I'm going on 3 months now of using Vega One, vanilla and vanilla chai flavors. Over the past 26 of my 41 years I've tried and used several different kinds of protein/supplement shakes, involving any protein source out there; they've come a long way in that time. That's the background by which I'm measuring Vega One.

EDIT 4/3/16: About a year into using Vega One now; I have lost over 100lbs, gained muscle, and generally improved health. I'm staying with this stuff for life. Vanilla Chai now my preferred flavor.
EDIT 1/4/17: I'm 43 now. Started at 41. Have kept the weight off and continue to build muscle.

*I have hypothyroid, celiac disease and lupus; these conditions affect my options.

*I am on Coumadin (warfarin), an anti-coagulant, and the 'greens' content does affect INR; talk to your coag clinic BEFORE you start using Vega One so they can adjust your dosage correctly.

*I am recovering from major spine injury/surgery following a car crash (got hit by a drunk). I am back in the gym to lose some weight and rebuild my body; prior to the crash I was in good physical and athletic condition.
If you are in similar straits, I hope my review may be particularly helpful to you.

My most recent go-to had been NutriBiotic's rice protein powder over the last few years. Good product, but I need more from a supplement now than I used to. I discovered Vega through Twitter, described as "the Dior" of protein/sport supplements by someone whose opinions I trust, and decided to give it a shot.

The research I did gave me pause; some of the negative reviews out there on other sites described becoming severely ill within hours of consuming it, some even calling it "poison" due to the gastrointestinal effects they claimed they experienced. There was talk of a reformulation which occurred a few years ago and claims that the current version is inferior. I can't speak to that, so on we go.

Vega One is the best protein/supplement shake I have ever used.
I had no stomach/gut upset whatsoever. I mix it with unsweetened almond or cashew milk in a shaker cup and let it sit for a few minutes before drinking it - this greatly improves the texture. I already use stevia so the sweetness is just right to me -- if you're not used to stevia it may seem too sweet on first trying it, or may have an odd aftertaste. You get used to it pretty quickly.
[EDIT: Thanks to Carybear for this info - there is a 'natural' flavor with no stevia, for those who dislike it!]

Let's be real here -- a lot of reviews complain about the taste/texture, but come on. It's a protein&supplement shake, not a Fribble, and your expectations need to be ready for that. On its own it mixes up thick, sweet, smooth and green and it's a little odd at first but easy to get used to. With a blender you can add anything you like to alter the taste, texture and nutrients - fruit&veg, spices, peanut butter, cocoa powder, whatever, it makes a great base to concoct your own über-shake or meal replacement.

Since January 2015 to now, July 2015, I have lost 50+lb of retained water and fat and gained back several pounds of muscle. That is directly attributed to getting my butt into the gym more often and using Vega One as one of my daily meals. With Vega One I have found I have more energy, less hunger, more endurance, and better recovery time than before I started using it, helping me stay on schedule and improve my workouts. Those looking to gain muscle & strength faster may want Vega Sport Performance instead as your post-workout protein.

I now have a monthly subscription for Vega One. I hope it works for you as well as it has for me.

As a postscript, I should add that around the two month mark I discovered that apparently between using Vega One regularly as well as generally improving my diet, my digestive system seems to have recalibrated itself. I indulged in a 'cheat day' meal of gluten-free fish'n'chips at Legal Seafood and the results were not pretty. Too greasy for me now - definitely not a celiac reaction or food poisoning. Plan accordingly...

This is a rock solid alternative to Shakeology. I am frankly not a big fan of nutrition shakes, and I accept the fact that they are all going to taste a little funky if they have a high nutritional profile like this one does. Even still, I've tried many that make me gag and I can't choke down (and others that I thought tasted good but were pretty nutritionally vapid.) But I do like meal replacements. Yes, I know 'real food' is better. I'm not a shopper and I don't like cooking, so having a convenient alternative really works for me, but it's a bummer that so many that are palatable contain so much sugar.

I was pleasantly surprised when I tried Shakeology for 5 days and found it quite palatable, but I did *not* find the cost palatable. Even still, I decided to give it a go because it worked for me when nothing else had, when boom, Shakelogy tacked on a HEFTY shipping charge (for standard shipping) on top of their already-expensive shake. I felt this was adding high-cost insult to high-cost injury, and fled in search of a comparable shake.

This one is very comparable. The major ingredients are almost identical (protein profile, sweetened with Stevia, vitamin, profile etc). It lacks some of the "superfoods" Shakeology has on their ingredient list, though to begin with I found those claims dubious at best (if you think about the math, their 'superfoods' can only be present in very trace amounts What Vega One lacks in those 'superfoods' it more than makes up for in abundant greens. Which, btw, means your vanilla here is going to take on a bit of a green appearance when you mix it up with a neutral liquid. It doesn't look appetizing and it's oddly disconcerting juxtaposed with the vanilla taste and smell, but if you can get past that, this tastes almost identical to vanilla Shakeology.

Shakeology does have a slight edge on taste and texture, but only slight. I noticed some reviewers mentioning a grainy texture. I already am going into this knowing I can't stand that, so I use a high powered blender and I do not mix with water alone.. I put in some almond milk and usually some frozen fruit and/or ice. Doing these things, it's still not *quite* as smooth as Shakeology but it's pretty darn close.

Some will say Shakeology's higher price is because of all the "superfoods", as if the whole MLM structure has no impact on price. (Of course it does, and that impact is substantial.) I haven't found any convincing argument as to why Shakeology is worth so much more - this one still isn't cheap, but is still nutritionally premium. It doesn't have ALL of Shakeology's ingredients (and the missing ones are mostly hokum, if you ask me, especially in trace amounts) but it does have exactly what I was looking for in terms of quality proteins, lots of nutrients from standard plants (especially greens), sweetened with Stevia, with a palatable taste and texture. Star removed because it's still pricey and I suspect there's room for improvement.

I was hesitant to try this at first because my experience with "all in one" type supplements has been pretty terrible, most making me feel worse rather than better. But I'm glad I tried this.

First of all, the price point on this is amazing when you consider some of supplements beyond the protein that are inside. These right here are why I love this:
+Marine Algae Calcium and it's ORGANIC - Algae calcium is one of the best calcium sources out there, very bioavailable, and here it is and organic at that!
+Maca root that is GELATINIZED. Maca root on it's own is quite difficult to digest. The gelatinized version is much better on the digestive system. I used to buy this separately but it's pretty expensive. Some people have reactions to maca but I feel nothing but a gentle strength and resiliency from gelatinized maca. My adrenals appreciate it.
+Chlorella (cracked cell wall) - Chlorella in small amounts keeps my body clean and detoxified. Too much chlorella chelates/pulls out vital trace minerals. The amount here is perfect, I feel no mineral drain after taking this.
+1 Billion Probiotics - and this strain, Bacillus Coagulans is one the hardiest and most effective for actually taking up residency in your digestive system. Some probiotics just pass through, which can be helpful for food digestion, but if you want to continually be building a collective force of good guys in there you're going to want a strain that can settle in without disrupting things.
+GREENS - and ORGANIC! Broccoli and kale and they are high up on the ingredient list which means there isn't just a sprinkle which I have found with A LOT of combo powders. Protein by itself can be quite acidic to the body so this is a such a wonderful balance to have alkaline organic greens included.

There's more terrific stuff I didn't list but on to the protein! What a great blend! Pea, Hemp, & Savi Inchi protein. Hemp contains the highest source of Edestin- a globulin protein similar to the protein of the human body which is why it's so easy to digest and so well suited for DNA repair. I find Hemp on it's own to be lacking as a main vegan protein source though so I'm glad it's paired with Pea and Savi Inchi here.

The taste. Well. Not great and some days bordering on Bad. I tolerate it fine.

Overall I am glad I tried this

Great product. Great taste. I always use this shake.

I am a researcher and I do a lot of searches, read reviews and ask lots of questions before I buy a new product. Someone recommended 21day fix to me as a workout program and shakeology along with it. I didn't mind spending the money on the workouts but couldn't stomach paying the money for the shakes every month so I went looking for an alternative. I found this and Garden of Life's Raw Meal as the closest to shakeology's ingredients. My local health food store carried Vega one in individual servings so I bought one of each flavor (chocolate and French vanilla) to try them out. I blended my first shake with the vanilla, OJ, a frozen banana, 5 frozen strawberries, water and ice. My second was the chocolate, milk (I'm not vegan), banana, natural pb, water and ice. Both flavors are really pretty good. Now that being said, you can not go looking for a healthy meal replacement shake with all the nutrients, oxidants and protein this one has and expect it to taste like a milkshake from McDonald's. It just doesn't. But it also doesn't taste awful by any means. The texture is just fine especially when you use frozen fruit and ice, and I don't even have a fancy blender. It does have a slight chalky mouth feel (think after chewing a tums) but the more I drink the shakes, the less I notice it. A lot of people have mentioned sensitivities to the stevia in it. I don't taste it and it doesn't do anything adverse to my stomach either so I can't complain about that. I don't have super hero energy after drinking it, but I do feel full for a good 3-3.5 hours after and it has helped me become more regular. I like that I'm getting a lot of super foods and nutrients in my diet that I wouldn't normally get. I've been drinking the shakes for about a week now and would really recommend them.

Updated: I've been using these shakes for about a month and I still really like my results. I prefer the chocolate flavor over the vanilla, although the chocolate seems to make me burp up an aftertaste for a half hour afterwards... Still worth the health benefits.
I've purchased natural flavored estracts (check out bakto flavors) to change up the flavores of the vanilla shakes and natural unsweetened peanut butter powder to add to my chocolate shakes. Some days I crave a second shake for dinner!