Head to head · Creatine
Optimum Nutrition Micronized Creatine Powder vs Transparent Labs Creatine HMB
Optimum Nutrition scores higher overall (8.8 vs 7.8 out of 10), mainly on efficacy, value, experience and transparency. Transparent Labs still leads on quality & purity.
Updated September 2026 from our full reviews · How we score
One of America's best-selling creatine tubs: 5 g of micronized monohydrate per scoop, Informed Choice certified, about $0.20–$0.30 a serving.
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A double-certified creatine stack with 5 g creatine plus 1.5 g HMB. The quality is excellent, but at about $1.67 a serving you pay a lot for add-ons with modest evidence.
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We may earn a commission when you buy through these links — it never affects our scores. How we make money
The short answer
Choose Optimum Nutrition if…
- Lifters who want a trusted, widely stocked brand
- Stirring into a daily protein shake
- Tested athletes who want Informed Choice screening
- You care most about efficacy, value, experience, transparency
Choose Transparent Labs if…
- Drug-tested athletes who want a flavored, NSF-certified creatine
- Lifters curious about HMB who want it in one scoop
- Buyers who prioritize label transparency
- You care most about quality & purity
Side by side
| Micronized Creatine Powder | Creatine HMB | |
|---|---|---|
| Our score | 8.8 / 10 | 7.8 / 10 |
| Efficacy (30%) | 9.4 | 8.8 |
| Quality & Purity (25%) | 8.6 | 9.2 |
| Value (20%) | 8.6 | 5.0 |
| Experience (15%) | 8.4 | 7.2 |
| Transparency (10%) | 8.5 | 8.0 |
| Form | Powder | Powder |
| Serving | 1 rounded teaspoon (5 g)60 servings per container | 1 scoop (7 g, unflavored)30 servings per container |
| Price per serving | See retailer | $1.67 |
| Testing & certifications | Informed Choice | NSF Certified for SportInformed Choice |
| Dietary | Keto-friendly, Sugar-free | Vegan |
| Key ingredients |
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| Flavors | 5 (Unflavored, Mango Orange, Strawberry…) | 8 (Unflavored, Blue Raspberry, Strawberry Lemonade…) |
| Creator video reviews | 4 | 4 |
Pros and cons
Micronized Creatine Powder
- 5 g of creatine monohydrate per serving, the dose used in most studies
- Unflavored version is a single ingredient with nothing else added
- ON lists its creatine as Informed Choice certified for banned-substance screening
- Large tubs cost about $0.20 per serving
- Neutral taste that disappears into shakes, per most buyer reviews
- Dissolvability is the top complaint; many buyers see grit in plain water
- Some buyers report tubs arriving without a scoop
- Not Creapure and not NSF Certified for Sport, unlike premium rivals
- Costs more per serving than budget bulk brands
Creatine HMB
- Full 5 g of creatine monohydrate per serving
- Listed as NSF Certified for Sport in every flavor we checked
- Fully disclosed label with no proprietary blend or artificial sweeteners
- 12 flavors plus unflavored, and a scoop is included
- About $1.67 per serving, several times the cost of plain creatine
- 1.5 g HMB is about half the dose commonly studied, with modest benefits
- Taste and value feedback on Amazon skews negative
- Unflavored version has a noticeable HMB odor, per reviewers
Our verdicts
Micronized Creatine Powder
A dependable, no-frills creatine from the category's best-known brand, with Informed Choice certification and a clean single-ingredient label. It is not the cheapest per gram and it does not fully dissolve in plain water, but it delivers exactly what the research supports at a fair price.
Full review
Creatine HMB
This is a carefully made, double-certified product with an honest label, and the 5 g of creatine alone guarantees it works. The HMB is dosed at about half of what research typically uses and adds modest benefit at best, which makes the roughly $1.67-per-serving price hard to justify. Tested athletes who want flavored, certified creatine may still find it worthwhile; everyone else can save money with plain monohydrate.
Full review