18 Gummy Candies, Ranked Worst To Best

There are candy brands that have been in the gummy game for over a century. Some have been making other sweet confections over time that didn't have chewy qualities but inevitably felt compelled to take the classic flavors that had mass appeal and switch up the recipe a bit to go in a softer direction.

What we love about gummy candies is that there is a lot of creative and artistic potential with the medium. It's easily shaped to resemble a variety of objects and animals like worms, bears, slices of watermelon, fish, hot dogs, cola bottles, or planets. When it comes to fruity flavors, you can find everything that grows under the sun. You can delight in spice-tinged gummies courtesy of Tajín. We also sampled some that were inspired by wine and cider. And we can't forget about sour gummies. We have a serious soft spot for those, and there are plenty available. We tried a variety, and here's our assessment of how they ranked.

These adorable gummy candy globes from Herbert's Best could be a good party favor or perhaps a stocking stuffer item around the holidays. They've also developed a bit of a fan base on TikTok, which we can only assume is mainly because of the novelty factor, but with only a measly four candies in the package we bought at the price of $5.99 from Cost Plus World Market, this doesn't seem worth buying.

The plastic shell that encases the candy gives it some visual appeal, with a plethora of colorful continents spanning the mini globe. Once you crack the shell, the candy is just a doughy, soft, blubbery blue orb that doesn't give off gummy vibes. On the inside, there's a berry-tinged filling that we assume is supposed to represent magma. The "outer crust" (if we're sticking with the planet analogy) didn't come across as a gummy. It had more of a soft marshmallow consistency and didn't have a distinct flavor of its own. It left all of the heavy lifting up to the inner component. It's an expensive candy without much substance.

Your jaws are definitely going to get a workout when you try Efrutti's Lunch Bag. In general, everything we tried from this lunch bag sampler pack was ridiculously tough and chewy. 

Neither the mini cheeseburgers sliders nor the hot dogs had soft buns. They eventually became less of a chore to chomp on, but it took a lot of aggressive bites to get there. The strongest flavor was an unpleasant artificial cherry. We found much of the same to be true of the pizza, which also had a stale crust. The sour french fries didn't come close in comparison to the other sour gummy candies that we tried. The same issue remained with the gummies being too tough. The cola bottle wasn't as offensive in terms of texture, but if that's your preferred gummy flavor, we would recommend just buying a package of that exclusively rather than this very mixed bag.

While there's a lot of whimsy involved with the package design and the confections inside, we thought that this was more style than substance. It would make for a fun gift, and it's also worth considering that they are nut-free and gluten-free, but if those are not dietary concerns, you might be better off looking in another direction. 

We'll give Jolly Rancher some credit where credit is due. Their gummy candies taste spot in comparison to their popular hard candy counterparts. Unlike other gummy confectioners that tout using natural ingredients or attempt to replicate authentic fruity flavors, Jolly Rancher has always gone in a strong, not-100%-natural-flavor direction.

We would say that hard candy is a better way to go when there's this concentration of sweet and tangy. It's one thing to enjoy a sucker for a few minutes with those flavors, but they're a bit much with gummies. We did not enjoy the sour apple flavor in this format. The grape gummy we had tasted a bit like cough medicine. We did like the blue raspberry. Our favorite of the four was the watermelon, and we concluded that it's likely because the fruity inspiration is generally a mellow and relaxed flavor, so the intensity of the concentrate wasn't quite as offensive.

Tootsie's Dots gumdrops are a genuine trip down nostalgia lane. These classic gummy candies come in five colors:  pink, red, orange, yellow, and green, which respectively reflect its strawberry, cherry, orange, lemon, and lime flavors. It's not the complete spectrum, but it's pretty darn close to it.

These classic gumdrops are exactly how we remembered them. They are rather elegant in their simplicity, and they are at least worth a purchase for the memories. However, compared to the other gummies that we tried, they weren't top-tier. They're rather dense in texture and not especially strong or particularly defined when it comes to the individual flavors. Cherry and strawberry don't come across as very different. Orange and lemon could also be interchanged easily. We'll grant an exception when it comes to lime, but when the flavor is a bit on the verge of tasting medicinal, it's not necessarily an asset. 

If you need a candy to snack on when you're watching the next Marvel flick, please let us tell you all about Nerds Gummy Clusters because they are very much the multiverse of gummy candies. They have a plethora of supercharged candy energy. They're coated with a cornucopia of colors, they're sour, they're sweet, they're crunchy on the outside, and they're sweet on the inside.

We really appreciated this candy due to its commitment to complexity. Surprisingly, it somehow all works, and Nerds Gummy Clusters will definitely be a repeat purchase for us. Nevertheless, if we're sticking to the standards of a purist gummy fan, we can't place them too high on the list. This is a solid candy, but it's cheating a bit because it's not 100% gummy. Yes, there is a gummy candy inside, but with its Nerd candy coating, it's got an unfair advantage.

There's no pretense when it comes to the Sour Brite Crawlers from Trolli. These gummy worms are very forthright in appearing as candy loaded with artificial dyes and colors.

The batch we sampled had a mix of three different worms, which each have two flavors that are split down the middle — six in total. There are orange and lime, strawberry and grape, and cherry and lemon worms. We're not sure what the biological inspiration was here, but we'll run with the narrative. You can vaguely pick up on the fruits that inspired the candy. If you bite one in half to pick up on a specific flavor, it's not a guarantee that you'll find it. For example, the cherry came through, but the lemon flavor on the other side did not. There's somewhat of a design flaw there.

We appreciate the softness of the gummy, though. And the sour coating is applied at what we thought to be the correct ratio, so we're placing it near the middle of our rankings.

Put on your sunglasses if you plan on reeling in some Swedish Fish because this gummy candy is shockingly bright in its neon crimson hue. We give higher marks to Swedish Fish because, over the years, we've always found the chewiness factor to be soft and tender. A slight amount of effort goes into breaking down that big fish, but it isn't a major struggle. The candy sticks to your teeth a bit, but not enough to concern your dentist.

A lot of gummy candies, even the ones that don't market themselves as "sour," have a tart finish, but that's not the case with Swedish Fish. They mellow out in a pleasant way. And while we can't quite put our finger on what the flavor is intended to be, to us, it seems like it exists somewhere in the realm of a cherry and berry blend. Bubble gum comes to mind as well.

The biggest downside of Trader Joe's Super Sour Scandinavian Swimmers is that they're hit or miss when you're fishing for a bag. We've been lucky to find it in our local store about half the time. When this item wasn't available, we tried the Tangy Turtles as well as the regular Scandinavian Swimmers, which are plain and not sour. Neither of those was to our liking.

When you can find Trader Joe's Super Sour Scandinavian Swimmers, you can't beat the price. They are $3.49 for a 14-ounce bag. The candies are consistently nice and chewy. The sour coating adds a crunchy layer in addition to the pucker factor before you get to the gummy interior, which is pleasantly sweet. All in all, these candies are perfectly balanced. We just wish there were a few more of the dolphins since they're our favorite flavor. There always seems to be an overabundance of the red starfish, which isn't our least favorite flavor. That would be the orange tang. A bit more balance in the distribution of the flavors would help raise this gummy candy to a higher ranking.

We sampled a few gimmicky gummy products and didn't have high expectations for this bento box of gummies shaped like sushi and other savory items. Maybe it's because we went into the tasting by setting the bar low. Still, we thought the Raindrops candy brand not only delivered on the look of these treats but also the quality. This is an omakase candy treat that merits a very heartfelt "Arigatou gozaimasu."

There's a nice mix of flavors and textures. We loved the crunchy coating that came with what we think may have meant to represent roe. The sushi "rice" base had a marshmallow texture. Two were topped with sour gummy bands, and the other two had sweet gummies on top that were shaped and dyed to resemble tuna and salmon. There was a raspberry dessert, a sweet spin on seaweed salad, and a stuffed avocado. A lot of thought went into this, and we appreciated it.

If you like their bento box as much as we did, you'll be eager to try other fun gummy treats from Raindrops. At the time of publication, we found other inspired gummy treats, such as a taco and a box of Chinese takeout noodles.