Magnesium Creatine Chelate vs. Creatine HCl (Hydrochloride)
Among 442 on-market creatine products with an identifiable primary form, 27.1% use Magnesium Creatine Chelate (120 products) and 24.4% use Creatine HCl (Hydrochloride) (108).
| Magnesium Creatine Chelate | Creatine HCl (Hydrochloride) | |
|---|---|---|
| Quality tier | Tier 3 | Tier 2 |
| Creatine by weight | — | — |
| Share of market | 27.1% | 24.4% |
| On-market products | 120 | 108 |
| Median declared dose | 550 mg middle half: 550–550 | 1,000 mg middle half: 1,000–1,625 |
| Most common brands | NutraBio, Axe & Sledge Supplements, Seeking Health | PS ProSupps, Gaspari Nutrition, NutraBio |
Doses are declared per serving in mg. “By weight” is the share of the ingredient that is the nutrient itself (e.g. elemental magnesium in a magnesium salt).
Why Magnesium Creatine Chelate is tier 3
A small (n=35) 2003 RCT (Brilla) showed a greater increase in intracellular water than creatine + MgO; a second small trial (Selsby 2004, n=31, 2.5 g/day x10 d) found Mg-creatine chelate no better than low-dose creatine monohydrate on bench-press work. No trial has shown superior strength/performance versus monohydrate.
Source: Brilla LR et al. 2003, Metabolism 52(9):1136-40, PMID 14506619; Selsby JT et al. 2004, J Strength Cond Res 18(2):311-5, PMID 15142029
Why Creatine HCl (Hydrochloride) is tier 2
Marketed on higher-solubility claims; head-to-head RCTs are few and small: two (Londono-Velasquez 2025, n=31, 5 g/day x8 wk; Eghbali 2024) found no advantage over monohydrate, while one small 4-week trial in soccer players (Duan 2026, n=10/group) reported greater short-term performance gains with HCl. No consistent superiority has been shown.
Source: Londono-Velasquez D et al. 2025, J Int Soc Sports Nutr, PMC12291177; Eghbali E et al. 2024, Physiol Res 73(5):739-753, PMID 39545789; Duan C et al. 2026, J Int Soc Sports Nutr 23(sup1):2721147, PMID 42720250