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Appliances›Countertop Dishwashers

The Best Countertop Dishwashers

By The Consumer's Guide Research Team·Updated August 31, 2026

A countertop dishwasher solves a specific problem: you have dishes, you have a sink, and you have no room for a real dishwasher. These units sit next to your faucet, hold about six place settings, and hook up to the tap with an adapter or fill from a built-in tank. No plumber, no cabinet demolition, nothing your landlord needs to approve. The payoff is real, too. The EPA puts handwashing a full sink at up to 27 gallons, while a certified countertop machine can run a cycle on as little as 3.2 gallons.

Here's the part nobody advertises. These machines are small, and small means compromises you'll notice by the second week. A 12-inch dinner plate goes in at an angle or not at all. Sheet pans, stockpots and most large mixing bowls simply don't fit. Wirecutter's long-term reporting found that baked-on residue — scorched cheese, caramelized sugar — defeats countertop units across the board, regardless of what you pay. Drying is the other weak spot, since most of these rely on residual heat rather than a real heating element.

Reliability is uneven across the whole category, and owner feedback on nearly every model here includes a share of leaks and early failures. So buy from a brand with a service network, and register the warranty. We think that the SPT SD-2224DS is the best countertop dishwasher for most people, and that the NOVETE Portable Countertop Dishwasher is the one to buy if you can't attach anything to your faucet.

At a glance

Product	Capacity	Wash Cycles	Price
SPT SD-2224DW ENERGY STAR Countertop Dishwasher withAlso great	6 Place Settings	7 Wash Cycles	$280.22
BLACK+DECKER Countertop DishwasherBudget pick	6 Place Settings	7 Wash Cycles	$299.99
COMFEE' Portable Mini Dishwasher Countertop with 1.32GalAlso consider	30+ Items	6 Programs	$289.99
SPT SD-2224DS ENERGY STAR Compact Countertop DishwasherTop pick	6 Place Settings	7 Wash Cycles	$288.51
Midea Countertop Dishwasher with 1.59Gal Built-in WaterAlso in lineup	1.59Gal Tank	5+2 Programs	$318.80
NOVETE Portable Countertop Dishwashers for Small ApartmentsRunner-up	4 Place Settings	5 Wash Cycles	$339

How we picked

Top pick

A stainless tub, seven cycles, and a faucet hookup that just works

SPT SD-2224DS ENERGY STAR Compact Countertop Dishwasher

The SPT SD-2224DS holds six place settings in a stainless steel tub, runs seven cycles including heavy and speed, and connects to most kitchen faucets with the included quick-connect adapter. It's Energy Star certified, and owners report it handles greasy pans without pre-scrubbing.

$288.51fromAmazon

The stainless interior is the reason to pick this one. Tom's Guide found that stainless-tub countertop models leave fewer water spots on glassware than plastic-tub equivalents, because the metal holds heat after the final rinse and keeps evaporating water off your dishes. Plastic cools fast and stays damp. Stainless also doesn't hang onto the smell of last night's fish, which matters when the machine lives on your counter at eye level.

Seven cycles sounds like marketing filler until you use them. Heavy is for the pan you deglazed. Speed gets you through a weeknight load in under an hour. Soak handles the casserole dish you'd otherwise leave in the sink overnight. There's also a mini party setting for a half-load of glasses, which is genuinely useful if you're only running four wine glasses and a couple of plates.

The delay start goes two, four, six or eight hours out. If your building charges different rates overnight, or you just don't want the machine running while you're watching something, you set it and walk away. The LED display shows time remaining and flags low water supply or empty rinse aid, so you're not guessing why a cycle stalled.

It's bigger than the photos suggest. At roughly 17 inches tall and nearly 22 inches wide, this is one of the largest units here, and owners repeatedly mention being surprised by the footprint when the box arrives. Consumer Reports puts typical counter-to-cabinet clearance at 18 inches, so the SPT fits under most upper cabinets — but measure first, and account for the door swinging down.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Drying is mediocre, which is true of the whole category but still worth knowing. The stainless tub helps, and owners generally get better results by cracking the door open at the end of a cycle and letting things air out for twenty minutes. Rinse aid makes a noticeable difference on glassware.

Owner feedback includes a recurring thread of quality-control problems out of the box — a broken door latch, a unit that leaked within a couple of months. Most people who got a good one report years of daily use without trouble, but the variance is real. Inspect it carefully on arrival and don't sit on the return window.

It's heavy at 43 pounds. If you plan to stow it in a cabinet between uses, this isn't the one — it's meant to live on the counter.

SPT covers the SD-2224DS under a one-year manufacturer warranty.

Runner-up

Fills from a tank, so your faucet doesn't matter

NOVETE Portable Countertop Dishwashers for Small Apartments

The NOVETE runs either from a faucet hookup or a built-in five-liter water tank, which frees it from your sink entirely. It's the quietest unit here at about 52 dB, and it adds a 167-degree baby-care cycle and a full hour of hot-air drying after every wash.

$339fromAmazon

If your faucet has a pull-out spray head, a touchless sensor, or threads nothing will grab, the adapter question kills most countertop dishwashers before you start. The NOVETE sidesteps it. Fill the internal tank from a pitcher, hit start, and it runs anywhere there's an outlet and a place to drain. That's why this is the pick for RVs, boats, dorm rooms and any rental with a sink you're not allowed to touch.

The hot-air drying is what separates it from the pack. Most countertop machines just let residual heat do the work, and you open the door to damp plastic. The NOVETE runs 60 minutes of heated air automatically after the wash finishes, and owners consistently report dishes coming out ready to put away rather than ready to towel off. That's a real daily difference.

At roughly 52 dB per the manufacturer's published spec, this is the quietest unit here — Good Housekeeping notes that figure sits close to library-quiet. In a studio apartment where the kitchen is also the living room, that's not a nice-to-have. You can run it during a movie or after the baby's down.

The baby-care cycle heats to 167 degrees, which is the setting parents actually use. Bottles, nipples, sippy cups, pump parts. There's also a dedicated fruit-wash mode and a child lock. At 28 pounds it's the lightest machine here by a wide margin, so moving it to fill the tank isn't a chore.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It holds four place settings, not six. That's meaningfully less than the SPT, and it's the trade you make for the tank and the smaller footprint. Twelve-inch plates fit only at an angle. For a household of one or two this is fine; for four people you'll run it more often.

The bottom rack draws consistent criticism from owners, who find the tine spacing awkward for the dishes they actually own. Smaller items can tip through and end up near the spray arm. You'll develop a loading pattern that works, but expect a learning period.

The tank holds about 1.3 gallons, which covers a cycle but means refilling before each run. If you're near a compatible faucet anyway, use the hookup mode and skip the hassle.

Budget pick

Stainless inside, seven cycles, and a brand you can call

BLACK+DECKER Countertop Dishwasher

The BLACK+DECKER BCD6W gives you a stainless steel tub, six place settings and seven cycles for noticeably less than the SPT. It's Energy Star certified, has a child lock, and comes from a brand with a real customer service line when something goes wrong.

$299.99fromAmazon

You get the stainless tub at a lower price, and that's the headline. Plenty of budget countertop machines cut this corner and give you a plastic interior that holds odors and dries poorly. This one doesn't. Add seven cycles — normal, intensive, eco, glass, 90-minute, rapid and soak — and the feature list reads like a mid-range unit.

The brand matters more than the badge suggests. W Appliance builds this under license, but BLACK+DECKER's service network and parts availability are far ahead of the no-name units that flood this category. When a countertop dishwasher fails at month ten, the difference between a company that answers the phone and one that doesn't is the entire value of the warranty.

Owners describe it as a genuine relief rather than a gadget — people with skin conditions, people who hate the sink, people in apartments with no other option. The quick-connect hooks to the faucet, and the child lock keeps a toddler from restarting a cycle mid-wash. Several owners note it fits more full-size plates than they expected.

It's the widest unit here at about 21.7 inches, and 46 pounds. If your counter run is short, measure carefully. The upside of the bulk is capacity — this holds a genuinely useful load for two people, or a day's dishes for a small family.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Drying is poor without rinse aid. Owners are unanimous on this: fill the rinse-aid reservoir and keep it filled, or you'll be towel-drying glassware. Cracking the door at the end of the cycle helps too.

Reliability is the weak link. Owner reports include units breaking within a few months and slow replacement turnaround. It's a budget machine, and the failure rate reflects that — buy it knowing you may be dealing with support.

Shipping damage comes up often enough to mention. The box takes a beating in transit. Unpack it the day it lands and check the door and latch before you commit.

Also great

The same machine in white, if silver clashes with your kitchen

SPT SD-2224DW ENERGY STAR Countertop Dishwasher with

The SPT SD-2224DW is our top pick in a white finish, with the same stainless steel interior, seven cycles, delay start and six-place-setting capacity. If your appliances are white or your counter is dark, this is the version to get.

$280.22fromAmazon

Mechanically this is our top pick. Same stainless tub, same seven cycles, same quick-connect adapter, same 43-pound frame at roughly 17 by 22 by 20 inches. The only difference is the cabinet color, and in a small kitchen where the machine sits in your sightline all day, that's a legitimate reason to choose one over the other.

White hides less but blends more. Silver reads as a piece of equipment on the counter; white tends to disappear against light cabinets and backsplashes. Owners in small apartments frequently mention that the unit's visual weight matters, because it lives on the counter permanently rather than tucking away.

Owners describe it the way they describe the silver version — quiet enough to run overnight without waking kids or neighbors, and effective on greasy pans without a pre-scrub. The same caveats apply on drying, and the same warning signs show up in feedback about leaks after a couple of months. Watch it early.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

White plastic shows kitchen grime and can yellow over years of sun exposure near a window. The silver version hides fingerprints and cooking splatter better.

Everything we said about the top pick's drying performance and quality-control variance applies here without change. It's the same machine.

At 43 pounds and nearly 22 inches wide, it needs a permanent home on your counter. This isn't something you tuck away after dinner.

SPT covers the SD-2224DW under a one-year manufacturer warranty.

The research

Who this is for

Buy one of these if you have a sink and no dishwasher — a rental, a studio, a pre-war walkup, an RV, a tiny home, a houseboat. The same goes if handwashing is physically hard for you, since arthritis and skin conditions make a sink full of dishes a daily ordeal rather than a chore. And if you're watching your water bill, the math is on your side: a University of Bonn study published in the International Journal of Consumer Studies found automatic dishwashers used significantly less water than handwashing an equivalent load, even when not fully loaded.

Skip these if you cook big. Sheet pans, stockpots and large mixing bowls don't fit in any countertop unit, so you'll still be at the sink for the hard stuff. Skip them if you have room for a full-size portable on wheels, which holds far more for similar money. This guide covers plug-in countertop machines that either hook to a faucet or fill from an onboard tank — not built-ins, not rolling portables, and not dish sanitizers or drying racks.

How we picked

Tub material: We favored stainless steel interiors, because Tom's Guide found they leave fewer spots on glassware and they don't hold food odors the way plastic does. Water and energy: We checked Energy Star certification and published gallons per cycle, where the range runs roughly 3.2 to 5 gallons against up to 27 for handwashing a full sink. Noise: We treated published ratings under 55 dB as the target, since these machines run in rooms where people are also sitting. Cycles: We wanted at least a heavy program, an eco program, and a high-temperature or baby-care mode, and we discounted units whose cycle lists were padded with near-duplicates. Fit: We compared exterior height and width against the 18 inches of counter-to-cabinet clearance typical in American kitchens. Support: We weighed brand service networks and parts availability heavily, because owner feedback across this whole category shows failures are common enough that who answers the phone matters.

Other countertop dishwashers worth considering

If you want a tank-fill machine with a bigger cycle menu: The COMFEE' Portable Mini Dishwasher Countertop with 1.32Gal ($289.99) — The COMFEE' Portable Mini holds more than 30 items, fills from a 1.32-gallon onboard tank, and runs six programs including a 162-degree hygiene cycle and a fruit-wash mode. Comfee is Midea-built, and the company's cycle sheet is more generous than the NOVETE's. But it's a plastic-tub machine, drying is weak enough that owners complain about it directly, and the reliability picture is the shakiest of the tank-fill units here — repeated reports of leaks from the drain hose and failures right around the one-year mark. If the price gap over the NOVETE is meaningful to you and you're willing to towel-dry, it's a reasonable pick. Just budget for the possibility of a warranty claim.

The competition

This is what our research turned up, not a survey of everything sold. Countertop dishwashers are a crowded, fast-changing category, and new house-brand units appear constantly. The models below are ones we looked at closely and decided against for the reasons given — though a couple of them make sense for specific situations.

The Midea Countertop Dishwasher with 1.59Gal Built-in Water ($318.80) — The Midea Countertop Dishwasher with the auto-open door is the most interesting machine here on paper. It fills from a 1.59-gallon tank, runs a cycle on about 1.6 gallons, and pops the door at the end while a turbofan pushes steam out — which addresses the drying problem better than anything else in this lineup. Five programs cover normal, rapid, hygiene, fruit and glass, plus delay start, a child lock and leak protection. But owner feedback is the worst of any unit we looked at, with a heavy concentration of leaks, error codes requiring manual tank draining, and at least one report of the utensil tray warping after a single cycle. Midea did replace units for some owners at no charge. If the auto-open drying is worth the risk to you, buy it somewhere with a generous return policy.

Installation and upkeep

Before you order, measure the vertical space between your counter and your upper cabinets — most kitchens give you about 18 inches, and several of these units need close to 20 with the door clear. Then check your faucet. Quick-connect adapters thread onto standard aerators, but pull-out spray heads and touchless faucets often won't take one, which is when a tank-fill model becomes the answer. Use dishwasher powder or pods, never liquid dish soap, or you'll flood your kitchen with suds. Clean the filter monthly; it's the single thing owners say keeps these machines working. Fill the rinse-aid reservoir and keep it filled, since drying is the category's weakest point and rinse aid is the simplest fix. And crack the door open when a cycle ends to let steam escape.

Questions we get

How much water does a countertop dishwasher use compared to handwashing?

The EPA's WaterSense program puts handwashing a full sink of dishes at up to 27 gallons, while Energy Star-certified countertop dishwashers can run a cycle on as little as 3.2 gallons. That's a reduction of nearly 88% per load. A University of Bonn study reached the same conclusion, finding automatic dishwashers used less water and energy than handwashing even when they weren't fully loaded.

Can a countertop dishwasher connect to any kitchen faucet?

Most, but not all. The included quick-connect adapter threads onto a standard faucet aerator, which covers the majority of kitchen sinks. Pull-out spray heads, touchless faucets and some designer fixtures won't accept one. If that describes your sink, get a model with a built-in water tank — the NOVETE and the COMFEE' both fill manually and don't touch your plumbing at all.

Will it clean pots, pans and baking sheets?

Pots and pans, sometimes. Baking sheets, no. Interior racks in this category top out around 12-inch plates loaded at an angle, and sheet pans and stockpots simply don't fit. Good Housekeeping Institute testers found countertop units removed more than 95% of common food soils like dried egg and tomato sauce without pre-rinsing, but Wirecutter's long-term reporting shows heavily baked-on residue — scorched cheese, caramelized sugar — defeats these machines regardless of price. Pre-soak that stuff.

How loud are these, really?

Published ratings across the category run from about 52 to 65 dB. The NOVETE's 52 dB spec is roughly library-quiet, and owners of the SPT units report running them overnight without waking kids or neighbors. Anything under 55 dB is fine for an open-plan apartment. Budget units in the 60-to-65 range are noticeable if the kitchen and living room are the same room.

Are countertop dishwashers worth it for just one or two people?

Yes, and arguably more so than for a big household. The Bonn research found dishwashers beat handwashing on water use even when partially loaded, so you don't need to fill it to come out ahead. For one or two people, a six-setting machine covers a full day of dishes, and you can run it every other day. The real payoff is time and hands you don't have to put in a sink.

How long does a cycle take?

Most standard cycles run 55 to 90 minutes, and eco cycles typically stretch to 100 to 120 minutes because they use less energy to get there. CNET's appliance lab reports these units draw 1,200 to 1,500 watts during a wash. Rapid or speed settings on the SPT and BLACK+DECKER models get you under an hour when you need dishes back quickly.

Why you should trust us

For this guide:

We read manufacturer specification sheets for every model here, comparing tub material, published noise ratings, water consumption per cycle and exterior dimensions.
We reviewed published findings from the Good Housekeeping Institute, Tom's Guide, CNET, Consumer Reports and Wirecutter on how countertop dishwashers perform on soil removal, drying and fit.
We read owner feedback across all six units, looking for recurring themes around leaks, drying, rack design and warranty support rather than one-off complaints.
We read owner reviews on every listing, weighted toward the critical ones, because that is where the recurring failures show up.
We have a systematic way of automatically fetching the latest prices, so the numbers on this page stay current.
This is a research-focused guide, so the team may not own every product listed — though we often do own the top winners, which gives us extra context for the recommendations.
We don't accept free products, and the retailer commission never changes which product we recommend.