Round 1: Protein and Nutrition
Winner: Vega Protein + Recovery
Vega 21/25, Optimum Nutrition 18/25. The scoops are nearly twins, 41 g for Vega and 40 g for ON, but Vega packs 30 g of protein for 170 calories while ON packs 24 g for 150. That makes protein 71% of Vega’s calories and 64% of ON’s, and Vega takes the full 10 points for grams to ON’s 8.
Both are three-source blends and earn full marks for amino-acid support: pea, pumpkin seed and sunflower seed for Vega; pea, fava bean and brown rice for ON. Vega lists 5 g of BCAAs per scoop, while ON says it has all nine essential amino acids but publishes no leucine numbers. Same size glove, harder punch.
Round 2: Value
Winner: Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Plant
Optimum Nutrition 19/25, Vega 18/25. ON has the fourth-cheapest 20 g of protein in our top 10, behind Naked Pea, Purely Inspired and Orgain; Vega is fifth. Both tubs hold 20 servings, so this is a photo finish at the register, and ON leans across the line first.
Neither is the bargain of the bunch: Naked Pea beats both on cost per gram, and Naked Pea vs Vega shows by how much.
Round 3: Purity and Testing
Winner: Vega Protein + Recovery
Vega 19/25, Optimum Nutrition 17/25. Both start at 15, and both earn 4 for certification: NSF Certified for Sport for Vega, which adds banned-substance lot testing to NSF’s contaminant testing, heavy metals included, and Informed Choice for ON, a banned-substance screen. ON then loses 2 for an open 2025 Prop 65 notice that alleges lead in 10 ON products, including Rich Chocolate Fudge, the flavor we link; it’s an allegation, not a finding, and it showed no withdrawal or settlement as of November 3, 2026.
Consumer Reports hasn’t tested either current powder. It did measure lead at 185% of its level of concern, and flag 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. Neither brand publishes per-batch heavy-metal numbers: Vega wins on paperwork, not on a lab result.
Round 4: Taste and Texture
Winner: Tie
Vega 15/25, Optimum Nutrition 15/25. A tie by rule: none of our three panel reviewers (Garage Gym Reviews, BarBend and VegFAQs) has scored either current formula, so our formula gives both 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.
ON swapped its organic pea, brown rice and sacha inchi recipe for pea, fava bean and brown rice. ProteinPowder.com and JKRemmer Fitness have reviewed the new one, but they sit outside our panel, and panel reviews of the sacha inchi version don’t carry over. Two new recipes, zero panel scorecards: we call it a draw.
Round 5: Ingredients and Extras
Winner: Vega Protein + Recovery
Vega adds 480 mg of Montmorency tart cherry and 2 billion CFU of the probiotic Bacillus subtilis DE111, sweetens with stevia and uses one gum, xanthan. Its scoop carries 4 g of carbs, 1 g of fiber, 1 g of sugar (none added) and 490 mg of sodium.
ON is built for creaminess: an oil creamer, a gum trio of xanthan, guar and acacia, stevia and cocoa, with 0 g of sugar, 2 g of fiber and 540 mg of sodium. There are no enzymes, probiotics, greens or added vitamins, and the current US label lists no B12. Neither is organic, and neither is shy with the salt shaker. Vega’s side quest takes the round (for Vega against an organic tub, see Vega vs Garden of Life).