Brittany Spanos of "Rolling Stone" called the song a "bouncy, almost wickedly catchy highlight" on the album. In his review of the album, "NME" Douglas Greenwood wrote, "There's a telling audacity to the title track. Arriving midway through the album, 'Sweetener' sees Grande sing effervescently about 'letting the sweetener in our hearts' to 'bring that bitterness to a halt', before she ushers in a trap breakdown thats sounds like Metro Boomin messing with "The Little Mermaid" soundtrack." Chris DeVille of "Stereogum" said, "The title track is the sort of modernized throwback soul tune Meghan Trainor might release, but rendered tastefully and produced with the detail-rich minimalism of Spoon's "Kill the Moonlight"." "Pitchfork" ranked it on its 100 best songs of 2018 list, saying that "amid the track’s svelte production — trickling percussion, cushy bass hits, a lusty and cascading synth line — Pharrell punctuates Grande’s commands with a high-pitched “"sheesh"!” like a steam whistle cutting through the air. It all adds up to a gleeful evocation of sensuality on an album consumed with the heady pleasures of new love. “Sweetener” carries a tender streak, too, embracing the notion of finding the good in so much bad, and toasting to the people in one’s life who encourage such perseverance. It embodies that same look-on-the-bright-side universality — a reminder that even the worst feelings can be turned into something radiant and nourishing." The song debuted on September 1, 2018 at number 55 at its peak position, being Grande's second highest-charting non-single in the US. After "Breathin" was released as the third single off "Sweetener", it became Grande's highest-charting non-single in the US, later beaten by "Needy". Grande debuted the song live at The Sweetener Sessions in 2018. The song was later performed during the Sweetener World Tour in 2019. Credits and personnel adapted from the liner notes of "Sweetener". Recording  Management  Personnel