Round 1: Protein and Nutrition
Winner: Naked Pea
Naked Pea 24/25, Vega 21/25. Vega’s 41 g scoop holds 30 g of protein for 170 calories, the most protein per scoop in our top 10, while Naked Pea’s 2-scoop (30 g) serving holds 27 g for 120 calories. Vega takes the full 10 points for grams to Naked Pea’s 9, but protein makes up 90% of Naked Pea’s calories and 71% of Vega’s, worth 10 density points to Vega’s 6.1.
Both earn full marks for amino-acid support: Naked Pea publishes its profile, with about 2.5 g of leucine per serving, and Vega blends pea, pumpkin seed and sunflower seed for 5 g of BCAAs per scoop. Vega’s extra 50 calories come with 4 g of carbs and 3 g of fat, against Naked Pea’s 2 g and 0.5 g. Vega is the bigger burrito; Naked Pea is all filling.
Round 2: Value
Winner: Naked Pea
Naked Pea 25/25, Vega 18/25. No powder in our top 10 delivers 20 g of protein for less than Naked Pea, and its 5 lb tub holds about 76 servings. Vega is the fifth-cheapest 20 g of protein in our top 10, with 20 servings in a 28.8 oz tub.
Vega’s tub taps out at serving 20; Naked Pea’s is still jogging at serving 76. More wallet-friendly tubs live on our affordable list.
Round 3: Purity and Testing
Winner: Tie
Naked Pea 19/25, Vega 19/25. Both start at our baseline of 15 and both earn the full 4 certification points. Naked Pea holds two: Informed Choice, which screens for banned substances, and NSF Contents Certified, which checks that the label matches the tub and screens for contaminants. Vega is NSF Certified for Sport, which adds banned-substance lot testing to NSF’s contaminant testing. None of that is a published lead number, and Naked says it tests for heavy metals but publishes no lot results.
Consumer Reports hasn’t tested either current powder. It tested Naked’s Vegan Mass Gainer, a different product, and it measured lead at 185% of its level of concern, and flagged cadmium, in Vega Sport Chocolate bought November 2024 to January 2025, the older formula with alfalfa protein; Vega has since replaced that blend and says it moved its pea sourcing from China to North America. Our rule only docks an older formula’s CR result at 200% or more, so that test costs Vega nothing. Same score, different paperwork, no lab numbers on either current tub.
Round 4: Taste and Texture
Winner: Naked Pea
Naked Pea 16/25, Vega 15/25. Neither score comes from a reviewer’s taste test. By our rule, unflavored powders get a neutral taste score, so Naked Pea gets 12 of 20 even though BarBend rated its taste 2.5 out of 5, while BarBend’s 4 of 5 for mixing counts. None of our three panel reviewers has scored the current Vega, so it gets the neutral 60%: 12 of 20 for taste and 3 of 5 for mixing.
Garage Gym Reviews’ 2023 review and VegFAQs both covered Vega Sport Premium Protein with alfalfa protein, a replaced formula, so they’re context only: GGR’s tester said the Mocha tastes “more like a brownie,” and VegFAQs called it fairly chalky. BarBend warned Naked Pea “may have a slightly gritty texture.” Naked Pea takes the round by one mixing point, settled at the shaker bottle.
Round 5: Ingredients and Extras
Winner: Vega Protein + Recovery
Naked Pea’s ingredient list is one line: pea protein from yellow split peas grown on US and Canadian farms. No sweetener, no gums, no flavors, no added vitamins and 110 mg of sodium. It’s protein powder in airplane mode.
Vega shows up with a recovery kit: 480 mg of Montmorency tart cherry, 2 billion CFU of the probiotic Bacillus subtilis DE111, stevia, xanthan gum and a flavor that’s ready to shake. It also brings 490 mg of sodium and isn’t organic, so minimalists may score it the other way, but on extras Vega takes it (for Vega against a tub with even more add-ons, see Vega vs Garden of Life).