The scores
Instinct: A (90/100) — 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: B (78/100) — Simply 9 Wild Salmon & Egg formula with salmon, oat meal, dried egg product, canola oil, and fish oil leading the ingredient list. Grain-inclusive oat-meal base avoids the multi-pea-form legume penalty.
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.