Supplement Guide · Creatine

Creatine Monohydrate: The UK Buyer’s Guide

Creatine monohydrate is the single most studied sports supplement in existence, with decades of evidence behind its effect on strength, power output and lean mass. The good news for your wallet: it is also one of the cheapest, and the differences between brands come down almost entirely to purity and price per gram.

The effective daily dose is 3–5g of creatine monohydrate, taken every day. Timing does not matter much, so take it whenever you will remember it consistently. A loading phase of 20g per day for the first week speeds up saturation but is entirely optional; skipping it just means full stores take three to four weeks instead of one.

Monohydrate is the form with the deepest evidence base. Fancier forms such as hydrochloride (HCl), ethyl ester or buffered creatine are marketed as superior absorption, but the research does not support paying a premium for them. If a product hides its creatine inside a proprietary blend, you cannot verify the dose, and we mark it down heavily for that.

Creapure is a branded German-manufactured creatine monohydrate held to a very high purity standard. It is a genuine quality marker and earns bonus points in our scoring, though plain micronised monohydrate from a reputable brand is still excellent value. Micronised simply means the powder is milled finer so it mixes more easily.

Watch the price per serving rather than the price per tub. A large 500g–1kg pouch of plain monohydrate almost always beats single-serve sachets or capsule formats on cost. Our scores reward products that deliver a clean, fully-disclosed 3–5g dose at a sensible price per gram.