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Creatine

You want to know this about creatine

· 7 min read

Creatine is the most-studied sports supplement there is. It is also a fine example of how much you can overpay for exactly the same substance.

On Supzie today, 100 g of creatine costs between €1.60 and €39.97, depending on the form and the shop. Powder alone runs from €1.60 to €9.48.

We get to those prices at the bottom. First, what creatine is and what thirty years of research turned up. Whether you should take it, and how much, isn't covered here. We compare prices, not health. When we mention an amount, it comes from a study, and the study is listed.

What creatine is

Your body makes creatine itself, from three amino acids (arginine, glycine and methionine), mostly in the liver and kidneys. About 95% of it sits in your muscles. You also get it from meat and fish. Someone who eats everything takes in roughly 1 to 2 g a day that way and makes about the same amount on top.1

Muscle stores it as phosphocreatine, which works like a small backup battery. It tops up ATP, the fuel your muscles burn during a short, hard effort. That is why the research is mostly about sprinting and lifting, and much less about marathons.12

Your muscle stores are normally not full. Supplementing raises them by roughly 20 to 40%, depending on where you start. Harris, Söderlund and Hultman first measured that in 1992. Every effect studied since builds on that rise.31

What the research finds

For this piece we lean mostly on the 2017 position stand of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), which sums up thirty years of studies.1

Short, hard efforts

Fuller creatine stores go together with better performance in repeated short, intense efforts. Think more reps across a few sets, or faster repeat sprints. Europe allows one label claim about this, and it is fixed word for word: "Creatine increases physical performance in successive bursts of short-term, high intensity exercise." It may only appear on a product that provides 3 g a day.4 If you have seen that exact sentence on a tub, now you know why it reads so stiffly. Nobody is allowed to change a word.

Together with strength training

People who strength-train and take creatine gain a little more strength and lean mass in the studies, on average, than people who only train. A 2003 meta-analysis of 100 studies called the effect small but consistent.5

Since 2017 this claim may also appear on labels aimed at adults over 55 who strength-train regularly: "Daily creatine consumption can enhance the effect of resistance training on muscle strength in adults over the age of 55." It is tied to 3 g a day as well.6

Not equally strong for everyone

People who start with low stores, such as many vegetarians and vegans, often see the biggest rise.7 For a share of people, often put at 20 to 30%, stores barely change at all.8 Researchers call them non-responders. If you are one of them, creatine does little for you, however faithfully you take it.

Where the evidence is thinner

For endurance sport the results are mixed. Effects on the brain have been studied too, mainly under sleep deprivation and in older adults, with mixed results.9 If a tub or an influencer promises you something on either front, the marketing is ahead of the research.

The forms, and why the price per gram differs so much

Labels list more kinds of creatine than the research ever looked at.

FormWhat to know
Creatine monohydrateCreatine with one water molecule attached, about 88% creatine by weight. Nearly every study in this piece used it, and the ISSN treats it as the reference form.110 Compare every other form with this one, per gram of creatine.
Micronised monohydrateThe same monohydrate, milled finer. It mixes more easily, and there is no evidence that it works differently.10 The extra you pay is for the stirring.
Creapure®Monohydrate made by AlzChem in Germany, sold under a brand name with a purity specification. The brand tells you how it is made and tested. The substance is the same. A premium for provenance, then, and fair enough if that matters to you.
Creatine HClCreatine bound to hydrochloric acid. It dissolves better, which is where the idea comes from that you need less of it. Studies that compare it head to head with monohydrate and show an advantage don't exist.10 Mind the label. A 750 mg capsule holds 750 mg of HCl, not 750 mg of creatine.
Buffered creatine (Kre-Alkalyn®)Monohydrate with a raised pH. A 2012 study found no difference from plain monohydrate, in the muscle or in performance.11
Creatine ethyl esterAn ester of creatine. A 2009 study found it filled muscle stores less well than monohydrate did.12
Nitrate, citrate, malate and blendsCreatine bound to something else, or a mix. There is little research on them, and blends often don't say how much creatine a serving contains.10 If the label doesn't say, we can't work out a price per gram. Neither can you.

Monohydrate is the form the research is about. It is also the form at the top of our list, sorted by price per 100 g. Paying more for another form means paying for a promise the studies mostly haven't kept.

How much the studies used

What you take is up to you. These are the amounts from the research, so a label makes sense when you read it.

Most studies, and the EU claim, work with 3 to 5 g of creatine monohydrate a day.14 Some start with a loading phase of about 20 g a day, often split into 4 doses of 5 g, for 5 to 7 days. Then they drop to the lower amount.

The 1996 study behind that loading phase also showed that 3 g a day ends up in about the same place after 28 days. It just takes longer.13 The ISSN lists both routes.1 Whether you take it before or after training makes little difference on the evidence so far. Every day, for weeks, counts for more than the time on the clock.14

The 5 g on your scoop comes from there. It is the upper end of the range the studies used. A 500 g tub lasts 100 days at 5 g a day, or 166 days at 3 g. The calculator works that out for the tub you are looking at.

Safety, as the research describes it

Kidneys come up most. Reviews of studies in healthy adults found no harm to kidney function at the amounts studied.115 Your blood creatinine does go up, and that happens to be the value a doctor uses to estimate kidney function. So you can get a higher reading while nothing is wrong with your kidneys. If you take creatine, mention it to whoever orders the blood test.2

In the first week of loading, people often gain 1 to 2 kg. That is well documented, and it is mostly water drawn into the muscle.16 People call it bloating. In the research it is water inside the muscle cell. No fat involved.

The idea that creatine causes cramps or dehydration is a stubborn story the studies don't back up. Some found fewer cramps and fewer heat problems in athletes who took it.12

The hair-loss story comes from a single 2009 study in rugby players. It saw a rise in DHT, a hormone linked to hair loss. Hair loss itself wasn't measured, and no later study has shown that creatine causes it.2

There is a coffee story too. A 1996 study reported that caffeine cancelled out creatine's effect.17 Later research is mixed.18

Nearly all studies were done in healthy adults. Little is known about pregnancy, kidney disease or under-18s. If one of those applies to you, take the question to your doctor first.

What 100 g of creatine costs today

ProductPer 100 g creatine
OstroVit Creatine Monohydrate 1000 gSuppstoreUnverified€1.60
OstroVit Creatine Monohydrate 500 gSuppstoreUnverified€1.60
GymBeam 100% Creatine Monohydrate 1000 gGymBeamUnverified€1.85
WeightWorld Creatine Poeder 1000 gWeightWorldUnverified€1.90
GymBeam 100% Creatine Monohydrate 750 gGymBeamUnverified€1.93

Prices as of 4 Oct 2026, 17:56.

Unverified: we haven't checked this label yet. The price per 100 g is then an estimate based on the shop's listing.

Compare all 58 creatine products

Same substance, from €1.60 to €39.97 per 100 g. That's what this site is for.

Sources

  1. Kreider RB, Kalman DS, Antonio J, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017;14:18. doi:10.1186/s12970-017-0173-z ↩

  2. Antonio J, Candow DG, Forbes SC, et al. Common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation: what does the scientific evidence really show? J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2021;18:13. doi:10.1186/s12970-021-00412-w ↩

  3. Harris RC, Söderlund K, Hultman E. Elevation of creatine in resting and exercised muscle of normal subjects by creatine supplementation. Clin Sci. 1992;83(3):367-374. doi:10.1042/cs0830367 ↩

  4. Commission Regulation (EU) No 432/2012, Annex, entry for creatine (3 g a day). EUR-Lex ↩

  5. Branch JD. Effect of creatine supplementation on body composition and performance: a meta-analysis. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2003;13(2):198-226. doi:10.1123/ijsnem.13.2.198 ↩

  6. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/672, health claim on daily creatine intake with resistance training in adults over 55. EUR-Lex ↩

  7. Burke DG, Chilibeck PD, Parise G, et al. Effect of creatine and weight training on muscle creatine and performance in vegetarians. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2003;35(11):1946-1955. doi:10.1249/01.MSS.0000093614.17517.79 ↩

  8. Syrotuik DG, Bell GJ. Acute creatine monohydrate supplementation: a descriptive physiological profile of responders vs. nonresponders. J Strength Cond Res. 2004;18(3):610-617. ↩

  9. Avgerinos KI, Spyrou N, Bougioukas KI, Kapogiannis D. Effects of creatine supplementation on cognitive function of healthy individuals: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Exp Gerontol. 2018;108:166-173. doi:10.1016/j.exger.2018.04.013 ↩

  10. Jäger R, Purpura M, Shao A, Inoue T, Kreider RB. Analysis of the efficacy, safety, and regulatory status of novel forms of creatine. Amino Acids. 2011;40(5):1369-1383. doi:10.1007/s00726-011-0874-6 ↩

  11. Jagim AR, Oliver JM, Sanchez A, et al. A buffered form of creatine does not promote greater changes in muscle creatine content, body composition, or training adaptations than creatine monohydrate. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2012;9:43. doi:10.1186/1550-2783-9-43 ↩

  12. Spillane M, Schoch R, Cooke M, et al. The effects of creatine ethyl ester supplementation combined with heavy resistance training on body composition, muscle performance, and serum and muscle creatine levels. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2009;6:6. doi:10.1186/1550-2783-6-6 ↩

  13. Hultman E, Söderlund K, Timmons JA, Cederblad G, Greenhaff PL. Muscle creatine loading in men. J Appl Physiol. 1996;81(1):232-237. doi:10.1152/jappl.1996.81.1.232 ↩

  14. Candow DG, Forbes SC, Roberts MD, et al. Creatine O'Clock: does timing of ingestion really influence muscle mass and performance? Front Sports Act Living. 2022;4:893714. doi:10.3389/fspor.2022.893714 ↩

  15. de Souza e Silva A, Pertille A, Reis Barbosa CG, et al. Effects of creatine supplementation on renal function: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Ren Nutr. 2019;29(6):480-489. doi:10.1053/j.jrn.2019.05.004 ↩

  16. Powers ME, Arnold BL, Weltman AL, et al. Creatine supplementation increases total body water without altering fluid distribution. J Athl Train. 2003;38(1):44-50. ↩

  17. Vandenberghe K, Gillis N, Van Leemputte M, et al. Caffeine counteracts the ergogenic action of muscle creatine loading. J Appl Physiol. 1996;80(2):452-457. doi:10.1152/jappl.1996.80.2.452 ↩

  18. Elosegui S, López-Seoane J, Martínez-Ferrán M, Pareja-Galeano H. Interaction between caffeine and creatine when used as concurrent ergogenic supplements: a systematic review. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2022;32(4):285-295. doi:10.1123/ijsnem.2021-0262 ↩