The Best Kids Vitamins, Ranked

The Ultimate Guide to Kids' Vitamins: Ranking Hiya Health, Gruns, Olly Kids, Llama Naturals, and SmartyPants

When it comes to our kids, we want the best, especially when choosing vitamins to support their growing bodies and minds. With so many options on the market, it can be tough to find the perfect blend of nutrition, taste, and clean ingredients. That’s why we’re breaking down five popular kids’ vitamin brands—Hiya, Gruns, Olly Kids, Llama Naturals, and SmartyPants—based on key factors like ingredients, certifications, third-party testing, and taste. Spoiler alert: Hiya comes out on top for several reasons.

1. Hiya

Why It’s Best: Hiya combines excellent nutrition with a strong commitment to clean, child-friendly formulations. Plus, it’s refillable and eco-conscious, helping families reduce waste. The chewable table is much healthier than a gummy option, with no added flavors necessary, but it’s still delicious - as my toddler can attest to. They also have loads of other products to meet all your kids nutrition needs, like their daily greens + superfoods powder that tastes like chocolate milk!

• Transparency: Website includes a very thorough explanation of their manufacturing process and standards. As far as I know, they are the only company who publish their third-party lab results online.

• Ingredients: Hiya stands out for its zero-sugar, non-GMO, and organic formula. Packed with 15 essential vitamins and minerals derived from natural sources, it’s free from artificial flavors, sweeteners, and dyes. The daily tablet provides higher than FDA recommended Daily Values for some nutrients, but below the tolerable intake levels for all.

• Toxicity: Free of Lead, Arsenic, and Mercury. Very low levels of Cadmium (0.083 ug > 5.0 ug Daily Limit) found.

• Sustainable Packaging: Comes in a glass jar with monthly refillable sachets.

• Pricing: At $1/day, this is amongst the more expensive products. But, you definitely get what you pay for.

2. Gruns

Coming in at the highest price point, we were shocked to uncover how low this product ranked! It’s loaded with unnecessary additives and nutrients, wasteful packaging, and most importantly - not third party tested! Save your money!

• Transparency: Vague website - No reliable details of manufacturing process or standards.

• Ingredients: Highest in sugar (7g). Over the daily limit of nutrients in every category. Daily sachets w/ 6 gummies seems wasteful and overkill on nutrients. Do I even want my kid eating 6 gummies?! It does have added nutrients like adaptogens, but it’s unclear if that’s beneficial for children. Does anyone know? Some organic ingredients

• Toxicity: Shockingly, they don’t third-party test, and I found no outside results published online

• Sustainable Packaging: Daily sachets are wasteful

• Pricing: At $2.39 a day ($1.79 if you subscribe), these are by far the most expensive.

3. Olly Kids

This popular brand also surprised us by how low it ranked.

• Transparency: Vague website - No reliable details of manufacturing process or standards. It is a certified B Corp, so I gave it some extra credit for that.

• Ingredients: Nutritional value is OK, but added ingredients include glucose syrup, gelatin and coloring from non-organic fruit.

• Toxicity: They declined to share lab results upon request.

• Sustainable Packaging: In store they come in plastic tubs without a refill option. But you can buy their glass Joy Jar with refills online. 

• Pricing: Low price point, good value

4. Llama Naturals

This one is a pretty good choice. At this price point, it definitely offers the best combo of nutrition and safety as far as gummies go.

• Transparency: The website doesn’t have much detail on ingredients and safety, but they did send me their lab results upon request

• Ingredients: Nutritional value is good, certified organic, some sugar from fruit

• Toxicity: Extremely low levels of heavy metals present

• Sustainable Packaging: Plastic, not refillable

• Pricing: Mid-range price point, good value

5. SmartyPants: Kids Multi & Omega

Could be a good option in terms of price, nutrition and safety. But, conflicting lab reports between the company and lead safe mama show a POSSIBILITY of high lead levels. Not worth the risk, in our opinion. The added Omega 3s are nice, but you can also just feed your kid salmon.

• Transparency: Pretty thorough information on their site, and they did send me their lab results upon request

• Ingredients: Organic. Added ingredients include sugar, pectin, gelatin. Do include Omega 3s, which is nice. But you can also just feed your kid salmon…

• Toxicity: Shared lab results upon request. Ranked low in all heavy metals, but conflicted with lead safe mama which showed lead levels over daily limit. Not worth the risk

• Sustainable Packaging: Plastic, not refillable

• Pricing: Low-range price point, good value IF their lab report is accurate

The best…

Hiya earns the top spot because it provides a thoughtful balance of clean ingredients, essential nutrients, and kid-friendly taste. Unlike most brands, Hiya avoids added sugars entirely and uses only organic, non-GMO, and allergen-free ingredients. Its eco-friendly packaging and refillable model are perfect for health-conscious, environmentally aware families. Most importantly, it supports kids’ health without compromising on safety or quality, thanks to rigorous third-party testing and is the ONLY company to publish their lab results on their website.

…. and the worst

Unsurprisingly, when it comes to vitamins, you really get what you pay for. Popular, mass market brands like L’il Critters, Nature’s Way: Alive, and Flinstones all scored 1star per our ranking system (see the breakdown here). What they all have in common is that they are all owned by big-pharma parent companies with deep pockets. None of their websites included any meaningful information on manufacturing processes or safety standards. While all three declined our requests for third-party lab results, outside reports have found all of these brands to contain unhealthy levels of heavy metals, including lead.

Final Thoughts: Vitamins are a “nice to have”, especially for picky eaters. But, if considering one of the cheaper options that contain heavy metals and unhealthy ingredients, it’s better not to give them any at all.

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