Sugars and sweeteners fall into four families — sugars, rare sugars, sugar alcohols, and high-intensity sweeteners. They differ most in four things: calories, effect on blood sugar, how they behave in baking, and sweetness. This table compares all 21 on each.
Knowing which family a sweetener belongs to explains most of its trade-offs before you read a single number.
Sucrose, HFCS, honey, agave, lactose. Caloric and glycemic. The taste and baking benchmark.
Allulose. A true sugar by chemistry and behavior, but barely metabolized — low calorie, low glycemic.
Erythritol, xylitol, sorbitol, maltitol, isomalt. Low-calorie polyols; tolerance varies by person.
Aspartame, sucralose, saccharin, Ace-K. Hundreds of times sweeter than sugar; used in tiny amounts.
Tap a column heading to sort. Filter by family below. Values are typical figures from published references and FDA guidance.
| Sweetener ▲▼ | Family ▲▼ | Calories / g ▲▼ | Glycemic index ▲▼ | Is it a sugar? ▲▼ | Browns / bakes ▲▼ | Adds bulk ▲▼ | Sweetness vs sugar ▲▼ | Added Sugar on US label ▲▼ | WHO 2023 advisory ▲▼ | Lead concern flag ▲▼ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allulose | Rare sugar | ~0.4 | Zero | Yes | Yes | Yes | ~70% | No | Outside advisory | None of the below |
| Sucrose (table sugar) | Sugar | ~4 | High | Yes | Yes | Yes | 100% | Yes | Added sugar | The reference added sugar |
| High-fructose corn syrup | Sugar | ~4 | High | Yes | Yes | Yes | ~100% | Yes | Added sugar | “Mainly sugar” |
| Fructose | Sugar | ~4 | Low (~19) | Yes | Yes | Yes | ~130% | Yes | Added sugar | “Mainly sugar” |
| Honey | Sugar | ~3 | Moderate–high | Yes | Yes | Yes | ~120% | Yes | Added sugar | Regional arsenic; infant botulism |
| Molasses | Sugar | ~3 | Moderate–high | Yes | Yes | Yes | ~70% | Yes | Added sugar | Lead / acrylamide (Prop 65) |
| Agave nectar | Sugar | ~3.1 | Low–moderate | Yes | Yes | Yes | ~140% | Yes | Added sugar | High fructose load |
| Lactose | Sugar | ~4 | Low | Yes | Limited | Yes | ~20% | If added | Intrinsic sugar | Lactose intolerance |
| Maltodextrin | Starch-derived | ~4 | Very high | No | Yes | Yes | very low | No* | Carbohydrate | Very high GI; carrier in blends |
| Erythritol | Sugar alcohol | ~0.2 | Zero–very low | No | No | Yes | ~65% | No | Excluded (sugar alcohol) | Cardiovascular association (Witkowski) |
| Xylitol | Sugar alcohol | ~2.4 | Very low | No | Limited | Yes | ~100% | No | Excluded (sugar alcohol) | CV association (2024); toxic to dogs |
| Sorbitol | Sugar alcohol | ~2.6 | Very low | No | No | Yes | ~60% | No | Excluded (sugar alcohol) | Laxative effect; AB 1264 |
| Maltitol | Sugar alcohol | ~2.1 | Low–moderate | No | Limited | Yes | ~85% | No | Excluded (sugar alcohol) | Highest-GI polyol; AB 1264 |
| Isomalt | Sugar alcohol | ~2.0 | Very low | No | Limited | Yes | ~55% | No | Excluded (sugar alcohol) | Caloric polyol; AB 1264 |
| Aspartame | High-intensity | ≈0** | Negligible | No | No | No | ~200× | No | Inside (named) | IARC 2B; obesity association |
| Sucralose | High-intensity | 0 | Negligible | No | No | No | ~600× | No | Inside (named) | DNA-toxic 6-acetate; immunotherapy assoc. |
| Saccharin | High-intensity | 0 | Negligible | No | No | No | ~350× | No | Inside (named) | Body-fat association; bladder syndrome |
| Acesulfame potassium | High-intensity | 0 | Negligible | No | No | No | ~200× | No | Inside (named) | Cancer + early-puberty associations |
| Stevia | High-intensity | ~0 | Negligible | No | No | No | ~300× | No | Inside (named) | Usually mostly erythritol |
| Monk fruit | High-intensity | ~0 | Negligible | No | No | No | ~200× | No | Inside (as NSS) | Usually mostly erythritol |
| Neotame | High-intensity | ~0 | Negligible | No | No | No | ~10,000× | No | Inside (named) | Gut-model harm (2024); limited human data |
* Maltodextrin is a starch-derived carbohydrate, not a sugar, so it is not on the Added Sugars line — though its glycemic impact is high. ** Aspartame is ~4 calories per gram, but is used in such tiny amounts that its per-serving contribution is effectively zero. Values are typical figures and vary by source and brand; this table is for general comparison and does not replace a product's own label.
Two category-wide findings apply to the artificial / high-intensity group rather than to any single sweetener: heavy intake of artificially sweetened beverages has been associated with higher atrial-fibrillation risk (Sun, 2024), and high sweetener intake in adults under 60 has been associated with faster cognitive decline, with aspartame flagged specifically (Goncalves, 2025) — in which tagatose, a rare sugar, was the one sweetener linked to no decline. Both are observational associations, not proof of cause.
A short, honest summary of where each family is strong and where it isn't.
Sucrose, HFCS, honey and agave are the taste and baking benchmark — they do every job sugar does, because they are sugar. Their shared drawback is the one health authorities are consistent on: they are caloric and raise blood sugar. The World Health Organization recommends limiting free sugars, and the US Dietary Guidelines advise keeping added sugars under 10% of daily calories. Honey and agave are sometimes seen as "natural" alternatives, but nutritionally they are caloric added sugars like the rest.
Allulose is the only sweetener that sits in both camps at once: it is a true sugar — it browns, caramelizes, bulks and bakes — yet it is barely metabolized, contributing about 0.4 calories per gram with a glycemic index of zero. That combination is what makes it unusual; no other family delivers sugar-like function with a low caloric and glycemic profile.
Erythritol, xylitol, sorbitol, maltitol and isomalt are low-calorie and low-glycemic, and they provide bulk — useful in sugar-free products. The trade-offs: most do not brown or caramelize like sugar, they often carry a cooling taste, and larger amounts can cause digestive discomfort in some people, with tolerance varying by the specific alcohol. Maltitol is the outlier, with a noticeably higher glycemic impact than the others.
Aspartame, sucralose, saccharin and acesulfame potassium are hundreds of times sweeter than sugar, so they are used in tiny amounts and contribute virtually no calories. They are efficient for sweetening drinks and simple foods. Their limitation is functional: because they are used in such small quantities, they provide no bulk, structure or browning, so they cannot stand in for sugar in baking on their own.
No sweetener wins on every measure. But one pattern stands out in the table above.
Every other family asks you to give something up. Sugars give you full function and full calories and glycemic load. High-intensity sweeteners give you near-zero calories but no baking function. Sugar alcohols land in between, with tolerance caveats. Allulose is the one row in the table that pairs sugar-like function — browning, caramelizing, bulk, structure, clean taste — with roughly 0.4 calories per gram and a glycemic index of zero. That is not an opinion; it is what the columns show. It is also why allulose is worth a closer look than a single table row can give it.
Allulose is not flawless — it is slightly less sweet than sugar, browns faster, and very large amounts can cause digestive discomfort like other low-digestible sweeteners. A fair comparison says so. Its standout is the combination of properties, not perfection on any single one.
Baking is where these differences show up most — see the guide to the best sweetener for baking.
There is no single answer, because it depends on use and on the person. For blood sugar, allulose, sugar alcohols and high-intensity sweeteners all have a low to negligible glycemic impact, well below sugar. For baking, allulose behaves most like sugar. Health authorities are clearest on what to limit — conventional added sugars — rather than naming one "healthiest" choice.
Among low-calorie options, allulose behaves most like sugar — it browns, caramelizes and provides bulk and structure. Sugar alcohols provide bulk but most do not brown well. High-intensity sweeteners do not provide bulk or browning, so they are difficult to bake with on their own.
Nutritionally, honey is a caloric added sugar. It contains trace nutrients sugar does not, but it raises blood sugar and counts toward added-sugar intake much like table sugar. Health authorities advise limiting all free sugars, honey included.
Sugar alcohols are widely used and FDA-permitted. The most common issue is digestive — larger amounts can cause bloating or a laxative effect in some people, with tolerance varying by the specific sugar alcohol and the individual.
Conventional sugars — sucrose, HFCS, honey and agave — count toward the Added Sugars line on the US Nutrition Facts panel. Allulose, sugar alcohols and high-intensity sweeteners do not; allulose is specifically excluded by the FDA.