How do you work out what a supplement costs per dose?
Divide the price by the number of doses in the package, where a dose is the same amount of the ingredient for every product you compare. Price per serving is not enough, because one brand's serving can hold more of the ingredient than another's. The calculator below does the division, for one package or for two side by side.
Fill in the price, the servings and the amount per serving.
Read the amount per serving from the Supplement Facts or Nutrition Facts panel and pick the unit it is printed in. The comparison dose is a yardstick for comparing prices, not an amount to take. Nothing you type leaves this page.
The arithmetic
- Amount in the package = amount per serving × servings in the package.
- Doses in the package = amount in the package ÷ the comparison dose.
- Cost per dose = price ÷ doses in the package. Add delivery to the price first if you pay it.
The per-dose figures on this site come from the same three lines. Each product page says where its amount and its serving count were read. The comparison dose for each supplement is in the list above. It is a yardstick for price, the same for every product of its kind, and not an amount to take.
Where a label can throw the math off
- Count the ingredient, not the scoop. For a protein powder, enter the grams of protein the panel prints, not the weight of the scoop. How many grams of protein are in a scoop of whey?
- For a mineral, count the element. Enter the elemental magnesium or zinc the panel states, not the weight of the compound carrying it. Where a label prints only a compound weight, the amount cannot be read from it. How much elemental magnesium is in magnesium glycinate?
- Pick the unit the panel prints. The calculator converts grams, milligrams and micrograms, and vitamin D3 micrograms to IU. A vitamin D3 label may print micrograms, IU or both. Is a vitamin D3 label in mcg the same as one in IU?
- A serving can be more than one capsule. Use the label's own serving and its own count of servings. How many capsules is one serving?
Already worked out
The same arithmetic, already done for packages we price:
- How much does creatine cost per serving?
- How much does magnesium cost per dose?
- What is the cheapest vitamin D3?
- How much does omega-3 cost?
- What is the cheapest whey protein per gram of protein?
- What is the cheapest plant protein powder?
- How much does collagen cost?
- How much does vitamin B12 cost?
- How much does vitamin C cost?
- How much does zinc cost per dose?
Every category we compare: the home page. Every question we answer: the question index.
Found an error? Tell us. The full method: How we compare.