16 Popular Sugar-Free Candies, Ranked Worst To Best

Candy is the guilty pleasure of many adults, but if you want to avoid sugar, you may think you have to give it up. However, there is a solution: sugar-free candy. The question is, are they any good? We've tried 16 sugar-free candies and ranked each one from worst to best to help you decide.

In moderation, sugar-free candy can be a welcome treat. The FDA designates food as sugar-free when each serving contains no more than 0.5 grams of sugar. This is also called zero sugar. There are three options for sugar replacement. The first is artificial sweeteners, which are processed in a lab. They have nutritional value and are often FDA-approved, such as aspartame. Because some experts claim they pose risks such as weight gain or disease, these have largely fallen out of favor.

The next category is sugar alcohol. These are gaining popularity in the candy market. These include erythritol, maltitol, and xylitol. Some people complain these cause gastrointestinal discomfort, like bloating, gas, or diarrhea. The final replacement category for sugar is novel sweeteners. These are usually derived from plants and include allulose, monk fruit, and stevia. For this ranking, we considered the types of sweeteners used, as well as how well the flavors of these sugar free candies mimic the classics.

Fruit chews are the delicious take on old-timey taffy. Its fun and chewy flavor lingers in your mouth for long-lasting flavor. We initially thought it was great news that Russell Stover makes a sugar-free version.

Unfortunately, this candy did not stand up to other fruit chews. This may be caused by the fact that sugar is an essential ingredient to provide the right taste and consistency for taffy and fruit chews. You have to replace those sugars with a high amount of sugar alcohols or digestion-resistant carbohydrates.

These fruit chews are sweetened with maltitol syrup but also have ticagel natural gum, which contains sucrose. According to the label, this adds a "negligible amount of sugar." Finally, this candy contains Red Dye #40, which research has linked to both ADHD and other issues.

But the biggest problem with these fruit chews is the taste and the price. Several pieces melted and stuck to the wrapper but were perfectly chewy. While most flavors had a fair amount of fruity taste (except strawberry), the candy also had a strong stevia flavor and an unpleasant aftertaste. At nearly $10 a bag, we could not recommend these candies.

Next up is SmartSweets' take on twisted candy, which some people inaccurately label licorice. Red Twists contain allulose and stevia as sweeteners, providing a more nutritious option than traditional candy. The ingredients also include plant-derived fiber, so it can even provide nutrients your body needs. It also helps reduce the candy's impact on your blood sugar.

SmartSweets claims that its type of product testing is more comprehensive than other companies. It tests for a particular sugar molecule that other companies leave out of testing. This is why you'll see a few grams of sugar in one serving of its products. The implication is that other companies may contain those sugars; in total, one serving of Red Twists contains 2 grams of sugar.

Red Twists were less firm than expected and weren't very sweet compared to their conventional counterparts. There was a slight and unique aftertaste, almost a little like sour candy flavor, so we could not put as high up on the list as we would have liked.

Just like Hershey's, Lily's offers a low-sugar peanut butter cup. Interestingly, Hershey's bought this company in 2021 despite having launched its own Zero Sugar line that same year. Lily's candies are sweetened with erythritol and stevia extract. It also contains dextrin, a non-GMO dietary fiber, and inulin, a soluble plant fiber. That means that Lily's candy contains a fair amount of fiber. All of the dairy used by Lily's is free of growth hormones (rBST), and many of its items are Fair Trade Certified. 

Once you open the wrapper, you are met with a delicious chocolatey smell, which delivers a rich, smooth taste. The peanut butter was on target in taste but a bit too mild. The candy wasn't bad, but not as enjoyable as the original Reese's or even the Zero Sugar version. We give Lily high grades for manufacturing a candy you can feel good about, but we had to knock a few points for the high price of a small bag. We are also curious to see if Hershey's changes the formula of Lily's products over the next few years.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are probably one of the most beloved Hershey's candies. But although this iconic candy was inspired by Hershey, it was invented by someone else. In 1928, Harry Burnett Reese invented the peanut butter cup as part of an assortment. It was a fan favorite, and the rest is history. Hershey bought the H.B. Reese Candy Company in 1963.

Upon opening, the familiar chocolate and peanut butter scent wafted up ... just like the full sugar version. The taste, however, was far less sweet, even if you're not a fan of high sugar content, although the chocolate was rich and milky. The peanut butter had a good mouthfeel but it was drier than the original candy, which impacted the consistency. That may explain why it seemed like the flavor clung to the back of the throat — not necessarily a bad thing. Like all the Zero Sugar candies, these are available at a good price point; therefore, we recommend these peanut butter cups.

Dating back to 1909, Werther's Original Candy may have been on the shelf at your grandparents' house — or even great-grandparents' — homes for many years. Its advertising campaigns even focused on bringing generations of family members together.

However, the sugar-free version did not come around until nearly 100 years later, in 2005. These hard candies feature a sugar alcohol called isomalt. It's smooth and rich yet mildly flavored. It's not overly sweet, but, considering its tiny size, it did last a fairly long time with a satisfying caramel flavor.

Werther's Sugar Free hard candies are a faithful reproduction of the original and are available at a reasonable price. Go ahead and bring a few bags next time you visit your older friends and family members. We bet they'll appreciate it. And you might find yourself stocking up on it for your own eating pleasure.

Chocolate bark, so named for its bumpy resemblance to tree bark, consists of a flat sheet of chocolate covered with a layer of another item. The most popular is peppermint bark, which is often associated with the Christmas season. While Choc Zero does carry holiday-themed candies in season, its Keto Bark candies are available all year. These are made with non-GMO-resistant dextrin and sweetened with monk fruit. Dark Chocolate Almond Keto Bark is the most widely available choice.

Choc Zero uses non-GMO-resistant dextrin, so it does contain 5 grams of dietary fiber and uses monk fruit as a sweetener. The chocolate also includes Madagascar bourbon vanilla beans, which may contribute to the delicious flavor. The almonds are small and evenly distributed throughout the bark for crunch in every bite, but it was a bit dry. 

Choc Zero makes all its dark chocolate without dairy and on a separate production from its milk-based products, so these bars are truly vegan-friendly. While not certified by the organization Fair Trade, this brand is recommended by The Food Empowerment Project, which recommends vegan chocolate products from sources free from human exploitation. Choc Zero costs more than conventional candy, but we think the quality makes it worth the price.

Hershey has added many of its chocolate candy flavors to its Zero Sugar lineup. Instead of trying all of them, we went with the original classic: Hershey's milk chocolate candy bar. While the Hershey name is synonymous with milk chocolate, founder Milton Hershey did not invent this blend, though he is credited with making milk chocolate candy popular and readily available.

The Zero Sugar Chocolate Bar has a long history to live up to. How did it taste? Hershey's iconic milk chocolate flavor comes through in this candy bar, but it's a bit less sweet than its counterpart and not quite as melty. The flavor sticks to your mouth but dissipates faster than the traditional bar. All in all, this was a delicious candy without a hint of aftertaste. It's a guilt-free way to enjoy Hershey's classic milk chocolate candy taste.

As a chocolate option, we felt that Hershey's Zero Sugar Chocolate Candy bar was everything you'd expect out of a candy, minus the sugar. It tasted closer to the original than any of the other chocolate brands. Given its longevity and its appeal to anyone who loves milk chocolate, we felt it earned a position in the top three sugar-free candies.

We were hoping that a classic candy that's available nearly everywhere would earn the top spot, and Twizzlers Zero Sugar fit the bill better than any other candy we tried! Twizzlers is a popular movie theater candy that doesn't compare to its competitors — and with good reason. A range of Twizzler flavors, as well as being featured in "Back to the Future," "Home Alone," and even an episode of "Friends," launched this candy to popularity.  That's a tall order to live up to, but Zero Sugar Twizzlers surpassed our expectations!

We chose this candy for our number one spot because there was no discernable difference between these Twizzlers and the full-sugar version. It was the best imitation of any original sugared candy, including product and package size for the price. You'll open the bag to the familiar scent of these movie night treats. A similar size to its sugared version, Zero Sugar Twizzlers has the right mouthfeel, consistency, and near-perfect chewiness. So go ahead and enjoy this guilt-free, long-lasting, full-flavored candy that earned our top recommended candy for people avoiding sugar.