Updated on Mar. 12, 2025
Our team put 14 brands to the test to find the best blender. Find out which models deliver amazing results, according to our expert product testing team.
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If you start every morning with a smoothie, enjoy impressing guests with fancy ice cream drinks or can’t get enough creamy soups during the cooler months, you know how invaluable a blender is.
According to Taste of Home Food Stylist Josh Rink, any blender’s primary function is liquifying, which sets it apart from something like a food processor. “If a recipe calls for processing a thick, creamy soup in batches, then a blender should work just fine,” he says.
This countertop appliance is a major part of our kitchen rituals, so it’s important to have a model that really works for you. So, what’s the best blender for your morning smoothie bowl, summertime gazpacho and party-ready dips? Our testing team pros did the research—and over 100 hours of testing—to find out.
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The best blender should perform well across the board, whether it’s making smoothies, shakes, nut butter or ice. The Ninja Detect Duo does exactly that. It’s equipped with a powerful 1800-watt motor, sensors that automatically adjust speed and time and an attractive LED screen for added zhuzh. No matter your needs, this all-around option will satisfy—and, most times, surpass—your expectations.
The three-tier blade is completely removable, even mid-blend. This makes scraping and tamping a simple, obstacle-free task and ensures a lump-free mixture. The blender’s BlendSense setting, which automatically detects different ingredients like ice and fruit and adjusts the blend time and strength accordingly, impressed the testing team most of all. While they saw less success in smaller batches, bigger batches blended up flawlessly.
Ice comes out consistently snow cone-like, while nut butter blends together completely smooth. Notably, the butter didn’t splatter up the sides of the pitcher. Unlike some of the other blenders tested, the lid on this one is nice and secure yet easily releases at the touch of a button—no tabs needed. It’s also the easiest of all the tested blenders to clean, thanks to the removable blade. Suction cups on the bottom of the appliance ensure that it doesn’t bounce around while blending, either.
“This blender was a joy to use. I love how the canister locks into place, and the quick-release button on the lid is fuss-free, unlike many of the others we tested,” notes former product tester Sheri Kaz. The best part is that it’s completely budget-friendly, ringing up at just about half the price of the cheapest Vitamix.
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Want a blender that does so much more than blend? Add the Ninja Professional Plus Kitchen System with Auto-iQ to your cart. The basis for this kitchen system is first and foremost a really nice blender. With three stacked blades, this Ninja appliance makes short work of ice cubes and purees foods with ease. Additionally, the interface on this is nice and easy to use, and the blades come out for easy cleanup.
There’s a release button on the lid for added safety and security, plus a pour spout that even works with the lid attached. “The safety features on this, and all Ninja blenders, are great. You feel reassured that you’re doing everything right and can blend away with no worries,” says former tester Sydney Manning, who tested the blender.
While the blade style left a few chunks of almonds and dates after about a minute of blending out our smoothie, it worked flawlessly on ice and prevented any pesky packing at the bottom. The blender also features seven settings, including smoothie, ice crush, ice cream, low, med, high and pulse.
If you want to make a single-serve recipe like this Spiced Pumpkin Coffee Shake, you can use one of the included attachments. In the box, you’ll find two blending cups for individual servings. And don’t stop there: Make sure to try the food processor and dough-mixing attachments, as well. When you’re done making all your recipes, cleanup is a breeze. All the removable components are dishwasher-safe!
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When you use your blender for smoothies, soups and sauces daily, it’s worth splurging on something that will last through years of consistent use. The Vitamix Ascent X4 may be pricey, but its remarkably generous 10-year warranty and self-cleaning mode make it an inviting option, especially for enthusiastic home cooks.
Vitamix blenders famously boast hearty motors, and this one is no exception at 1500 watts. There’s a touchscreen and dial that circulates through all the settings: smoothies, frozen desserts, soups, frozen cocktails, dips and spreads and pulsing. The digital interface on this one is also intuitive; the knob works well for scrolling through the programmed options.
Plus, you can cook easily with a range of 10 low-high speeds and five programs. The automated detection determines how quickly (or slowly) the blades work through foods. Does your smoothie need a little more time? Use the “Add 15 Seconds” button for an additional boost. Hot soup is also no match for this robust blender, especially with a heavy-duty plastic lid that eliminates splatters and spills.
As previously mentioned, this one also includes its own built-in cleaning cycle. Additionally, the container, lid, blade base and seal are all dishwasher safe. Score!
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If you’re on a budget or just don’t reach for a blender super frequently, you likely don’t want to drop hundreds of dollars on this sort of appliance. With the Beautiful touchscreen blender, this is no problem at all. This model costs around $60 and held its own among even the priciest blenders in our test.
But before we get into how this blender worked with smoothies, let’s chat about this Walmart-exclusive brand’s stunning appearance. You can get this Beautiful by Drew Barrymore blender with gold accents in matte black, white, oyster gray, cornflower blue, lavender or pale mint. Our testing team also really loved the illuminated touchscreen on this model. The display is dark until you give it a tap; then it comes to life and is ready for you to select a setting and a speed.
Now, when it comes to performance, this budget blender really delivered. Smoothies were velvety smooth minus a few date chunks, and the ice our testers whipped up was a little inconsistent but still impressive for only 700 watts. The homemade peanut butter was on the crunchy side, but hey, there’s nothing wrong with chunky peanut butter!
The only place where the Beautiful blender stumbled was with crushing ice. It did the job well producing snowy ice shavings, but the machine had its limits. You can only blend about 10 cubes at a time. If you ask us, just work in batches. This gives your friends time to figure out what flavor snow cone they want.
Plus, cleanup is a breeze, according to former testing team member Dylan Fischer: “Out of all the self-cleaning cycles, Beautiful’s did the most heavy lifting. It was able to get almost every bit of peanut butter off of the blades. Very impressive work!” Want more stunning appliances like this? The Beautiful toaster is also a winner.
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For the true smoothie fan, you can’t get much better than the Cuisinart Hurricane Pro. Apart from its impressive 3.5-horsepower motor and attractive LCD display, it also offers many speed settings along with additional presets for fast results. With a generous 64 ounces of space, it’s perfect for a family-sized smoothie or soup portions.
The whole appliance feels sturdy and heavy-duty, and the motor seems like it’ll last for a while. The handle has a rubber grip, which is great for traction and doesn’t allow your hand to slip at all. The measuring lines are dark and easy to read, but they’re not engraved, so we could see the lines eventually wearing off if you put it in the dishwasher or have it for years. However, the best impression it made was during the smoothie test.
When our testers poured their smoothie out, it was super silky smooth, with neither a date nor almond chunk to be found. There were little to no specks throughout, and it was a nice, light green color with a yogurt consistency. That said, it produced a rather packed ball of ice during our ice cube test, so we highly recommend this for smoothies over margaritas. Surprisingly, it also performed very well with peanut butter.
Our testers were also very impressed with the cleaning function. “The self-cleaning cycle is a nice addition, especially because it can be adjusted to run longer or shorter, depending on how dirtied up your blender is,” says Dylan. The self-cleaning function eliminated most of the mess, meaning that the container required little more than a light scrubbing afterward. Sure, the interface isn’t as intuitive as some other models, but we’re willing to let that slide based on performance alone.
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Anyone who wants to try out a Vitamix but doesn’t want to splurge on the spendy Ascent model will find the Vitamix Propel 510 the perfect midpoint option. Like the Ascent, the Propel offers a powerful motor, which clocks in at 2 horsepower. It’s also just as capable in the kitchen thanks to its dedicated smoothie, hot soup and frozen dessert settings, plus a powerful pulsing button.
Smoothie performance is on par with the pricier models. Plus, it prepares ice and peanut butter that rivals the Ascent. Sure, the interface is stripped down and doesn’t feature all the bells and whistles of an LED touchscreen. But overall, it’s still user friendly if you familiarize yourself with the included instructions. Additionally, while we don’t love the latching lid compared to the fancier model’s plastic option, the overall performance is impressive—especially at a nearly $300 price difference.
Not only is this one of our favorite blenders, but it also wins our seal of approval when it comes to Vitamix blenders in general. “Of the four Vitamix blenders we tested, this was our favorite. The performance was outstanding,” says Sheri.
Most blenders are made from various materials, but they usually include plastic for the housing and containers, rubber for gaskets and the platform the container rests on and stainless steel for the cutting blades. Higher-end offerings usually include more metal and other highly durable materials, while budget-friendly options tend to use more plastic.
Some blenders can run as quiet as 50 decibels (about the same level as a normal conversation) to as much as 100 (more like a loud hair dryer). Inevitably, your blender will make noise. Heavier-duty blenders tend to run louder than smaller blenders.
Always check the manufacturer’s warranty before purchasing a blender. This determines what defects and damage the brand covers and how easy it is to get any parts replaced. Warranties may be as short as one year to as long as eight (or more), but can vary widely in what they cover and how they are accessed. Plus, you may need to register your blender ahead of time to access warranty customer service.
To find the best blenders, our expert product testing team spent hours in our testing lab making homemade peanut butter, smoothies and crushed ice with 14(!) different blenders. The squad made note of all the blenders’ features and performance and made sure to judge them according to these high-priority categories:
Overall, we tested over 24 blenders (including handheld models), performing roughly 10 tests on each. The testing team collected roughly 700 data points—that’s over 100 hours of research, sourcing and testing!
For the first test, the testers prepared a smoothie in each blender, following the manual’s instructions regarding ingredient order and settings, if available. Each smoothie was blended for 90-120 seconds (or according to the automated smoothie preset), then poured through a colander to evaluate how well it was blended.
For the second test (the ice test), testers filled the blenders halfway with ice, then crushed them with the proper preset or pulse setting. Testers recorded the processing time and blended until the ingredients seemed fully crushed.
The third test (the peanut butter test) was a thorough evaluation of each blender’s capabilities with sticky, thick foods. Testers prepared peanut butter in the blender, following the manual’s instructions for blending nut butter, if available. Otherwise, they followed recipe instructions. The testers then observed the smoothness and consistency, noting any errors or issues.
Lastly, to test how easily each blender cleans up, testers disassembled and cleaned each blender according to the manufacturer’s instructions, noting the ease of the process.
Our team spent a lot of time whirring away with these blenders. During the series of tests, they came up with a few key takeaways:
Using a blender is simple—just add your ingredients and choose your setting! Be sure to read through each unit’s instructions thoroughly for suggests on the ingredient order and other tips.
The Cuisinart Hurricane Pro is our favorite blender for smoothies, according to our tests. It blends everything—including pesky dates and almonds—into a nice, smooth consistency.
According to our testing, the best Vitamix blender is the Vitamix Propel 510. What really makes it worth the price is that its powerful motor comes equipped to heat soups and make nut butter—an impressive feat!
Our testing team has three years of experience testing and evaluating everything from the best coffee subscriptions to the best flower delivery services. Many of us have backgrounds in kitchen and culinary careers ourselves. The remainder of our team are simply passionate home cooks who want to recommend the very best products using honest and fair testing practices. We would never recommend a product we don’t love, regardless of how popular it is or the size of the brand.
