A reader emailed me last month with a photo of two creatine tubs sitting side by side on his kitchen counter — Optimum Nutrition on the left, MyProtein on the right — and exactly one question underneath it: “They’re both 5 grams of monohydrate. Why is one almost double the price?” I’ve been buying creatine for the better part of a decade, long enough to watch it go from the supplement people whispered about to the one substance in the cabinet that genuinely has the research behind it, and that photo is the whole decision in miniature. Two of the biggest names in sports nutrition, the same active ingredient, and a price gap big enough that it actually changes how you’d stock a year’s supply.
So I want to settle it the way I’d settle it for that reader. Not with hype, and not with the lazy “they’re all the same molecule, just buy the cheapest” answer you’ll get on every forum — because while that answer is mostly true, the “mostly” is where the interesting differences live. Optimum Nutrition Micronized Creatine and MyProtein Creatine Monohydrate are both creatine monohydrate, both dose at 5 grams, and both come from companies that have earned their reputations. But they’re built around two different priorities, and once you understand what each one is optimizing for, the right pick gets obvious fast. If you want the broader field, I’ve ranked the whole category in my best creatine supplements of 2026 guide — this piece is the head-to-head for the two value-and-trust heavyweights specifically.
Why creatine monohydrate is the only form worth arguing about
Before we compare brands, it’s worth being clear about what you’re buying, because the supplement aisle loves to complicate creatine and there’s no reason to let it. Creatine monohydrate is the most studied form on the market. The overwhelming body of research that supports creatine — for strength, for power output, for muscle hydration and recovery — was run on monohydrate, not on the fancier, pricier forms that show up with bold claims and thin evidence. Forms like creatine HCl have their place, mainly for people who report bloating or stomach issues on monohydrate (I broke that debate down in my Kaged Creatine HCl vs Con-Cret comparison), but for the average home gym lifter, monohydrate is the default for a reason: it works, it’s cheap, and you don’t need to gamble on it.
That matters here because both of these products are plain monohydrate. Neither is trying to sell you a proprietary blend or a “next-generation” molecule. So the comparison isn’t about which form is better — it’s settled, they’re the same form — it’s about execution: purity, how well the powder dissolves, whether it’s flavored, how much third-party scrutiny it gets, and what it actually costs you per scoop over a year of daily use.
How I evaluated these two
I judged both products on the things that genuinely separate one tub of monohydrate from another, and ignored the marketing noise that doesn’t change results.
Purity and sourcing came first. All creatine monohydrate is not manufactured to the same standard, and the cleanest products either carry a recognized purity branding like Creapure (German-sourced, 99.9% pure) or publish their testing. I looked at what each brand discloses and whether a premium “verified pure” option exists in the lineup.
Mixability was next, and it’s where the word “micronized” earns its keep. Micronizing grinds the creatine particles finer so they suspend better in water instead of settling into grit at the bottom of your shaker. It doesn’t make the creatine more effective — your body doesn’t care about particle size once it’s dissolved — but it absolutely affects whether your morning shake goes down smooth or chalky.
Then flavor and versatility, because a flavored creatine and an unflavored creatine are used in completely different ways. After that, third-party testing and brand track record, which matter more in a category where you’re putting something in your body every single day. And finally price per serving — not sticker price, but what you actually pay per 5-gram dose, which is the only number that matters when you’re buying something you’ll use 365 days a year.
Optimum Nutrition Micronized Creatine Powder
Optimum Nutrition is the most recognized name in protein, and the brand brings that same mainstream polish to its creatine. The headline feature is right there in the name: it’s micronized, processed specifically so the powder mixes cleanly rather than clumping. In practice that’s the single biggest reason people reach for it. Owner feedback across the supplement world consistently praises how it disappears into water or a shake without the gritty residue that plagues cheaper, coarser monohydrate.
It delivers the standard, research-backed 5 grams of creatine monohydrate per serving, and the current tub runs 60 servings. What’s a little different from the old-school unflavored norm is that Optimum now sells it in a Blueberry Lemonade flavor alongside the classic unflavored version, which opens up using it as a standalone pre- or post-workout drink rather than something you have to hide inside another beverage. The brand also leans hard on the “stack it with Gold Standard” angle — and that’s not just upsell; mixing your creatine into your daily whey shake is genuinely one of the easiest ways to never forget a dose. If you want my full breakdown of the product on its own, I covered it in the Optimum Nutrition Micronized Creatine review, and the protein it’s designed to pair with in my Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey review.
At the time of writing, the 60-serving tub sits around $16 on sale (roughly $20 at regular price), which works out to about $0.27 to $0.33 per 5-gram serving. That’s the Optimum Nutrition pitch in a sentence: a clean-mixing, flavored-or-unflavored, widely trusted creatine at a fair — not rock-bottom — price.
You can check the current Optimum Nutrition Micronized Creatine price here: [AWIN: Optimum Nutrition | micronized-creatine].
MyProtein Creatine Monohydrate Powder
MyProtein comes at this from the opposite direction. The brand built its following on value and bulk sizing, and its Creatine Monohydrate Powder is a textbook example. It’s the same 5 grams of creatine monohydrate per serving, unflavored, vegan- and vegetarian-friendly, and it’s sold in tubs that scale all the way up to 200 servings — which is the real story here. Where Optimum sells you a tidy two-month tub, MyProtein will happily sell you most of a year’s supply in one box, and the per-serving cost drops as the tub gets bigger.
The reception backs up the value reputation. The standard powder carries a 4.74-out-of-5 rating across more than 500 verified customer reviews, which is a meaningful sample for a single SKU. The trade-off versus Optimum is mixability and flavor. The base Creatine Monohydrate Powder is unflavored standard monohydrate, so it’s built to be dumped into an existing drink rather than sipped on its own, and unflavored standard-grade powder can mix a touch grittier than a dedicated micronized product. MyProtein does address the purity-conscious crowd with a separate Creapure line for buyers who specifically want German-sourced, 99.9%-pure creatine — so if certified sourcing is your priority, the option exists within the same brand, just at a higher price than the standard tub.
On price, the standard 45-serving tub has been running around $9.99 on promotion (regular list closer to $20), and the larger 100- and 200-serving sizes are where MyProtein’s cost-per-dose advantage really opens up. For a high-volume buyer who takes creatine every day and doesn’t care about flavor, it’s one of the cheapest legitimate ways to stay stocked. The brand is the same one behind the MyProtein Impact Whey I’ve reviewed — same value-first DNA, applied to creatine.
You can check the current MyProtein Creatine Monohydrate price here: [AWIN: MyProtein | creatine].
Head-to-head: where the real differences are
Purity and sourcing
This is closer than the price gap suggests. Neither brand’s standard tub markets itself as Creapure — both are conventional creatine monohydrate, and for the vast majority of lifters that’s completely fine, because monohydrate is monohydrate at the molecular level. The edge goes to MyProtein only in the sense that it offers a clearly labeled Creapure option elsewhere in its range if you want to pay up for certified German sourcing. Optimum’s lineup doesn’t make that distinction as prominently. If you’re the type who wants the absolute gold standard of sourcing and you’re willing to pay for it, that MyProtein Creapure line is the path — but understand you’re buying peace of mind, not measurably better results.
Mixability
Optimum wins this outright, and it’s not particularly close. Micronization is the entire point of its product, and the smaller particle size genuinely makes for a smoother shake. MyProtein’s standard powder is regular-grind monohydrate, which dissolves fine in a shaker with a bit of agitation but is more prone to leaving a little grit if you stir it into a still glass of water. If you drink your creatine in plain water and texture bothers you, Optimum is the safer bet. If you always mix it into a protein shake or smoothie, the difference basically vanishes — the whey and the blender hide everything.
Flavor and versatility
Optimum’s Blueberry Lemonade option is a real differentiator if you want creatine you can drink on its own. MyProtein’s standard product is unflavored only, which is the right call if your plan is to stir it into coffee, oats, or a shake where an added flavor would clash. Neither approach is better in the abstract — it depends entirely on how you take it. Unflavored is more versatile; flavored is more pleasant as a standalone drink. Know which camp you’re in before you buy.
Third-party testing and trust
Both brands are large, established, and have a lot to lose from a contamination scandal, which is itself a form of quality assurance — the major players generally can’t afford to cut corners the way a no-name Amazon brand can. For competitive athletes subject to drug testing, the move with either brand is the same: check the specific tub for a batch-level third-party certification seal (Informed Sport or NSF Certified for Sport) before you commit, since certification can vary by product and production run rather than applying blanket to a brand. Spec analysis and label disclosure put these two roughly even on trust; both are safe mainstream choices.
Price per serving — the actual decider
Here’s the answer to that reader’s original question. On the standard tubs at regular pricing, the two land closer than the photo made it look — Optimum’s 60-serving tub at roughly $0.27–$0.33 per serving is genuinely competitive with MyProtein’s smaller 45-serving tub. The gap blows open only when you buy MyProtein in bulk. The 200-serving size is where MyProtein turns into the clear cost-per-dose winner, because creatine doesn’t expire quickly and there’s no downside to buying a big tub of something you’ll take daily for years. So the honest framing isn’t “MyProtein is always cheaper” — it’s “MyProtein is cheaper if you buy big, and roughly even if you buy small.”
My recommendation
If you take your creatine in plain water, want the option of a flavored version, or you simply trust the Optimum Nutrition name and don’t want to think about it, buy the Optimum Nutrition Micronized Creatine. The micronization is a real, daily-noticeable benefit, and at sale pricing it’s a genuinely fair deal — not the cheapest, but the smoothest-mixing of the two and the easiest to live with.
If you take creatine daily, mix it into a shake or smoothie where grit doesn’t matter, and you want the lowest possible cost per dose over a year, buy MyProtein Creatine Monohydrate — and buy the biggest tub you’ll realistically get through. It’s the value play, full stop, and the 500-plus owner reviews tell you the value doesn’t come at the expense of a product people are happy with. And if certified sourcing matters to you specifically, step up to MyProtein’s Creapure line rather than either standard tub.
For most home gym lifters reading this, the deciding question is simply: water or shake? Drink it in water, lean Optimum. Hide it in a shake, lean MyProtein bulk. Either way you’re getting 5 grams of the most proven supplement in the building, and you genuinely can’t make a bad choice between these two.
Frequently asked questions
Is Optimum Nutrition or MyProtein creatine more effective?
Neither — and that’s the point. Both deliver 5 grams of creatine monohydrate per serving, the same research-backed form and dose. Once it’s dissolved and in your system, your muscles can’t tell which brand it came from. The differences are mixability, flavor, sourcing options, and price, not effectiveness.
Does the micronized version work better than regular monohydrate?
No. Micronization changes particle size for better mixing, not absorption or results. Optimum’s micronized powder dissolves more smoothly, which is a quality-of-life benefit, but a regular-grind monohydrate like MyProtein’s standard tub delivers the identical performance benefit once it’s mixed in.
Do I need to load creatine when starting either one?
Loading — taking around 20 grams a day for the first week — saturates your muscles faster, but it’s optional with both products. You can also just take 5 grams a day from the start and reach the same saturation in about three to four weeks. Either tub supports either approach; it’s purely a matter of how quickly you want to feel the effects.
Which is actually cheaper per serving?
It depends on tub size. On small tubs the two are roughly even, with Optimum’s 60-serving option competitive at around $0.27–$0.33 per serving on sale. MyProtein pulls clearly ahead on cost only when you buy its larger 100- or 200-serving sizes, which is where its bulk-value model shines. If lowest cost per dose is the goal, buy MyProtein big.
Is the flavored Optimum creatine worth it over unflavored?
Only if you drink your creatine on its own in water. The Blueberry Lemonade version turns it into a standalone drink, which some people prefer. If you mix creatine into a protein shake, coffee, or oats, buy unflavored — an added flavor will just clash, and unflavored is more versatile.
Should competitive or drug-tested athletes pick one over the other?
Brand name alone isn’t enough for tested athletes. Look for a batch-level third-party certification — Informed Sport or NSF Certified for Sport — on the specific tub you’re buying, since certification can vary by product and production run. Both brands are large and reputable, but verify the seal on the exact product before relying on it for competition.
This article is for general informational purposes and isn’t medical or nutritional advice. Talk to a doctor before starting any new supplement, especially if you have a medical condition or take medication.