Every Electrolyte Brand Compared
Price, ingredients, sodium content and price per gram of sodium. All data verified against manufacturer websites.
Side-by-Side Comparison
Click any column header to sort. All prices are per single serving.
| Brand ↓ | $/g Sodium ↓ | $/Serving ↓ | Servings ↓ | Total Price ↓ | Sodium ↓ | Potassium ↓ | Magnesium ↓ | Sugar ↓ | Sweetener ↓ | Form ↓ | Links |
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Prices reflect publicly listed retail prices as of February 2026. $/g Sodium = price per serving divided by grams of sodium per serving.
Price Per Gram of Sodium — The Metric Nobody Talks About
If the primary reason you buy electrolytes is sodium, shouldn't you compare what you're paying per gram of sodium? This chart tells you exactly that.
Why this metric matters: A $0.70/serving electrolyte with 300mg sodium actually costs $2.33 per gram of sodium. A $0.75/serving electrolyte with 1000mg sodium costs $0.75 per gram. Per-serving price alone doesn't tell the full story when sodium content varies 3x between brands.
What's the Same Across Brands
Most high-sodium electrolyte powders share the same three core ingredients:
- Sodium chloride — whether labeled as "sea salt," "pink Himalayan salt," or "SolarSea salt," the active ingredient is sodium chloride
- Potassium chloride — the standard, widely-available potassium source
- Magnesium malate, citrate, or glycinate — bioavailable forms of magnesium (though some brands skip magnesium entirely)
These are commodity ingredients. The raw material cost for a single serving of electrolyte powder is a few pennies. The rest of what you pay covers packaging, flavoring, sweetening, marketing, and margin.
What's Actually Different
These are the real differentiators between brands — and the ones that should drive your decision.
Sodium Dosage
The biggest variable. Ranges from 300mg to 1,000mg per serving depending on the brand. If you need high sodium for keto, heavy exercise, or hot climates, this is the most important number.
Form Factor
Stick packs are portable and pre-measured — ideal for travel and gym bags, but much more expensive. Tubs with scoops are cheaper per serving. Tablets dissolve in water. Capsules skip taste entirely. Your lifestyle determines the best format.
Sweetener
Most brands use stevia. Liquid IV (Sugar-Free) uses allulose. DripDrop contains 7g of actual sugar. If you mix your electrolytes into flavored beverages, unsweetened options work best.
Additional Minerals
Redmond Re-Lyte leads in potassium (400mg). SALTT has the most magnesium (84mg). Liquid IV has strong potassium (370mg) but no magnesium. Vitassium capsules have no magnesium. Consider what else you're getting beyond sodium.
Convenience vs Value
Stick packs cost more but offer portability and consistency. Tubs save money but require measuring. Capsules are the most convenient (no mixing, no taste) but provide fewer minerals. Decide which tradeoff matters most to you.
Sugar Content
Most modern electrolyte brands are sugar-free. The notable exception is DripDrop with 7g sugar per serving — which some people prefer for taste but makes it unsuitable for keto or low-carb diets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Several brands (LMNT, Hydrate Pro, Zerolyte) deliver 1,000mg of sodium per serving — the highest among commercial products. SALTT is close behind at 950mg. Santa Cruz Paleo provides 800mg. Redmond Re-Lyte provides 810mg.
Brands like Nuun Sport (300mg), DripDrop (330mg), and Liquid IV Sugar-Free (500mg) have significantly less sodium per serving and are designed for lighter hydration needs.
Excluding DIY, Vitassium capsules are the cheapest at $0.38/serving, though they only provide 500mg sodium with no magnesium or potassium beyond 100mg.
For high-sodium options (800mg+), tub-format brands offer the best value at $0.75–$1.00/serving. Among stick packs, bulk bundles can bring per-serving costs under $1.00. Sort the table above by $/g Sodium for the full ranking.
Individual stick pack packaging requires more material, more machinery, and more labor than filling a single tub with a scoop. The convenience of a pre-measured, portable packet comes at a real manufacturing premium.
If cost is your primary concern, tub-format brands consistently offer the lowest per-serving prices. If portability matters more, stick packs may be worth the premium.
Keto and low-carb diets increase sodium excretion through reduced insulin levels, so high-sodium, zero-sugar electrolytes are ideal. Look for brands with 800mg+ sodium and 0g sugar — several options in the table above fit this criteria.
Avoid DripDrop (7g sugar) and regular Liquid IV (11g sugar) for strict keto. Vitassium capsules also work well for keto since they have no sugar or carbs.