Is ProBalance Worth It?
A straight answer on whether ProBalance 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
Poor value
ProBalance product photography
- Overall score
- 54/100
- Poor value
- Value score
- 68/100
- Average
- From (per day)
- $1.50
- ~15kg dog
The short answer
A budget-tier value brand that's cheap per bag but built down to a price. Ingredient quality scores low on our index: the panels lean on grain and plant protein rather than named single-source meat, and sourcing detail is sparse. The low sticker is real, but cost-per-day narrows the gap to a better-specced premium bag more than the shelf price suggests.
Where the points come from
The strongest pillar is price & value at 68/100, worth 25 of the 100 points. The weakest is ingredient quality at 51/100. 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 68/100, which we rate average, and it carries 25 of the 100 points on its own. The cheapest way to feed it in our index is ProBalance Adult Chicken 18kg, at $1.50 a day for a ~15kg adult dog.
The field
Where 54 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 ProBalance 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.
ProBalance
54/100 overall · Poor value
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 ProBalance 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 ProBalance is worth it
- Tight budgets
- Mixing with fresh toppers to lift the panel
When to compare carefully
- Ingredient quality is a priority
- You want named single-source protein
What it costs
What ProBalance 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
The product we hold
ProBalance Adult Chicken 18kg
- Price per kg
- $4.94/kg
- Est. cost per day
- $1.50
- Pack size
- 18kg
- First ingredient
- Chicken meal / cereals
- Protein
- 23%
Best per-serve value
ProBalance Adult Chicken 18kg
$4.94/kg
$1.50 a day for a ~15kg adult dog
- Pack size
- 18kg
- First ingredient
- Chicken meal / cereals
- Format
- Dry
Licensed editorial photography
The verdict
Is ProBalance worth it?
Cheap up front, but grain- and plant-protein-led with little sourcing detail. Once you factor in serving size, a slightly pricier premium bag with named meat often lands close on cost per day: so don't assume the low sticker is the better deal for your dog.
Scored out of 100 across 6 weighted pillars
dogfoodreviews.com.au
The detail
The daily-cost maths on ProBalance's 18kg bag
ProBalance's only priced bag in our index is the Adult Chicken 18kg at $89.00, or $4.94 per kg and about $1.50 a day for a 15kg adult dog. At that rate the bag covers close to 59 days, so $89.00 buys roughly two months of dinners. Prices here are editorial estimates, so confirm the live figure with the retailer before buying.
Set that against two alternatives named in ProBalance's own entry. SavourLife Original Adult Chicken 18kg costs $145.00, or $8.06 per kg and $2.00 a day. Black Hawk Adult Chicken & Rice 20kg costs $169.00, $8.45 per kg and $2.10 a day. ProBalance is $3.12 and $3.51 cheaper per kilo, but only 50 and 60 cents per day: about $183 and $219 a year.
Where ProBalance earns the price it charges
Price and value is ProBalance's strongest pillar at 68 out of 100, worth 25 of the 100 points, which is why a brand scoring 54 overall still deserves costing out. The 18kg bag is Australian made, carries our Budget price tier, and the product rates 62 out of 100: under the premium bags, over the supermarket house brands sharing that tier.
It also does what a value kibble must: 23% protein and 12% fat in a plain adult dry food. Availability scores 63 out of 100, respectable for a brand our index finds at one online retailer, and sentiment sits at 56. That mix, not the ingredient panel, is what the 68 pays for. Not veterinary advice: ask your vet before changing a diet.
When ProBalance is not worth the saving
Ingredient quality is the weakest pillar at 51 out of 100, carrying the same 25 points as value, which pulls the overall to 54. The first ingredient is logged as chicken meal / cereals, not a single named meat, sourcing detail is sparse, and transparency lands at 56. If named single-source protein is what you want, 50 cents a day buys none of it.
Our note on the bag is that it works best with a fresh topper, and that is where the maths turns: whatever you add comes straight out of the 50 to 60 cents separating it from SavourLife Original and Black Hawk, which both lead with chicken at 26% protein. On product ratings the gap is 62 against 83 and 85.
How owners pay less for ProBalance
Pack size gives no lever here: the 18kg bag is the only ProBalance product our index holds, so there is no bigger bag to trade up into the way Black Hawk's 20kg allows. The single stockist we hold is Budget Pet Products at $89.00, which scores 88 out of 100 on pricing, its strongest pillar, so $89.00 is already the sharp everyday price.
Two retailer details matter. Free shipping starts at $59, so one $89.00 bag clears it alone and the $9.95 postage floor never applies to this pack. Budget Pet Products runs auto-delivery discounts, though its subscription perks score 60 out of 100. It does not price match, and the three chains that do, Petbarn, Petstock and PetO, do not stock ProBalance in our index. Every figure here is an editorial estimate, so check the live price and postage with the retailer before ordering.
The alternatives
Better-value alternatives to ProBalance
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.
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
Ivory Coat
Premium · Good
A competent grain-free all-rounder, but it's mid-pack on every measure and now sits inside a big multi-brand portfolio where recipes have moved with ownership. Fine if the price is right on the day: just don't expect it to out-spec a more focused independent brand.
- Value
- 71/100
- Ingredients
- 73/100
Best forGrain-free everyday feeding where 'good enough' is fine
SavourLife
Premium · Good
Fair value and the rescue donations are real, not greenwash: but the food itself is good rather than exceptional, with mid-premium panels and a narrow range. Buy it because the per-kg value stacks up, not because the cause makes the ingredients better than they are.
- Value
- 78/100
- Ingredients
- 74/100
Best forValue-conscious feeders who want a clean enough panel
Common questions
Is ProBalance 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
ProBalance scores 54/100 overall and 68/100 on value in our index (average on value). Cheap up front, but grain- and plant-protein-led with little sourcing detail. Once you factor in serving size, a slightly pricier premium bag with named meat often lands close on cost per day: so don't assume the low sticker is the better deal for your dog.
For a ~15kg adult dog, ProBalance works out from about $1.50 per day on ProBalance Adult Chicken 18kg ($4.94/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 ProBalance carefully against Black Hawk and Ivory Coat. The right pick is the one that fits your dog and budget.
Consider Black Hawk, Ivory Coat, SavourLife. Compare them on price per kg and cost per day: a different brand may give you more for similar money.
On our editorial estimate of $1.50 a day for a 15kg adult dog, the $89.00 Adult Chicken 18kg bag covers close to 59 days, so roughly two months between orders. A smaller dog stretches it further and a larger dog empties it faster, because cost per day is worked from the brand's own feeding guide rather than the bag price.
Our index holds one stockist for ProBalance: Budget Pet Products, at $89.00 for the 18kg bag, or $4.94 per kg. We hold no member or subscription price for that bag, and the retailer does not price match, so there is no lower figure to chase across chains. The brand scores 63 out of 100 on availability. Confirm live pricing before buying.
Because the value pillar weighs what the money buys, not the sticker alone. SavourLife scores 78 and Black Hawk 74 on the same pillar at roughly $8.06 and $8.45 per kg, with chicken leading their panels. ProBalance is cheaper per kilo, but its ingredient score is 51, so the low price does not convert into a top value score.
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.