Myprotein, Protein Works and Bulk protein bars ranked on protein per calorie, sugar, sweeteners, palm oil and cost per 10g of protein, with Layered vs Impact, the best vegan bar and the best bar for weight loss. Prices and labels checked on 3 October 2026.
Kevin, founder of WheyWise
Our pick
Protein Works
£1.00 a bar in a box of 20, the cheapest full-price bar we priced, with 10g of protein and 0.9g of sugar in 105 kcal, the fewest calories of any bar here.
Buy The Big Little Bar →Direct from Protein Worksor buy on Amazon →
Best 20g protein bar
Myprotein
20g of protein in 212 kcal, the most protein per calorie of the 15g-plus bars we checked.
Buy Layered Protein Bar →Direct from Myproteinor buy on Amazon →
Best vegan bar
Protein Works
Plant based and palm oil free, according to Protein Works, at 74p per 10g of protein in the 27-bar box, the lowest full-price cost we found.
Buy Ridiculous Vegan Protein Bar →Direct from Protein Worksor buy on Amazon →
20g protein per bar
Myprotein
Myprotein's other 20g bar, in a 64g size.
Buy Impact Protein Bar →Direct from Myproteinor buy on Amazon →Quick answer
Our pick is Protein Works The Big Little Bar, the everyday snack bar to keep in your bag: it costs £19.99 for a box of 20 on theproteinworks.com, which is £1.00 a bar, the cheapest full-price bar we priced, and its nutrition panel gives 10g of protein, 0.9g of sugar and 105 kcal in a 33g bar, so 38% of its calories come from protein, checked 3 October 2026. If you want a bigger protein hit from one bar, the Myprotein Layered Bar in Triple Chocolate Fudge gives 20g of protein in 212 kcal with 1.9g of sugar, at £1.62 a bar in a box of 12.
Most of the best protein bars from Myprotein, Protein Works and Bulk give 15g to 20g of protein, and they cost 74p to £1.22 per 10g of protein when you buy a box, checked 3 October 2026. Our top pick, Protein Works The Big Little Bar, is a smaller bar: 10g of protein in 105 kcal for £1.00 a bar. This guide ranks eight bars from those three brands on protein per calorie, sugar, sweeteners, palm oil and price. We read every Myprotein, Bulk and Big Little Bar label on the brand's own website. For the Protein Works Ridiculous Vegan Bar we could only read the claims in its product description, not a full nutrition panel, so we label those figures as Protein Works'. We haven't taste-tested these bars yet, so nothing here is a taste ranking. We cover these three brands because they're the bar brands we link to, and WheyWise may earn a commission when you buy through those links.
Protein Works The Big Little Bar is our pick for an everyday snack bar: at £19.99 for 20 it costs £1.00 a bar, the cheapest full-price bar in this guide, and its label gives 10g of protein, 0.9g of sugar and 105 kcal in a 33g bar, so 38% of its calories come from protein, the highest share in this guide, checked 3 October 2026. If you want 20g of protein in one bar, the Myprotein Layered Bar in Triple Chocolate Fudge gives it in 212 kcal with 1.9g of sugar, for £1.62 a bar or 81p per 10g of protein. The Myprotein Impact Bar in Fudge Brownie costs the same and is the pick if you want no palm oil, and the Protein Works Ridiculous Vegan Bar is the cheapest per gram of protein at full price, 74p per 10g in the 27-bar box. After our pick, the table is ranked on protein per bar and per calorie, then cost per 10g of protein, then sugar and the sweetener system.
| Bar | Protein | kcal | Sugar | Sweeteners | Palm oil | Per bar | Per 10g protein | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Protein Works The Big Little Bar (33g) | 10g | 105 | 0.9g | Maltitol | No (shea oil) | £1.00 | £1.00 | Our pick: cheapest per bar, fewest calories |
| 2. Myprotein Layered Bar, Triple Chocolate Fudge (60g) | 20g | 212 | 1.9g | Maltitol | Yes | £1.62 | 81p | Best 20g protein bar |
| 3. Myprotein Impact Bar, Fudge Brownie (64g) | 20g | 233 | 1.9g | Maltitol | No | £1.62 | 81p | No palm oil, no gelatin |
| 4. Protein Works Ridiculous Vegan Protein Bar | 15g* | Under 200* | “Low in sugar”* | “Natural sweeteners only”* | No* | £1.11 to £1.33 | 74p to 89p | Best vegan, best value |
| 5. Bulk Hero Protein Bar (50g) | 15g | 175 | 1.4g | Maltitol, sucralose | Yes | £1.83 | £1.22 | Fewest calories, weight loss |
| 6. Myprotein Layered Bar, Gingerbread (60g, limited edition) | 20g | 228 | 2.6g | Maltitol, isomalt, sucralose | Yes | £1.62 | 81p | Seasonal flavour |
| 7. Myprotein Crispy Protein Wafer, Chocolate | 15g | 195 | 5.5g | None (sugar, fructose) | Yes | £1.65 | £1.10 | No sweeteners |
| 8. Myprotein Soft Protein Bar, Hazelnut Wafer | 16g | 262 | 6.5g | Maltitol | Yes | £1.54 | 96p | A bigger, chocolate-bar style snack |
| Contrast: Myprotein Peanut Butter Protein Bar (38g, vegan) | 8.0g | 193 | 3.3g | Maltitol | Yes | £1.25 | £1.56 | Nut snack, not a protein bar |
| Contrast: Myprotein Filled Protein Wafer, Hazelnut (24g) | 4.8g | 133 | 7.0g | Not checked | Not checked | £1.00 | £2.08 | A wafer biscuit |
Per bar, checked 3 October 2026. Myprotein and Bulk nutrition and ingredients read on myprotein.com and bulk.com for the named flavour. The Big Little Bar figures are from the nutrition panel and ingredient list on theproteinworks.com. *Ridiculous Vegan Bar figures are Protein Works' own claims from its product description, not a nutrition panel we read. Per-bar prices are the box price divided by the bars in it: Myprotein Layered and Impact £19.49 for 12, Crispy Protein Wafer £16.49 for 10, Soft Protein Bar £18.49 for 12, Peanut Butter Protein Bar £14.99 for 12 and Filled Protein Wafer £11.99 for 12 on myprotein.com; Protein Works Ridiculous Vegan £29.99 for 27 to £11.99 for 9, and The Big Little Bar £19.99 for 20, on theproteinworks.com; Bulk Hero £21.99 for 12 on bulk.com, a sale price against a list price of £29.99. “Palm oil” means palm oil, palm fat or palm kernel oil anywhere in the ingredient list.
Our pick: best everyday snack bar
A 33g triple-layer bar with a low-sugar caramel layer and soya protein nuggets. The label gives 10g of protein, 0.9g of sugar and 105 kcal. £19.99 for 20 on theproteinworks.com, checked 3 October 2026.
A 33g triple-layer bar with a low-sugar caramel layer and soya protein nuggets. The label gives 10g of protein, 0.9g of sugar and 105 kcal. £19.99 for 20 on theproteinworks.com, checked 3 October 2026.
Pros
Cons
Flavours within one bar can be different recipes, so check the one you buy. Layered Triple Chocolate Fudge is sweetened with maltitol alone, while Layered Gingerbread starts with isomalto-oligosaccharides and adds isomalt and sucralose. Myprotein's product description says the Layered Bar has “less than 2g of sugar”, but on 3 October 2026 the Gingerbread, White Gold and Strawberry labels on the same site showed 2.6g to 2.7g per bar. If the sweeteners or fats are why you're reading labels, our guide to why protein bars taste artificial and which ingredients to avoid goes through each one.
They're close: both give 20g of protein for £1.62 a bar, or 81p per 10g of protein, in a box of 12 on myprotein.com, checked 3 October 2026. Layered Triple Chocolate Fudge is lighter, at 212 kcal against 233 kcal. Impact Fudge Brownie has no palm oil, no gelatin and more fibre, 8.6g against 6.6g. Shoppers rate them almost the same: 4.6 out of 5 from 1,113 reviews for the Layered Bar and 4.5 from 377 for the Impact Bar on myprotein.com.
| Per bar | Layered, Triple Chocolate Fudge | Layered, Gingerbread | Impact, Fudge Brownie | Impact, Caramel Nut |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bar weight | 60g | 60g | 64g | 64g |
| Protein | 20g | 20g | 20g | 20g |
| Calories | 212 kcal | 228 kcal | 233 kcal | 229 kcal |
| Sugar | 1.9g | 2.6g | 1.9g | 2.0g |
| Saturated fat | 3.5g | 2.8g | 3.8g | 4.3g |
| Fibre | 6.6g | Not shown | 8.6g | 6.8g |
| Sweeteners | Maltitol | Maltitol, isomalt, sucralose | Maltitol | Maltitol |
| Palm oil | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Collagen or gelatin | Beef gelatin | Collagen | None | Beef gelatin |
| Price per bar (box of 12) | £1.62 | £1.62 | £1.62 | £1.62 |
| Per 10g of protein | 81p | 81p | 81p | 81p |
Labels and prices read on myprotein.com on 3 October 2026 (£19.49 for 12 for every flavour shown). The Gingerbread page doesn't list fibre; it declares 5.0g of polyols per bar. Myprotein prints a laxative warning on the Layered Triple Chocolate Fudge and Impact pages.
Pick the Layered Bar if calories matter most, and the Impact Bar in Fudge Brownie if you'd rather avoid palm oil or animal gelatin; Myprotein marks it suitable for vegetarians. Both are built on maltitol, so they share the same gut caveat, which we cover in the spoke guide. Myprotein's product description calls the Impact Bar the winner of “Best Protein Bar” at the European Specialist Sports Nutrition Awards 2022.
Best 20g protein bar
Myprotein's six-layer bar. Triple Chocolate Fudge gives 20g of protein in 212 kcal with 1.9g of sugar, sweetened with maltitol and no sucralose, at £19.49 for 12 on myprotein.com, checked 3 October 2026.
Myprotein's six-layer bar. Triple Chocolate Fudge gives 20g of protein in 212 kcal with 1.9g of sugar, sweetened with maltitol and no sucralose, at £19.49 for 12 on myprotein.com, checked 3 October 2026.
Pros
Cons
Best bar without palm oil
Myprotein's triple-layer caramel bar. Fudge Brownie gives 20g of protein and 1.9g of sugar in 233 kcal, with shea fat and cocoa butter instead of palm oil, at £19.49 for 12 on myprotein.com, checked 3 October 2026.
Myprotein's triple-layer caramel bar. Fudge Brownie gives 20g of protein and 1.9g of sugar in 233 kcal, with shea fat and cocoa butter instead of palm oil, at £19.49 for 12 on myprotein.com, checked 3 October 2026.
Pros
Cons
Yes, for different jobs. The Big Little Bar is the cheapest bar at full price in this guide, at £19.99 for 20 or £1.00 a bar, and its label gives 10g of protein, 0.9g of sugar and 105 kcal in a 33g bar, checked 3 October 2026 on theproteinworks.com. The Ridiculous Vegan Protein Bar carries more protein, 15g a bar according to Protein Works, for 74p per 10g in the 27-bar box. We read the Big Little Bar's full nutrition panel and ingredient list; for the vegan bar we could only read Protein Works' product description.
| Per bar | Ridiculous Vegan Protein Bar (Protein Works' claims) | The Big Little Bar (label, 33g) |
|---|---|---|
| Protein per bar | 15g | 10g |
| Calories | “Less than 200 cals a bar” | 105 kcal |
| Sugar | “Low in sugar” | 0.9g |
| Fibre | “High in fibre” | 3.4g |
| Palm oil | “Purposefully palm oil free” | None (shea oil) |
| Sweeteners | “Only natural sweeteners” | Maltitol |
| Diet | “Fully plant based” | Contains milk, soya and bovine collagen |
| Build | Biscuit dough, nuts and caramel, plant-based chocolate, protein crispies | Three layers, with a caramel flavour layer and soya nuggets |
| Flavours | 5 | 5 |
| Box sizes and prices | 9 for £11.99, 18 for £21.99, 27 for £29.99 | 20 for £19.99 |
| Price per bar | £1.11 to £1.33 | £1.00 |
| Per 10g of protein | 74p to 89p | £1.00 |
Big Little Bar figures from the nutrition panel on theproteinworks.com, with ingredients read for the Chocolate Brownie Boogie and Chocolate Hazelnut Honcho flavours; Ridiculous Vegan Bar figures are Protein Works' product-description claims, which don't name its natural sweeteners. Prices from theproteinworks.com. All as of 3 October 2026, when every flavour of both bars was in stock.
The claims carry some legal weight. Under the UK's nutrition claims rules, “low sugar” is only allowed at 5g of sugar per 100g or less, and “high protein” only when at least 20% of the calories come from protein. For the Ridiculous Vegan Bar, 15g of protein is 60 kcal, so in a bar under 200 kcal protein supplies more than 30% of the calories. The Big Little Bar clears it easily: 10g of protein is 40 kcal of its 105 kcal, or 38%. It is still a smaller snack, though, and 10g of protein is half a useful serving, which we explain in the next section. Protein Works' code WW12 takes 12% off most one-off orders. For how the rest of the range compares, see our Protein Works range guide.
A good protein bar has 15g to 20g of protein, with protein making up at least 20% of its calories, the UK legal threshold for a “high protein” claim under Regulation 1924/2006. A “source of protein” claim needs only 12%. The Myprotein Layered Bar in Triple Chocolate Fudge gets 37.7% of its calories from protein and Bulk Hero 34.3%. Myprotein's Peanut Butter Protein Bar gets 16.6% and its Filled Protein Wafer 14.4%, so despite the name, neither is a high protein bar.
| Bar | Protein | Share of calories from protein | Meets “high protein” (20%)? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protein Works The Big Little Bar | 10g | 38.1% | Yes |
| Myprotein Layered Bar, Triple Chocolate Fudge | 20g | 37.7% | Yes |
| Myprotein Layered Bar, Gingerbread | 20g | 35.1% | Yes |
| Myprotein Impact Bar, Fudge Brownie | 20g | 34.3% | Yes |
| Bulk Hero Protein Bar | 15g | 34.3% | Yes |
| Myprotein Crispy Protein Wafer, Chocolate | 15g | 30.8% | Yes |
| Protein Works Ridiculous Vegan Protein Bar | 15g* | Over 30% (worked out from “under 200 kcal”)* | Yes |
| Myprotein Soft Protein Bar, Hazelnut Wafer | 16g | 24.4% | Yes |
| Myprotein Peanut Butter Protein Bar | 8.0g | 16.6% | No (source of protein only) |
| Myprotein Filled Protein Wafer, Hazelnut | 4.8g | 14.4% | No (source of protein only) |
Share of calories from protein = grams of protein × 4 kcal (the UK labelling factor) ÷ the bar's declared kcal. Labels checked 3 October 2026. *Protein Works' own claims.
20g is also the low end of a useful single dose. The ISSN position stand on protein and exercise (Jäger et al., 2017) gives a general recommendation of 0.25g of high-quality protein per kg of body weight per serving, or 20g to 40g, so a 20g Myprotein bar counts as one serving, the 15g bars from Bulk and Protein Works as most of one, and the 10g Big Little Bar as half of one. To work out your daily target, use the protein calculator.
Protein Works The Big Little Bar has the least sugar per bar, 0.9g, and ties Bulk Hero Protein Bar on 2.8g per 100g, ahead of the Myprotein Impact Bar in Fudge Brownie at 3.0g per 100g and the Layered Bar in Triple Chocolate Fudge at 3.2g per 100g, checked 3 October 2026. All four sit well under the UK “low sugar” threshold of 5g per 100g.
| Bar | Sugar per bar | Sugar per 100g | “Low sugar” (5g per 100g or less)? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protein Works The Big Little Bar | 0.9g | 2.8g | Yes |
| Bulk Hero Protein Bar | 1.4g | 2.8g | Yes |
| Myprotein Impact Bar, Fudge Brownie | 1.9g | 3.0g | Yes |
| Myprotein Layered Bar, Triple Chocolate Fudge | 1.9g | 3.2g | Yes |
| Myprotein Layered Bar, Gingerbread | 2.6g | 4.4g | Yes |
| Protein Works Ridiculous Vegan Protein Bar | Not published | 5g or less (from its “low in sugar” claim)* | Claimed by Protein Works |
| Myprotein Crispy Protein Wafer, Chocolate | 5.5g | 13g | No |
| Myprotein Soft Protein Bar, Hazelnut Wafer | 6.5g | 10g | No |
Per-100g figures from each brand's nutrition panel, checked 3 October 2026. The 5g per 100g threshold is from the nutrition claims annex of Regulation 1924/2006. *Protein Works' own claims.
Low sugar on the label doesn't mean low in sweet carbohydrate. Under UK labelling rules, “sugars” excludes polyols such as maltitol, so a bar can show 1.4g of sugar and 13g of polyols on the same panel, as Bulk Hero does. The Crispy Protein Wafer has more sugar for the opposite reason: it's sweetened with sugar and fructose rather than any sweetener.
For a calorie-controlled diet, Protein Works The Big Little Bar is the lightest bar we checked: 10g of protein in 105 kcal with 0.9g of sugar, for £1.00 a bar, checked 3 October 2026. If you want more protein from one snack, Bulk Hero Protein Bar gives 15g in 175 kcal with 1.4g of sugar, at £21.99 for 12 on bulk.com, or £1.83 a bar, and the Myprotein Layered Bar in Triple Chocolate Fudge gives 20g in 212 kcal. A bar only helps if it replaces a less filling snack in a planned diet; it doesn't burn fat on its own.
15g protein in 175 kcal
Bulk's soft-centred chocolate bar: 15g of protein in 175 kcal with 1.4g of sugar, per the label on bulk.com. £21.99 for 12 on sale on 3 October 2026, against a list price of £29.99.
Bulk's soft-centred chocolate bar: 15g of protein in 175 kcal with 1.4g of sugar, per the label on bulk.com. £21.99 for 12 on sale on 3 October 2026, against a list price of £29.99.
Pros
Cons
Don't choose a bar for its sweeteners, either. The World Health Organization's 2023 guideline on non-sugar sweeteners makes a conditional recommendation against using sweeteners such as sucralose for weight control, saying that replacing free sugars with them does not help with weight control in the long term. What a good bar offers is 15g to 20g of protein in about 200 kcal; the sweetener is just how it gets there without sugar. If you want the same protein for fewer calories and less money, a diet shake does it more cheaply, which we cover in the best protein powder for weight loss guide.
The Protein Works Ridiculous Vegan Protein Bar is the best vegan bar we checked. According to Protein Works it's fully plant based and palm oil free, with 15g of protein in under 200 kcal and only natural sweeteners, and it costs £29.99 for 27 on theproteinworks.com, which is £1.11 a bar or 74p per 10g of protein, checked 3 October 2026. Myprotein's vegan Peanut Butter Protein Bar gives only 8.0g of protein, about half as much.
| Vegan bar | Protein | kcal | Sweeteners | Palm oil | Per 10g protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protein Works Ridiculous Vegan Protein Bar | 15g* | Under 200* | “Only natural sweeteners”* | No* | 74p (box of 27) |
| Myprotein Peanut Butter Protein Bar (38g) | 8.0g | 193 | Maltitol | Yes | £1.56 |
Checked 3 October 2026: Protein Works £29.99 for 27 on theproteinworks.com, Myprotein £14.99 for 12 on myprotein.com, where the Peanut Butter Protein Bar is marked suitable for vegans. *Protein Works' own claims.
The Ridiculous Vegan Bar comes in five flavours and in boxes of 9, 18 and 27, and the bigger box brings the price per bar down from £1.33 to £1.11. Myprotein's Peanut Butter Protein Bar is peanut butter, chicory root fibre and pea protein in a dark chocolate flavour coating; at 7.6g of fibre in a 38g bar it's closer to a nut snack than a protein bar. If you'd rather get plant protein from a shake, see the best vegan protein powder UK guide.
Best vegan protein bar
Protein Works' plant-based bar: biscuit dough, nuts and caramel in plant-based chocolate. Protein Works says it gives 15g of protein in under 200 kcal. £11.99 for 9 to £29.99 for 27 on theproteinworks.com, checked 3 October 2026.
Protein Works' plant-based bar: biscuit dough, nuts and caramel in plant-based chocolate. Protein Works says it gives 15g of protein in under 200 kcal. £11.99 for 9 to £29.99 for 27 on theproteinworks.com, checked 3 October 2026.
Pros
Cons
At full price, the Protein Works Ridiculous Vegan Protein Bar is the best value: £29.99 for a box of 27 on theproteinworks.com, which is £1.11 a bar or 74p per 10g of protein, checked 3 October 2026. On offer that day, the Myprotein Layered Bar in Strawberry was £9.99 for 12, or 44p per 10g of protein for 19g a bar, against £19.49 for the other Layered flavours. If you only want the cheapest bar at full price, The Big Little Bar is £1.00 each in a box of 20, but it has half the protein of a 20g bar.
| Bar | Box | Box price | Per bar | Per 10g protein |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Myprotein Layered Bar, Strawberry (on offer) | 12 x 60g | £9.99 | 83p | 44p |
| Protein Works Ridiculous Vegan Protein Bar | 27 bars | £29.99 | £1.11 | 74p |
| Snickers HiProtein Low Sugar (sold by Myprotein) | 12 x 57g | £17.99 | £1.50 | 75p* |
| Myprotein Layered Bar, Triple Chocolate Fudge | 12 x 60g | £19.49 | £1.62 | 81p |
| Myprotein Impact Bar, Fudge Brownie | 12 x 64g | £19.49 | £1.62 | 81p |
| Protein Works Ridiculous Vegan Protein Bar | 9 bars | £11.99 | £1.33 | 89p |
| Myprotein Soft Protein Bar, Hazelnut Wafer | 12 bars | £18.49 | £1.54 | 96p |
| Protein Works The Big Little Bar | 20 bars | £19.99 | £1.00 | £1.00 |
| Myprotein Crispy Protein Wafer, Chocolate | 10 bars | £16.49 | £1.65 | £1.10 |
| Bulk Hero Protein Bar (sale price) | 12 x 50g | £21.99 | £1.83 | £1.22 |
Box prices on myprotein.com, theproteinworks.com and bulk.com, checked 3 October 2026, rounded to the nearest penny. Bulk's list price is £29.99 for 12, or £1.67 per 10g of protein. *Worked out from the 20g of protein Myprotein's listing gives for the Snickers bar; we didn't read a full panel for it.
Myprotein also sells Mars, Snickers and Bounty HiProtein bars, each £17.99 for 12 on myprotein.com, checked 3 October 2026. According to Myprotein's listings, the Snickers HiProtein Low Sugar bar has 20g of protein and 2g of sugar, the Mars and Bounty HiProtein bars 18g of protein, and Mars White and Bounty 201 and 204 kcal. They're worth a look if you like the chocolate bars they're named after, though we haven't read their full labels.
Also sold at Myprotein
The Snickers bar rebuilt with 20g of protein: nougat, roasted peanuts and a caramel flavour layer in a milk chocolate coating made with sweetener. £17.99 for 12 on myprotein.com, checked 3 October 2026.
The Snickers bar rebuilt with 20g of protein: nougat, roasted peanuts and a caramel flavour layer in a milk chocolate coating made with sweetener. £17.99 for 12 on myprotein.com, checked 3 October 2026.
Pros
Cons
A bar is still the expensive way to buy protein. Bulk Basic Whey Protein cost 61p per 25g of protein in the 2.5kg bag when we checked it in September 2026 for our Protein Works range guide, which is about 24p per 10g of protein. The cheapest full-price bar here, at 74p, costs about three times as much. To find the cheapest powder per gram of protein, use the cheapest protein comparison.
A protein bar is closer to a chocolate bar than a health food, with one real difference: the best ones get 34.3% to 37.7% of their calories from protein with under 2g of sugar, checked 3 October 2026. Read the Myprotein Layered Bar in Triple Chocolate Fudge and the first four ingredients are maltitol, glycerol, chicory root fibre and hydrolysed beef gelatin, before any milk or whey protein. It's confectionery engineered to carry protein, not a whole food.
The trade-offs are on the label. The Myprotein Crispy Protein Wafer in Chocolate carries 6.0g of saturated fat, 30% of the NHS daily limit of 20g for women and 20% of the 30g limit for men, against 3.5g in the Layered Triple Chocolate Fudge. Most bars replace sugar with maltitol, which can cause wind and loose stools in larger amounts, so Myprotein's Layered Triple Chocolate Fudge and Impact pages and Bulk's Hero page all print a laxative warning. Those are trade-offs to weigh rather than reasons to avoid bars: a bar with 15g to 20g of protein in about 200 kcal is a sensible snack, and a poor substitute for a meal. For the ingredient-by-ingredient detail, read why protein bars taste artificial.
Buy Protein Works The Big Little Bar as your everyday snack bar: £1.00 a bar in a box of 20, with 10g of protein and 0.9g of sugar in 105 kcal, checked 3 October 2026. Buy the Myprotein Layered Bar in Triple Chocolate Fudge if you want 20g of protein in one bar: 212 kcal for £1.62 a bar. Buy the Myprotein Impact Bar in Fudge Brownie for the same protein and price without palm oil or gelatin. Buy the Protein Works Ridiculous Vegan Protein Bar if you're vegan or buying in bulk, at 74p per 10g of protein in the 27-bar box, and Bulk Hero if you want 15g of protein for under 200 kcal.
Skip these bars if sugar alcohols upset your stomach: every bar in our table with 16g of protein or more uses maltitol. The Myprotein Crispy Protein Wafer avoids it, with 15g of protein sweetened by sugar and fructose, and our best protein powder for sensitive stomachs guide covers the shake route. If you want to avoid sweeteners in your powder as well, see protein powder without artificial sweeteners.
Our pick is Protein Works The Big Little Bar, at £19.99 for a box of 20 on theproteinworks.com, which is £1.00 a bar, the cheapest full-price bar we priced, with 10g of protein, 0.9g of sugar and 105 kcal in a 33g bar on its nutrition panel, checked 3 October 2026. If you want 20g of protein in one bar, the Myprotein Layered Bar in Triple Chocolate Fudge gives it in 212 kcal, at £1.62 a bar in a box of 12.
They cost the same, £19.49 for 12 or 81p per 10g of protein, and both give 20g of protein. Layered Triple Chocolate Fudge is lighter at 212 kcal against 233 kcal for Impact Fudge Brownie. Impact Fudge Brownie has no palm oil, no gelatin and 8.6g of fibre against 6.6g. On myprotein.com the Layered Bar is rated 4.6 out of 5 from 1,113 reviews and the Impact Bar 4.5 from 377, checked 3 October 2026.
We haven't taste-tested these bars yet, so we don't rank them on taste. Going by shoppers' ratings on myprotein.com on 3 October 2026, the Crispy Protein Wafer scores 4.8 out of 5 from 1,640 reviews, the Layered Bar 4.6 from 1,113 and the Impact Bar 4.5 from 377. If a bar tastes artificial to you, the sweetener is usually why, and our guide to why protein bars taste artificial explains which ingredient to check.
Aim for 15g to 20g of protein, with protein making up at least 20% of the bar's calories, the legal threshold for a 'high protein' claim in the UK. The Myprotein Layered and Impact bars give 20g and get 34.3% to 37.7% of their calories from protein. Myprotein's Peanut Butter Protein Bar gives 8.0g, 16.6% of its calories, so it only qualifies as a 'source of protein'.
The Protein Works Ridiculous Vegan Protein Bar. According to Protein Works it is fully plant based and palm oil free, with 15g of protein and under 200 kcal a bar, using only natural sweeteners. It costs £29.99 for 27 on theproteinworks.com, which is £1.11 a bar or 74p per 10g of protein, checked 3 October 2026. Myprotein's vegan Peanut Butter Protein Bar has only 8.0g of protein.
At full price, the Protein Works Ridiculous Vegan Protein Bar in the 27-bar box, at 74p per 10g of protein (£29.99 for 27), checked 3 October 2026. On offer, the Myprotein Layered Bar in Strawberry was £9.99 for 12 on myprotein.com that day, which is 44p per 10g of protein. Protein powder is still far cheaper per gram of protein than any bar.
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