The 6 Best Blenders - Spring 2025

Updated May 08, 2025 at 02:03 pm
Best Blenders

Although blenders are often associated with smoothie making, they're versatile and handy tools in any chef's kitchen. The best blenders can handle everything from silky pureed soups and smoothies to frozen drinks like margaritas and slushies, and even spreads like nut butter and hummus. Features like a two-part lid, a tamper, and a wide range of speed settings help make a blender versatile enough for any recipe. If you make a lot of pureed soups and sauces, you might want something that can process hot ingredients, too. Plus, good blenders aren't extremely loud and don't make cleanup difficult. Some even come with additional accessories, like extra personal jars for blending single-serve smoothies.

We've tested over 125 blenders, and below are our recommendations for the best models you can buy.

If you prefer a smaller blender, the best personal blenders and the best bullet blenders are mainly intended for making smoothies and are usually more compact and less expensive. The best immersion blenders are meant for blending hot ingredients directly in a pot or pan but typically aren't as good for other recipes.

If you're looking for other kitchen appliances, check out our overview of the best microwaves and the best large-capacity air fryers.


  1. Best Blender

    The best blender we've tested is the Vitamix A3500. This full-size model can prepare basically any blend in its 64oz jar, processing ingredients quickly and easily. It thoroughly blends a personal smoothie or a big batch of soup in about a minute without any stirring or stopping. Using its 'Frozen Drinks' program, ice-crushing is a breeze, and while you have to stop and scrape the jar at least once, making smooth, spreadable nut butter is decently easy, too. A wide range of speed settings and blending programs are available, including 'Hot Soups,' which heats up ingredients as they blend. This blender is very sturdy and decently quiet, which helps set it apart from some cheaper Vitamix models. Plus, it's easy to clean by hand, and its jar and lid are dishwasher-safe.

    If you make a lot of nut butter, hummus, or other thicker recipes, you might prefer the Breville the Super Q BBL920. This high-end blender comes with a 68oz jar and makes nut butter without any need for scraping the jar with a spatula. It also includes a personal jar, so you have a convenient way to bring your smoothie on the go, without spending extra money. It has a similar overall performance, although it doesn't crush ice or blend fibrous ingredients quite as efficiently as the Vitamix, and it has a set number of preset speed settings, so you can't make smaller adjustments.

    See our review

  2. Best Upper Mid-Range Blender

    The Vitamix Explorian E310 is a good option if you want something more affordable. This blender has a much simpler design, with no automatic blending programs or screen, and it comes with a smaller 48oz jar, which you may or may not prefer. It's just as good as the Vitamix A3500 for blending small batches of ingredients like single-serve smoothies. While it's a little slower at blending big batches, it still makes a nearly perfectly smooth puree with fibrous additions like fruit and leafy greens in big batches of soups or smoothies. It also makes snow-like crushed ice, and its smaller jar helps it process recipes like nut butter or hummus faster and without any stopping and scraping.

    However, it's noticeably louder than the A3500. Also, its lack of blending programs and a digital display means you have to monitor it and stop it yourself. That said, it still offers a wide range of speed settings and a fantastic build quality. Its jar and 2-part lid are dishwasher-safe and easy to clean by hand.

    See our review

  3. Best Mid-Range Blender

    The best mid-range blender we've tested is the Breville the Fresh & Furious. You'll notice some downsides in this price range versus higher-end options. This blender isn't as well-built as the Vitamix Explorian E310, especially the buttons on the motor base, which feel a bit flimsy. It has a 2-part lid for its 50oz jar but doesn't include a tamper, making stirring ingredients less convenient. That said, you don't have to compromise much where it matters most, as it has a fantastic performance for all kinds of recipes.

    While it blends fibrous ingredients slowly compared with previous picks, it makes an equally smooth blend with small and big batches of ingredients like kale, broccoli, and fruits. It's very easy to use for recipes like nut butter. This blender also makes snow-like crushed ice, although it works best if you stick with smaller batches of about six ice cubes. Unfortunately, though, it can't hot blend.

    If you want a mid-range blender for hot soups, you might prefer the Braun TriForce Power Pro JB9041BK. This very well-built blender can process hot ingredients in its main jar and comes with a personal jar for smoothies. It can also crush more ice at once. On the other hand, it makes a less smooth blend with big batches of fibrous ingredients, and it's very loud. Still, it's a good alternative.

    See our review

  4. Best Budget Blender

    The best budget blender we've tested is the Chefman Obliterator. It has a streamlined design and comes with a 48oz jar, which is a bit small for a full-sized blender, and a travel jar. It holds up well against pricier models, with better build quality and ice-crushing performance than our previous pick, the Breville the Fresh & Furious. This model also does a fantastic job blending fibrous ingredients in large and small batches. It also features an 'Auto Blend' mode, which is rare for a blender in this price range and allows for more hands-off operation. On the downside, it's quite loud and struggles to process nut butter, requiring frequent stops to scrape the jar. Luckily, it's easy to clean, with a dedicated 'Clean' program and dishwasher-safe components.

    If you prefer a larger capacity option for making big batches of soups or smoothies, check out the Calphalon ActiveSense. It comes with a 64oz main jar as well as a personal jar for taking blended drinks on the go. Processing big batches of fibrous ingredients like broccoli, kale, and lentils is easier with this model than with the Chefman, and the results are exceptionally smooth. Unfortunately, it isn't as well-built as the top picks here; it has wiggly buttons on the motor base and can move around on your counter when processing tougher ingredients.

    If you're looking for a budget-friendly blender, our list of the best budget blenders has more recommendations.

    See our review

  5. Best Cheap Blender

    The Black+Decker Quiet Blender with Cyclone Glass Jar is worth considering if you want a good blender for well under $100. This inexpensive blender stands out for its 48oz pitcher made of glass, which is more scratch and odor-resistant than plastic. There's also a plastic personal jar included that helps with blending smaller volumes of ingredients for single-serve smoothies. This blender delivers a solid overall performance, but it's best for recipes like smoothies or soups since you can use either jar to make a mostly smooth blend with fibrous ingredients like fruit and leafy greens.

    However, other aspects of its design and performance leave something to be desired. Aside from the glass jar, it doesn't feel very well-built, with the main jar lid feeling particularly flimsy. If you make something like nut butter or hummus, ingredients tend to get flung to the sides of the jar, forcing you to use a spatula to scrape everything back toward the blades. It can only handle about six ice cubes at once and leaves behind some unprocessed chunks when crushing ice. If you plan to crush a lot of ice or make frozen drinks like slushies, consider the Ninja Professional Blender 1000 instead. It's not as versatile since it doesn't blend fibrous ingredients as smoothly and can't be used for hot blending, but it has no problem crushing a batch of 12 ice cubes into a snow-like consistency.

    See our review

  6. Best Quiet Blender

    No blender is exactly quiet, but the roar of some super loud models makes them much less appealing. The Vitamix Ascent X4 is a newer blender from the brand, and while it's often more expensive than the Vitamix A3500, it's noticeably quieter. This blender comes with a 48oz jar instead of a 64oz jar and performs particularly well for recipes like nut butter or hummus. While it doesn't blend smoothies and soups as fast as the A3500, it makes smooth blends with small and big batches of fibrous ingredients. It also easily makes snow-like ice with a smaller batch of about six ice cubes.

    Its controls include six automatic blending programs and a +15-second button. This new lineup of Ascent X blenders also features a tamper holder, which you can fix on the side of the motor base or remove if you're not using it. The jar is dishwasher-safe and quite easy to clean by hand. It also shares the A3500's fantastic build quality, with a stainless steel shell, although, unlike that model, it lacks cord storage. 

    It's worth noting that the quietest full-size blender we've tested is the Vitamix Ascent X5. This blender offers a few more features over the Ascent X4, like a greater number of blending programs, but it performs essentially identically. It's also the most expensive Vitamix by far, and for most people, the extra cost won't be worth the noise difference. However, if you're prepared to shell out nearly $1000 for a blender, it's quieter and definitely one of the top blenders on the market.

    If you're looking for a quieter blender in a different price range, check out our full list of the best quiet blenders.

    See our review

Notable Mentions

  • Ninja Mega Kitchen System [BL770, BL770AMZ, BL771]:

    The Ninja Mega Kitchen System is a mid-range blender that comes with personal jars for single-serve smoothies. While the Breville the Fresh & Furious is just as good for preparing single-serve smoothies in its 50oz jar, the Ninja's personal jars make it easy to blend and take one on the go. However, it doesn't make a very smooth blend with fibrous ingredients in its main jar.

    See our review
  • Vitamix 5200:

    The Vitamix 5200 is priced between the Vitamix A3500 and the Vitamix Explorian E310. Its 64oz jar has a tall, narrow shape, which can help with blending very small batches of ingredients. It's easy to use for processing recipes like nut butter, so it's a good option if you want a 64oz jar and make a lot of dips and spreads. However, both the A3500 and the Explorian E310 process fibrous ingredients faster.

    See our review

Recent Updates

  1. May 08, 2025

    We've replaced the Calphalon ActiveSense with the Chefman Obliterator as it performs better overall at an even more budget-friendly price. We also made some small changes for clarity.

  2. Apr 08, 2025

    We've made small edits to the text and verified that our recommendations are still in stock and represent the best options.

  3. Mar 12, 2025

    We've removed the Wolf Gourmet Pro-Performance as our pick for a quiet blender because it's not available and replaced it with the Vitamix Ascent X4, which makes about the same amount of noise.

  4. Feb 14, 2025

    We've added the Breville the Super Q BBL920 as an alternative to the Vitamix A3500 because of its better performance for recipes like nut butter and included personal jar.

  5. Jan 09, 2025

    We've added the Vitamix Ascent X5 as an alternative to the Wolf Gourmet Pro-Performance since it's just as quiet as the Wolf and easier to find available online.

FAQ

What is the best model of blender?

It depends on what you want a blender for. Deciding on what type of blender you need is a good place to start—we have a guide for that purpose. Some important considerations include whether you usually blend single or multiple servings, if you make a variety of recipes or mostly blend smoothies and other drinks, and whether or not you want to blend hot ingredients.

What are the best blender brands?

The best full-size blender brands consistently make well-built, convenient-to-use, and versatile products, meaning they can handle a variety of recipes, including smoothies, shakes, soups, and dips. Vitamix, Wolf Gourmet, and Breville are good high-end blender brands. Ninja and KitchenAid are among our most recommended brands for full-size blenders in the mid and budget price ranges. For personal blenders, it's important that the design and performance work well for smoothies. Ninja is among the best personal blender brands, and so is nutribullet.

What blender is best for hot and cold?

You need a full-size blender with a vented lid or an immersion blender to blend hot ingredients. Most personal and portable blenders can't hot blend because they don't allow steam to escape, which can cause dangerous splattering when you remove the lid. Some blenders can blend hot ingredients but not heat cool ingredients, like the KitchenAid K400 and the Oster Pro 1200. If you want a blender that can heat ingredients, look for models with a heating element like the Ninja Foodi Cold & Hot Blender or a blender that can heat ingredients with friction from the blades, like most Vitamix blenders.

All Reviews

Our recommendations above are what we think are currently the best kitchen blenders for most people. We factor in the price, feedback from our visitors, and availability.

If you'd like to choose for yourself, here's the list of all our blender reviews. Be careful not to get too caught up in the details. While no options can be the best blender for everything, most are good enough to please almost everyone, and the differences are often not noticeable unless you really look for them.