Is Hill's Science Diet Worth It?
A straight answer on whether Hill's Science Diet is worth the money, based on its overall score, value score and real cost per serve, with better-value alternatives if it isn't the right fit.
Reviewed by Adam Lorimer
Contributing reviewer, brand and product sideIndependent scoringUpdated August 2026Not veterinary advice
Our score
Average
Hill's Science Diet product photography
- Overall score
- 66/100
- Average
- Value score
- 52/100
- Poor value
- From (per day)
- $2.70
- ~15kg dog
The short answer
A science-led brand with a deep, well-researched prescription range: clinically rigorous and consistent. Outside the therapeutic lines, though, the value is below average for the price: the standard panels lean on corn, grain and by-product meals rather than named single-source protein, and you carry a vet-clinic price premium for the brand and its shelf presence. The prescription range is the reason to buy it, not the everyday food.
Where the points come from
The strongest pillar is nutrition & suitability at 77/100, worth 20 of the 100 points. The weakest is price & value at 52/100. That pattern, rather than the headline number, is what decides whether the price is worth paying for your dog.
What the money buys
Value is scored at 52/100, which we rate poor value, and it carries 25 of the 100 points on its own. The cheapest way to feed it in our index is Hill's Science Diet Adult Chicken 12kg, at $2.70 a day for a ~15kg adult dog.
The field
Where 66 sits across every brand we score
One tick per brand. The shaded band is the middle half of the index and the heavy rule is the median, so the score reads as a position rather than a promise.
- MinMin
- 44
- Q1Lower quartile
- 58.5
- MedianMedian
- 69.5
- Q3Upper quartile
- 78.8
- MaxMax
- 87
| Brand | Overall score |
|---|---|
| Black & Gold | 44 |
| Baxter's | 46 |
| Julius | 48 |
| Woofin' Good! | 50 |
| ProBalance | 54 |
| Leaps & Bounds | 60 |
| The Nosh Project | 62 |
| Providore | 64 |
| Hill's Science Diet | 66 |
| Royal Canin | 68 |
| Ivory Coat | 71 |
| Meals for Mutts | 74 |
| SavourLife | 75 |
| Black Hawk | 76 |
| Prime100 | 78 |
| ZIWI Peak | 81 |
| Petzyo | 83 |
| Frontier Pets | 84 |
| Scratch | 86 |
| Lyka | 87 |
Dog Food Reviews scoring
The scorecard
How Hill's Science Diet scores
Scored against our published methodology. Where a brand earns its points is the whole worth-it question: two brands on the same overall score can be worth very different money.
Hill's Science Diet
66/100 overall · Average
How the 100 points are split
- 25 Price & Value
- 25 Ingredient Quality
- 20 Nutrition & Suitability
- 15 Transparency
- 10 Availability & Convenience
- 5 Customer Sentiment
The checklist
When Hill's Science Diet is worth it, and when it is not
Both lists come straight from this brand's entry in our index. Neither is a verdict on the food, only on the fit.
When Hill's Science Diet is worth it
- Vet-prescribed therapeutic diets
- Genuine condition-specific feeding
- Senior and weight-management cases under vet guidance
When to compare carefully
- You want named-meat ingredients and value on everyday feeding
What it costs
What Hill's Science Diet costs to feed
Cost per day is the figure that decides this page. It assumes a ~15kg adult dog at the brand's own feeding guide, so it moves with your dog rather than with the sticker price.
Prices checked· Editorial estimates
Estimated cost per day
Every product on one scale
All 2 Hill's Science Diet products we hold, cheapest to feed first. Price per kilo sits under each label, because the bag price and the feed price are not the same question.
| Product | Est. cost per day | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Hill's Science Diet Adult Chicken 12kg | $2.70 | Dry · 12kg · $11.58/kg |
| Hill's Science Diet Sensitive Stomach 12kg | $2.90 | Dry · 12kg · $12.42/kg |
Editorial estimates · ~15kg adult dog
Best per-serve value
Hill's Science Diet Adult Chicken 12kg
$11.58/kg
$2.70 a day for a ~15kg adult dog
- Pack size
- 12kg
- First ingredient
- Chicken
- Format
- Dry
Licensed editorial photography
The verdict
Is Hill's Science Diet worth it?
Strong for prescription and therapeutic needs, and that's genuinely where it belongs. For everyday feeding it's poor value: corn- and by-product-led panels at a vet-clinic price, with named-meat premium brands offering a better ingredient panel for the money. Don't default to it for a healthy dog without checking the cost per kg.
Scored out of 100 across 6 weighted pillars
dogfoodreviews.com.au
The detail
The daily maths: $2.70 a day, against $2.10 and $2.60
Hill's Science Diet Adult Chicken 12kg lists at $139 in our index: $11.58 per kg, and about $2.70 a day for a 15kg adult dog on our editorial estimates. Sensitive Stomach 12kg is $149, $12.42 per kg, $2.90 a day. Black Hawk Adult Chicken & Rice costs more per bag at $169, but it is a 20kg bag: $8.45 per kg, roughly $2.10 a day.
That 60 cent gap to Black Hawk is about $219 a year for one medium dog. Royal Canin Medium Adult 15kg sits closer, at $10.60 per kg and about $2.60 a day, ten cents under Hill's. So the everyday Hill's bag is dearest per kilo of the three while scoring 66/100 overall, against Royal Canin's 68 and Black Hawk's 76.
Where Hill's earns the premium: two pillars at 77/100
Nutrition and suitability is the equal-strongest pillar at 77/100, worth 20 of the 100 points in our model, and it edges Black Hawk's 76. Availability matches it at 77/100: six retailers in our index list Hill's, Petbarn, Pet Circle, Petstock, Budget Pet Products, PETO and Habitat, so the same bag can be shopped around rather than taken at one shelf price.
That consistency shows in the bags. Adult Chicken rates 77/100 and Sensitive Stomach 78/100, both above the brand's own 66/100, so the products carry the range rather than the badge. Our entry is plain that the prescription and therapeutic lines are where the research is strongest: when a vet directs the diet, price per kg stops being the deciding number. Not veterinary advice.
When it is not worth it: 52/100 on value
Value scores 52/100, the lowest of the 19 brands in our food index: under Royal Canin's 54, and under the supermarket house labels Baxter's and Black & Gold on 53. Price and value carries 25 of the 100 points on its own, which is how a brand with a 77 nutrition score still lands on 66 overall and a $$$$ price tier.
Ingredients sit at 57/100, twenty points under its own nutrition pillar and nineteen under Black Hawk's 76. Chicken leads both 12kg bags, but protein is declared at 22% against 26% in the Black Hawk bag and 25% in Prime100's SK-D dry, and our entry flags standard panels leaning on corn, grain and by-product meals. For a healthy adult dog, that is the case for comparing.
How owners pay less: $125 to $152 on the same 12kg bag
There is no big-bag lever here: both Hill's bags we hold are 12kg, so the only size choice is $11.58 or $12.42 per kg. The saving comes from the retailer. Adult Chicken is $152 on Petbarn's shelf, $139 with member pricing, $132 at Pet Circle and $125 on Pet Circle autoship, which works out at $10.42 per kg and $27 under that shelf price.
Sensitive Stomach spans a narrower $20: $162 at Petbarn, $149 for members, $145 at Budget Pet Products and $142 at Pet Circle, or $11.83 per kg. Petbarn's Repeat Delivery runs up to about 15%, and Petbarn and PETO both price match, so a cheaper quote is worth carrying in. Either bag clears the $49 and $59 free-delivery thresholds alone. Prices are editorial estimates.
The alternatives
Better-value alternatives to Hill's Science Diet
Scored on the same 100-point model, so the comparison is like for like. Each card prints the two pillars a reader actually swaps a food on.
Royal Canin
Super-premium · Average
Worth it for genuine therapeutic and prescription needs, where the research is unmatched. For everyday feeding it's hard to justify: by-product- and grain-led panels at a top-tier price per kg, where much of what you're buying is the vet-clinic positioning. Compare cost per day against named-meat premium rivals before defaulting to it.
- Value
- 54/100
- Ingredients
- 60/100
Best forVet-prescribed therapeutic feeding
Prime100
Premium · Good
A capable single-protein option for elimination diets, and the labels are honest. But the rolls especially carry a steep price per kg for what is a deliberately simple recipe, and the range spread across formats muddies value: price the dry against the rolls per serve before you settle on one.
- Value
- 72/100
- Ingredients
- 83/100
Best forSensitive stomachs
Black Hawk
Premium · Good
Fine on a discounted big bag if you choose a named-meat-first recipe, but don't assume the whole range is equal: the cheaper lines pad the panel with grain and rice, and a chunk of the price is reach and marketing rather than ingredients. Compare the specific formula on cost per kg against SavourLife and Ivory Coat.
- Value
- 74/100
- Ingredients
- 76/100
Best forEveryday feeding if you pick the right recipe
Common questions
Is Hill's Science Diet worth it? FAQs
Short answers to the questions that decide it, using the same published figures as the sections above.
Answers checked
Scores and estimates from our index
Hill's Science Diet scores 66/100 overall and 52/100 on value in our index (poor value on value). Strong for prescription and therapeutic needs, and that's genuinely where it belongs. For everyday feeding it's poor value: corn- and by-product-led panels at a vet-clinic price, with named-meat premium brands offering a better ingredient panel for the money. Don't default to it for a healthy dog without checking the cost per kg.
For a ~15kg adult dog, Hill's Science Diet works out from about $2.70 per day on Hill's Science Diet Adult Chicken 12kg ($11.58/kg). Cost per serve is the figure that matters most: compare it against alternatives before deciding.
If value is your top priority and you're feeding a large dog on a tight budget, compare Hill's Science Diet carefully against Royal Canin and Prime100. The right pick is the one that fits your dog and budget.
Consider Royal Canin, Prime100, Black Hawk. Compare them on price per kg and cost per day: a different brand may give you more for similar money.
Both are 12kg bags that list chicken first at 22% protein. Sensitive Stomach is $149 against $139, so $12.42 per kg rather than $11.58, and about $2.90 a day for a 15kg adult dog rather than $2.70 on our editorial estimates. It rates 78/100 to Adult Chicken's 77 and carries 15% fat against 14%. The $10 buys the formulation difference, not a better ingredient score, and whether your dog needs it is a question for your vet. Not veterinary advice.
It changes what the maths is for. Our entry is clear that the therapeutic and prescription lines are where Hill's research is strongest, and the two bags we price, Adult Chicken and Sensitive Stomach 12kg, are everyday retail bags rather than vet diets. For scale, the one therapeutic diet we do price, Royal Canin Gastrointestinal 15kg, is held at $219, $14.60 per kg and about $3.60 a day, all editorial estimates. A prescription diet is chosen on your vet's direction, not on price per kg. Not veterinary advice.
Hill's Science Diet comes from Hill's Pet Nutrition, part of Colgate-Palmolive, and our entry records manufacture as USA and multiple sites rather than Australia. Transparency scores 67/100. Both alternatives named on this page are made in Australia on our records: Black Hawk, owned by EBOS Group through Masterpet and scoring 74/100 on transparency, and Prime100, an Australian owner, at 81/100. If country of manufacture matters to you, that is a real difference, and the Black Hawk 20kg bag is also the cheapest per kilo of the three at an estimated $8.45.
No. Dog Food Reviews is an independent value and comparison resource, not veterinary advice. Prices are illustrative and manually entered for v1, always confirm the live price with the retailer before buying.