A search for sodium cocoyl glutamate vs cocamidopropyl betaine is a class question, not a spelling question. Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate is an anionic amino-acid surfactant. Cocamidopropyl Betaine is an amphoteric foam and viscosity partner. One can be the primary wash. The other is usually the secondary surfactant beside it. Neither line fills the other’s purchase order.
If the brief has not even locked the glutamate salt and the powder-versus-liquid assay, start with Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate Surfactant: Powder or Liquid. If the other name on the brief is the isethionate flake, that is a different split: Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate vs Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate.
What each page is actually selling
| Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate | Cocamidopropyl Betaine | |
|---|---|---|
| INCI | Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate | Cocamidopropyl Betaine |
| CAS | 68187-32-6 | 61789-40-0 |
| Class | Anionic cleansing surfactant | Amphoteric surfactant |
| Form on this site | Powder or flakes, or a pale liquid | Clear to light yellow liquid |
| Assay on this site | ≥95% powder, or 25–30% liquid | 30% ± 1% |
| Listed use | 5.0–25.0% as primary; 1.0–5.0% as secondary | 2.0–15.0% as secondary; up to 30% in a concentrate |
| pH note | Stable about 4.5–8.5; clearest foam about 5.0–6.5 | 5% solution about 4.5–7.0; described as stable in acid, neutral, and alkaline media |
| Extra spec on the page | Soluble in water | Free amine ≤ 0.1%; sodium chloride ≤ 6.0% |
Read the percent against the form. A 30% betaine liquid and a 25–30% glutamate liquid can look similar in a drum. The INCI and the CAS do not. A 95% glutamate powder is a different weighing problem again. Do not average them into one “30% mild surfactant.”
Why both names appear on one cleanser
The glutamate page names Cocamidopropyl Betaine as a partner for foam density and for salt-thickening response. The betaine page describes the same job from the other side: foam boosting, viscosity building, and a mildness contribution in sensitive-skin and baby washes. That is a two-SKU formula. It is not evidence that the buyer can delete one INCI and keep the other.
Use the glutamate when the brief needs the anionic wash, the amino-acid salt, and the acid-side clarity window. Use the betaine when the brief needs the amphoteric booster, the salt response, or a free-amine specification. Use both when the chassis was written that way, and send two inquiries.
Salt thickening belongs to the betaine conversation. Adding sodium chloride to raise viscosity is a betaine-system behavior. It is not a test you copy onto the glutamate powder and then call the lots equivalent. If the plant thickens with salt, say so, and keep the betaine on the formula. If the plant does not, do not add a betaine line just because a glutamate sample arrived.
Files that do not travel with the wrong INCI
Free amine at or below 0.1%, and sodium chloride at or below 6.0%, are lines on this betaine grade. They are not lines on the glutamate page. A COA that only shows those two numbers has not identified Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate.
The glutamate file you need is the monosodium INCI, CAS 68187-32-6, and the assay of the form you ordered. Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate, CAS 68187-30-4, is a third salt. It does not become the betaine, and it does not become this monosodium grade, because all three can be described as mild cleansers.
Sodium Cocoyl Glycinate is a further neighbor. It is another anionic amino surfactant, glycine rather than glutamic acid, CAS 90387-74-9. Pairing it with the glutamate is a foam-tuning choice on the glutamate page. It is not a quiet rename of the betaine.
What to send when the brief names both
Put these lines in the message, as two blocks if you need both materials:
- Glutamate block: INCI Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate, CAS 68187-32-6, powder ≥95% or liquid 25–30%, and whether the formula percent is as-supplied
- Betaine block: INCI Cocamidopropyl Betaine, CAS 61789-40-0, liquid at 30% ± 1%, plus the free-amine and chloride limits if your spec uses them
- Role of each: primary wash, secondary booster, or both
- Target pH of the finished wash
- Bench-sample size for each SKU, with COA, SDS, and TDS
The glutamate sample and its batch documents are on the Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate product page. The betaine sample is on the Cocamidopropyl Betaine product page. Match each COA to its own INCI, then scale. A single line that says “betaine or glutamate, whichever is milder” comes back as a question. Two named lines come back as quotes.
