Highest Protein Bars Per Calorie

A bar with 20g of protein isn’t much use if it arrives with 300 calories, so the number worth knowing is protein per calorie. Every bar we’ve checked is on this list, best to worst, with nothing left out. Look up whatever is in your cupboard and see how it does.

Rankings recompute automatically as new verified products are added. Tap a column to sort; product lines with multiple flavours show their best scoring flavour.

#	Product
1	David Protein Bar12 flavoursvaries by flavour	28g	150	18.7g	0g	≤1g
2	Kirkland Signature Protein Bar4 flavoursvaries by flavour	22g	170	12.9g	2g	10g
3	Built Puff12 flavoursvaries by flavour	17g	140	12.1g	7g	0g
4	Quest Bar11 flavours	20g	170	11.8g	≤1g	15g
5	Pure Protein Bar15 flavoursvaries by flavour	21g	180	11.7g	3g	2g
6	Built Sour Puff5 flavours	16g	150	10.7g	8g	0g
7	No Cow Protein Bar9 flavours	20g	190	10.5g	≤1g	14g
8	Barebells Protein Bar18 flavours	20g	200	10g	≤1g	3g
9	think! High Protein Bar12 flavoursvaries by flavour	20g	200	10g	≤1g	11g
10	Grenade Protein Bar4 flavours	20g	210	9.5g	≤1g	≤1g
11	ONE Protein Bar10 flavours	20g	210	9.5g	≤1g	7g
12	Fulfil Vitamin & Protein Bar7 flavours	15g	160	9.4g	≤1g	≤1g
13	Atkins High Protein Bar6 flavoursvaries by flavour	17g	190	8.9g	≤1g	9g
14	Atkins Strong High Protein BarChocolate Chip Cookie Dough	20g	230	8.7g	≤1g	8g
15	Atkins Protein BarLemon	13g	150	8.7g	≤1g	8g
16	FitCrunch Protein Bar10 flavours	16g	190	8.4g	3g	≤1g
17	KIND Protein Max Bar4 flavours	20g	240	8.3g	≤1g	9g
18	Atkins Soft Baked Protein Bar3 flavours	15g	190	7.9g	2g	10g
19	MET-Rx Big 100 Bar6 flavours	30g	380	7.9g	22g	≤1g
20	Atkins Layered High Protein Bar2 flavours	15g	200	7.5g	2g	16g
21	Atkins Filled Soft Baked Protein BarStrawberry	12g	160	7.5g	≤1g	7g
22	Elevation Protein Bar8 flavours	15g	200	7.5g	16g	≤1g
23	IQBAR Protein Bar10 flavours	12g	160	7.5g	≤1g	9g
24	Clif Builders Protein Bar8 flavours	20g	280	7.1g	17g	3g
25	RXBAR High Protein Bar2 flavours	18g	260	6.9g	16g	4g
26	think! Layered Protein BarChocolate Crème Cupcake	15g	220	6.8g	≤1g	3g
27	ALOHA Organic Protein Bar25 flavoursvaries by flavour	14g	210	6.7g	4g	10g
28	RXBAR Protein Bar8 flavoursvaries by flavour	12g	180	6.7g	15g	6g
29	Atkins Whipped High Protein Bar2 flavours	13g	200	6.5g	≤1g	8g
30	Power Crunch PRO Protein Bar2 flavours	20g	310	6.5g	4g	2g
31	Power Crunch Protein Energy Bar12 flavours	14g	220	6.4g	5g	≤1g
32	Clif Builders Crispy Protein Bar2 flavours	16g	260	6.2g	5g	4g
33	Gatorade Recover Protein Bar6 flavours	20g	340	5.9g	26g	0g
34	Nature Valley Protein Chewy Bar4 flavours	10g	190	5.3g	8g	5g
35	Trader Joe's Protein Bar3 flavoursvaries by flavour	10g	190	5.3g	8g	4g
36	KIND Protein Bar2 flavours	12g	240	5g	8g	5g
37	Kodiak Chewy Granola Bar4 flavours	7g	140	5g	8g	2g
38	Perfect Bar10 flavoursvaries by flavour	17g	340	5g	19g	3g
39	Kodiak Crunchy Granola Bar4 flavours	10g	210	4.8g	10g	2g
40	RXBAR Nut Butter & Oat Bar4 flavours	10g	210	4.8g	12g	5g
41	Atkins Snack BarPeanutty Overload	8g	170	4.7g	≤1g	7g
42	GoMacro MacroBar14 flavoursvaries by flavour	12g	260	4.6g	9g	3g

How to read the list

David Protein Bar is top of the list on 18.7g of protein per 100 calories. GoMacro MacroBar is last on 4.6g. Spend 200 calories on the first and you get roughly 4 times the protein you would get from 200 calories of the last. A bigger bar counts for nothing here, because the number is per calorie: a 12g bar beats a 20g one if the 20g bar carries the calories to match.

10g or more per 100 calories (9 bars)

Protein is 40% or more of the calories. About as lean as a bar gets.

David Protein Bar (18.7g) · Kirkland Signature Protein Bar (12.9g) · Built Puff (12.1g) · Quest Bar (11.8g) · Pure Protein Bar (11.7g) · Built Sour Puff (10.7g) · No Cow Protein Bar (10.5g) · Barebells Protein Bar (10g) · think! High Protein Bar (10g)

8 to 10g per 100 calories (8 bars)

Where most of the well known protein bars sit.

Grenade Protein Bar (9.5g) · ONE Protein Bar (9.5g) · Fulfil Vitamin & Protein Bar (9.4g) · Atkins High Protein Bar (8.9g) · Atkins Strong High Protein Bar (8.7g) · Atkins Protein Bar (8.7g) · FitCrunch Protein Bar (8.4g) · KIND Protein Max Bar (8.3g)

6 to 8g per 100 calories (15 bars)

Still a protein bar, but with a fair amount of fat or sugar along for the ride.

Atkins Soft Baked Protein Bar (7.9g) · MET-Rx Big 100 Bar (7.9g) · Atkins Layered High Protein Bar (7.5g) · Atkins Filled Soft Baked Protein Bar (7.5g) · Elevation Protein Bar (7.5g) · IQBAR Protein Bar (7.5g) · Clif Builders Protein Bar (7.1g) · RXBAR High Protein Bar (6.9g) · think! Layered Protein Bar (6.8g) · ALOHA Organic Protein Bar (6.7g) · RXBAR Protein Bar (6.7g) · Atkins Whipped High Protein Bar (6.5g) · Power Crunch PRO Protein Bar (6.5g) · Power Crunch Protein Energy Bar (6.4g) · Clif Builders Crispy Protein Bar (6.2g)

Under 6g per 100 calories (10 bars)

Mostly nut and fruit bars. Good food, but an expensive way to buy protein.

Gatorade Recover Protein Bar (5.9g) · Nature Valley Protein Chewy Bar (5.3g) · Trader Joe's Protein Bar (5.3g) · KIND Protein Bar (5g) · Kodiak Chewy Granola Bar (5g) · Perfect Bar (5g) · Kodiak Crunchy Granola Bar (4.8g) · RXBAR Nut Butter & Oat Bar (4.8g) · Atkins Snack Bar (4.7g) · GoMacro MacroBar (4.6g)

Being near the bottom doesn’t make a bar bad. Nut and fruit bars are made of nuts and fruit, and that is what people want from them. It only counts against them if you are buying the bar for the protein, in which case stick to the top two groups.

How this ranking works

Every nutrition value is transcribed from the manufacturer’s published nutrition label and verified by hand, with no third party food databases.
Product lines are ranked, not individual flavours, so one product’s 20 flavours can’t fill the list. Each entry shows its best scoring flavour.
Every bar we have a verified label for is on this list, however many a single brand takes up.
Labels that don’t state sugar or fiber are treated as unknown (never as zero) and are excluded from sugar and fiber rankings.
Want to hit a daily protein target? The Protein Pal app lets you scan any label and track your protein day by day.