# Best Pre-Workouts: the stierproducts tier list - Source: https://stierproducts.com/categories/pre-workouts - Last researched: 2026-09-17T06:37:50.931Z - Evidence base: 17 products ranked across 215 cited reviews, videos and discussions - Method: https://stierproducts.com/methodology - Dataset: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22062813 - every board at once, one dated snapshot per release, same licence, prices and photographs left out - Reuse: Text, rankings, tier assignments, LP values and verdicts are free to quote and reuse with attribution to stierproducts and a link to the source URL (CC BY 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Product photographs are not covered: they belong to their respective owners and are reproduced to illustrate the product being reviewed. Do not redistribute them under this licence. Pre-workout supplement powders and capsules, with or without stimulants; plain creatine belongs to Creatine, and protein powders and canned energy drinks are separate. ## Summary On the stierproducts pre-workouts board, Transparent Labs BULK Black ranks #1 in S tier, ahead of Transparent Labs Bulk (#2, S tier) and Nutricost Pre-X Pre-Workout (#3, A tier). The board ranks 17 pre-workouts from S (best) to F (avoid), last researched 17 Sept 2026, drawing on 215 cited reviews, videos and discussions. Placed in the bottom tiers as ones to avoid: Cellucor C4 Sport, Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Pre-Workout, Kaged Pre-Kaged Stim-Free, and 4 others. ## Ranking | Rank | Product | Brand | Tier | LP | Outlets | Verdict | Page | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Transparent Labs BULK Black | Transparent Labs | S | 911 | 7 | Clinically dosed, fully disclosed, third-party tested, and named best overall by three separate outlets. The most durable ownership story in the category. | https://stierproducts.com/products/transparent-labs-bulk-black | | 2 | Transparent Labs Bulk | Transparent Labs | S | 854 | 9 | Forbes Health's best overall, a slightly gentler sibling of BULK Black. Superb, but the Black version edges it on performance per dollar. | https://stierproducts.com/products/transparent-labs-bulk | | 3 | Nutricost Pre-X Pre-Workout | Nutricost | A | 757 | 6 | The cheapest honest formula on the board. Nothing wasted, nothing hidden, nothing to fail. | https://stierproducts.com/products/nutricost-pre-x-pre-workout | | 4 | Kaged Pre-Kaged | Kaged | A | 739 | 11 | Informed Sport certified, transparent, and batch-consistent. Loses to the top two only on flavor breadth and stim ceiling. | https://stierproducts.com/products/kaged-pre-kaged | | 5 | Legion Pulse | Legion | A | 736 | 23 | Complete label transparency and a brand built on formulation consistency. Everything BSN used to be. | https://stierproducts.com/products/legion-pulse | | 6 | Gorilla Mode Base | Gorilla Mind | A | 700 | 3 | All of Gorilla Mind's dosing honesty with none of the caffeine liability. Niche, but built to last. | https://stierproducts.com/products/gorilla-mode-base | | 7 | Gorilla Mind Gorilla Mode | Gorilla Mind | A | 661 | 16 | The best high-stim option with a fully disclosed label, but its potency demands tolerance management that not every owner will practice. | https://stierproducts.com/products/gorilla-mind-gorilla-mode | | 8 | Jacked Factory Nitrosurge | Jacked Factory | B | 639 | 9 | Transparent, adjustable, and one of the best value-for-longevity plays here. A notch below the flagships on dose ceiling. | https://stierproducts.com/products/jacked-factory-nitrosurge | | 9 | Naked Energy | Naked | B | 538 | 17 | The cleanest formulation on the board per Illuminate Labs. Simple, honest, and built to be taken for years. | https://stierproducts.com/products/naked-energy | | 10 | Kaged Pre-Kaged Sport | Kaged | C | 475 | 3 | Kaged's trust with a deliberately lighter formula. Honest ownership, but you are paying the premium brand price for fewer active grams. | https://stierproducts.com/products/kaged-pre-kaged-sport | | 11 | Cellucor C4 Sport | Cellucor | D | 336 | 11 | The diluted version of a good product. Nutricost Pre-X gives you the honest budget alternative without the trimmed doses. | https://stierproducts.com/products/cellucor-c4-sport | | 12 | Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Pre-Workout | Optimum Nutrition | D | 335 | 7 | Brand-trust coasting with doses below the current evidence-based standard. Nutricost Pre-X and C4 both beat it at their respective jobs. | https://stierproducts.com/products/optimum-nutrition-gold-standard-pre-workout | | 13 | Kaged Pre-Kaged Stim-Free | Kaged | D | 319 | 1 | The right answer for stim-free buyers, from a certified line. Niche by nature, excellent within it. | https://stierproducts.com/products/kaged-pre-kaged-stim-free | | 14 | Cellucor C4 Original | Cellucor | D | 245 | 28 | The dependable moderate-stim default with two decades of consistency behind it. Unexciting but it will never let you down. | https://stierproducts.com/products/cellucor-c4-original | | 15 | 1st Phorm Project-1 | 1st Phorm | F | 209 | 12 | An influencer-affiliate product absent from every independent testing roundup consulted, with a proprietary blend hiding part of the formula. Kaged Pre-Kaged is the honest version of this purchase. | https://stierproducts.com/products/1st-phorm-project-1 | | 16 | Alani Nu Pre-Workout | Alani Nu | F | 0 | 7 | A well-built moderate-dose option that people actually stay on. Below the flagships purely on dose ceiling. | https://stierproducts.com/products/alani-nu-pre-workout | | 17 | GHOST Legend | GHOST | F | 0 | 16 | Style-heavy marketing with a formula that trails the picks on key doses. Buy Transparent Labs BULK Black instead and stop paying for the can design. | https://stierproducts.com/products/ghost-legend | ## Flagged as ones to avoid These entered one or more research runs as a product buyers cross-shop but should not buy, rather than as a pick. - Gorilla Mind Gorilla Mode (#7, A tier): flagged by 2 of 12 runs. - Cellucor C4 Sport (#11, D tier): flagged by 3 of 6 runs. - Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Pre-Workout (#12, D tier): flagged by 1 of 4 runs. - Cellucor C4 Original (#14, D tier): flagged by 4 of 12 runs. - 1st Phorm Project-1 (#15, F tier): flagged by 2 of 3 runs. - Alani Nu Pre-Workout (#16, F tier): flagged by 6 of 9 runs. - GHOST Legend (#17, F tier): flagged by 6 of 8 runs. ## Tier meanings - S: Exceptional. Finishes top run after run; capped at 3 slots per category. - A: Excellent. Strongly recommended, beaten only by the very best. - B: Good. A solid choice with real caveats worth knowing. - C: Fair. Acceptable in the right situation, outclassed at its price. - D: Weak. Hard to recommend when better options cost similar money. - F: Avoid. The evidence points you elsewhere. ## How to read this - Each category is researched in four independent runs, one per lens (expert consensus, value, reliability, community pulse). Every run ranks a board of candidates that deliberately includes products buyers cross-shop but should avoid. Placements score on a ranked ladder (LP), and tiers are derived from LP, so no tier is ever assigned by hand. - LP is the product's points on this category's ladder. It is comparable within a category and not across categories. - Outlets is how many distinct outlets are cited for that placement. The per-product page lists each citation, and shows which of their links were fetched and confirmed before publishing. - Nothing is hidden: every product the research placed is on this board. ## Limitations - We do not test products ourselves. Every placement is consolidated from published reviews, owner reports and community discussion, so a board is only as good as the sources behind it. - LP is points on this category ladder. It is comparable within a category and never across categories. - A board is a snapshot with a research date. Anything released or changed after that date is not in it yet. - Evidence is uneven across this board: products carry between 1 and 31 cited sources. The count for each is in the table above.