Protein Pints vs Halo Top (2026): 30g vs 18g of Protein Per Pint — Which Protein Ice Cream Wins?

Protein Pints and Halo Top both sell a pint of ice cream you can finish without blowing up your day, but they get there from opposite directions. Halo Top, the older and better-known brand, starts from ultrafiltered skim milk and keeps calories low with fiber, erythritol and air, so across the seven flavors we compared a pint lands between 270 and 490 calories with 15g to 18g of protein. Protein Pints, founded in 2022 in Hudsonville, Michigan, starts from whole milk, cream and egg yolk, adds whey protein isolate, and replaces sugar with allulose and monk fruit, so every pint carries 30g of protein, at 360 to 480 calories in the flavors with published panels. One is a light ice cream with a protein bonus. The other is a full-fat ice cream built around a protein number. Once you see the two labels side by side, the right pick for you takes about a minute.

Affiliate links — if you buy through them we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. The facts and verdicts are our own. Every nutrition figure comes from the brand’s own product page and published Nutrition Facts panel, read on September 10, 2026. Store prices were read from Safeway’s online store for ZIP 94611 the same day and will differ by location.

The Quick Verdict: Protein Pints vs Halo Top Head-to-Head

Chocolate against chocolate, whole pint against whole pint, because both brands sell 16 fl oz pints with three 2/3-cup servings in each, and that is how most people actually eat them.

Source: the Protein Pints Chocolate Nutrition Facts panel on proteinpints.com and the Halo Top Chocolate Nutrition Details on halotop.com, both read September 10, 2026. Protein per 100 calories is the label’s protein divided by the label’s calories. Labels change, so check the carton in your hand if a number matters to you.

Which Has More Protein: Protein Pints or Halo Top?

Protein Pints has more protein in every flavor: 30g per pint, 10g per 2/3-cup serving, against 15g to 18g per pint and 5g to 6g per serving for the Halo Top flavors we compared. It also wins protein per calorie in every matchup, because its protein comes from added whey protein isolate rather than from the milk alone. The best Halo Top pint on that measure is Chocolate at 6.0g per 100 calories; the weakest Protein Pints flavor, Cookie Dough, still manages 6.3g.

That gap matters most if you are eating the pint as a real protein serving. Thirty grams is what a Premier Protein shake delivers. Eighteen grams is a good bonus on a dessert. Halo Top still does well against ordinary ice cream, and it gets there with far less fat.

Protein Pints Chocolate: 30g of Protein, and the Calories to Match

The Protein Pints Chocolate ingredient list is eleven items long: whole milk, cream, allulose, whey protein isolate, tapioca syrup, cocoa powder, egg yolk, vanilla extract, salt, guar gum and monk fruit. It is built like a classic custard-style ice cream (milk, cream, egg yolk) with whey isolate stirred in to reach 30g of protein. The brand’s FAQ says most of the protein comes from the whey, which is sourced from Midwestern dairy farms, with the milk, egg yolk and cocoa contributing the rest. Per 2/3-cup serving the panel lists 120 calories, 10g of protein, 6g of fat, 17g of carbohydrate, 1g of fiber, 4g of total sugars and 1g of added sugar.

The Chocolate, Strawberry and Coffee pints are the leanest in the lineup at 360 calories each, and all three reach 8.3g of protein per 100 calories. Coffee carries about 40mg of caffeine per pint by the brand’s own figure, which is worth knowing if you eat it late at night.

The honest catch: Protein Pints carries real fat. The Chocolate pint lists 18g of fat and 9g of saturated fat, which the panel itself puts at 51% of the Daily Value, more than double Halo Top Chocolate’s 4g. The richer flavors go higher: Cookie Dough lists 15g of saturated fat per pint, 75% of the Daily Value. It is also 60 to 140 calories more per pint than the matching Halo Top in every flavor except Cookie Dough. If your goal is the fewest calories for a whole pint, Protein Pints is not it.

Halo Top Chocolate: Fewer Calories, More Fiber, Less Protein

Halo Top is sold as a “light ice cream,” and its ingredient list shows how: ultrafiltered skim milk, skim milk, soluble corn fiber, erythritol, cream, sugar, cocoa, vegetable glycerine, natural flavors, cellulose gel and gum, mono and diglycerides, sea salt, inulin, vitamin A palmitate and stevia leaf extract (Reb M). Skim milk keeps the fat down, soluble corn fiber and inulin add bulk and 17g of fiber per pint, and erythritol plus stevia replace most of the sugar. Per 2/3-cup serving the panel lists 100 calories, 6g of protein, 2g of fat, 21g of carbohydrate, 6g of fiber, 8g of total sugars, 4g of added sugar and 5g of sugar alcohol.

Where Halo Top clearly beats Protein Pints is on calories, fat and fiber. The Chocolate pint is 300 calories to Protein Pints’ 360, the Strawberry pint is the lightest in either lineup at 270, and 17g of fiber is about 61% of the Daily Value, a number Protein Pints does not come close to. Halo Top Chocolate also lists 570mg of calcium per pint against 330mg.

The honest catch: 16g of erythritol plus 17g of added fiber is a lot to put through your gut in one sitting, and both can cause gas and bloating in some people. Start with a serving before you commit to the pint. Halo Top also carries more added sugar than you might expect from the branding: 11g per Chocolate pint, against 3g for Protein Pints Chocolate. If you have been avoiding erythritol since the Cleveland Clinic research, our protein bars with erythritol guide explains what that research did and did not show.

The Cookie Dough Matchup: Where the Gap Is Widest

Chocolate flatters Halo Top. Cookie dough is where the two formulas split hardest, because mix-ins bring flour and sugar with them, and the two brands handle that very differently.

At almost identical calories, Protein Pints Cookie Dough carries nearly twice the protein and less than a quarter of the added sugar. The Halo Top pint lists 38g of added sugar, 76% of the Daily Value in one pint. This is the flavor where the “light ice cream” label stops describing the sugar: its ingredient list adds sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup and chocolate chips to the erythritol base.

One thing to check on the shelf: older Halo Top Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough cartons read 360 calories and 16g of protein per pint, and Safeway’s website still shows that older carton on one of its two listings. The current Halo Top panel and the current carton read 490 calories. If the pint in your freezer says 360, it is the older recipe.

Every Flavor Compared, Per Pint

Matched by flavor wherever both brands make one. Protein Pints figures are from each flavor’s own product page; Halo Top figures are from each flavor’s Nutrition Details on halotop.com, all read September 10, 2026.

Two patterns hold across the whole lineup. Protein Pints is higher in calories in every flavor but Cookie Dough, and it is higher in protein and lower in total sugar in every flavor, without exception. Part of the sugar gap is naturally occurring sugar from the milk and cocoa: subtract added sugar from total sugar and Halo Top Chocolate carries 14g per pint against 9g for Protein Pints Chocolate. The rest is sweetener choice, because Protein Pints’ main sweetener, allulose, is not counted as sugar at all (more on that below). Protein Pints also sells store-exclusive pints, Salted Caramel at Albertsons Companies stores, Fudge Brownie at Sprouts and Banana Graham Slam at Kroger’s family of stores, which we left out because their full panels were not published on the product pages.

Sweeteners: Allulose and Monk Fruit vs Erythritol and Stevia

This is the biggest practical difference after the protein number, and it explains why the two sugar lines look so different.

Protein Pints uses allulose, a small amount of tapioca syrup, and monk fruit. Allulose is a rare sugar, not a sugar alcohol. Under FDA guidance finalized in 2020, manufacturers may leave allulose out of the Total Sugars and Added Sugars lines and count it at 0.4 calories per gram instead of 4, but it must still be included in Total Carbohydrate. That is why Protein Pints Chocolate can list 17g of carbohydrate but only 4g of sugar per serving. The brand’s “6g net carbs” figure uses its own published formula, total carbs minus fiber minus allulose, which implies about 10g of allulose per serving and roughly 30g per pint. Tolerance to a dose that size varies from person to person, so a first-time buyer should start with a serving, not the pint.

Halo Top uses erythritol, cane sugar and stevia leaf extract (Reb M). Erythritol is a sugar alcohol, and Halo Top lists it on its own line: 5g per serving and 16g per Chocolate pint. Some flavors add more sweeteners on top; Halo Top Cookies & Cream also lists isomalt and sorbitol, two more sugar alcohols. If you use the same subtract-fiber-and-sweetener method on Halo Top Chocolate, you get about 10g of net carbs per serving and 29g per pint, against 6g and 18g for Protein Pints Chocolate. For a wider look at how these sweeteners behave, see our protein sweeteners explained guide.

Is Protein Pints or Halo Top Healthier?

Neither is a health food, and each is healthier on a different measure. Protein Pints has more protein, much less added sugar (3g vs 11g per Chocolate pint), no sugar alcohols and a shorter ingredient list with no “natural flavors.” Halo Top has fewer calories, about a third of the fat, less than half the saturated fat, 17g of fiber and more calcium per pint. If protein and added sugar are the numbers you track, Protein Pints is healthier for you. If calories and saturated fat are, Halo Top is.

Which Is Cheaper Per Gram of Protein?

Protein Pints is cheaper per gram of protein, even though it costs more per pint. At the same Safeway store (ZIP 94611) on September 10, 2026, Protein Pints Chocolate was $7.99 and Halo Top Chocolate was $6.99 at regular price. That works out to $2.66 per 10g of protein for Protein Pints and $3.88 per 10g for Halo Top. Both were on a $5.99 member price that week, which widens the gap: $2.00 per 10g for Protein Pints against $3.33 for Halo Top. Prices vary by store and week, so treat these as a snapshot, not a fixed rate.

Where to Buy Each

Halo Top is the easier of the two to find online. It is listed on Amazon, where the Chocolate pint was in stock for delivery when we checked on September 10, 2026. Protein Pints is the younger brand. We confirmed it on Safeway’s online store and at other Albertsons banners, and the brand lists store-exclusive flavors at Sprouts and Kroger’s family of stores. Its Amazon listing for the Chocolate pint showed “Currently unavailable” on September 10, 2026, so the brand’s store locator is the reliable way to find it.

The Amazon link is an affiliate link; we earn a small commission if you buy. The Protein Pints store locator is not an affiliate link and pays us nothing.

Where Each Brand Wins

• Most protein per pint: Protein Pints, 30g in every flavor. Halo Top’s best is 18g (Chocolate, Peanut Butter Cup).
• Most protein per calorie: Protein Pints Chocolate, Strawberry and Coffee, 8.3g per 100 calories. Halo Top’s best is Chocolate at 6.0g.
• Fewest calories per pint: Halo Top Strawberry, 270.
• Least fat and saturated fat: Halo Top, 6g fat and 4g saturated per Chocolate pint against 18g and 9g.
• Least added sugar: Protein Pints, 3g per Chocolate pint against 11g.
• No sugar alcohols: Protein Pints. Halo Top Chocolate lists 16g of erythritol per pint.
• Most fiber: Halo Top, 17g per Chocolate pint against 3g.
• Most calcium: Halo Top, 570mg per Chocolate pint against 330mg.
• Shortest ingredient list: Protein Pints Chocolate, 11 ingredients against 16.
• Gluten-free across the lineup: Protein Pints, per the brand. Halo Top’s Cookie Dough and Cookies & Cream list wheat flour.
• Cheaper per gram of protein: Protein Pints, $2.66 per 10g against $3.88 at Safeway regular prices.
• Easier to find: Halo Top, which is also on Amazon.

If you are weighing Halo Top against a frozen yogurt bar instead, our Halo Top vs Yasso comparison uses the same label-first method, and the protein ice cream brands ranking covers Enlightened, Nick’s and Breyers Delights too.

How we compared

We read the Nutrition Facts panel and ingredient statement for each product from the brand’s own website on September 10, 2026: proteinpints.com for Protein Pints Chocolate, Strawberry, Coffee, Mint Chip, Peanut Butter Chip, Cookies & Cream and Cookie Dough, and halotop.com for Halo Top Chocolate, Strawberry, Vanilla Bean, Mint Chip, Peanut Butter Cup, Cookies & Cream and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. All figures are per 16 fl oz pint as printed, except where a per-serving figure is labeled. Protein per 100 calories and cost per 10g of protein are our own division of the label and shelf numbers. Prices are Safeway’s online regular and member prices for ZIP 94611 on the same day. Amazon availability was checked the same day. We did not taste-test either product for this comparison, and nothing here is based on a personal tasting; it is a label comparison. Both brands note that recipes can change, so check the carton you are holding.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which has more protein, Protein Pints or Halo Top?

Protein Pints. Every Protein Pints flavor has 30g of protein per pint and 10g per 2/3-cup serving. The seven Halo Top pints we compared range from 15g to 18g, or 5g to 6g per serving. Protein Pints also has more protein per calorie in every flavor: 8.3g per 100 calories for its Chocolate pint against 6.0g for Halo Top Chocolate.

Is Protein Pints or Halo Top healthier?

It depends on what you track. Protein Pints has more protein, far less added sugar (3g vs 11g per Chocolate pint), no sugar alcohols and fewer ingredients. Halo Top has fewer calories (300 vs 360 for Chocolate), about a third of the fat, less than half the saturated fat, 17g of fiber and more calcium.

Does Protein Pints have sugar alcohols?

No. Protein Pints is sweetened with allulose, a little tapioca syrup and monk fruit, and no sugar alcohol appears on its ingredient lists. Allulose is a rare sugar that FDA guidance allows to be left out of the Total Sugars line but not out of Total Carbohydrate. Halo Top lists erythritol, a sugar alcohol, at 16g per Chocolate pint.

Why is Halo Top lower in calories than Protein Pints?

Halo Top uses ultrafiltered skim milk and skim milk instead of whole milk and egg yolk, adds soluble corn fiber and erythritol to replace sugar and fat, and is sold as a light ice cream. That keeps its Chocolate pint to 6g of fat and 300 calories. Protein Pints uses whole milk, cream and egg yolk plus whey protein isolate, which adds protein but also 18g of fat and 360 calories per Chocolate pint.

Is Protein Pints keto-friendly?

Protein Pints says its net carbs run 6g to 8g per serving, using the formula total carbs minus fiber minus allulose. The Chocolate pint is 18g of net carbs by that method, against about 29g for Halo Top Chocolate by the same subtract-fiber-and-sweetener method. Whether that fits a keto day depends on your own carb limit and how much of the pint you eat.

Is Protein Pints gluten-free?

Protein Pints says all of its flavors are gluten-free, and its Cookie Dough uses almond flour. Its labels note the pints are made in a facility that sometimes processes wheat. Halo Top varies by flavor: Chocolate lists no wheat, while Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Cookies & Cream list wheat flour.

Where can I buy Protein Pints?

We confirmed Protein Pints on Safeway’s online store and at other Albertsons banners on September 10, 2026, and the brand lists exclusive flavors at Sprouts and Kroger’s family of stores. Its Amazon listing showed as currently unavailable that day, so the store locator on proteinpints.com is the most reliable way to find a pint near you.

Is Protein Pints cheaper than Halo Top?

Per pint, no: at a Safeway in ZIP 94611 on September 10, 2026, Protein Pints Chocolate was $7.99 and Halo Top Chocolate was $6.99 at regular price. Per gram of protein, yes: that is $2.66 per 10g of protein for Protein Pints against $3.88 for Halo Top.