Creatine
Of 1,961 on-market creatine products in the January 2026 DSLD dump, the median declared dose is 2,500 mg, and 77.0% list Creatine Monohydrate as the primary form.
Form share
Of 1,919 products with an identifiable primary form, here is the share held by each form of Creatine on the market today.
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| Form | Quality tier | n | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creatine Monohydrate | Tier 1 | 1,477 | 77.0% |
| Creatine Nitrate | Tier 2 | 214 | 11.2% |
| Magnesium Creatine Chelate | Tier 3 | 120 | 6.3% |
| Creatine HCl (Hydrochloride) | Tier 2 | 108 | 5.6% |
Form share over time
Entry-year breakdown of the top forms, 2012–2025.
Dose distribution
Deciles of declared dose per serving (mg), among 1,395 products with a disclosed amount.
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- 5.5% of products fall below the fairy-dust threshold (600 mg, 20% of the studied low dose).
- 26.2% of products don't disclose an amount because Creatine is declared inside a proprietary blend.
Where does your dose rank?
Enter a per-serving dose (mg) to see exactly how it compares to the 1,395 on-market creatine products with a disclosed amount. The chart above groups doses into deciles; this looks up the exact percentile for one number.
By dosage form
By target group
Top brands
Search interest over time
How often people search for creatine on Google, US only, the last 5 years. This is public interest, not DSLD label data — a spike here doesn't necessarily line up with anything on this page, and Google's own index (100 = that term's peak popularity in the chosen window) is relative, not an absolute search-volume count.
Or see this search directly on trends.google.com.
Forms explained
By far the most studied form across decades of RCTs; the ISSN position stand calls it "the most effective ergogenic nutritional supplement currently available" and the reference standard every other form is benchmarked against.
Source: Kreider RB et al. 2017, J Int Soc Sports Nutr 14:18, PMID 28615996
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
A dose-ranging safety/efficacy trial found comparable safety markers and performance outcomes to monohydrate, but the evidence base is much smaller and mostly industry-affiliated.
Source: Galvan E et al. 2016, J Int Soc Sports Nutr 13:12, PMID 27034623, DOI 10.1186/s12970-016-0124-0
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
Reference values
- RDA (adult): not established — Not essential (endogenously synthesized from arginine, glycine, and methionine); not part of the DRI framework.
- Tolerable Upper Intake Level (adult): not established — No regulatory UL. A safety review authored by Council for Responsible Nutrition staff (Shao A, Hathcock JN, Regul Toxicol Pharmacol 2006;45(3):242-51, PMID 16814437) supports a wide margin of safety around 5g/day without identifying a formal UL.
- Studied clinical dose range: 3000–25000 mg
- Kreider RB et al. 2017 (ISSN position stand), J Int Soc Sports Nutr 14:18, PMID 28615996 -- comprehensive evidence review: loading 20g/day x5-7 days + maintenance 3-5g/day raises muscle creatine stores and improves high-intensity exercise capacity/lean mass. Foundational dose-response: Hultman E et al. 1996, J Appl Physiol 81(1):232-7, PMID 8828669 -- 20g/d x6d raised muscle creatine ~20%, an equivalent rise achieved more slowly with 3g/d x28d and no loading phase.
- Note: studied_dose_high (25g/day) is the top of the range of loading/high-dose protocols (typically 20g/day, or 0.3g/kg/day, for 5-7 days); longer high-dose use (up to 12 weeks) has been studied, but maintenance is 3-5g/day. No independent trial has convincingly shown any alternative salt form (HCl, nitrate, buffered/Kre-Alkalyn, magnesium chelate) superior to monohydrate on hard performance/safety outcomes; one small independent 4-week trial (Duan C et al. 2026, J Int Soc Sports Nutr 23(sup1):2721147, PMID 42720250) reported greater short-term performance gains with HCl and ethyl-ester forms, awaiting replication.