Air fryers are a faster alternative to firing up your regular oven for crispy snacks like French fries, roasted side dishes like cauliflower, or even mains like burgers and salmon fillets. Even though a bigger air fryer is usually better at making evenly air-fried food, that doesn't mean you can't get good performance from a smaller model. The best compact air fryers still have a good amount of capacity, cook food evenly and quickly, and have enough versatility for various cooking methods and recipes.
We've tested more than 40 air fryers, and below you'll find our recommendations for smaller options. It's worth noting that you can find smaller air fryers with a capacity of 1–3 quarts. While they're a bit more compact, very small air fryers struggle to properly cook even small portions. Therefore, we recommend opting for a larger option, even if you usually cook only for one. For more recommendations, see our overview of the best 4-quart air fryers, the best 6-quart air fryers, or the best air fryers for French fries.
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Best Small Air Fryer
SizeCooking CapacityAir FryingFrying PerformanceCooking VersatilityCrispy Fries%See all our test resultsMeasured Capacity5.9 qt (5.6 L)The best small air fryer we've tested is the Ninja Crispi Pro AS101. This 5.9-quart glass air fryer has a unique design: it has swappable cooking chambers that double as storage, handy when space is at a premium. It takes up less counter space than models with a similar capacity, and even smaller ones, so you can cook for three to four people, no matter how cozy your kitchen is. The cooking chamber has less surface area to spread food out on than other options, but thanks to its high maximum power draw and fan speed, it still makes very good-quality fried food, leaving the majority of each batch crispy and golden brown. It cooks decently fast, too, so you don't have to wait long for results, and it works even faster when you use the small container.
One of the biggest benefits of this air fryer is its versatility. It offers a very wide range of both temperature and fan speed settings, making it a fantastic choice if you plan to use your air fryer for various cooking methods, like dehydrating or roasting. It has six preset cooking modes, including an option that switches from 'Proof' to 'Bake' and 'Max Crisp' for making extra-crispy meals and snacks. It comes in a handful of colors, too, which isn't common for air fryers.
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Best Upper Mid-Range Small Air Fryer
SizeCooking CapacityAir FryingFrying PerformanceCooking VersatilityCrispy Fries%See all our test resultsMeasured Capacity6.5 qt (6.2 L)If you prefer a more typical air fryer design and want to spend a little less, consider the Ninja Air Fryer Pro XL AF181. This model is a great option if you're short on counter space but still want enough capacity to cook larger portions or serve four people at once. It's significantly smaller than other 6.5-quart air fryers, so it doesn't take up too much space on your counter, and it fits into cupboards easily. Its basket has more surface area than the Ninja Crispi Pro AS101's, so it's pretty easy to arrange food in a single layer. Compared to other Ninja air fryers, it has a taller basket, so it's especially handy if you often run out of vertical real estate when cooking something like a whole chicken.
When it comes to performance, this air fryer stands out for its cooking speed. It cooks faster than most other air fryers, so your fries, wings, or veggies will be ready in no time. Unfortunately, this model doesn't cook as evenly as other air fryers from the brand, leaving a significant portion undercooked. This difference likely comes down to its slower fan speed on air fry mode, however, so its 'Max Crisp' setting might be a better fit for air fryer staples if you like your meals and snacks extra crispy. Beyond these settings, it offers significant versatility. There's a wide range of temperature and fan speed settings, along with six preset modes, making this air fryer a great choice for roasting, baking, or dehydrating.
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Best Mid-Range Small Air Fryer
SizeCooking CapacityAir FryingFrying PerformanceCooking VersatilityCrispy Fries%See all our test resultsMeasured Capacity4.2 qt (4.0 L)The Ninja AF101 is one of the brand's earliest models, but despite being released nearly a decade ago, it remains the best option if you're looking for a compact air fryer at a mid-range price. It's a little taller than the Ninja Air Fryer Pro XL AF181, but it takes up less counter space, so it's easy to find a spot for this air fryer. That said, at 4.2 quarts, it also has less capacity and a smaller basket surface area, so it's best suited to small portions. It offers decent frying quality, cooking most of your food to a crispy golden brown, though a pretty large portion also under- or overcooks. Thanks to its impressive cooking speed, you don't have to wait long for your food to finish cooking.
With just four preset cooking modes, this model doesn't offer the versatility of our top picks, but you can still do a lot with this diminutive air fryer. It doesn't get as hot as the models above, but it can reach a low enough fan speed and temperature for dehydrating, and its maximum fan speed helps it finish cooking quickly. If you're not set on the newest air fryer on the market, this classic model is still a good option.
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Best Budget Small Air Fryer
SizeCooking CapacityAir FryingFrying PerformanceCooking VersatilityCrispy Fries%See all our test resultsMeasured Capacity6.3 qt (6.0 L)If you have a bit more space to work with and want a budget-friendly option, the COSORI TurboBlaze is an impressive choice. It's slightly wider than the Ninja AF101, with a larger 6.3-quart capacity, and significantly more surface area in its shallow basket, making it easier to spread food out in a single layer. As a result, this air fryer makes very good-quality fried food, leaving most of each batch crispy and well-cooked. By the time it finishes cooking, just a small portion is undercooked or burnt. And while it preheats somewhat slowly, it cooks very quickly.
It's an exceptionally versatile option. Thanks to a wide range of fan speed and temperature settings, you can use this compact air fryer to proof dough, bake, dehydrate, broil, and more. It's worth noting that its maximum fan speed is actually a little too high for optimal results, so you may want to experiment to find the right settings for your recipes. While you can't change the fan speed manually, the manual includes information about which fan speed corresponds to each setting. While this might be a bit of a hassle, if you want an air fryer that's compact yet versatile, it's a great pick.
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Best Cheap Small Air Fryer
SizeCooking CapacityAir FryingFrying PerformanceCooking VersatilityCrispy Fries%See all our test resultsMeasured Capacity5.9 qt (5.6 L)If you want a small air fryer with a price tag to match, consider the Beautiful 6qt Digital, which is typically available for less than $70. It's a little bigger than the COSORI TurboBlaze, despite having a slightly smaller capacity and a bit less surface area in its basket, but there's still plenty of space to arrange food in a single layer. By the time your food finishes cooking, most of it is crispy and golden brown, with just a handful of mushy or burnt pieces in the mix. It doesn't work quite as fast as the COSORI, but it still offers a good cooking speed.
The biggest trade-off for this model is its limited versatility, particularly its disappointing maximum fan speed. This limitation makes it less effective at tasks like roasting or broiling, where stronger airflow is required to remove moisture and achieve a crispy, well-browned surface. Its temperature fluctuates throughout the cooking process, too, making it harder to follow recipes accurately and affecting how evenly it cooks. That said, it's still a good choice for dehydrating, proofing dough, and baking, thanks to its impressive temperature range and minimum fan speed. Plus, it's very affordable and comes in various colors, making it a good choice if you want a simple option that matches your decor.
Notable Mentions
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Ninja Pro AF141:
The Ninja Pro AF141 is a bit smaller than the COSORI TurboBlaze, with a small capacity to match. It's not as versatile as the COSORI, but it preheats and cooks faster. Plus, it maintains a more stable temperature throughout the process.
See our review -
Dash Compact:
The Dash Compact has a tiny 2-quart capacity, and it's much more compact than the Beautiful 6qt Digital. It stands out for its size, but because of its small cooking surface area, its air-frying performance is sub-par, so it's not recommended unless you want something really small and don't mind uneven results.
See our review
Recent Updates
Mar 11, 2026:
We added the Ninja Crispy Pro AS101 as our top pick due to its solid performance and space-saving design, and removed the Gotham Steel Air Fryer as our cheap pick since it's unavailable. We switched the positions of the Ninja AF101 and the COSORI TurboBlaze because of pricing changes.
Jan 26, 2026:
We changed this article to list our recommendations by price. All picks have been updated accordingly.
Dec 16, 2025:
We replaced the BELLA 6qt Pro 90165 with the Beautiful 6qt Digital as our 'Best Budget Small Air Fryer,' since the former has been discontinued. We also made small edits for clarity.
Nov 11, 2025:
We've added the COSORI TurboBlaze as a Notable Mention for users looking for more versatility and made small edits to the text for clarity.
Apr 24, 2025:
We've made minor updates to the text and checked that the products are in stock.
All Reviews
Our recommendations above are what we think are currently the top small air fryers for most people. We factor in the price, feedback from our visitors, and availability.
If you'd like to do the work of choosing yourself, here's the list of all air fryer reviews sorted by size. Be careful not to get too caught up in the details. While no air fryer is perfect, many are good enough to please almost everyone, and some differences are not noticeable unless you look for them.