The scores
Instinct: C (70/100) — Original Grain-Free formula with chicken, chicken meal, peas, chicken fat, and tapioca as the top five ingredients, plus freeze-dried raw chicken, liver, and heart pieces.
Purina Beyond: C (70/100) — Simply 9 Wild Salmon & Egg formula with salmon, oat meal, dried egg product, canola oil, and fish oil leading the ingredient list.
How the ingredients compare
If you placed these two bags side by side on a shelf, you’d never guess they scored identically. Instinct’s packaging screams premium — raw-coated kibble, bold “Raw” branding, freeze-dried pieces visible through the bag window. Purina Beyond takes the opposite approach with clean, minimalist branding and a “Simply 9” promise that emphasizes simplicity over sophistication. Yet when you analyze the actual ingredients, both formulas have strengths and weaknesses that balance out to the same C grade.
Instinct: Chicken, Chicken Meal, Peas, Chicken Fat, Tapioca… plus freeze-dried raw chicken, chicken liver, chicken heart, and BC30 probiotic.
Purina Beyond: Salmon, Oat Meal, Dried Egg Product, Canola Oil, Fish Oil…
Instinct’s formula is built around chicken in multiple forms — whole chicken, chicken meal, chicken fat, plus freeze-dried raw chicken organs further down the list. It’s a chicken-centric formula with peas and tapioca as the carbohydrate base. Purina Beyond takes a completely different route with salmon as its primary protein, oat meal as the carb base, and dried egg product as a secondary protein source. The fat sources are equally divergent: Instinct uses chicken fat (rendered from poultry), while Beyond uses canola oil and fish oil (plant-based and marine omega sources).
The most striking difference is ingredient count. Instinct has a lengthy ingredient list typical of premium grain-free formulas, including various supplements, probiotics, and the freeze-dried raw components. Purina Beyond intentionally limits its formula to 9 main ingredients, betting that simplicity itself is a selling point for owners overwhelmed by complex ingredient panels.
Where Instinct pulls ahead
Freeze-dried raw organ meats: Instinct’s defining feature is the inclusion of freeze-dried raw chicken, chicken liver, and chicken heart mixed into the kibble. This is a genuine nutritional advantage that goes beyond marketing. Liver is one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet — rich in vitamin A, iron, B12, folate, and copper. Heart is a primary natural source of taurine, an amino acid critical for cardiac health in dogs, plus CoQ10 and B vitamins. Freeze-drying preserves these nutrients far better than the high-heat extrusion process used for standard kibble. No amount of synthetic vitamin supplementation fully replicates what whole organ meats provide.
Stronger protein foundation: Instinct leads with chicken (a named muscle meat) and chicken meal (concentrated dried protein) in positions #1 and #2. This double-protein opening, combined with the freeze-dried raw pieces, means a substantial percentage of the formula’s total protein comes from animal sources. Purina Beyond’s salmon at #1 is a strong start, but its secondary protein source — dried egg product at #3 — is separated by oat meal, suggesting the formula relies more on its carbohydrate base. Egg protein is highly bioavailable, but the lower positioning means less of it by weight.
BC30 probiotic: Instinct includes Bacillus coagulans GBI-30 (BC30), a patented spore-forming probiotic strain with published research supporting its survival through the high-heat manufacturing process and through stomach acid to reach the intestines. Most probiotics added to kibble don’t survive cooking, making them functionally useless. BC30’s spore-forming nature gives it a genuine survivability advantage, and clinical studies in both humans and animals suggest it supports digestive health and immune function.
Higher protein, lower carb ratio: Instinct’s grain-free, raw-infused approach results in a formula that’s proportionally higher in protein and lower in carbohydrates than Beyond’s oat-meal-heavy recipe. For active dogs, working breeds, or dogs that maintain better body condition on higher-protein diets, Instinct’s macronutrient balance is more aligned with what canine nutritionists recommend. Dogs are facultative carnivores — they can digest carbs, but they thrive on protein-forward diets. Shop on Amazon →
Where Purina Beyond holds its own
Omega-3 rich salmon and fish oil: Purina Beyond’s salmon-first formula naturally provides EPA and DHA — the omega-3 fatty acids that support skin health, coat quality, joint mobility, cognitive function, and anti-inflammatory responses throughout the body. The addition of fish oil as a standalone ingredient at #5 doubles down on this omega-3 advantage. Instinct’s chicken-based formula provides omega-6 fatty acids (from chicken fat) but is naturally lower in omega-3s. For dogs with dry skin, dull coats, or joint stiffness, Beyond’s omega-3 profile is a meaningful functional advantage.
Simplified ingredient list reduces allergen risk: With only 9 main ingredients, Purina Beyond makes it straightforward to identify what’s in the bowl and what might be causing a reaction if your dog develops food sensitivities. Instinct’s formula includes dozens of ingredients — multiple chicken derivatives, peas, tapioca, montmorillonite clay, various supplements, and more. The longer the ingredient list, the more potential triggers for sensitive dogs. Beyond’s simplicity isn’t just marketing — it’s functionally useful for owners managing food sensitivities or transitioning between diets.
No legume-heavy carb base: While Instinct uses peas at #3 — one of the ingredients flagged in the FDA’s DCM investigation — Beyond uses oat meal as its primary carbohydrate source. Oats are a grain-inclusive option that avoids both the DCM conversation around legumes and the common allergen concerns around wheat and corn. Oat meal provides soluble fiber (beta-glucan) that supports healthy cholesterol levels and gut bacteria, making it one of the more nutritionally valuable carbohydrate options available in commercial dog food. Shop on Amazon →
The bottom line
This is one of the more surprising ties in our database — a premium raw-infused formula and a budget-friendly simplified formula landing at the exact same score. Instinct wins on protein complexity and the genuine nutritional value of freeze-dried organ meats, but its grain-free legume-based carb profile and premium price tag work against it. Purina Beyond wins on omega-3 content, ingredient simplicity, and value pricing, but its lower protein density and reliance on oat meal as the #2 ingredient keep it from climbing higher.
If raw nutrition, organ meats, and high protein matter most to you, Instinct delivers something no conventional kibble can match. If omega-3s, simplicity, and avoiding the DCM conversation are your priorities, Beyond is the more practical choice at a lower price point. Both formulas sit at the top of the C tier — competent but not exceptional — and both are held back by different trade-offs that keep them from reaching the B grade.