Club Benefits
The best juicers are a surefire way to boost your vegetable and fruit intake. Extracting vitamin-dense, fibrous drinks from a range of fruits, vegatables, and leafy greens, these appliances make delicious juices, smoothies and vitamin shots.
But it's not just juice. Despite the name, these can be versatile machines that can make nut milk, sorbet, and even tofu.
Types of juicers
Before I get into the details, it's worth knowing the difference between the two main types of juicer you'll see in this guide.
Centrifugal juicers are faster, cheaper, and noisier. As the name suggests, they use a high-powered motor to extract juice from shredded fruit and vegetables using centrifugal force. They essentially spin the juice out of fruit at high speed. However, this results a lower fiber content, as they blitz up ingredients before extracting. The worst examples of this type of juicer make something closer to a smoothie than to true juice.
Masticating / slow / cold-press juicers are typically a lot more expensive, but they're quiet and effective. Again, as the name suggests, they break down your ingredients much like a chewing motion would. This makes for a higher yield and better-tasting juice than a centrifugal juicer. It also preserves fiber, so this type of juicer tends to be better for your gut. This makes them a popular choice for those who want a juicer for health-related reasons.
Best juicer overall
It's an expensive option, but the Nama J3 Cold Press Juicer is the best juicer we have tested. The J3 is a smaller and more portable alternative to Nama's much-loved J2 juicer, which allows you to add all of your ingredients in one go for hands-free slow juicing.
In our tests, there was nothing this juicer could not handle. It made light work of carrot and ginger, and produced some of the creamiest nut milk we've tried.
Cleaning is also a breeze with this juicer, with its fully removable parts that can be rinsed after each use, and very few grooves for fiber to latch onto. You can choose from two filter sizes depending on your desired level of fiber, and the Nama recipe book provides an extensive list of recipes, which we enjoyed sampling when testing.
It's also backed by an impressive 15-year warranty, which shows how confident Nama is in its premium construction.
Read our full Nama J3 Cold Press Juicer review.
Best budget juicer
AMZCHEF is one of those brands you'll see on sale at Amazon and think, "that's a good price, but I don't know if it'll perform". Well, when we put it to the test, we were surprised to find that the AMZCHEF Cold Press Juicer ZM1902 can hold its own.
Sure, the construction is as plastic-y as you might expect from a sub-$100 slow juicer, and it's not backed by any kind of warranty, but we did manage to get some decent juice out of the AMZCHEF, and it also takes up a very small amount of counter space compared to other cold press juicers.
While it doesn't compete with the Nama in terms of performance, it did create some tasty fruit juices and wasn't perturbed by high levels of pulp. However, cleaning is fiddly as none of the parts are dishwasher-safe.
It hit 80dB in testing, which is louder than some cold press juicers but still very manageable, and we also found that assembly was straightforward due to the fact that it comes in just four parts.
Read our full AMZCHEF Cold Press Juicer ZM1902 review.
Best centrifugal juicer
The Nutribullet Juicer is one of the simplest juicers of any on the market, with a built-in pulp collector and sturdy compact design. This results in a light yet stable model, which can be assembled and disassembled quickly.
The feed chute is three inches wide, accommodating a range of whole fruits and vegetables, while the juice jug comes with a practical lid. Speed and ease of use are some of the big benefits of the Nutribullet, which is priced affordably — under $100 at most retailers.
This low price does mean that you’re missing out on advanced extraction capabilities. We found that leafy greens and other tough vegetables were not efficiently juiced; the Nutribullet was much better suited to softer fruits, performing well on recipes like pineapple, mango and orange juice. For anyone who just wants to juice and go, focusing on flavor rather than nutrient extraction, this is a compelling option.
Read our full Nutribullet Juicer review.
Best smart juicer
The Tribest Slowstar AI Vertical Hopper Juicer claims to offer AI smarts with its adaptive juicing. Whether or not you buy into the AI marketing, we did find it to be immensely versatile when we put it to the test, offering eight preset functions which can handle everything from grapes to carrots. We even made ice-cold sorbet by freezing pre-prepared fruit and processing it through the juicer.
We put this gadget through its paces, testing all eight of its settings. It consistently delivered effortless, low-waste juice, although we did find that the results were often pulpy. This is to be expected with masticating juicers, although alternatives like the Nama come with a range of strainers to allow you to customize your finished drink.
Compared to our top pick from Nama, the Tribest is $100 more expensive, but its pre-set juice modes may be easier for beginners to get to grips with. Like the Nama, its parts are not dishwasher-safe and will require thorough cleaning between uses. For the most part, a rinse will remove fibers and leftover pulp.
For those who juice regularly and want a flexible, high-performance machine, the Tribest Slowstar AI offers intelligent operation and excellent juice quality, making it a strong contender. But it's also the most expensive option in this guide, making it out of reach for some shoppers.
Read our full Tribest Slowstar AI juicer review.
Best citrus juicer
If you need fresh citrus juice, you need this powerful little juicer. The KitchenAid Go Cordless is designed for citrus fruits, and it's surprisingly effective despite its size. We could juice 25 oranges in under 15 minutes, making a huge 28oz of orange juice.
The reamer is wide, so we found it can handle large grapefruits as well as smaller citrus fruits like limes. Unlike many juicers, this is easy to clean. Almost every part can go in the dishwasher, which is a huge time saver.
The battery can also be used with other KitchenAid Go products, like the KitchenAid Cordless Top Down Chopper.
However, this juicer juices with pulp, so if you want smooth juice, you either need to strain it afterwards or opt for a different model.
The biggest drawback is that this only works with citrus juice. If you love orange juice, make fresh lemonade, or need lime juice for guacamole and margaritas, this appliance is essential. For anything else, you're out of luck.
Read our full KitchenAid Go Cordless Citrus Juicer review.
Also tested
We're constantly testing juicers at Tom's Guide, but not every juicer can be the best. However, there are a few appliances that might not make the grade in this guide but are still worth considering.
How we test
I'm the Managing Editor for Buying Guides at Tom's Guide, and I've been testing juicers and other kitchen gadgets for nearly 6 years.
Now I own one, I don't know what I'd do without my juicer. Whenever I feel a cold coming on, I immediately make a big batch of immunity shots (ginger, lemon and turmeric, thank me later) in my trusty juicer. And I also treat myself to the occasional green juice when I need a vitamin kick.
We tested each juicer in a home setting to assess how well it would work in the average consumer's kitchen. We made a range of recipes, designed to test the juicers' abilities with different types of produce. This included softer fruits like pineapple and berries, firmer and more involved ingredients such as whole apples, and leaft greens like spinach and kale.
As we made each juice, we also assessed how loud the juicers were as they worked, the stability and size of the model, and the ease of the whole experience.
Finally, we considered the clean-up process, including disassembly and reassembly, in order to get a full picture of how it would be to own and regularly use these units.
How to choose the right blender for you
What's the difference between a centrifugal and masticating juicer?
Centrifugal: These juicers use high-speed spinning blades to shred produce. It’s fast and generally cheaper, but the friction can create heat and oxidation, meaning you should drink the juice immediately, and you'll be left with a lower fiber content.
Masticating: Also known as a slow juicer or a cold-press juicer, these models use a slow-turning screw (auger) to "chew" and squeeze produce. It’s quieter, extracts more juice (especially from greens), and preserves nutrients better, allowing the juice to stay fresh in the fridge for up to 72 hours. However, the finished juice is often higher in pulp, and they're much slower and more expensive than centrifugal models.
What type of juicer is best for leafy greens?
If you're juicing spinach, kale or celery, a masticating juicer is the better choice. Centrifugal juicers often spin light leaves straight into the pulp bin before they can be fully juiced, leaving you with fewer nutrients and a less fiber-rich juice. A masticating juicer’s crushing action is far more effective at squeezing every drop from thin, fibrous greens.
What type of juicer is best for hard produce?
Looking to juice apples and carrots? A centrifugal juicer will blitz through this tougher produce in seconds, whereas a cold press juicer may take longer to 'chew' and break down your fruits. All of the models in this guide have been tested to break down tough vegetables and fruits, but they're more likely to cause issues in slow juicers, especially if you don't cut them up first.
How noisy are juicers?
If you have early-rising family members or neighbors, finding a quiet option really matters. Centrifugal juicers sound like a loud blender, sometimes even a small jet engine! Masticating juicers are much quieter — closer to the sound of a low hum or heavy grinding — making them the better choice for early mornings. We measured noise as low as 60dB in our tests on slow juicers.
Can I use my juicer to make nut milk or sorbet?
In some cases, your juicer can make nut milk or sorbet. Typically you'll find these settings in more expensive models such as the Nama and Tribest models featured in this guide.
This is because they juice downwards, processing soaked nuts to release milk content, and slowly mincing frozen pre-prepared fruit into a smooth sorbet-like paste which is extracted from the tube that usually releases pulp and fiber.
