5 Best Sucralose Substitutes

If you order a sugar-free vanilla latte or wanted to sweeten your black coffee without regular sugar, chances are you’ve bumped into sucralose. Sucralose (brand name Splenda) is a popular artificial sweetener used in sugar-free or reduced-sugar foods and drinks. Some of the biggest reasons you might use sucralose are to reduce your calorie and/or sugar intake. Are there any good substitutes for sucralose, though?

Some of the best sucralose substitutes are:

• Stevia
• Monk fruit sweetener
• Sugar alcohols
• Aspartame
• Allulose

We’ll offer more insight into these sucralose substitutes to help determine if you might want to swap sucralose out for one of them.

What is sucralose?

Sucralose (brand name Splenda) is an artificial sweetener. It doesn’t contain any sugar and is calorie-free, similar to many other sugar substitutes. Sucralose is a popular sugar alternative for those wanting to reduce their caloric intake, sugar intake, manage health concerns, and more.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of sucralose along with five other artificial sweeteners. Like the other FDA-approved artificial sweeteners, sucralose is sweeter than regular sugar (aka table sugar or sucrose) – about 600 times sweeter, in fact!

Fun fact: sucralose is made from real sugar! The chemical structure is changed during manufacturing to make it a no-calorie, no-sugar sweetener.

5 best sucralose substitutes

There are tons of sugars and sugar substitutes out there, but we’re rounded up some of the best sucralose substitutes next!

1. Stevia

If you want a natural alternative to sucralose, stevia is by far the most popular option. Unlike sucralose, stevia isn’t man-made and occurs naturally in the stevia plant (Stevia rebaudiana) which is also called ‘candyleaf’ because of its sweetness.

Stevia doesn’t contain calories or sugar (given the typical amounts used) but get this – it’s also considered a healthy option! Studies show that the compounds in stevia can have blood sugar-lowering and anti-inflammatory properties, just to name a few.

Some people consider The aftertaste of stevia bitter, so if you’re used to sucralose, it might take some time to adjust. Stevia is about 200-400 times sweeter than sugar, so it’s not as intense as sucralose in terms of sweetness. Like sucralose, you can find stevia in packets and larger containers for baking. 

Stevia is a good sucralose substitute for:

• A natural option
• Something generally considered healthier than artificial sweeteners
• Paleo-friendly

2. Monk fruit sweetener

Like stevia, monk fruit sweetener is a natural sugar alternative. It’s made from the Luo Han Guo (Siraitia grosvenorii) plant, and is around 200 times sweeter than regular sugar. The sweetness in monk fruit sweetener (aka monk fruit extract) comes from compounds called mogrosides.

Like stevia, the compounds in monk fruit sweetener have been shown to have potential health benefits in scientific studies. For that reason, monk fruit sweetener is considered a healthier alternative to sucralose.

Monk fruit sweetener is a good sucralose substitute for:

• A natural option
• Something generally considered healthier than artificial sweeteners
• Paleo-friendly

3. Sugar alcohols

Sugar alcohols like xylitol and erythritol have gained popularity as keto-friendly sweeteners. Unlike sucralose, sugar alcohols have some calories, but they still have a lower glycemic index (they don’t raise blood sugar levels quickly compared to sugar.) 

Unlike artificial sweeteners like sucralose, sugar alcohols aren’t sweeter than regular sugar. Depending on the type of sugar alcohol, they can be anywhere from 25% as sweet as sugar to close to the same sweetness as sugar.

Sugar alcohols occur naturally in some foods in small amounts such as apples and pears. However, when they’re used as a sugar alternative they are isolated during manufacturing. Because of this, added sugar alcohols aren’t considered a paleo-friendly sweetener.

Sugar alcohols are a good sucralose substitute for:

• A less sweet option compared to artificial sweeteners

4. Aspartame

Like sucralose, aspartame is one of the FDA-approved artificial sweeteners. Also going by the brand name Nutrasweet, aspartame is around 200 times sweeter than regular sugar. That means that aspartame isn’t as sweet as sucralose, which you might prefer if you find sucralose too sweet for your preferences.

Fun fact – when aspartame is combined with another artificial sweetener (acesulfame potassium) it makes Equal, one of the more popular artificial sweeteners.

Aspartame is a good sucralose substitute for:

• A less sweet option

5. Allulose

Allulose often gets confused for a sugar alcohol, but it’s not. Instead, allulose is a naturally occurring sugar found in foods like figs, raisins, and molasses. 

How sweet is allulose compared to regular sugar? It’s about 70% as sweet, which means it’s less sweet than sugar, yet doesn’t have significant calories or carbs (0 calories and 0 grams of net carbs per serving), similar to sucralose.

Allulose is a good sucralose substitute for:

• A less sweet option
• A more natural option

Comparison of sucralose substitutes

P=paleo

K=keto

V=vegan

Sweetener (per serving)	Calories	Total carbs	Sugar	Special diet-friendly
Sucralose	0	0 g	0 g	K, V
Stevia	0	1 g	0 g	P, K, V
Monk fruit sweetener	0	0 g	0 g	P, K, V
Sugar alcohols	Varies, but usually negligible	Varies, but usually negligible	Varies, but usually negligible	V; many are K
Aspartame	0	0 g	0 g	V, K
Allulose (5 g)	0	5 g (0 g net carbs)	0 g	V, K

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