A friend texted me last summer with a question that's become weirdly common: "I've been on AG1 for six months and the scoop ritual is killing me. Is there a sublingual version of this?"
The honest answer was no — and also that the question itself was slightly the wrong one. AG1 isn't trying to be a sublingual product. It's a green-superfood-and-multivitamin drink, and the drink format is doing work a strip can't replicate. But there's a real question underneath: can I get most of what AG1 does without the shaker, the scoop, the twelve ounces of water and the subscription?
This is the honest version of that conversation. I run a strip company, so my bias is on the table — but the framing isn't "AG1 is bad." It's a real product with a loyal customer base who like it. The framing is: different problem, different solution.
What AG1 actually is
AG1 is a powdered drink mix marketed as comprehensive daily nutrition. One scoop in water delivers a blend of:
- A multivitamin core (most B vitamins, vitamin C, zinc, selenium and others)
- A greens complex of dehydrated plants (spirulina, chlorella, wheatgrass, barley and so on)
- An adaptogen and herb blend
- A digestive enzyme and pre/probiotic blend
Pricing changes, so check their current page rather than trusting a figure in a blog post, but it has consistently sat well above generic multivitamin pricing.
What it's genuinely doing: covering a broad vitamin and mineral baseline, delivering plant compounds, adding modest pre/probiotic support, and building a morning ritual people find easy to keep. That last one is underrated — a habit you actually keep is worth more than a better formula you abandon.
The honest pros of AG1
It would be cheap to dunk on AG1 in a strip-company article, so here's the fair version.
- Broad coverage in one serving. If you don't want a six-bottle stack, it's a single morning checkbox.
- Real plant compounds. Dehydrated greens do contribute micronutrients and phytochemicals, particularly for people who eat few vegetables.
- The ritual sticks. Adherence is the single biggest determinant of whether any supplement routine does anything. A morning drink that becomes automatic beats a pill stack you forget.
- Transparency above the industry baseline. They publish testing and sourcing information, which is more than most.
- People like the taste. Subjective, and it matters, because taste drives adherence.
The honest cons of AG1
- Price. You're paying well above generic multivitamin cost. The premium buys the brand, the greens blend and the ritual — not a demonstrated absorption advantage over a cheap multi.
- The format is the format. If you don't want to mix a scoop every morning, the product still asks you to. Travel makes it worse.
- The greens claim carries a lot of weight. Dehydrated greens contain compounds found in fresh greens, in smaller amounts and often degraded by processing. The marketing implies a vegetable equivalency the evidence doesn't quite support.
- Blend framing. Several components are grouped into proprietary blends, so you can't tell how much of each herb you're getting. That's a fair criticism of any brand that does it, including anyone selling strips.
None of these are dealbreakers if AG1 is doing what you want. They're the trade-offs the marketing doesn't lead with.
Different problem, different solution
AG1 is solving the "broad daily nutrition base" problem — multivitamin, greens and a modest pre/probiotic in one drink.
Strips are solving a format problem — how do you take a supplement if you can't swallow capsules, or can't face another shaker bottle? Each of ours targets one use case: energy, cognitive calm, bone nutrition, hangover support, iron, mushrooms, sleep.
An earlier version of this article claimed strips solved a pharmacokinetic problem — bypassing gut absorption for the molecules where that matters. We audited that claim against the literature for every active in our line and it didn't hold up. Most of what we sell depends on the gut: probiotics need the intestine, fibre is fermented in the colon, collagen is digested, mushroom beta-glucans act on gut receptors, iron uptake is regulated in the duodenum, vitamins D3 and K2 need bile salts. So the claim is gone, and what's left is the format argument — which was always the real one.
The honest version of "AG1 alternative" isn't "swap your AG1 for a strip." It's: if the thing you hate about AG1 is the ritual, here's a no-shaker, no-powder, no-water option — and here's exactly what you'd lose in the trade.
What you'd give up trading AG1 for strips
- Broad vitamin and mineral baseline. A strip targets a few actives. To cover the baseline you'd add a cheap generic multivitamin.
- Greens compounds. No film can carry the volume of dehydrated greens in a scoop. If that's what you want, strips don't replace it.
- The ritual. If the morning shake is an anchor habit you like, losing it is a real cost.
What you'd gain trading AG1 for strips
- Nothing to swallow, nothing to mix. No scoop, no shaker, no water, no washing up. This is the whole point of the format, and for people who gag on capsules or gave up on powders it's not a small thing.
- Portability. A tin of 30 in a pocket or bag, no kitchen required.
- No sugar. Ours are sweetened with stevia, monk fruit and erythritol.
- Modularity. You can take one product on the days it's relevant instead of committing to one fixed daily serving of everything.
- Published doses. Every active listed, no proprietary blends, and where our manufacturer hasn't published a dose — currently Energy and Hangover — we say so instead of guessing.
What you would not gain is better absorption. We don't claim it, we haven't measured it in our finished products, and for most of these ingredients the digestive tract is the right destination anyway.
A reasonable hybrid stack
The honest "AG1 alternative without a shaker" routine, which doesn't pretend strips solve problems they don't:
- A generic multivitamin (daily, cheap). Covers the broad baseline. Unglamorous and effective.
- XYNE Energy strip (most mornings). L-theanine, caffeine from green tea and B12 as methylcobalamin, cranberry flavoured. Doses aren't published by our manufacturer yet, and we won't invent them.
- Bone Support strip (daily, if you want the D3/K2 pairing). Vitamin D3 2000 IU with K2 120 mcg, raspberry. Note it's the one product in our line that isn't vegan — the D3 comes from lanolin.
- Cognitive Relax strip (as needed). L-theanine 50 mg, GABA 25 mg and vitamin B6 6 mg, strawberry-peppermint. It's not a sleep aid and it isn't a treatment for anxiety.
- Actual vegetables, a few times a week. A blender of spinach, frozen berries and a banana costs a couple of dollars and gives you more intact plant material than any scoop of powder.
Our strips are $29.99 for a tin of 30 — about a dollar a day, ten percent less on subscription — so a two-strip routine plus a drugstore multivitamin lands in a similar range to a premium greens subscription. The point isn't that it's dramatically cheaper. It's that you're paying for a format you'll keep using rather than one you're enduring.
Frequently asked questions
Is XYNE trying to be an AG1 competitor?
Not really. AG1 is a broad greens drink; we make targeted strips for people who don't want to swallow or mix anything. Some people use both.
If I drop AG1 will I miss the greens compounds?
If they were doing meaningful work for you, actual vegetables and a smoothie habit deliver more, not less. If what you'd really miss is the morning routine, that's worth knowing about yourself before you switch.
Can strips replace a multivitamin?
No, and they're not designed to. Each targets a few actives. Keep a cheap multi as your baseline.
Do strips absorb better than a greens powder?
No. We don't claim it and haven't tested it. Both end up going through your digestive tract. Choose on format, taste, cost and whether you'll actually keep taking it.
What about other powdered greens brands?
Same analysis. The differentiation is brand, taste and price. If powders work for you, a powder is fine — and if they don't, no other powder will fix that.
How does the cost compare?
A strip routine plus a cheap multivitamin usually lands near or below a premium greens subscription, depending on how many strips you take. Compare per-day cost with current prices, not with numbers in an article.
The "AG1 alternative" question is a format question at root. If the powder ritual works for you, keep it. If it's the part you want to escape, strips solve exactly that — and a cheap multivitamin can still handle the broad baseline.
If you want a recommendation tailored to what you're trying to fix, take the quiz. The lineup is here. And for the format context, the route piece is the deeper read.
Related reading
- Oral Strips vs Pills: Which Format Wins for Which Nutrient — Per-nutrient decision frame.
- Sublingual vs Oral Supplements: Where Your Ingredients Actually Go — What each route actually does.
- The No-Pill, No-Powder Daily Supplement Stack — The honest no-pill version of a daily routine.
- Best Morning Energy Supplements — The morning stack, without the hype.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
