Gainful
Our #1 Protein Brand*
With the ability to build your own custom blend of protein, Gainful earned our top spot among protein powders.
Protein Rating Breakdown
Product Score
9.5
Why We Rated Gainful #1
- Allows you to build your own custom blend of protein based on your goals
- All blends contain between 20 and 30 grams of protein per serving, depending on your individual needs
- Can be used for a wide range of goals: building muscle, weight loss, meal supplementation, etc.
- No need to commit to a flavor. Every order comes with Flavor Boosts so you can change the taste of your shake every single day
- Contains high-quality, clean, natural ingredients that are backed by science
- Comes with unlimited access to your own Registered Dietitian, who can answer any questions about your fitness or nutrition journey
Our Top Choice: Gainful
Although Gainful is relatively new, it’s easy to see why this company has catapulted to popularity over these last few years. Having a personalized protein powder tailored specifically for you is such a game changer. All of Gainful’s protein powder blends contain between 20 and 30 grams of protein per serving, depending on your body’s individual needs. Because you can customize your protein blend, Gainful can be used for a wide range of goals: building muscle, weight loss, meal supplementation, etc. There’s a blend for every type of fitness level or end-goal. Every order also comes with unlimited access to your own Registered Dietitian, who is available to answer questions you may have about your protein powder or any aspect of your specific fitness or nutrition journey. Offering access to an R.D. who’s there to answer your personal questions shows just how committed Gainful is to offer a personalized experience.
Taste is one of the most important aspects of our rating system, and Gainful’s Flavor Boosts knock it out of the park. There’s also no need to commit to a single flavor. Every Gainful blend comes with Flavor Boosts that you can use to change the taste of your shake every single day. There are seven different flavors to choose from — think flavors like Cookies & Cream, Matcha Green Tea, Caffè Mocha and Strawberry Cream. You can also opt for a Flavor Boost variety pack.
This all sounds pretty great, right? So… is there a catch? Let’s dive into the details of what Gainful has to offer.
How does Gainful personalized protein powder work?
What makes Gainful so different from every other protein powder on the market is the quiz. Gainful asks each user to take a quiz that features questions that range from general to ultra specific. You tell Gainful your fitness goals, your habits, your height and weight, your dietary preferences or restrictions, how much you sleep, etc. Based on your answers, Gainful will formulate a protein powder just for you. And no, this quiz doesn’t take hours — it only took us a couple of minutes to complete.
After the quiz, Gainful reveals the special blend it has created for you, explaining the percentage of each component in your mix as well as what each of those components does for your body. Each ingredient is added specifically for you and your specific needs. If for whatever reason you don’t like the blend Gainful creates you, Gainful allows you to easily switch up your blend. You can change some of your quiz answers, choose to add more protein, add more stevia to sweeten up your blend, etc. Gainful’s quiz is an efficient way to find a protein powder that’s perfect for you, as it cuts out the time and effort that goes into the research of different protein powder companies and products. (Trust us, it’s an exhaustive process!) The quiz makes figuring out protein powders easy for beginners and protein pros alike.
Once your blend is complete, you pick your Flavor Boost packets, choose whether you want to add on other products like a personalized hydration formula or pre-workout to complete your system, then add your billing and shipping information. Expect to receive your Gainful order a few days later.
What’s in their products?
All Gainful formulas contain clean, natural ingredients that are backed by science. The last thing you want is to look at the label on your protein powder and feel like you can’t pronounce half the ingredients. Every ingredient in Gainful’s protein powder is recognizable and sourced from the highest quality, cleanest locations. Your formula will contain seven ingredients or less. (Some Gainful formulas only have only two!) Over on their website, Gainful discloses every ingredient that can be found in their blends, and they explain why they chose to add it. Other protein powders use indecipherable phrases like “proprietary blends” to disguise the chemicals added to their products, but when we use Gainful, we feel confident about what we’re putting into our bodies.
Avoiding allergens is also especially important to us. There is no soy in any Gainful product, which is great news for anyone concerned about soy intake. As we mentioned when discussing the quiz, Gainful takes all aspects of your lifestyle into consideration when creating your blend — dietary preferences and restrictions included. Gainful ensures your blend does not contain any allergens that you specify that you’re trying to avoid and is always willing to adjust ingredients if needed. That level of customization is definitely impressive.
What are the flavor options? How well do they mix?
Even the biggest chocolate or vanilla enthusiasts don’t always want to have the same flavor of protein powder day in and day out. Gainful understands this, which is why they don’t make subscribers stick with the same flavor for an entire container of product. They offer Flavor Boosts so you can change up the flavor of your protein powder as you please. There are seven different Flavor Boost options, so you can have a new flavor for every day of the week. Offerings include Strawberry Cream, Madagascar Vanilla, Rich Chocolate, Caffè Mocha, Cookies & Cream, Chocolate Peanut Butter, and Matcha Green Tea. These Flavor Boosts are made with stevia extract and monk fruit extract, staying true to Gainful’s commitment to using natural, clean ingredients. Each Flavor Boost tastes great and blended well into smoothies, shakes, oatmeal — even pancake batter. The flavors are so good and natural tasting, our only complaint is that we wish they made more than just seven.
How is Gainful’s customer service?
You can tell Gainful is more than a protein powder company — they want to be a community. From the active social media presence to the IM chat feature that pops up on your computer screen a few moments after clicking on the page, Gainful wants their customers to know that they are always welcome to reach out. (Out of curiosity, we tried DMing Gainful on Instagram and using the chat feature. We got a response that sounded like an actual person each time. No bot vibes here.) In fact, Gainful even has a Happiness Guarantee, so if you don’t like your formula, you can always send it back. They’re ready to work to make their customers happy and satisfied.
The only downside is that since Gainful is an online service, you do have to buy your protein powder over the internet, and that means extra shipping costs. That said, the auto refills and shipping are quick and efficient, the quality of protein makes the extra costs feel worth it and Gainful’s customer service makes it easy to skip a shipment any time you need to.
The bottom line
You can tell Gainful is more than a protein powder company — they want to be a community. From the active social media presence to the IM chat feature that pops up on your computer screen a few moments after clicking on the page, Gainful wants their customers to know that they are always welcome to reach out. (Out of curiosity, we tried DMing Gainful on Instagram and using the chat feature. We got a response that sounded like an actual person each time. No bot vibes here.) In fact, Gainful even has a Happiness Guarantee, so if you don’t like your formula, you can always send it back. They’re ready to work to make their customers happy and satisfied.
The only downside is that since Gainful is an online service, you do have to buy your protein powder over the internet, and that means extra shipping costs. That said, the auto refills and shipping are quick and efficient, the quality of protein makes the extra costs feel worth it and Gainful’s customer service makes it easy to skip a shipment any time you need to.
