consisting of vegetables, prebiotics, probiotics, and adaptogens. Naked shares that this product boosts immunity and reduces inflammation and stress. Most of the reviews for this product are positive, although some users strongly disliked the taste.
Naked Nutrition’s whole brand is built around “naked” ingredient lists—meaning there are no artificial sweeteners, flavors, colors, or fillers. The Naked Greens only have a handful of ingredients, but the company managed to work in six organic greens (broccoli, alfalfa grass, kale, spirulina, spinach, and wheat grass) prebiotics, probiotics, and two adaptogens: ashwagandha and Panax Ginseng2.
In addition to stress management, Panax Ginseng has also been linked to appetite control3 and suppression of cravings, so if weight loss is a goal of yours, the Naked Nutrition Naked Greens may be a good choice for you.
Amanda Capritto, GGR senior staff writer and certified nutrition coach, tested Naked Greens and found the ingredient list a little misleading. “It is unclear how much of each ingredient is present, and because this product has a nutrition facts label and not a supplements facts label, it’s also unclear what micronutrients are present in what quantities (besides the usual sodium, potassium, iron, calcium, and vitamin D that do appear on standard nutrition labels),” she says.
Because the ingredient list is limited, it may not provide nearly as many micronutrients as the Athletic Greens, but it has some calcium, potassium, and iron. It also contains fewer probiotic strains, so if you’re looking for help with digestive issues like bloating, this may not be the best choice for you.
RELATED: The Best Greens Powders for Bloating
However, some other notable callouts are that all ingredients are organic, and the supplement is GMO-, soy-, and dairy-free. All of Naked Nutrition’s products are third-party tested and manufactured in GMP-certified facilities.
The Naked Nutrition Naked Greens are also the most budget-friendly of the Athletic Greens alternatives we found. They break down to $0.73 per serving.
Taste-wise, Amanda rated Naked Greens as a 3 out of 5 for both the Berry flavor and original unflavored options. “The original is not good; it’s just straight-up grass,” she says. “The berry flavor is a bit better, but still very grassy. Berry is sweetened with monk fruit and contains ‘natural plant based flavors,’ which I’m assuming is where the berry taste comes from.”
How We Chose the Best Athletic Greens Alternatives
Athletic Greens sets the standards pretty high. When evaluating alternatives, these are the main things we considered.
Active Ingredients
Athletic Greens has a lot of ingredients that range from fruit and veggie powders to probiotic blends. We wanted to make sure that any alternatives we chose had a similar range of nutrients. While we couldn’t find an identical ingredient list—after all, these are proprietary blends—we found greens powders that came pretty close.
Inactive Ingredients
The active ingredients are the star of the show in any greens powder supplement, but the inactive ingredients are just as important. Because the Athletic greens are sugar-free, vegan-friendly, non-GMO, and made only with natural flavors and colors, we looked for alternatives that followed suit.
Taste
The pleasant taste is a big part of why we love the Athletic Greens. We had to make sure the alternatives we chose were just as palatable. For the powders we didn’t try ourselves, we relied on customer reviews to narrow down the options. We didn’t include anything that has a super strong greens taste, which can be hard to get down.
Price
Athletic Greens are expensive, which might be part of the reason you’re looking for alternatives. We didn’t stick to a specific price point, but we made sure all the alternatives were less expensive than the AG1, while still providing high-quality ingredients.
Athletic Greens Alternatives: Final Thoughts
Athletic Greens is one of our favorite greens powders, but if it’s out of your budget or you’re not sold for another reason, there are some great alternatives out there, too. Before deciding on one, figure out what you want from your greens powder: Are you looking for a comprehensive supplement that supplies everything from veggies to probiotics, or do you just want a handful of ingredients that can support your existing regimen? The answer to this can help guide you to the best greens powder for you.
Athletic Greens Alternatives: FAQ
Why Is Athletic Greens So Expensive?
As we note in our Athletic Greens review, this is one of the most comprehensive greens powders available. While others contain similar types of ingredients, most don’t contain nearly as many. Athletic Greens is made with 75 high-quality ingredients, some of which are organic. Ingredients range from superfood powders to probiotics and digestive enzymes. The sheer number of ingredients contributes to its higher price tag.
Is Athletic Greens Worth Buying?
We think Athletic Greens is worth buying. It is on the expensive side, but it contains a ton of ingredients that supply a wide variety of essential and health-supporting nutrients. When it comes to superfood powders, it’s really top of the line. That being said, the Athletic Greens alternatives on this are viable options, too.
Does Athletic Greens Have Ashwagandha?
Yes, Athletic Greens has ashwagandha and other adaptogens like astragalus and burdock root. These ingredients can help you manage your body’s response to stress.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any diseases.
References
1. Mandatori, D, Pelusi, L, Schiavone, V, Pipino, C, Di Pietro, N, Pandolfi, A. The dual role of vitamin K2 in “bone-vascular crosstalk”: opposite effects on bone loss and vascular calcification. Nutrients. 2021;13(4):1222. doi:10.3390/nu13041222
2. Lee, S, Rhee, DK. Effects of ginseng on stress-related depression, anxiety, and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. J Ginseng Res. 2017;41(4):589-594. doi:10.1016/j.jgr.2017.01.010
3. Phung, HM, Jang, D, Trinh, TA, et al. Regulation of appetite-related neuropeptides by Panax ginseng: A novel approach for obesity treatment. J Ginseng Res. 2022;46(4):609-619. doi:10.1016/j.jgr.2022.03.007
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