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Sports Research Creatine Monohydrate Powder, Unflavored (500 g, 100 servings)

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Sports Research Creatine Monohydrate Powder, Unflavored (500 g, 100 servings)

Plain micronized creatine and nothing else. SuppCo bought it off the shelf in 2025: 103% of the labeled creatine, the lowest creatinine of five powders, no heavy-metal issue. About $0.28 a serving. Its Informed Sport claim is unchecked.

Best for People who want a plain, low-cost creatine with an independent lab result behind it.

Our rating
Good (4.4 of 5)
Price range
Budget
Size
500 g (17.64 oz) unflavored powder, one 5 g scoop a serving (100 servings); also 300 g (60 servings, $17.95) and 1 kg
Made in
Not stated.

approx. $28 for 500 g (100 servings)

See it on Sports Research’s site → (opens in a new tab)

We are not affiliated with Sports Research. This link goes to the maker’s own page, with no tracking code. How we're funded.

Also sold at Amazon ($28), Walmart ($28), iHerb ($29) .

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    Reviews are personal experiences, not research, and they never change our quality ratings. Every review is read by our team before it appears.

    How we evaluated it

    How it scores Our rating, metric by metric Good, 4.4 of 5
    1. Ingredients 25% of the rating 5 of 5

      One ingredient, micronized creatine monohydrate, 5 g a scoop; Amazon’s listing says nothing else is in it.

    2. Independent testing 30% of the rating 4 of 5

      SuppCo bought it and an ISO 17025 lab found 103.2% of the labeled creatine, creatinine under 1 ppm and no heavy-metal issue, for one batch with no metal figures published.

    3. Evidence 25% of the rating 5 of 5

      Creatine monohydrate at 3 to 5 g a day is among the best-studied supplements: the ISSN position stand, a 53-study strength meta-analysis and a 2026 kidney meta-analysis.

    4. Trust 10% of the rating 3 of 5

      No creatine recall or notice, but California lists lead notices on three of its other products (2021, 2024, 2026), no batch report is published and its Informed Sport claim is unchecked.

    5. Value 10% of the rating 4 of 5

      About $0.28 a serving at 500 g, near BulkSupplements and under half of Thorne’s price.

    The rating, 4.4 of 5, is the weighted average of these scores. See how we rank performance & longevity and our standard.

    Where to buy Stores and the prices we saw 3 stores
    • Amazon (opens in a new tab) approx. $28. The unflavored 100-serving tub, $27.95, sold by Sports Research (the brand) and shipped by Amazon. In stock on 2026-11-03.
    • Walmart (opens in a new tab) approx. $28. The unflavored 17.7 oz (500 g) tub, $27.95, sold by Sports Research (a Walmart Pro Seller) and fulfilled by Walmart. Seen 2026-11-03.
    • iHerb (opens in a new tab) approx. $29. The unflavored 1.1 lb (500 g) tub, $28.97, in stock on 2026-11-02.

    Prices as we saw them on November 3, 2026. They change often. These links carry no tracking code and earn us nothing.

    What’s in it Every ingredient, in label order 1 ingredient
    1. Micronized creatine monohydrate
    Who tested it What each test found, and who paid for it 2 tests
    • Independent SuppCo (bought off the shelf; ISO 17025 lab, not named). SuppCo sells a supplement-rating app June 2025

      SuppCo bought the powder off the shelf, with no brand involvement, and sent it to an ISO 17025:2017 lab it did not direct. Sports Research’s creatine held 5.16 g in a 5 g serving (103.2% of the label) and under 1 ppm of creatinine, a breakdown marker, against the 500 ppm USP limit. SuppCo rated it Passed, gave it a TrustScore of 8.94 and said all five powders were free of heavy-metal issues, without publishing figures. One batch, tested for the report of 12 June 2025. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)

    • Independent ConsumerLab (bought and tested; subscription-funded) June 2026

      Lists Sports Research Creatine Monohydrate, Unflavored, among the creatines it tested in a review announced on 22 June 2026. One product exceeded ConsumerLab’s creatinine limit; the release does not name it, and per-product results are for members, so we could not see this one. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)

    Who paid, and why it matters
    • Independent The tester took no money from the maker for it: a consumer group, a journalist, a university or a regulator.
    • Paid certification An outside lab or certifier tested or listed it, and the maker paid for that.
    • Maker’s own test A lab report or certificate of analysis the maker commissioned and published.

    A certification is a floor, not a verdict: it checks what its program checks and nothing else. We weigh tests by someone with no stake in the result most.

    What people ask Worries raised online and elsewhere, and what we found 4 questions
    Is a creatine at about $0.28 a serving as good as a premium brand?
    SuppCo’s 2025 test says yes for the batch it bought: the dose and purity were on target and creatinine was far below the limit (report (opens in a new tab)). ConsumerLab tested it in 2026 but its verdict is for members, and one of the creatines it tested exceeded its creatinine limit without being named publicly.
    Is it really Informed Sport certified?
    The page lists “Informed Sport” and so does Amazon’s title. Informed Sport’s own database refused our automated lookup, so we could not read the listing, and the claim stays the maker’s.
    Has Sports Research had lead problems?
    Not with creatine, but with three other products. California’s notice search (opens in a new tab) lists 2021-02617 (Golden Milk, lead, withdrawn in December 2021), 2024-04820 (Keto + Raspberry Lemonade Ketones, lead, settled in May 2025 with warnings and $21,000 in payments) and 2026-01834 (Organic Greens, lead, April 2026, naming the company and iHerb, no settlement posted). We saw no California warning on the creatine page or Amazon’s listing, and FDA’s enforcement databases and warning-letter search list nothing for the firm.
    Does creatine harm the kidneys or cause hair loss?
    A 2026 meta-analysis of 19 randomized trials (plus one crossover study) found creatine raised blood creatinine slightly, with no significant change in urea or eGFR, and called for trials longer than a year (PubMed 42035842 (opens in a new tab)). A 2025 trial that randomized 45 men (38 finished) found no difference in DHT or in hair measures after 12 weeks at 5 g a day (PubMed 40265319 (opens in a new tab)). Ask a clinician first if you have kidney disease.
    Why we chose it What put it on our list 4 points
    • One ingredient: micronized creatine monohydrate, 5 g a scoop, with no flavor, sweetener or filler named. Our creatine guide says plain monohydrate at 3 to 5 g a day is the form to choose.
    • SuppCo bought the powder and sent unopened samples to an ISO 17025 lab it did not direct. It found 5.16 g of creatine in a 5 g serving (103.2% of the label) and creatinine under 1 ppm, against a 500 ppm USP limit, the best of the five powders it tested.
    • SuppCo says most of the 11 products it tested showed no issues with heavy metals, true for all five powders; the one metals failure, a gummy, had 0.99 µg of lead against Prop 65’s 0.5 µg a day.
    • At $27.95 for 100 servings it costs about $0.28 a serving, well under Thorne’s $0.49 and Needed’s $0.83.
    Trade-offs What to weigh before you buy 5 points
    • SuppCo tested one batch and publishes no metal figures. It also sells a supplement-rating app, so it has a business in the category.
    • “Informed Sport” is on the page and Amazon’s title, but Informed Sport’s database blocks automated lookups, so we could not confirm the listing.
    • We found no batch report, certificate of analysis or country of origin on the product page.
    • California lists lead notices on three other Sports Research products: Golden Milk (2021, withdrawn), Keto ketones (2024, settled in 2025 with warnings) and Organic Greens (April 2026, open). None names creatine.
    • SuppCo’s report does not say which pack size it bought, but its product card shows 100 servings at $27.95, the 500 g tub that Amazon, Walmart and iHerb sell.
    What to know Details worth knowing first

    Our creatine guide says plain creatine monohydrate is the form to choose, at 3 to 5 g a day. Sports Research’s is exactly that: micronized monohydrate, 5 g a scoop, and nothing else on the label.

    The reason it is listed is the outside test. Supplements are loosely regulated, so a label can be wrong about the dose. SuppCo bought this powder off the shelf in 2025 and sent it to an accredited lab, which found 103% of the labeled creatine and less creatinine than any of the four other powders it tested. SuppCo also saw no heavy-metal issue. That is one batch, with no metal figures published, and ConsumerLab’s 2026 verdict is for members.

    It is a plain, cheap powder with limits. Its Informed Sport claim could not be checked, and California has lead notices on three of the maker’s other products, not on creatine. At about $0.28 a serving it costs much less than Thorne or Needed, and a little more than BulkSupplements. See how to tell if a supplement is pure for what these records can and cannot show.

    What we checked Each claim, and how sure we are of it 7 checks
    Third-party tested
    Yes
    Tested by
    SuppCo (bought off the shelf, independent lab, 2025); Informed Sport claimed by the maker
    How Sports Research Creatine Monohydrate Powder, Unflavored (500 g, 100 servings) measures up against our performance & longevity criteria
    What we checked What we found
    Research behind the ingredient Verified Creatine monohydrate, 5 g a serving. The International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand finds supplementation raises muscle creatine, improves high-intensity exercise and is safe in healthy people (PubMed 28615996 (opens in a new tab)). A 53-study meta-analysis found a gain in upper-limb strength (PubMed 27328852 (opens in a new tab)).
    Independent lab test Verified SuppCo’s 2025 report (page 8 table): 5.16 g creatine, 103.2%, creatinine under 1 ppm, Passed; page 7 says no heavy-metal issues in any powder. One batch, no metal values, tested by an ISO 17025:2017 lab SuppCo did not name. SuppCo bought the product with no brand involvement.
    Third-party tested Maker’s claim The page and Amazon’s title say Informed Sport, Non-GMO Verified and gluten free. We could not open Informed Sport’s database, which blocks automated lookups, so the certification is the maker’s claim.
    A plain label Maker’s claim Amazon’s listing, sold by Sports Research, gives the ingredient as micronized creatine monohydrate, and the page says 5 g a scoop. No proprietary blend.
    Honest cost Maker’s claim Sports Research’s page: 300 g (60 servings) $17.95 and 500 g (100 servings) $27.95. Amazon and Walmart also showed $27.95 and iHerb $28.97 for 500 g on 2026-11-02.
    Purity and origin Not verified No batch certificate, lead figure or country of origin on the product page.
    Prop 65 notices and recalls Verified Three lead notices on other Sports Research products (2021-02617 withdrawn, 2024-04820 settled, 2026-01834 open); none on creatine. FDA’s food and drug enforcement databases and warning-letter search list nothing for Sports Research (searched 2026-11-03).
    What the labels mean
    • Verified We opened an independent record that confirms it: a certifier’s listing, a regulator’s list or a lab report. It is linked under Sources.
    • Maker’s claim The maker says so on its own page or label. We read it but found no independent record.
    • Not verified We looked and could not confirm it, or the maker does not say. Treat it as unknown.
    Sources Where our facts come from 12 sources
    1. Sports Research Creatine Monohydrate product page. Maker’s page. Sizes, prices ($17.95 for 300 g, $27.95 for 500 g), Informed Sport and Non-GMO marks. Seen 2026-11-02. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
    2. SuppCo Tested: Creatine (report, 12 June 2025). Test report. Five powders and six gummies bought off the shelf with no brand involvement and sent to an ISO 17025:2017 lab; Sports Research’s powder passed with the lowest creatinine. Product card: 100 servings, $27.95. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
    3. ConsumerLab: creatine supplements review, news release (22 June 2026). Test report. Names Sports Research Creatine Monohydrate, Unflavored, among the products tested. Per-product results are members only. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
    4. PubMed: ISSN position stand on creatine (PMID 28615996). Certifier or regulator listing. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
    5. PubMed: Creatine and upper limb strength, meta-analysis (PMID 27328852). Certifier or regulator listing. Abstract: 53 studies. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
    6. PubMed: Creatine and kidney function, meta-analysis of RCTs (PMID 42035842). Certifier or regulator listing. Abstract, 2026: 19 trials. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
    7. PubMed: Does creatine cause hair loss? A 12-week randomized trial (PMID 40265319). Certifier or regulator listing. Abstract, 2025: 45 men randomized, 5 g a day. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
    8. California Attorney General Prop 65 60-day notice search: Sports Research. Certifier or regulator listing. Notices 2026-01834 (Organic Greens, open), 2024-04820 (Keto ketones, settled 2025) and 2021-02617 (Golden Milk, withdrawn), all lead. Checked 2026-11-03. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
    9. openFDA food enforcement search for Sports Research. Certifier or regulator listing. No matches in the food or drug databases on 2026-11-03. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
    10. Amazon listing: Sports Research Creatine Monohydrate Powder 5g, Unflavored (100 servings). Independent source. $27.95, sold by Sports Research, shipped by Amazon, in stock on 2026-11-03. Ingredients: micronized creatine monohydrate; UPC 023249091813. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
    11. Walmart listing: Sports Research Creatine Monohydrate, 17.7 oz (500 g). Independent source. $27.95, sold by Sports Research (Pro Seller), fulfilled by Walmart, seen 2026-11-03. UPC 023249091813. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
    12. iHerb listing: Sports Research Creatine Monohydrate, Unflavored, 1.1 lb (500 g). Independent source. $28.97, in stock on 2026-11-02. Open ↗ (opens in a new tab)
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