The Best Personal Blenders for Solo Smoothies and Small-Batch Sauces

I write about kitchen gadgets for a living, so it should come as no surprise that my kitchen is covered in countertop appliances. I’ve got a rice cooker, a countertop oven, an Instant Pot, a stand mixer, an espresso machine… the list goes on. But the kitchen appliance I use the most? It's undoubtedly my personal blender.

• The best personal blender overall: Nutribullet Ultra
• The best budget personal blender: Thyme & Table Single-Serve Blender
• The best personal blender for smoothies: Ninja BlendBoss
• Our personal favorite: Beast Mighty 850

Sure, I love my Vitamix (which is also on my counter). But I’ve found that even the best full-size blenders are less effective at making single-serving smoothies or small-batch soups and sauces, and besides, it never feels worth the effort of pulling mine out and cleaning it when I’m only cooking for myself. As a person who drinks a smoothie at least twice a week, I rely on my small bullet-style blender to get the job done.

Here’s the thing, though: There are a lot of bad personal blenders out there. That’s why I set out to find one that could deliver silky smooth sauces and grit-free green smoothies, all while being compact and easy to clean. After testing 12 models, I've found four that’ve earned my seal of approval.

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Nutribullet

Ultra Personal Blender

$130 $105 (19% off)

Amazon

$165

Nutribullet

What we love: The biggest problem with most personal blenders is that they lack the motor power that makes something like a Vitamix so effective. Not so with the Nutribullet Ultra, which has an impressive 1,200-watt motor that cuts through everything we threw at it with shocking ease for a blender of this size. For reference, our favorite Vitamix, the 5200, has a not-actually-that-much-more-powerful 1,380-watt motor, and a standard Nutribullet model has a wattage of 600.

At 1,200 watts, the Ultra is tied for the most powerful personal blender we’ve ever used, and the benefits of that superior wattage shone through in our testing. The Ultra was able to turn a pile of fibrous kale (with stems!), frozen fruit, and almond milk into a creamy smoothie with ease, and it produced beautifully emulsified, supremely smooth pesto in 30 seconds flat—something no other personal blender we tested could do.

That top-notch blending performance is also partially due to the design of the titanium-coated stainless-steel blade, which has six prongs, as opposed to the four I’ve seen in most comparable models.

Even setting aside the stellar performance and powerful motor, there's a lot to love about this mini blender design-wise. It’s equipped with thoughtful features that make it more pleasant to use than other models: very strong suction cup feet that do an excellent job at keeping the unit stable on the counter while the machine is running, a thick-rimmed lid that doesn’t leak, and sleek, intuitive-to-operate touchscreen buttons. Its two modes allow you to run a 30-second blend cycle, or press and hold to blend or pulse.

The Ultra comes with two extra BPA-free blending jars (including a handled one) and two to-go lids. I've been using it to take smoothies on my morning commute.

What we’d leave: Though this is an impressive little machine, a personal blender will never afford you the blending power of a premium full-size model like a Vitamix, so it’s important to set reasonable expectations. If you’re looking to crush ice cubes in large quantities or make nut butters, this is not be the blender for you. Other than that, at $165 at the time of writing, this is a great value for the amount of horsepower you’re getting—especially when compared with a Vitamix, which will run you anywhere from $380–$750.

In the long run: "Having this blender at home actually turned me into a smoothie person. I’ve begun using it to make them for myself and my kids for breakfast a couple of days a week. The Nutribullet’s performance is as good now as it was when I first got it over a year ago, zipping up well-blended mixtures of kale, frozen berries, and coconut water.

The real benefit of the Ultra, though, has turned out to be the mini food processor that comes as an optional add-on. If you are considering getting this blender and you do any cooking at all, do yourself a favor and get the processor attachment. I use it to mince garlic and ginger or chop onions every week, often on multiple nights. They’re tasks I find particularly tedious, and, especially in the case of just a couple cloves of garlic, impractical in my regular food processor (who wants to take that thing down and clean it up for two cloves of garlic?). In the mini-processor, the work is done in 10 seconds with the mess quite contained." —Noah Kaufman, senior shopping editor

Good to know: For an additional $80, you can upgrade to the Nutribullet Ultra Plus+ Compact Kitchen System, which includes the motor base, two blending cups with to-go lids, as well as a coffee/spice grinder (keep it for spices, use a burr grinder for coffee) and mini food processor attachments. There are also a number of other models in the Nutribullet lineup, including the Pro+, Pro 1000 (reviewed below), Pro, and classic Nutribullet.

The best budget personal blender: Thyme & Table Single-Serve Blender

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Thyme & Table

Single Serve Blender

$66

Walmart

What we love: This blender from Walmart-exclusive brand Thyme & Table was a pleasant surprise in our most recent round of testing. At just $66, it’s less than half the price of our top pick, but still feels sturdily constructed and well-designed. The base itself is made of plastic but has a nice weight to it, and the suction feet on the bottom do a good job of stabilizing the blender as it runs.

Like many of the blenders on this list, this one has two modes: blend and pulse. We used the blend mode for both the smoothie and pesto test and achieved relatively smooth mixtures in just one 30-second blend cycle both times (though each needed a couple of extra seconds of blending to reach an optimal consistency). This makes sense given the Thyme & Table's powerful 900-watt motor (the same wattage as our previous budget pick, the Zwilling Enfinigy, which costs $40 more).

We also appreciated that the included blending cup is wide enough that you can fit your hand and sponge inside it, which makes for easier hand-washing—though the cup (and other accessories) is also dishwasher-safe.

What we’d leave: Our main gripe with the Thyme & Table is that it only includes one blending cup—and from the looks of it, the brand does not currently sell additional cups or lids sans blender.

The best personal blender for smoothies: Ninja BlendBoss

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Ninja

BlendBoss™ Personal Blender and Tumbler in Cyberspace

$130 $110 (15% off)

Shark | Ninja

What we love: Ninja's latest personal blender lives up to its name: It's a powerful-yet-compact little machine with a 1,200-watt motor that rivals that of our top pick. It has four different modes: Smoothie, ice crush, blend, and pulse. The smoothie, ice crush, and blend modes all use Ninja's Auto iQ technology, which uses a combination of blending, pulsing, and pausing to achieve the desired result.

In testing, the BlendBoss whizzed through smoothie ingredients (including those pesky fibrous kale stems) with no trouble at all, producing the silkiest smoothie out of any of the models I tested in just one 55-second Smoothie iQ cycle. It performed well in the pesto test, too; its powerful blade was more than up to the task of breaking down whole garlic cloves and leafy basil.

The base of the BlendBoss is unlike that of any other personal blender I've seen—bulbous and sort of donut-shaped, rather than the vertical cylinder that's become industry standard. This didn't have any real effect on the user experience or the model's performance, but I found the cute colors and shape to be somewhat charming. The BlendBoss comes with a single-handled blending vessel, a flip-top lid, and a straw, all of which make it more suitable for smoothies than sauces or soups.

What we'd leave: At the time of writing, the only blending vessel that's compatible with the BlendBoss is the 26-ounce handled tumbler that's included. While the handle is nice if you're drinking a smoothie, it feels unnecessary when using the blender for other tasks, such as puréeing soups or blitzing sauces. What's more, that handle is actually the BlendBoss's biggest flaw: There's a gap in the plastic construction that allows water to get inside the handle, and because there's no way to detach it from the body of the cup, there's no real way to dry any droplets that get caught.

Our editors' personal favorite: Beast Mighty 850 Plus

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Beast

Mighty 850 Plus

$149 $127 (15% off)

Beast

$149 $127 (15% off)

Crate & Barrel

$149

Amazon

What we love: This model from Beast is certainly a looker, with its pretty ribbed cups and range of color options. I also appreciated that it came with three different-sized cups and a range of useful lids (including one with a straw), and that it has a comparably compact base. I ended up taking this model home and have found that it’s been perfectly effective for blending my own morning smoothies, which consist of frozen fruit, almond milk, protein powder—and importantly, no fibrous kale stems. And I do really love the straw lid, which enables me to take my smoothie on the go or easily carry it around the house while I go about my morning. If you don’t intend to be as hard on your blender as we are in our Test Kitchen, you may actually love this model.

I've also taken to using the blending vessels as storage containers, which is made easy thanks to the included screw-on lid. The small container is great for packing yogurt parfaits for work, and I frequently use the larger one to stash batches of soup in my fridge.

What we'd leave: I'll be up front with you: the Beast did not perform well in my in-office testing. I had to run it countless times to get the tough kale stems in the green smoothie to blend properly, and it took several cycles to successfully blend a batch of pesto. That said, this is a well-designed appliance that I genuinely enjoy using, and given that I use my full-sized blender for tougher tasks, I don't mind that the Beast's capabilities are somewhat limited.

In the long run: I'm a kitchen product reviewer for a living, so of course I have a Vitamix. But I reach for my Beast Blender far more often. Its footprint is tiny enough to live on my counter at all times without looking bulky or out of place, which is a bigger deal than it sounds. I use it almost exclusively for smoothies with just frozen fruit and protein powder, so nothing that requires the wattage of a high-powered blender to get through tough kale stems or ginger. The smaller vessels get a lot of use too. When I make a salad dressing and have leftovers, I pop a lid on the vessel and stick it straight in the fridge, and I still have two more vessels free for smoothies or soups in the meantime.—Olivia Tarantino, senior shopping editor

Good to know: Beast now offers stainless steel blending containers and blades, which you can purchase with the base or separately. In testing, we found the stainless construction made no difference in performance, but makes Beast a great option if you're looking to eliminate as much plastic as possible from your kitchen, because

How we tested personal blenders

• Green smoothie: We blended fibrous kale (stems included), frozen fruit, and chewy whole dates to see how each blender handled tough, fibrous ingredients.
• Classic pesto: We tested each blender with a mix of leafy basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, and cheese to assess performance with a combination of textures.
• Long-term use: We continuously use our winners throughout the year to judge how they hold up over time.

What makes a good personal blender

This model from Zwilling earned the top spot in the personal blender category for years and rings in at just two thirds the price of the Nutribullet Ultra. It’s one of the most stylish personal blenders we’ve come across, with a sleek, well-constructed base, intuitive knob-controlled interface, and chic fluted blending cup. It has two modes: Turn the control knob to the right to activate the automatic smoothie setting, or hold it down to the left to run the manual blend/pulse mode.

While not quite as effective as the Ultra, the Zwilling did a great job at both of our tests. It broke down tough kale stems and left no garlic chunks or stray basil leaves in the pesto. Performance-wise, it was on par with the Thyme & Table model in our most recent round of testing, so it ultimately lost the top spot solely due to its higher price tag. That said, this is an excellent blender that would serve you well.

Beast Mega 1200

At 1200 watts, the Mega is the most powerful blender Beast makes. But power isn't the only thing that sets it apart from the Mighty. It also has a larger base and bigger, wider blending cups. In testing, the Mega performed well: it produced a fully blended smoothie in about one and a half 1-minute cycles and a smooth pesto in just one cycle.

That said, the Mega's wider blending cups can be awkward to hold and drink from with one hand. Because of this, we wouldn't recommend it if your main use is making smoothies to take on the go. However, if you're primarily looking to make soups, sauces, or other larger-batch recipes, its powerful motor and spacious blending vessels could make it worth considering.

Beautiful by Drew Barrymore Personal Blender

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Beautiful by Drew Barrymore Personal Blender

$35

Walmart

The appliances in Drew Barrymore’s Beautiful line have claimed the top budget pick spot in some of our other product tests (see stand mixers and toasters), so we were eager to try out the brand’s personal blender. It’s very cheap (just $35 at the time of writing), and the build quality feels as such. The plastic base and cups don't feel the most sturdy or durable. We also disliked that the largest blending cup has only a 16-ounce capacity. However, this blender performed decently for something of its price. While it took a little longer to achieve a smooth texture, it was able to get there in about 90 seconds in both of our tests. We also appreciated that it comes with a range of attachments, including (but not limited to) three blending cups, two blades (one for grinding and one for blending), and a straw lid. If you’re looking for the cheapest option that can get the job done, this model is worth considering.

Our Place Splendor Blender

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Our Place Splendor Blender

$135

Our Place

$65

Amazon

The Our Place Splendor Blender looks a bit like a toy, but it has an impressive 1000-watt motor and was surprisingly effective in our most recent round of testing. It has three buttons: pulse, blend, and off. The 45-second blend cycle was able to produce a fairly smooth smoothie (though it would've benefited from an extra ten seconds to eliminate some grittiness), and I achieved a luscious pesto in one and a half cycles. We ultimately think our top pick outperformed the Splendor Blender by a hair, and appreciate that $165 can get you the Nutribullet plus three blending cups and two lids—whereas that same $165 gets you just two cups and one lid with the Our Place.

• Read all about the best full-size blenders
• Curious which Vitamix blender is right for you? We’ve got you covered
• Read why we love immersion blenders for making soups, purees, and even smoothies