Shakeology Vs. Athletic Greens — Which Superfood Powder Is Healthier?

There are dozens of different brands of greens powders, but few reach the level of popularity enjoyed by Athletic Greens and Shakeology, two big-name brands with very sizable followings. Which is better for you? Do they serve different purposes?

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Taste

Athletic Greens: Many greens powders taste suspiciously like soil, but the good news is that both of these products are delicious.

Athletic Greens tastes a little bit tropical, like a creamy mixture of fruit, carrot, and ginger.

[Check out our full Athletic Greens review!]

Shakeology: This supplement actually comes in five different flavors: chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, coffee, and greenberry. We’ve only tried the chocolate, but it’s delicious — rich and cocoa-y, not too sweet but not too bitter.

Some greens powders add a lot of sweeteners to cover up the bitterness of the algae and grasses that form their base. These two included tasty, slightly bitter flavors — ginger and cocoa, respectively — to work with the bitterness and make it more palatable. That said, Athletic Greens is more subtle, so it’s more likely to appeal to more people.

[Check out our full Shakeology review!]

Winner: Athletic Greens

Price

Athletic Greens: Athletic Greens recently dropped their price from $4.23 per serving to $3.23 per serving — $97 for thirty servings. If you like it enough to sign up for a monthly subscription of the stuff, the price drops to $77 per bag, or $2.56 per serving.

Shakeology: A 2.78-pound bag of Shakeology provides thirty servings for about $130, which is $4.33 per serving. If you sign up for a monthly shipment, they discount the shipping costs to $2 per delivery, otherwise it’s $14.94 for shipping. Without the discount, it’s expensive. With the discount, it’s still expensive — that’s not a great discount for a customer who is committing to buying the product every month for an indefinite period.

Winner: Athletic Greens 

Ingredients

Athletic Greens: It has seventy-five ingredients, with spirulina, wheatgrass, alfalfa, and chlorella coming first on the list. Other standouts include rhodiola rosea (which may support cognitive function), milk thistle (which may support liver function), and more than seven billion probiotic bacteria, which is more than many dedicated gut health supplements. Finally, there’s a blend of adaptogenic mushrooms to improve stress response and digestive enzymes to improve nutrient absorption.

Shakeology: It doesn’t have quite as many ingredients as Athletic Greens, but there are still many of the most popular greens powder additions: spirulina, chlorella, green tea, probiotics, and adaptogenic mushrooms and herbs.

The big difference is that Athletic Greens gives a rough estimate of how much of each ingredient blend can be found in a serving, so you can have an idea of whether or not you’re getting an effective dose. Shakeology, on the other hand, calls all their blends proprietary, so you don’t know how much of anything you’re consuming. Because of this, the edge goes to Athletic Greens.

Winner: Athletic Greens

Effectiveness

Athletic Greens: Both greens powders are much, much more nutritious than most of their competitors. When compared with one another, they have similar ingredients but different strengths.

Athletic Greens contains more than twice the Vitamin C and zinc, more of many B-vitamins (there’s five times the Vitamin B12), six times more Vitamin E, and probably more probiotics — remember there’s no information about ingredient quantities in Shakeology. It also quantifies its antioxidant content by stating it delivers as many antioxidants as found in twelve servings of fruits and vegetables.

Shakeology: This product beats Shakeology for many less common micronutrients like Vitamin D and the important minerals magnesium, calcium, and iron.

Unlike Athletic Greens, which is about 40 calories comprised mostly of carbs, it contains a hefty dose of protein and carbohydrates: one scoop delivers 110 calories and 17 grams each of protein and carbs.

Because of the emphasis on minerals and protein, one could argue that Shakeology is more geared toward people who are physically active and Athletic Greens is more geared toward general wellness. In that regard, it’s a little like comparing apples and oranges, but as far as what most people purchase greens powders for — vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and probiotics — Athletic Greens does a better job of convincing me that it delivers on all fronts.

Winner: Athletic Greens

The Overall Winner: Athletic Greens

While Athletic Greens won every category, I should emphasize that it was a very tight race, particularly with regard to benefits and effectiveness — Shakeology delivers considerably more minerals and protein than its competitor.

However, Shakeology is pricier, has fewer vitamins, and doesn’t contain information about probiotics and antioxidants. For those reasons, Athletic Greens is a more transparent and more effective supplement.

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