Best Garbage Disposals of 2025
These models worked their way to the top of our ratings with a flick of a switch or the twist of a wrist
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Garbage disposals are the unsung heroes of many a kitchen. Mounted beneath the sink drain, these devices pulverize food waste into tiny bits so you can easily wash it away. As a result, less food winds up in your trash can, helping you cut down on funky odors and pests. The finer the disposal grinds the scraps, the less environmental impact they have once they enter the waste stream.
The least expensive garbage disposals in CR’s latest tests cost around $63. “On the lower end of the price range, you’ll see disposal motors with one-third horsepower and a shorter one-year warranty,” says Larry Ciufo, who oversees the testing of garbage disposals at Consumer Reports. “Typically, more money buys you more power, less noise, sturdier stainless steel components, and auto-reversing grinders that help prevent jams.” That said, a high price doesn’t guarantee great performance. The most expensive model we tested, the InSinkErator Evolution Excel, costs more than $800 and offers just a middling performance.
Garbage disposals fall into two categories: continuous-feed and batch-feed.
Continuous-feed disposals are the most common. These operate with a wall switch and allow you to toss in scraps while they’re running. They will continue to grind until you flip the switch off, and they require some caution to make sure that fingers and small utensils remain clear of the opening.
Batch-feed disposals are less common and grind food in batches with a twist or a push on a stopper that covers the opening. Because of the stopper, batch-feed disposals are safer, quieter, and require no extra electrical wiring beyond powering the under-sink unit. Batch-feed disposals typically offer more horsepower than continuous-feed models but are generally more expensive. Because they operate only when covered, there’s less risk of injury.
We don’t track data on the predicted reliability of residential garbage disposals, but according to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, they usually last about 12 years. Your current model might be ready for replacement if you notice it taking longer to grind or making louder-than-usual noises, or if you need to press the disposal’s reset button often.
CR members can read on for ratings and reviews of the best-performing garbage disposals from our tests, listed alphabetically in each category. We find that how well a garbage disposal performs varies even within the same brand. You’ll find models from a single manufacturer at the top as well as the bottom of our ratings. See our garbage disposal buying guide for tips on choosing one, and for test results on more than 60 models, check our full garbage disposal ratings.
Best Continuous-Feed Garbage Disposals
A vast majority of the models we test are continuous-feed garbage disposals. They’re popular due to their convenience and range of options across different price ranges.
The pricey Franke FWDJ75 is about twice the cost of the highly rated Frigidaire model below. But this 14-pound, ¾-hp disposal does keep the noise down and grinds bones and scraps with very good speed and fineness. That said, you can get better horsepower, performance, and price with other disposals. This Franke disposal has a dishwasher connector and a plug-in power cord, and it’s backed by a 10-year warranty.
The 1¼-hp Frigidaire FF13DISPC1 breaks down rib bones fast, earning it an excellent rating for speed as well as very good marks for grinding scraps—and doing so fairly quietly. The 13-pound disposal comes with a 10-year warranty, a removable splash guard, and a plug-in power cord. A magnetic ring prevents utensils from falling inside, and antimicrobial protection guards against odors.
The GE GFC720N rates a notch below the Franke, but it’s a much better value. In our tests, this ¾-hp device grinds bones with excellent precision and almost as well as its pricier brandmate, the GE GFC1020N, below. But keep in mind that these GEs have only a one-year warranty, while others have a warranty of up to 10 years or more.
The GE GFC1020N is a 1-hp garbage disposal that earns a very good rating in our speed test and an excellent rating in our fineness test. This midpriced grinder will demolish your food scraps thoroughly without wasting lots of water. But it’s slightly lighter than some others and thus noisier. It has an EZ-Mount sink connection to ease installation but needs to be hardwired to power. It’s backed by only a one-year warranty.
The Moen EX Series EXL100C earns excellent ratings for speed and noise. Its 1-hp motor also performs very well in our tests for how finely it grinds food. Like most disposals, it comes with a dishwasher connector. It’s also equipped with a plug-in power cord and has a 10-year warranty.
The Moen GX Series GXS75C boasts a powerful ¾-hp motor that’s very good at grinding down scraps like bones and veggies into small pieces for easier disposal. It’s also slightly smaller (10 pounds, 12 inches high, 8 inches wide, and 10 inches deep), so if space is tight under your sink, this high performer is a good option. It comes with a 10-year warranty, too.
Best Batch-Feed Garbage Disposals
There are only 10 batch-feed garbage disposals in our ratings. With prices in our ratings ranging from $177 to $350, their cost is similar to that of higher-end continuous-feed models, but you’ll find fewer low-priced options. Most garner strong marks in our lab tests, but the four options below perform a cut above the rest.
For an economical price, the Frigidaire FF75DISPB1 delivers very fast and thorough grinding and has a 10-year warranty. Its ¾-hp motor is among the quietest we’ve tested, and its speed score stands out among other batch-feed models in our ratings.
InSinkErator garbage disposals are pricey, and that doesn’t always equal high performance. (For example, the bottom-rated InSinkErator Evolution Advanced Series is the most expensive batch-feed disposal in CR’s ratings.) But the InSinkErator Evolution Cover Control Plus is the top-rated batch-feed disposal due to its excellent scores for pulverizing scraps quickly and very good marks for grinding food finely and quietly. This powerful ¾-hp, 10-amp model is 19 pounds, the heaviest in our ratings. It’s 15 inches high, 9 inches wide, and 10 inches deep, so measure your under-cabinet space to make sure it fits.
The ¾-hp batch-feed Moen GX Series GXB75C demolished rib bones impressively in our test, earning a very good rating for both speed and fineness. It also operates relatively quietly, even if it is a lightweight at just 11 pounds. It’s covered by an eight-year warranty and comes with a plug-type electrical connection.
Powered by a 1-hp motor, the Waste King L-8000TC grinds bones into bits like a wood chipper, but not quietly. It scores an excellent rating in our fineness test and very good marks for speed, but just a middling score for noise. The midpriced model weighs 14 pounds and comes with a plug-in power cord and an EZ-Mount sink connection for easier installation. It has a 10-year warranty.
How CR Tests Garbage Disposals
Consumer Reports bases the ratings of garbage disposals on several tests.
To test speed, we grind pieces of beef rib bones for 1 minute with cold running water and then weigh how much food remains in the disposal. The more food that’s left, the longer it takes to grind—and the lower the score on this test.
To see how thoroughly the disposals grind food, we toss a mix of bones and raw vegetable scraps into each model and run the resulting fragments through four different-sized sieves to gauge fineness. A garbage disposal that garners an excellent rating in that test turns out food particles fine enough to slip through most of the sieves. The bigger the bits left over, the greater the chance the kitchen sink drain will clog, resulting in a lower score on this test.
For noise, we measure the decibels emitted while the disposals grind a mix of bones and vegetables, using a panel to simulate the buffering effect of a cabinet. In general, we find that the quieter models are heavier due to more insulation.
