Bucked Up vs SkyPop: 25g Against 10g, and One Side Just Got Weaker
Note, August 2026: this page used to compare 25g against 15g and it was close. The brand on the right of this table was Don't Quit! It rebranded to SkyPop in early 2026 and cut the can from 15 grams to 10 at the same time. That is not a footnote on this page, it is the page. The comparison was a genuine trade, more protein against better soda. It is now lopsided on protein, and the taste half rests on tests run against a can nobody sells any more. We have rewritten it rather than quietly swapping the name, because the old conclusion is not the current one.
Side by Side
| Bucked Up | SkyPop | |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | 25g whey isolate | 10g whey (was 15g as Don't Quit!) |
| Can size | 16 oz | 12 oz |
| Price* | ~$3.33/can (12-pack) | ~$2.25/can (12-pack, $26.98) |
| Protein per $ | ~7.5 g/$ | ~4.4 g/$ |
| Sugar / caffeine | 0g / none | 0g / none |
| Flavor style | Candy-shop (Rainbow Candy, Orange Cream...) | Classic soda (Root Beer, Orange, Grape) plus Ice Pop, Cotton Candy, Peaches & Cream |
| Best published taste result | #2 of 11 at Tasting Table (Orange Cream) | #1 of 11 at Tasting Table (Root Beer), on the old 15g can |
| Worst published taste result | #11 of 11 (Peach Mango) | #10 of 11 (Fruit Punch), on the old 15g can |
Where Bucked Up Wins
Volume of protein, and efficiency of protein. 25 grams means one can is a legitimate protein snack on its own; two cans approach a full post-workout dose. At about 13 cents a gram it is the cheapest canned protein on the market. If the can is doing a nutritional job, Bucked Up does more of it for less.
Where SkyPop Wins
Price per can, and probably consistency. At about $2.25 it is the cheapest can in this category, and roughly $13 less per 12-pack than Bucked Up, which matters when you are buying it as a daily soda replacement rather than a supplement.
The consistency argument is the one that needs an asterisk now. Under the old formula its two flagship flavors, Root Beer and Orange, took first and fourth in Tasting Table's eleven-soda field, both praised for passing as real soda, while Bucked Up's flavors spanned the entire ranking, second place and last place in the same test. That was a real edge. Whether it survived the reformulation is unknown: no published blind test of SkyPop exists that we could find. Cutting whey usually makes a clear soda easier to get right, so we would bet the edge held, but a bet is not a test result and we are not going to print it as one.
The Sweetness Variable
Both use zero-sugar sweetening, and the fake-sweet aftertaste is the category's biggest complaint. The published pattern, again from the old can: the soda-classic flavors hid it better (the Root Beer showed no fake-sugar taste at all per Tasting Table), while Bucked Up's fruitier flavors exposed it. If you are sweetener-sensitive, that pattern is still the best guide available, with the caveat that the recipe under it changed.
The Call
Buy Bucked Up if you are buying protein that happens to fizz, which is now a much easier call than it was: 25 grams against 10 is not the trade this page used to describe. Start with Orange Cream, avoid Peach Mango until you have tried a single can.
Buy SkyPop if you are killing a soda habit and 10 grams is a bonus rather than the point. Orange first, because that is the flavor Amazon currently has in stock and it is the second-best result the old lineup ever posted. Amazon lists Root Beer but is not shipping it; Target and the brand's store locator are the route to that one.
Both together is not crazy either: SkyPop for the evening soda slot, Bucked Up for the post-gym slot. That split got easier to justify, not harder, because 10 grams is now clearly not a protein serving and there is no point pretending it is.
Full write-ups: Bucked Up review · SkyPop review