Let’s talk hydration. You know it’s essential to overall health and wellness, but actually getting enough fluids can still be a challenge. More specifically, drinking enough of the RIGHT fluids can be hard.
Naturally, it’s best to avoid sugary sodas and other sweet beverages, along with salty processed foods that only further dehydrate you. And certain factors like exercise, living in a warm climate, or having certain pre-existing health conditions may make your body crave more fluids.
With so many Americans failing to drink enough water, direct-to-consumer (DTC) companies have arrived with innovative products to help you stay hydrated. We’ll compare two of these today — Nuun vs DripDrop — to see which drink mixture can keep you hydrated for longer. When it comes to hydration, what’s the main difference between Nuun and DripDrop? And do either really work? Let’s get into the weeds.
Related reading: Liquid I.V. Sugar-Free Review
What exactly are Nuun and DripDrop hydration multipliers?
Popular among endurance athletes, both Nuun and DripDrop offer powdered electrolyte mixtures that you add to water to amplify hydration. The two companies are similar yet target slightly different customers, so before you choose one brand vs the other, let’s quickly examine each to see which speaks to you.
It’s important to note that both Nuun and DripDrop are healthy alternatives to sports drinks. They both provide electrolytes with much less sugar. One Nuun Cherry Limeade tablet, for example, only contains a single gram of sugar, while DripDrop’s ORS-10g mix only has 7 grams. For context, that’s nothing compared to the typical sports drink’s 21 grams, or the whopping 39 grams in a can of soda (yikes!)
Both Nuun and DripDrop are also eco-friendly, reducing athletes’ carbon footprint by using a lot less disposable plastic than store-bought electrolyte drink bottles.
So what’s different about Nuun and DripDrop tablets?
With a strong focus on exercise, Nuun sells hydration tablets that include electrolytes and other ingredients. There are four tablet varieties and a powder blend. Depending on the variety, a tablet may also include multivitamins, antioxidants, carbohydrates, magnesium or tart cherry. You simply add the tablets to water and drink.
The tablets come in natural flavors like blackberry vanilla to help make drinking water more palatable, and each variety comes in different flavors to choose from. Nuun’s tablets are plant-based and gluten-, dairy- and soy-free.
DripDrop’s electrolyte sticks, on the other hand, were created by a doctor on a relief mission, so its target demographic is slightly broader than Nuun’s. Catering to more than just athletes, DripDrop markets its hydration multipliers to military soldiers, hospital workers and patients, and disaster relief workers such as firemen.
If you appreciate companies that give back, DripDrop donates its products for use in many humanitarian aid initiatives. Their just-add-water hydration sticks are said to be good for illness, altitude sickness, and hangovers — so pretty much everyone would benefit from keeping a few handy.
Other than target demographics, the biggest difference between Nuun and DripDrop is likely form. While they offer similar hydration products jam-packed with electrolytes, Nuun mostly sells tablets while DripDrop’s hydration powders come in sticks. Nonetheless, they all have the same concept of dissolving in water to help your body rehydrate quickly.
How do Nuun and DripDrop hydration multipliers work?
Nuun and DripDrop are just like other D2C brands in that they skip the middleman and sell directly to you, the consumer, via their website. You can have them conveniently send products to your door (although if you like middle men, you can also get Nuun or DripDrop from Amazon – they offer a lot of different size packages, check out Nuun here and DripDrop).
With both brands, you can browse a la carte options to choose whichever hydration products you’d prefer. This means you can choose from the different types, purposes, sizes and flavors, ordering whatever combination and quantity you’d like.
At the same time, both brands have subscription plans if you’d like to save some and not worry about running out. They’re not restrictive subscription plans that force you to order a specific combination of products. Instead, they help you save money on each order when you commit to a regular shipment frequency.
Nuun vs DripDrop: Electrolyte Powder Comparison
The following chart helps you see a side-by-side comparison of Nuun and DripDrop, including their pricing and introductory discount offers. Hopefully, it’ll help you decide which hydration brand is best for you.
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Nuun vs DripDrop: Comparing Hydration Mixtures |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ||
| Intro and Other Offers? | ||
| Varieties | ||
| Website | Try Nuun | Try DripDrop |
As you can see, both brands have a variety of flavors to choose from, which can make it more enjoyable to drink and provides similarity to flavored electrolyte drinks you can buy in stores. Nuun ultimately offers dissolvable supplements for a broader range of purposes (vitamins, immunity, rest, sport, endurance, +caffeine), while DripDrop offers more choices in drink mix sizes to fit small or large glasses of water.
Pricing: How much do Nuun and DripDrop cost?
You save money on Nuun compared to DripDrop (and compared to store-bought bottled electrolyte drinks). Each tablet comes out to $0.70 with Nuun, which makes 16 ounces of water. The equivalent size of DripDrop mix costs $2.33 each.
Nuun also helps you save over time with a rewards program that counts toward discounts. Nonetheless, DripDrop helps you cut costs with larger orders that reduce the cost of each stick and with a larger percentage off through the subscription plan compared to Nuun.
A word of caution: While the active ingredients are presented front and center, it’s worth checking the inactive ingredients before you buy so you know what you’re ingesting. For example, Nuun includes dextrose and Stevia leaf extract among other ingredients, and DripDrop contains fructose, sucrose and sucralose among other ingredients.
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The Verdict: Which is better, Nuun or DripDrop?
It’s never been a better time to need extra hydration, and both Nuun and DripDrop are pretty exciting innovators in the sports and health rehydration market. Regardless of marketing that tries to speak to the respective target audiences of each brand, either will provide more than enough electrolytes needed to maintain hydration, without all the sugar of traditional sports drinks (like the yellow stuff you chugged as a kid.)
Nuun is ideal for those who want to...
That said, Nuun seems to have some clear benefits over DripDrop. For one, it’s about 3x more affordable per serving and offers a lot of variety to help you meet different exercise-related goals. If you’re an endurance athlete or someone who likes to exercise, Nuun was built for you and we highly recommend you give it a shot over DripDrop.
Try Nuun → DripDrop is likely to yield the best results
The one item we don’t like as much when exercising is the Nuun tablet as it takes a bit more time and effort to dissolve compared to the powder mix in a stick from DripDrop. With DripDrop, you simply pour the mix into your water bottle, shake, and then sip.
With very little to lose, you may just want to give each a try and see which one tastes better. Unfortunately, tastes are too subjective for us to help you compare 🙂 Both companies offer generous first order discounts (15%+), and DripDrop is advertising a 2-stick trial for just $3.99.
They’ll even give you this money back if you end up putting in a full order later. Our top pick is Nuun, but why not give them both a shot and let us know which one you liked more in the comments below?
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How much do Nuun and DripDrop cost?
You save money on Nuun compared to DripDrop (and compared to store-bought bottled electrolyte drinks). Each tablet comes out to $0.70 with Nuun, which makes 16 ounces of water. The equivalent size of DripDrop mix costs $2.33 each.
Nuun also helps you save over time with a rewards program that counts toward discounts. Nonetheless, DripDrop helps you cut costs with larger orders that reduce the cost of each stick and with a larger percentage off through the subscription plan compared to Nuun.
A word of caution: While the active ingredients are presented front and center, it’s worth checking the inactive ingredients before you buy so you know what you’re ingesting. For example, Nuun includes dextrose and Stevia leaf extract among other ingredients, and DripDrop contains fructose, sucrose and sucralose among other ingredients.
Methodology
We conduct extensive research to evaluate the pricing, effectiveness, accessibility, overall quality, and user experience of every telehealth service we review. This also includes examining and comparing each provider to comparable telemedicine alternatives. We also evaluate usability, treatments, prescription delivery time, and more to determine the best value for those seeking fast and reliable telehealth services.
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| Review Process | Key Metrics | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Sign up online | – ease of completing intake form – affordability – upfront commitment or subscription required? – money back guarantee or refund policy? | 0.5 |
| Virtual consult with provider / determine eligibility | – ease of getting appointment to determine eligibility – need to leave house for labs or other in-person care? | 1 |
| Shipping + unboxing | – shipping cost – time from order to treatment delivery – discreet packaging to maintain privacy | 0.5 |
| Test + journal for 1-3 months | – ease of application – transition into habitual use – taste / smell / feel / pain | 1.5 |
| Results after 3 months of use | – efficacy / results – lack of side effects – ease of refill / reordering – quality of ongoing clinical support – responsive customer support – willingness to recommend to a friend | 1.5 |