POPDAYS vs Air Up: The British Alternative to Air Up Pods

Looking for an Air Up alternative? No bottle to buy, no plastic pods, 70% cheaper per serving. Here’s how POPDAYS compares.

If you’ve been searching for Air Up pods in the UK, you’ve probably noticed two things. They’re hard to find and they’re expensive. The pods only work with the Air Up bottle (another £30 upfront), each pod lasts around 5 litres of water, and the per-serving cost adds up fast.

POPDAYS does the same job, turning plain water into a flavoured drink, without the proprietary bottle, without the plastic pods, and at a fraction of the price. One POPDAYS pouch makes 14 full drinks. No special equipment required. Plus, each POPDAYS serving contains valuable vitamins.

Air Up vs POPDAYS: Full comparison

	POPDAYS	Air Up
Format	Effervescent tablet, drops into any glass or bottle of water	Scent pod, requires the Air Up bottle
Equipment needed	Any glass or bottle you already own	Air Up bottle (£25-40 extra)
Price per serving	From £0.38 per drink	Approximately £1+ per drink (once you factor in the bottle)
Pack size	14 drinks per pouch	~5 drinks per pod
Packaging	Plastic-free, home-compostable pouch	Plastic pods
Flavour delivery	Real fruit flavour dissolved in water	Scent-based (flavour perceived through smell)
Vitamins	Vitamin C, B6 & B12	None
Prebiotic fibre	Inulin	None
Range	3 flavours Red Cherry, Grapefruit & Mandarin, Peach & Lemon	~20+ air up flavours across multiple ranges
Where made	Germany	Germany
Brand	Small British independent	Large European company

Why people switch from Air Up pods to POPDAYS

No bottle required

The biggest barrier with Air Up is the bottle. The air up bottle UK costs £25-40, and the pods only work with it. If you lose it, break it, or just want a drink from a glass at your desk, you’re out of luck.

POPDAYS works with whatever you’ve already got. Any glass, any bottle, any water. Drop a tablet in, wait 60 seconds, drink. The upfront cost is zero.

Better price per serving

Air Up pods are expensive. A pack of 3 pods costs around £8 to £10 in the UK and gives you roughly 15 drinks total. That’s 55 to 67p per drink before you factor in the bottle cost. Add in the Air Up bottle amortised over a year of daily use and you’re easily over £1 per drink.

POPDAYS costs from 38p per drink in our 84-pack bundle, or 43p in our Variety Pack. No bottle to pay for, no air up discount code to hunt down.

Zero plastic, not more plastic

Air Up pods are plastic. One pod per 5 drinks means a heavy user is throwing away 60+ plastic pods a year, on top of the plastic Air Up bottle itself.

POPDAYS pouches are home-compostable. They break down in your food waste bin. One pouch replaces 14 single-use plastic bottles. A heavy user generates roughly 2 to 3 compostable pouches a year.

Real taste, not scent

This is the philosophical split between the two products. Air Up uses scent-based flavouring. The water itself stays plain, but you smell the flavour as you drink and your brain fills in the taste. For some people it works. For others, it feels like plain water.

POPDAYS actually dissolves real fruit flavour into the water. There’s no trick. The drink genuinely tastes like Red Cherry, Grapefruit & Mandarin, or Peach & Lemon. One sip, no learning curve.

Added vitamins and fibre

Air Up pods are flavour (via scent) only. No vitamins, no fibre, no nutritional add.

Every POPDAYS tablet delivers Vitamin C for immune support, B6 and B12 for energy and nervous system function, and a dose of inulin (prebiotic fibre). You’re hydrating AND getting measurable nutritional benefit.

Simpler range, fewer decisions

Air Up has 20+ pod flavours across multiple ranges (classic, hot, energy, etc.). That’s a lot of choice but also a lot of decision fatigue. Flavoured water flavours that sound good on paper don’t always land.

POPDAYS keeps it to three. Red Cherry, Grapefruit & Mandarin, Peach & Lemon. All work. No duds in the range because the range is small enough to perfect.

British independent

Air Up is a large German company shipping worldwide. POPDAYS is a small British team. We respond to our customers directly, we picked the compostable pouch over cheaper plastic because it mattered to us, and we keep the product simple on purpose.

Buying POPDAYS supports a UK independent brand 🇬🇧

FAQ

How long do Air Up pods last?

Each Air Up pod lasts approximately 5 litres of water, which works out to around 5 standard drinks per pod. A 3-pack of air up pods gives you roughly 15 drinks before you need to re-buy. By comparison, one POPDAYS pouch gives you 14 drinks and costs about 60% less per serving.

Does POPDAYS need a special bottle like Air Up?

No. POPDAYS works with any glass or bottle. Drop one effervescent tablet into 500ml of water, wait 60 seconds, drink. No proprietary bottle, no accessories to buy.

Is POPDAYS cheaper than Air Up?

Yes. POPDAYS costs from 38p per drink, whereas Air Up pods work out to approximately 55p to £1+ per drink depending on whether you include the cost of the Air Up bottle. POPDAYS has no upfront bottle cost.

What flavours does POPDAYS come in?

POPDAYS currently offers three flavours: Red Cherry, Grapefruit & Mandarin, and Peach & Lemon. All are made with natural fruit flavours, zero sugar, zero calories, and added Vitamin C, B6 and B12.

Is POPDAYS plastic-free?

Yes. POPDAYS pouches are home-compostable. They break down in a standard home compost bin. Air Up pods, by contrast, are plastic.

Is POPDAYS a British brand?

Yes. POPDAYS is an independent British company. Air Up is a large German company.

Can I buy POPDAYS without a subscription?

Yes. POPDAYS is available as one-off pouches from £7.16, as a Variety Pack from £18.36, or as part of our 84-drink bundle for the best per-serving price. Subscription saves an extra 20%.