The 5 Best Collagen Supplements (And How to Pick the Right One)

Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body, but most people don’t get enough of it through their regular diet. Collagen supplements can be an excellent way to bridge that dietary gap and improve the health of your skin, nails, hair, joints, bones and even your gut. 

The problem is that the market is flooded with collagen supplements and misleading marketing language, making it difficult to pick an effective product that doesn’t contain potentially harmful ingredients such as artificial colors, synthetic flavors or flow agents, to name a few.

I started using collagen supplements almost a decade ago to support my gut health while suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Along the way, I discovered how supplements would make my hair and nails grow like crazy. When my wife found out, she also began supplementing with collagen peptides.

After years of first-hand experience, testing and research, these are the best products I’ve found to date: 

• Best overall: Equip Grass-Fed Collagen. It’s made with 100% grass-fed bovine collagen peptides from U.S. cattle, tastes delicious, and contains no funky ingredients. (It’s also available in an unflavored formula.) 
• Best for gut health: MK Supplements Collagen & Colostrum. It contains a full serving of hydrolyzed collagen peptides and grass-fed colostrum to help heal the gut while supporting optimal hair, skin, nail, joint and bone health. 
• Best for a keto diet: Perfect Keto Grass-Fed Collagen Peptides & MCT Brain Boost. A delicious combination of collagen peptides and coconut milk to support your high-fat, low-carb lifestyle.
• Best for skin health: MindBodyGreen Beauty and Gut Collagen+. A clever combination of collagen peptides, hyaluronic acid and other nutrients to support optimal skin health.
• Best budget-friendly option: Anthony’s Collagen Peptide Powder. A no-frills collagen supplement at a reasonable price. Just don’t expect a company known for selling baking goods to offer you dosing advice. 

How to Choose the Right Collagen Supplement

To reap the health benefits of collagen supplements, you must choose a product made from high-quality ingredients with the correct dosage. Some of the critical factors to consider are listed and explained below.

But in summary, I recommend purchasing a bovine collagen supplement that contains 10 or more grams of collagen peptides per serving from grass-fed cattle. The least expensive products often contain collagen types I, II, or III, and more high-end products contain hydrolyzed collagen peptides that the body can rearrange into any required collagen type. I’d avoid fancy flavors (e.g., “birthday cake”) because those products often contain unhealthy ingredients. I’d also avoid multi-collagen products because they’re not worth the higher price they demand. 

Amount of collagen

Your regular diet dictates how much collagen from supplements you need in order to achieve optimal benefits. As a rule of thumb, I’d shoot for 10 grams of collagen daily. If you need significantly more than that, I’d recommend adjusting your diet by increasing your collagen intake from fresh food, such as muscle meat and bone broth, instead of buying more supplements. 

Type of collagen

As of this writing, scientists have discovered 28 different collagen types in the human body, with types I, II, and III being the most abundant. Most collagen supplements contain one or more of these three types because they’re relatively cost-effective to produce by boiling down animal bones, cartilage and connective tissue. 

While there is nothing wrong with consuming predominantly these three collagen types, it’s worth mentioning that some products contain hydrolyzed collagen peptides. 

Hydrolyzed collagen, regardless of its original type, undergoes hydrolysis, which involves breaking down its protein chains into small peptides that our bodies can digest and absorb.

This process yields a universal composition of amino acids and bioactive peptides supporting nutritional and functional health benefits (of all collagen types). The resulting benefits and composition of hydrolyzed collagen depend more on the hydrolysis method and the quality of production rather than the type of original collagen or the animal source.

Several of the multi-collagen supplements on the market charge a higher price for including five or six different collagen types. I’m not a fan of those supplements because they usually contain only trace amounts of the less-prevalent collagen types. In other words, you likely won’t get much additional benefit from them. So, instead of paying for a multi-collagen, I’d spend my money on hydrolyzed collagen peptides.

Collagen source

While cowhide is the most abundant source of collagen manufacturers use to make supplements, some products contain collagen from eggshells, fish scales or chicken bone broth protein. Ultimately, all these sources are waste products of food production and contain various collagen types. However, I don’t think one is better than the other. If you’re concerned with getting the most variety of collagen types into your diet, stick with hydrolyzed collagen peptides, which your body can turn into whatever type of collagen it needs.

Supplement format

While there are different delivery mechanisms, including capsules and gummies, I recommend powders because they cost less per serving than capsules and don’t require any of the unhealthy ingredients (such as fillers, thickeners and colorings) that you will often find in gummies. 

Extra ingredients

The easiest way to ensure a clean supplement is to stick with unflavored products. If you prefer flavors, ensure the product doesn’t contain fillers, flow agents, emulsifiers, artificial colors or flavors. 

Best overall: Equip Grass-Fed Collagen

Equip is one of my favorite supplement brands because its products are high-quality and do not contain funky ingredients such as artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, flow agents or fillers. Their collagen supplement is no different. It’s made with Type I and III collagen peptides from 100% grass-fed cattle. You can get it unflavored or in two delicious flavors (chocolate and vanilla). 

At the Kummer house, we’ve used Equip’s unflavored and chocolate-flavored versions and liked them both. However, I should mention that Equip is doing an outstanding job flavoring its products. Their chocolate-flavored collagen tastes delicious, and the kids love mixing it into a glass of raw milk in the morning. 

While the powder mixes well with cold and hot liquids, I recommend a frother or shaker bottle to break up any smaller clumps that may form. Equip doesn’t use emulsifiers or flow agents, which many other brands use to improve mixability. I prefer not to get any “extra” ingredients; instead, I stir the mix for a few seconds longer.

The only downside to Equip’s Grass-Fed Collagen is that it contains just two collagen types. If Equip used hydrolyzed collagen instead, it’d be the perfect product.

Shop Equip Grass-Fed Collagen

You can use my promo code MK15 and get an extra 15% off.

Honorable Mentions: BUBS Naturals and Sports Research Collagen Peptides

BUBS Naturals is another reasonable choice that I’ve used in the past. It’s slightly less expensive than Equip’s product (when broken down by the price per gram of collagen), but it’s only available unflavored and is sourced from South America. 

Sports Research is an excellent option if you’re looking for a decent supplement made with hydrolyzed collagen peptides. It’s higher priced than Equip’s product and comes from certified organic Brazilian cattle. 

Generally, I prefer New Zealand, U.S. domestic or European ingredients because of their track record of producing premium beef products. However, considering I was born and raised in Austria before coming to the United States, I might be biased.

Best for gut health: MK Supplements Collagen & Colostrum

While most people know about collagen’s benefits for hair, skin, nail and joint health, few realize it’s also an excellent supplement for gut health (because it contains amino acids such as glycine, glutamine and proline, which are essential for maintaining a healthy gut lining). 

On the flip side, many people appreciate the benefits of colostrum for supporting optimal gut health and immune function.

Therefore, it only made sense to combine both of these powerful ingredients into a single supplement. That’s why my wife and I decided to launch Collagen & Colostrum under our MK Supplements brand. 

What sets Collagen & Colostrum apart from any other collagen supplement on the market is the three grams of bovine colostrum you get with each serving. 

Speaking of servings, each recyclable pouch contains 45 servings. The product is unflavored, but a flavored version is in the works.

My wife, two kids, German Shepherd and I have been supplementing with Collagen & Colostrum and noticed accelerated hair and nail growth. I’m not sure our German Shepherd appreciates that much because it means we have to trim his claws more often.

We haven’t noticed much difference in our immunity and gut health because, considering our lifestyle, those are already at optimal levels. However, I have noticed slightly improved athletic performance and expedited recovery after intense CrossFit workouts.

Shop MK Supplements Collagen & Colostrum

You can also find Collagen & Colostrum on Amazon.

Best for Keto: Perfect Keto Grass-Fed Collagen Peptides & MCT Brain Boost

Perfect Keto’s collagen supplement is an excellent choice if you’re on a ketogenic or similar low-carb diet because it contains five grams of MCT oil powder your body can convert into ketones and use for energy. Plus, the extra fat helps to keep you satiated.

My wife and I used to follow a ketogenic lifestyle, before we adopted an animal-based diet. During our time on keto, we used to consume a lot of Perfect Keto products, including this one (which was then known as Keto Collagen).

Shop Perfect Keto Grass-Fed Collagen Peptides & MCT Brain Boost

Honorable Mentions: Great Lakes Wellness Keto Boost Advanced Collagen Peptides and Primal Kitchen Collagen Fuel

If Perfect Keto’s product is out of your budget, consider Keto Boost Advanced Collagen Peptides from Great Lake Wellness. While it doesn’t contain hydrolyzed collagen peptides and is only available in vanilla flavor, it has nine grams of collagen peptides and 4.2 grams of MCT oil powder, costing only around $1.40 per serving.

Another excellent alternative is Primal Kitchen’s Collagen Fuel, which uses coconut milk powder (instead of MCT oil powder). It’s available in two delicious flavors (chocolate and vanilla) and it’s also reasonably priced at around $1.30 per serving.

Best for Skin Health: MindBodyGreen Beauty & Gut Collagen+

MindBodyGreen’s collagen is the most expensive product in this lineup, retailing for about $3.50 per serving. The reason for its higher price is the inclusion of certain ingredients (hyaluronic acid and the amino acid l-glutamine) that are known to support skin health by reducing fine lines and wrinkles and protecting the skin from oxidative stress.

Beauty & Gut Collagen+ is available in unflavored or chocolate versions and comes in a recyclable pouch containing 20 servings. While all the ingredients packed into this supplement are of high quality and potency, I’m not 100% convinced it’s twice as effective (at improving skin health) as some of the other products in this list.

The other downside to MindBodyGreen’s supplement is that it contains two plant-based ingredients: turmeric and broccoli seed extract. The former has endocrine-disrupting properties, and the latter contains natural chemicals that can interfere with thyroid function and inhibit enzymes that are required for nutrient absorption. 

So while Beauty & Gut Collagen+ might help improve the health of your skin, it can have side effects in other areas of your body.

Shop MindBodyGreen Beauty & Gut Collagen+

Best Budget-Friendly Option: Anthony’s Collagen Peptide Powder

Anthony’s Collagen Peptide Powder is an excellent choice if you’re on a budget. Despite its low cost per serving, Anthony’s uses hydrolyzed collagen peptides from grass-fed cattle. It’s non-GMO, tested for gluten, and you get 12 grams of unflavored collagen peptides per serving.

The main downside to this product is that it comes from a brand that doesn’t specialize in dietary supplements. Instead, they specialize in pantry staples, such as almond flour and cocoa powder. They likely just white-labeled a collagen supplement from a large manufacturer because many people like using collagen powder for baking.

While nothing is wrong with doing that, I doubt Anthony’s has much expertise in dietary supplements to improve health. So, if you asked them to help with collagen dosing to reach a specific goal, I doubt they could give you a helpful answer. It’s like going to the gas station and asking the clerk to recommend the healthiest beef jerky. 

However, Anthony’s is an excellent choice if you know what you’re doing and want to purchase inexpensive, unflavored collagen powder in bulk.

Shop Anthony’s Collagen Peptide Powder

One popular product I no longer recommend: Ancient Nutrition Multi Collagen Protein

When I started researching collagen supplements a few years ago, I stumbled across one of the first multi-collagen supplements on the market: Ancient Nutrition Multi Collagen Protein. 

The product contains 10 collagen types from various sources, including hydrolyzed bovine collagen peptides, fermented eggshell membranes, chicken bone broth protein concentrate and hydrolyzed fish collagen peptides. Ancient Nutrition sells this as a groundbreaking formula, claiming it contains clinically studied ingredients to “deliver real results you’ll see and feel.”

However, when I contacted Ancient Nutrition to inquire about the percentage of additional collagen types in the product, they declined to share that information. Years later, when I launched MK Supplements and started working directly with raw ingredient suppliers, I discovered that those multi-collagen supplements contain 95% collagen types I and III and only trace amounts of other collagen types. 

As a result, I concluded that multi-collagen supplements are overhyped. Considering that the body can make any collagen type from rearranging peptides found in hydrolyzed collagen supplements, I no longer believe that multi-collagen supplements offer health benefits above and beyond what you can expect from conventional collagen powders.

Final Thoughts on the Best Collagen Supplements

Collagen is not an essential nutrient because the body can make it by synthesizing amino acids from the protein you consume. Unfortunately, most people don’t consume enough protein to meet the body’s demands, leading to lower-than-optimal collagen levels and less-than-ideal hair, skin, joint and bone health.

The drop in collagen production is especially noticeable in the elderly population, who are often severely protein deficient.

That’s why I’m a huge fan of supplementing with collagen peptides. It’s an easy and convenient way to address any dietary gaps.

However, it’s also worth mentioning that collagen supplements (much like protein powders) are processed food made from waste products, including bones, hides, hoofs, eggshells or fish scales. 

That’s why it’s essential to purchase from manufacturers that pay attention to raw ingredient quality and animal welfare, and which use gentle processing methods that preserve the molecular structure of the collagen peptides. To the best of my knowledge, all the brands listed in this article fall into that category, so I feel comfortable recommending them to you, friends and family.

Michael Kummer

Michael Kummer is a healthy living enthusiast and CrossFit athlete whose goal is to help people achieve optimal health by bridging the gap between ancestral living and the demands of modern society.