Cheapest Magnesium Glycinate (2026): Cost per 200 mg, Ranked
Not medical advice. This ranks products by the elemental magnesium on their labels and their current Amazon prices, and summarizes the bioavailability trials. The NIH supplemental limit is 350 mg a day for healthy adults; ask a clinician first with reduced kidney function.
Quick answer
The cheapest magnesium glycinate is the one with the most elemental magnesium per dollar, and that is never the number on the front of the bottle. Per 200 mg of elemental magnesium, the 10 glycinates we track run from $0.089 (BulkSupplements Magnesium Glycinate Powder) to $0.433 (Thorne Magnesium Bisglycinate), a 4.9× spread for the same mineral in the same form.
Buy by the Magnesium row, check the form line, and ignore the compound weight. The cheapest capsule is Vitamin Shoppe Magnesium Glycinate 400mg at $0.111 per 200 mg; the USP Verified option is Nature Made Magnesium Glycinate 200mg at $0.195. On the NIH shelf, 19.3% of labels named “glycinate” quietly blend in another form. See the ranking →
Want the form question settled first? See glycinate vs citrate or the eight forms ranked →
On this page
The number that matters: elemental magnesium, not compound weight
Magnesium glycinate is a magnesium atom bound to two glycine molecules, and the magnesium is about 14% of the weight. A capsule described as “magnesium glycinate 1,400 mg” contains about 200 mg of magnesium, and it is the 200 that the RDA (420 mg for men, 320 for women, from all sources) and the 350 mg supplemental limit refer to. US labels are required to declare the elemental amount in the Supplement Facts row named Magnesium; the compound weight is marketing copy. Cost per milligram only means anything if it is computed from the Magnesium row, which is what every figure on this page uses. The dosage guide walks through the same arithmetic for each form.
The reason to pay for glycinate at all is tolerability and absorption. In a crossover trial in 12 patients with ileal resection, isotope-labelled magnesium diglycinate was absorbed twice as well as magnesium oxide in the four patients with the worst absorption (23.5% vs 11.8%) and was better tolerated by all of them (Schuette 1994, PMID 7815675). In 46 healthy adults taking 300 mg a day for 60 days, the organic forms (citrate and an amino-acid chelate) were absorbed better than oxide, which did not differ from placebo (Walker 2003, PMID 14596323), and oxide’s fractional absorption has been measured at about 4% (Firoz 2001, PMID 11794633). That is why a glycinate label that blends in oxide to hit a bigger number is not a bargain.
We read 57 labels named glycinate: the median serving is 220 mg
Original research827 magnesium labels retrieved from the NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database on 2026-08-27; 827 are sold as magnesium, 149 declare a glycinate form, and the 57 whose product name says glycinate or bisglycinate, from 38 brands, are the population here.
The median glycinate label delivers 220 mg of elemental magnesium per serving, the upper quarter 400 mg or more, and the median capsule or tablet carries 100 mg. Only 36.8% of labels reach 400 mg in one serving, so a 400 mg dose is typically 4 units, and the number of units per dose is the thing that decides cost, not the bottle price. 19.3% of labels named glycinate also list another magnesium form on the Supplement Facts row, most often oxide or malate.
| Item | Value ( mg) |
|---|---|
| Median per capsule or tablet | 100 mg |
| Median per serving | 220 mg |
| Upper quarter of servings | 400 mg |
| Common trial dose | 400 mg |
How we read the labels, and what did not hold
Method: 827 labels retrieved from the NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database on 2026-08-27; the 57 labels sold as magnesium whose product name says glycinate or bisglycinate were analysed. Elemental magnesium per serving is the Supplement Facts row named Magnesium for the panel’s serving; per unit divides by the units in that serving. Every figure was recomputed in two halves of the corpus split by label-id parity: 5 of 10 checks agreed within tolerance and only those are printed. Not printed (5): p25 per serving; share at least 200 mg per serving; share below 120 mg per serving; share blending magnesium oxide; share needing 2+ units per serving. At 57 labels this is a small census and the medians carry wide error; the census and the cost table are published as open data at /magnesium/cheapest-glycinate.json (CC BY 4.0). What it cannot tell you: whether a capsule contains what its label says, which is what the USP mark is for.
Every magnesium glycinate we track, ranked by cost per 200 mg of elemental magnesium
Elemental magnesium is each product’s Supplement Facts figure; price is the current Amazon price for the exact pack. Cost per 200 mg is price divided by total elemental magnesium in the pack, times 200. Cheapest first.
| Product | Per 200 mg | Elemental / serving | Serving | Units for 400 mg | Servings | Price | Verification | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BulkSupplements Magnesium Glycinate Powder | $0.089 | 225 mg | 1250 mg powder (~1/2 tsp) | powder | 200 | $19.97 | none stated | Check price |
| Vitamin Shoppe Magnesium Glycinate 400mg | $0.111 | 400 mg | 2 tablets | 2 | 90 | $19.99 | none stated | Check price |
| NOW Magnesium Bisglycinate Powder | $0.151 | 250 mg | 1 level teaspoon (~2.9 g) | powder | 78 | $14.69 | NPA GMP Certified, Non-GMO Project Verified | Check price |
| Nutricost Magnesium Glycinate 210 mg | $0.174 | 210 mg | 3 capsules | 6 | 120 | $21.95 | none stated | Check price |
| Nature Made Magnesium Glycinate 200mg | $0.195 | 200 mg | 1 capsule | 2 | 60 | $11.70 | USP Verified | Check price |
| NOW Magnesium Glycinate 200 mg | $0.218 | 200 mg | 2 tablets | 4 | 120 | $26.12 | NPA GMP Certified | Check price |
| Doctor's Best High Absorption Magnesium | $0.233 | 200 mg | 2 tablets | 4 | 60 | $13.99 | none stated | Check price |
| Nature's Bounty High Absorption Magnesium Glycinate 240 mg | $0.240 | 240 mg | 2 capsules | 4 | 60 | $17.29 | none stated | Check price |
| KAL Magnesium Glycinate 400 | $0.275 | 400 mg | 2 tablets | 2 | 45 | $24.79 | none stated | Check price |
| Thorne Magnesium Bisglycinate | $0.433 | 200 mg | 1 capsule | 2 | 60 | $26.00 | NSF Certified for Sport | Check price |
The spread is $0.089 to $0.433 per 200 mg, 4.9× from cheapest to priciest. Thorne Magnesium Bisglycinate is the dearest because it carries an NSF Certified for Sport mark and a practitioner brand, not because its magnesium is different; Vitamin Shoppe Magnesium Glycinate 400mg lands in the middle because it packs 400 mg into two tablets, which is the cheapest way to take a full dose in capsule form. At 400 mg a day, the year costs $65 at the cheap end and $316 at the dear end.
Which cheap magnesium glycinate to buy
Product links go to Amazon and we may earn a commission if you buy. It never changes which product we pick or what we say about it. How we choose.
Is cheap magnesium glycinate as good as expensive?
For the magnesium itself, yes. No trial has compared glycinate brands against each other; the form trials above compare glycinate, citrate and oxide. What a higher price buys is one of three things: a third-party mark (USP, NSF) that tests potency against the label, a practitioner brand, or a smaller pack. What a lower price can hide is a blend: 19.3% of the NIH labels named glycinate also carry oxide, malate or another form on the same row, so the “glycinate” you pay for is partly the form that absorbs at 4%. Check that the form line says glycinate or bisglycinate and nothing else, and check that the Magnesium row, not the compound weight, is the number you divided the price by. Then buy the cheapest one that passes.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest magnesium glycinate?
Per 200 mg of elemental magnesium, BulkSupplements Magnesium Glycinate Powder at $0.089, a powder you measure with a teaspoon. The cheapest capsule or tablet is Vitamin Shoppe Magnesium Glycinate 400mg at $0.111 per 200 mg. Price per bottle is the wrong number: a cheap bottle of 100 mg tablets can cost more per milligram than a dear bottle of 200 mg capsules, so this page ranks by elemental magnesium per dollar.
Why does the bottle say 400 mg but the label says 200 mg?
Because two different numbers are on it. Magnesium glycinate is about 14% magnesium by weight, so "magnesium glycinate 1,400 mg" and "magnesium 200 mg" describe the same capsule. The Supplement Facts row named Magnesium is the elemental dose, the one the RDA (420 mg men, 320 mg women) and the 350 mg supplemental limit refer to. Among the 57 labels named glycinate that we read, the median serving delivers 220 mg of elemental magnesium and the median capsule or tablet 100 mg, so a 400 mg dose is typically 4 units.
Is cheap magnesium glycinate as good as expensive?
If the Supplement Facts row says magnesium glycinate or bisglycinate and nothing else, yes: the trials that separate forms compare glycinate, citrate and oxide, not brands. Where cheap products differ is what else is in the capsule. 19.3% of labels named "glycinate" also carry another magnesium form, usually oxide or malate, so read the form line, and 1 of the 10 products here carry a USP Verified mark, which tests that the dose on the label is the dose in the capsule.
Is magnesium glycinate powder cheaper than capsules?
Usually. NOW Magnesium Bisglycinate Powder costs $0.151 per 200 mg and BulkSupplements Magnesium Glycinate Powder $0.089, against $0.111 for the cheapest capsule. The trade is measuring: a level teaspoon is a rough dose, the powder is bitter, and the elemental magnesium in a scoop is whatever the label's row says, not the scoop weight.
How much magnesium glycinate should I take?
Most trials of the glycinate and other organic forms use 200 to 400 mg of elemental magnesium a day, and the NIH sets a 350 mg limit on supplemental magnesium for healthy adults because more than that from a supplement loosens the bowel. Take it with food, split a 400 mg dose in two, and confirm the dose with a clinician if your kidney function is reduced. The full dosing guide covers age, sex and goal.
Related guides
- Magnesium: what to buy and how much
- Best magnesium supplement, ranked
- Magnesium dosage guide
- Glycinate vs citrate
- Eight magnesium forms compared
- Thorne vs Doctor's Best glycinate
- Best magnesium for sleep
Sources
- Schuette SA, Lashner BA, Janghorbani M. “Bioavailability of magnesium diglycinate vs magnesium oxide in patients with ileal resection.” JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 1994. PMID: 7815675
- Walker AF, et al. “Mg citrate found more bioavailable than other Mg preparations in a randomised, double-blind study.” Magnes Res. 2003. PMID: 14596323
- Firoz M, Graber M. “Bioavailability of US commercial magnesium preparations.” Magnes Res. 2001. PMID: 11794633
- NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Magnesium fact sheet for health professionals. ods.od.nih.gov
- NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Dietary Supplement Label Database. dsld.od.nih.gov (labels retrieved 2026-08-27).