Nike vs Adidas: Which Is More Ethical?

Adidas scores higher than Nike in seven of the ten categories with available scores, with three ties. Its advantage includes worker rights and ethical sourcing. Both companies still score negatively on worker rights, climate and animal welfare.

Nike vs Adidas: the scores

These are Mashinii’s latest stored category scores, dated 26 April 2026 and checked again on 8 October 2026. They assess the companies, not individual shoes or factories. Higher scores indicate a better result under our scoring methodology.

The simple average of the ten available scores is −17 for Nike and −5 for Adidas. This is an unweighted summary of the table, not a separate company rating. Fair Money & Economic Opportunity has no numeric score for either company and is excluded from the average and the comparison count. A missing score is not zero.

See Nike’s scores and sources · See Adidas’s scores and sources

Worker rights: Adidas −20, Nike −40

Worker rights are a weakness for both companies in this snapshot. Adidas leads by 20 points, but its negative result does not support describing its labour practices as problem-free.

For a closer look at the companies’ records, separate conditions for their own employees from conditions at suppliers. A corporate pay-equity figure, for example, cannot establish whether factory workers receive a living wage. The Fair Pay & Worker Respect category explains what this dimension measures.

Ethical sourcing: Adidas 0, Nike −30

Adidas leads by 30 points on Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing. Its zero score is a numeric result in this snapshot; it does not certify a supply chain free of abuse.

Nike's human-rights and labour standards describe its supplier requirements and public Manufacturing Map. These are useful starting points for locating a supplier and checking the company's stated standards, rather than proof that every supplier always complies.

Adidas’s 2025 annual report describes supplier audits, corrective action plans and worker grievance channels. These are company disclosures about its monitoring systems. They should be read alongside evidence of working conditions and whether complaints led to remedies.

Sustainability: climate is a tie

Both companies score −10 on Planet-Friendly Business. The table therefore gives neither an advantage on climate. On Zero Waste & Sustainable Products, Adidas scores 0 and Nike −10.

These are different questions. A higher recycled-material share does not, by itself, establish lower total emissions or better labour conditions. Use the climate criteria and waste and product criteria to see what each score covers.

Is Adidas ethical? Is Nike ethical?

Neither earns an unqualified endorsement from this table. Adidas has the higher recorded average and leads in seven comparable dimensions, but both have negative worker-treatment, environmental and animal-welfare scores. A better relative result is different from a positive result on every issue.

For a specific shoe or item of clothing, check its materials, manufacturing information and the relevant supplier evidence. A company score cannot certify an individual product, and a recycled-material claim cannot answer a wage question.

Which should you choose?

If your choice is between Nike and Adidas and worker rights or sourcing is your priority, this score snapshot favours Adidas. Neither receives a positive score in those two categories. If climate or animal welfare is your main concern, the scores shown here do not distinguish them.

The average can help orient you, but the category results are more useful for a specific purchasing decision. Check the sources and dates on each company’s score page before treating a company-level comparison as evidence about a particular product.

To compare other brands, search company scores. Each company page includes the evidence behind its available ratings.

About this comparison

The table uses the same dated score snapshot for both companies. Live company pages may change as records are updated. Missing values are labelled “Not scored”; numeric zeroes remain zeroes.

Correction, 12 September 2026: We reconciled the table, averages and commentary with the stored scores, corrected the higher-score labels and removed conflicting older comparisons. The previously displayed zero for Fair Money & Economic Opportunity was a missing value. The original publication date is unchanged.

Review, 8 October 2026: Rechecked all table values against the database, added direct answers to brand-ethics queries, and replaced an older government citation that now redirects to an unrelated landing page. The September correction and original publication date remain recorded.