Gas hydrate plug formation is a major concern in oil and gas exploitation efforts, wherein line blockages can pose major safety, economic, and environmental risks. Kinetic hydrate inhibitors (KHIs) are a promising class of hydrate management chemicals, which are potentially cleaner, cheaper, and greener than traditional thermodynamic hydrate inhibitors (THIs). Therefore, understanding the effects that KHIs have on hydrate particles is vital to their application. In this study, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), a model KHI, was investigated at ultralow concentrations to determine its effect on the properties of hydrates and elucidate when nucleation and growth inhibition begins. It was found that PVP can adsorb at the hydrate particle surface to reduce interparticle force by 40–54 %. Low concentration PVP continues to affect interparticle forces at prolonged contact times, reducing forces at 30-minutes to 1-hour of contact by 20–40 % and reducing sintering rate. PVP also reduces film growth rates by 30–50 % depending on the concentration of PVP in the water phase. The onset of major nucleation and growth effects was observed to occur at 0.01 wt% PVP in the water phase, two orders of magnitude below concentrations typically employed in hydrate management. It was discovered that low dosage PVP can cause major morphological changes to the hydrate particles in both the short and long term, which can influence interparticle forces and particle agglomeration, and may serve as a morphological screening tool for KHIs. A proposed mechanism for the observed morphology changes explains how the heterogenous adsorption of chemicals at the particle surface can lead directly to the newly observed particle morphology. The results presented in this paper show that ultralow concentrations of KHIs (0.0005 wt%) can have combined effects on the interfacial activity and crystal growth and morphology of hydrates, showing KHIs to be a dual function inhibitor of both interparticle interactions and hydrate growth. These results can inform KHI applications from industrial flow assurance to carbon dioxide transport for unimpeded carbon capture and sequestration.