7 Best Glucosamine & Chondroitin Supplements (2020 Guide)
Are your joints hurting because of osteoarthritis? Are your cartilages damaged? Either way – there are 2 things that can help:
Now – these 2 ingredients work best when they’re together. So it’s essential to take them both.
But the thing is – not every product contains the right things.
So let me show you which are the 7 best glucosamine & chondroitin supplements to choose from. Out of the hundreds of products I tried – these were basically the most effective ones.
But before I get to that… here’s what a good supplement needs to have.
#1 – ProJoint Plus ($29.95)
This supplement is my top recommendation for 3 main reasons:
best combination of ingredients- one of the few products that improved my mobility
- much cheaper than the rest (I will explain that below)
best combination of ingredientsSo the thing is – I’ve been using this product for a while now and it continues to make wonders for me.
In fact – I think it works better than any glucosamine supplement I tried.
There are a few others that works just as well – but they cost a lot more. On the other hand, you can get ProJoint Plus way cheaper than $30 (which is the standard price):
Price Tip: Use my code FIVE$61404893 for 5% off and get a pack of 4 instead of a single bottle. In this way, you get one bottle for FREE and the other 3 for about $19 per bottle (super cheap).
Ingredients: Glucosamine Sulfate, Chondroitin Sulfate, Boswellia Extract, Turmeric, Quercetin, Methionine, MSM, Bromelain
PROs
- Works much faster than others (it decreased my pain in about 4 days)
- Also improves joint flexibility and stiffness (rare thing)
- Great ingredients overall
- Most doses are pretty high
- Cheaper than most products
CONs
- No bioperine for the turmeric
- You can only buy it on the official website
- They don’t ship in every country (around 30 available)
- If you buy just one bottle, it’s not that cheap
#2 – Super Joint Support ($59.00)
This is another supplement I’ve had great results with.
In fact, I do consider it among the best glucosamine products ever – that’s why it’s the #2 on my list.
However, it has 2 big downsides compared to my #1 recommendation:
- lower doses
- a much higher price
So the thing is – Super Joint Support is a great glucosamine product, in terms of how it works.
But at $59 per bottle – it’s not very affordable for most of us. That’s why it’s not my top choice – because other than that, it’s a really effective supplement.
Ingredients: Glucosamine Sulfate, Chondroitin Rich Collagen, Vitamin Mix, Ionic Sea Minerals, MSM, Alpha Lipoic Acid, White Willow Bark Extract
PROs
- Great combination of ingredients
- Really works for osteoarthritis (I say this from experience)
- Also improves joint mobility (most supplements can’t do that)
- It’s also an energy booster
CONs
- Not very high doses
- You need to take 4 pills per day
- Really expensive overall ($60 per monthly supply)
- You can only buy it from the official website (which I don’t trust a lot)
#3 – Instaflex ($49.59)
Instaflex has always been a very popular product – and it has all the reasons to be so:
- good ingredients and high doses
- works for real
good ingredients and high dosesNow, the thing is – I mostly saw an improvement in my knees. For the rest of my body, Instaflex didn’t seem to be very effective.
Plus, I read several reviews that told the same thing.
So if you need a glucosamine product for your knees, Instaflex will surely help. If the problem isn’t in your knees, I can’t guarantee.
Another thing worth mentioning is that it doesn’t contain any chondroitin.
But either way, Instaflex isn’t my top recommendation for the same reason as Super Joint Support – price:
- Instaflex is indeed $10 cheaper
- But overall, it’s still really expensive (compared to ProJoint Plus)
Ingredients: Glucosamine Sulfate, MSM, Ginger Root Extract, Boswellia Extract, White Willow Bark Extract, Turmeric Root Extract, Cayenne Fruit, Hyaluronic Acid
PROs
- Great ingredients in high doses
- Lots of authentic reviews
- You can find it in several shops and retailers
- Also contains anti-inflammatory herbs
CONs
- No chondroitin
- No bioperine for turmeric
- Helps mostly knee related problems
- Very expensive overall ($50 per monthly supply)
- It works best if you take all 3 capsules together (which I believe to be uncomfortable)
#4 – Joint Advantage Gold ($49.49)
Even though it’s a glucosamine supplement, Joint Advantage Gold contains a pretty high amount of additional herbs.
For this reason, it has one advantage:
- it also works for inflammation, not just for osteoarthritis
So if you have OA but also an additional pain caused by something else – this supplement could help both.
However, just like most of its competitors – it’s pretty expensive for what it does. And just like Instaflex, it lacks chondroitin.
So I personally would choose something cheaper, like the #1 recommendation (which is why I placed it there – it’s way more affordable).
Ingredients: Glucosamine Sulfate, Meriva Phytosome, Natural Eggshell Membrane, Herbayzme Soothing Blend, Boswellia Extract, Bovine Cartilage
PROs:
- Some original ingredients
- Also works as an anti-inflammatory
- Pretty good reviews overall
CONs
- No chondroitin
- You need to take 6 pills per day, which is huge
- Expensive overall
#5 – FlexoPlex ($39.95)
Though it has a few problems, FlexoPlex remains a pretty good glucosamine supplement – especially if your problem is minor.
Unlike the other products, it’s pretty cheap:
- one bottle lasts for 2 months
- it costs around $40
Honestly, compared to others – there’s a big difference.
But from other points of view, FlexoPlex is still far from the rest. However, as I said – if you have just a minor cartilage problem, it could be a good product.
On the other hand, I wouldn’t recommend it for osteoarthritis – at least not as a first choice.
Ingredients: Glucosamine Sulfate, Chondroitin Sulfate, Proprietary Blend (several anti-inflammatory substances)
PROs
- You need to take just 2 pills per day
- Pretty cheap, compared to others
- It really works (though its effect is weaker, compared to the previous supplements)
CONs
- Lower doses and weaker ingredients overall
- Very little info about the company behind
- You can only buy it on the official website
- I would only recommend it for a minor problem
- No monthly supply available (so you have to pay directly $40 for the 2 months one)
#6 – Move Free Joint Supplement ($33.50)
Even though I do consider it a good product overall, Move Free has several reasons to be just the #6:
- doesn’t improve joint flexibility
- contains the weaker form of glucosamine (the HCl)
doesn’t improve joint flexibilityOther than these 2 things – it’s a great supplement.
It’s affordable and has some good ingredients – but the glucosamine hydrochloride totally spoils that, in my opinion.
In terms of effectiveness, it does work. But as I said – it mostly reduces the pain and doesn’t do anything for mobility.
So that’s one of the top reasons why I wouldn’t recommend it that much.
Ingredients: Vitamin D, Glucosamine HCl, MSM, Uniflex, Chondroitin Sulfate, Joint Fluid
PROs
- Pretty good ingredients – except glucosamine
- Affordable (one bottle lasts for 40 days)
- Just 2 pills per day
- You can find it on several retailers
CONs
- Contains the weak form of glucosamine (HCl)
- Only treats the pain – it doesn’t improve joint flexibility (at least in my case)
#7 – Joint Advance (No Price Mentioned)
To be honest, I only included this supplement here because of its ingredients:
- they have really high doses
- this combination is great
they have really high dosesBut other than that, this supplement has a few problems when it comes to marketing and producers – at least in my opinion.
Plus, it didn’t reduce my symptoms too much – which is weird, considering it has great ingredients inside.
The only advantage I can find about it is that you can order a free bottle (at least that’s what they say – but I don’t trust that too much). So if this is true, you could just try it out for free.
But overall, I wouldn’t really recommend this supplement – despite looking pretty good on paper.
Ingredients: Glucosamine Sulfate, Chondroitin Sulfate, MSM, Proprietary Blend
PROs
- Good ingredients in high doses
- You can get a free bottle as a trail (that’s what they say, but I’m not sure it’s 100% legit)
CONs
- There’s no listed price
- You can only find it on the official website
- It didn’t help me too much (surprisingly)
- Very little info about the ingredients, company or other customers
- I’m not very sure if it’s a legit supplement, but on paper it looks great
3 Essential Things To Look For
When choosing a glucosamine supplement, you have to make sure it contains the following stuff:
1. Glucosamine Sulfate – choosing a product with the sulfate (not with the hydrochloride) is crucial:
- the sulfate form has many positive studies behind
- there’s little data on the HCl form (and most studies didn’t show great results)
- the HCl form is cheaper to buy alone (that’s why many companies use it)
- I personally had great results with the sulfate, but the HCl didn’t help me tremendously
So next time you choose a supplement – make sure there’s glucosamine sulfate, not HCl.
2. Over 1000 mg of Glucosamine – if you want a real effect, this is the minimum dose.
I would recommend somewhere between 1000-1500 mg per day.
3. Over 100 mg of Chondoritin – unlike glucosamine, you don’t need such a high dose of chondroitin:
- glucosamine does most of the work
- chondroitin actually increases its power
So there’s no need to take a very high dose, from what I noticed.
Conclusion: Basically, the supplement you choose should have 3 main features:
- glucosamine sulfate, not hydrochloride
- over 1000 mg of glucosamine
- over 100 mg of chondroitin
My Verdict – What’s The Best Glucosamine Supplement?
Throughout the years, I tried over 100 products. The ones from above are just the best 7 ones.
So the question is – what makes a good glucosamine supplement?
As I said before, basically 3 things:
- Using the sulfate form instead of the hydrochloride
- More than 1000 mg of glucosamine
- Also using chondroitin (anything over 100 mg is enough)
So which is the best glucosamine supplement I tried?
Well, ProJoint Plus is the one that meets these 3 criteria + one important thing – a good price (which is a crucial factor for me).
I don’t want to be spending lots of money when I can pay less.
Besides, ProJoint Plus really helped me – and not just in terms of pain:
- also rebuilds damaged cartilages
- improved joint flexibility over time
So that’s my top recommendation. But obviously, you should feel free to choose and try which of these 7 supplements you like.
After all, you know best how much you’re willing to pay.
Hi Heather, I have a quick question; I suffered an injury while weight training back in 2007. I still have a bit of pain in my right shoulder area when I do certain movements even today. I suspect it’s my rotator cuffs? Do you think taking glucosamine can help relieve this pain? I was thinking about a cream initially, but your article made me realize I need something that treats the cause, not hides the pain for a short while.
Hi there. I’m not an expert in shoulder pain and problems caused by weight training. But I did a quick research on Google and rotator’s cuff pain seems to be the most likely.
Now – from what I know, the pain there is usually caused by tendinitis. That is the inflammation of the tendons around.
But you said your injury happened in 2007, which is more than 10 years ago. Usually, tendinitis goes away on its own in a couple of weeks. So if that was the cause, it should have been gone a very long time ago.
However, I suspect those tendons might be more sensitive – due to that injury. That explains why you only feel the pain only when you exercise.
So I wouldn’t really recommend you glucosamine and chondroitin, because they help arthritis and cartilage problems – which you don’t have.
Instead, I think you should give turmeric a try.
This herb is a great natural anti-inflammatory. And as there’s probably inflammation behind your pain, it should help.
My #1 recommendation is Turmeric Plus – because it has some very high doses and it’s cheaper than most products. So you’re doing a pretty good deal – compared to other products.
Try to take this supplement for a couple of days – and within a few weeks (at most), your pain should be totally absent.
That’s the best thing I can recommend you. So if you decide to try it, please let me know how it goes and if you need any other advice. Hope this helps.
Hi Heather, thanks for this article and review. Most people don’t tell you what concentration of each nutrient in order for a supplement to be effective. You usually just see peoples recommended products without any reference as to why they’re a good option so great work! Can taking these supplements be a way to help prevent joint pain?
Hello Nate, the ingredients and their doses are one of the top aspects – in my opinion.
Even if a product contains great substances, if their doses are really low – it’s not going to help. But I do agree that many people aren’t aware of that.
That’s why a lot of companies take advantage of this thing and hide the doses. I always recommend people to stay away from products like these, as they’re usually scams.
But you’re right, most reviews I found don’t care too much about the doses. So keep in mind that they’re really important.
Regarding your question – you can take these supplements as a prevention, sure. They certainly work.
But I would recommend them mostly if you’re at risk:
– you had an injury, sprain or accident
– you’re working out often times
– there’s someone in your family with joint pain or arthritis
– you’re over 60
Otherwise, I don’t think there’s any point to take extra pills – especially if you’re young and healthy. I don’t know you, but I wouldn’t take any pills if I don’t need them.
But you know better, for sure.
I am also using Joint support supplements, especially glucosamine I like a lot. I checked your number 1 suggestion and I saw that they deliver products worldwide, so I can order from Europe too. I have to compare it with the supplement I am using. If it is better, I will order from them next time. I liked your review and I will probably change. Thanks.
Hey there, it’s great to hear you found helpful info here.
If you’re talking about ProJoint Plus, they only ship in a couple of countries from Europe – which doesn’t include UK, Germany, France or Italy. I had many people from UK writing and asking for my help, but there’s nothing I can do – the company says they have no contract with the delivery companies for those countries.
So I’m not sure if you can order it in Europe. From what I remember, they ship in 3 countries only – so only if you’re lucky to live there.
But the other supplements from my list are shipped in Europe, as far as I know.
So you can tell best if they look better than the glucosamine product you’re taking or not. Hope this helps.
Hi, I am just starting to experience pain in my elbows and was looking for something that would help. Your top two choices: ProJoint Plus and Super Joint Support, look like great options. Though I have to agree that $60 a bottle is a bit on the steep side. Price is not always on the forefront, but it can make a difference in what you choose-lol. Not to mention who wants (or is going to remember) to take 4 pills a day.
Thanks for taking the guesswork out of this. Looking at the bottles and trying to figure out which one is the best option is always the hardest part of choosing any supplement. You have done a great job is reviewing these products and making the options make sense.
Hey Mercedus. If price isn’t that important for you, it’s great – you can choose a supplement without caring too much about how expensive it is.
But among ProJoint Plus and Super Joint Support, I would probably choose the first one – for several reasons (I will ignore the price facts):
– higher doses for most ingredients
– less pills to take daily
– works a bit better (especially for improving mobility)
Obviously, it’s up to you what you decide to buy – because both supplements are really effective. So I’m sure that any one them would do its job.
I hope you take the best decision for you!
Hi Heather, this is just the information I was looking for! The vet recommended a glucosamine and chondroitin supplement for my dog with arthritis and it really helped her. I like to jog but have a bad knee that has really been slowing me down. After seeing how much it helped my dog I have been thinking about taking a glucosamine chondroitin supplement but had no idea what dose to take.
My knee isn’t terrible, it doesn’t hurt all the time mostly with overuse but it’s frustrating how much it slows me down when it does start hurting. I am looking more to prevent problems. Do you think glucosamine and chondroitin is a good choice for that or is there something better?
Hey Kim, thanks for your question.
I also believe your pain is caused by overuse – probably of cartilages. So I think glucosamine + chondroitin is the best thing to take right now.
But here’s what I recommend you to do:
No matter what supplement you choose, don’t take the number of pills they recommend. Your problem isn’t major, so if they recommend 3 pills per day – start with 1 or 2.
This should be enough to help you, but you might need a few weeks to tell the difference in this case. There’s no point taking a full dose if your cartilages are simply overused.
If you decide to start using any supplement, please let me know whether it helps or not.
Hi Heather! I greatly appreciate the fact that you have tested many products, know the ingredients needed and have come up with this list. I have tried a product you recommend in the past (it’s not on this list) and I was truly satisfied, I respect your site and recommendations. You have proven to me to only suggest things that work.
I’ll start purchasing ProJoint Plus, because it’s your top recommendation. And I’ll take advantage of the benefits of buying a few bottles together. Once again, thank you for your time researching and putting together this post.
Hey Joseph, it’s great to hear this. What product was it that it helped you? Was it Turmeric Plus? It’s one of my top recommendations that isn’t on this list, so I assume that’s the one you were talking about.
If you have osteoarthritis or your cartilages are damaged – glucosamine and chondroitin are surely the right ingredients. So ProJoint Plus should really help you.
After you take it for a few weeks, let me know how you feel.
Projoint plus is fine, i used a year ago maybe and it was ok, i felt better. but it was too expensive so i had to let it go. The rest I haven’t tried but they are really costly, would not afford them all the time.
thank you for this list but i think there are some cheaper products you should review, like under $10. not all of us afford expensive products.
Hey there, thanks for letting me know your opinion. Any feedback from my readers helps.
Now, please let me know what supplement under $10 you’re speaking of – because I couldn’t find any. On Amazon there are just a few for joint pain under that price, and most aren’t based on glucosamine.
In fact – I didn’t even find a glucosamine + chondroitin product under $10. If you know any, please let me know and I will try it.
Now – throughout the years I tried several supplements that were super cheap. I remember really well about Nature Bounty’s turmeric (see my review here).
It cost around $7 per month – but it wasn’t any good. It lacked an essential substance so its absorption was pretty bad. Consequently, I got no improvement in terms of pain.
So most of the time with super cheap supplements (like under $10) – you get what you pay for. Their only advantage is the price. Other than that, they usually have low doses or super basic ingredients.
For someone who isn’t familiar with supplements, that might not seem a problem. But after you try several brands and products, you will understand what I’m talking about.
So at this point – ProJoint Plus is the cheapest supplement that really worked for me.
That’s why it’s my #1 pick – as you can see, price also matters for me.
But it seems there’s a difference between what I call a cheap glucosamine supplement (under $35) and what you call a cheap supplement (under $10).
So I’m sorry, but I can’t recommend you any supplement under $10. I just didn’t get a positive effect from any.
Let me know the one you’re talking about and I will try it out – but I doubt it can help.
Sorry I can’t help you more.
Hello Heather, I truly found your list to be very helpful, and I learned a lot of new things today! I had no idea there are 2 forms of glucosamine, though I did notice labels always stating the kind. But I always took glucosamine for granted, without wondering what form it is.
From now on, I will be looking only into supplements that contain glucosamine sulfate.
The ProJoint Plus would be definitely my way to go because it has best mix of ingredients and it is proven to be very effective at preventing joint pain & improving flexibility which is the most important and significant aspect when it comes to choosing the right remedy or medication to battle osteoarthritis.
And also – the pricing of it is very appealing, especially when compared to Super Joint Support or Instaflex which both are more expensive but somehow kind of fail at competing with ProJoint Plus in terms of performance and ingredient combination.
It’s not a often when you see a cheaper product performing better that the one which cost almost the double, its pretty weird & crazy when You think about it.
Keep up the great work Heather and best of luck to You.
Hi Edvald, it’s great to hear you learned some new stuff today.
Yes, glucosamine sulfate is surely the trick for finding the best supplements.
It has several advantages over the HCl form, like a better effect at rebuilding cartilages, more studies behind and a lower price.
Regarding ProJoint Plus, it’s surely my #1 recommendation for osteoarthritis. If you read my whole review, I explained in great detail why I have this opinion.
Super Joint Support is also a great product, but it’s a lot pricier. Instaflex isn’t really that good (at least in my case), but it’s still one of my top options. But once again, it’s a lot more expensive that ProJoint Plus, so I would save my money.
If there’s anything I can do to help you or if you have any question, please let me know.