Dedicating some counter space to a soda maker comes with several benefits. For one thing, these appliances are a great way to cut down on single-use plastic and other waste by eliminating the recycling bags full of bottles, cans, and cardboard boxes you inevitably accumulate with a regular La Croix habit. But they will also save you some money in the long run, as carbonating your own water costs less than buying premade fizz from the store. One standard-size CO2 canister, which should cost roughly $15, can carbonate around 60 liters of water. Considering the $3 cost of a 2-L bottle of Canada Dry, that comes out to around three times as much soda water per dollar.
Our top picks
- The best sparkling water maker overall: Drinkmate Omnifizz
- A splurge-worthy upgrade that can carbonate wine: Breville Infizz Fusion
After years of testing soda makers, I’ve found models that make it quick and easy to make zingy, fizzy drinks (including juice, wine, and cocktails) with the push of a button. Find our top picks below and scroll further down to see what I thought of the machines that didn’t earn a top spot.
New in this update: For this update, I tested two new sparkling water makers: the Fritaire and the Spärklï Fizzit.
The best sparkling water maker overall: Drinkmate Omnifizz
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Fast
- Carbonates more than water
Cons:
- Sorta ugly
- Loud
Specs
Height: 16.14"
Machine material(s): Plastic
Bottle material: Plastic
Comes with starter CO2 tank: Yes (size varies by retailer)
Requires proprietary CO2 tank: No
Warranty: 2 years
Over years of testing, nothing has surpassed the Drinkmate Omnifizz’s mix of versatility and affordability. It is, full stop, the most affordable sparkling water maker that can also do other “fun” carbonating, like wine, cocktails, tea, and (pulp-free) fruit juice.
What I love: The Omnifizz has a well-designed detachable siphon with fast and slow pressure release tabs. It carbonates fast, delivering maximum sharp fizz in around two seconds. This gives you more control when carbonating anything with a syrup or other sugars (wine or cocktails, for example), which fizz up a lot more than plain water. The siphon design also offers a much more secure connection than the machines that require you to pop and/or twist the bottle into the base, which diminishes the likelihood of an accidental soda explosion to the face (which happens to the best of us!)
What I’d leave: In addition to being kind of meh in the looks department (especially in a world where so many brands have placed a focus on the aesthetics of their soda makers), this carbonator is made of all plastic parts, so it doesn’t feel as durable as some others I’ve tested. It also screams like a banshee when its done. Depending on the retailer you order from, it may or may not ship with a CO2 cylinder, so be sure to read the product descriptions carefully.
A splurge-worthy upgrade: Breville Infizz Fusion
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Beautiful
- Carbonates more than water
Cons:
- Expensive
- Slightly more fidgety than the Drinkmate
Specs
Height: 16.9"
Machine material(s): Stainless steel
Bottle material: Plastic
Comes with starter CO2 tank: Only if you buy the bundle
Requires proprietary CO2 tank: No
Warranty: 2 years
Breville has cornered the market on high-end small kitchen appliances with its top-performing countertop oven, induction burner, toaster, and immersion blender. In 2024, the brand added a sparkling water maker to that list.
What I love: The Breville Infizz Fusion is a sleek, versatile carbonator, and like the Drinkmate Ominifizz, it will carbonate more than just water. The default setting on the carbonator cap is a slow pressure release that allows carbonation of fruit juice, wine, cocktails, and even creamy drinks if you’re feeling weird. You can manually release the pressure faster if you just need a bottle of fizzy water in a hurry. Unlike the soda makers I liked in the $100 to $150 range, which usually have all plastic parts, parts of the InFizz Fusion are made of durable, high-quality stainless steel, which is available in a variety of finishes, though options vary by retailer. It also comes with a handful of accessories (including a juice filter and silicone bottle brush) to enhance the experience of using and cleaning the machine and bottle.
What I’d leave: Compared to the Drinkmate, this machine is slightly more fussy to operate. Not by much, but I prefer the Drinkmate’s quick click to Breville’s twist-and-lock design. Countertop soda makers are pretty simple gadgets, and this is one of the priciest ones you can buy. If it’s worth it to you to pay for quality materials, aesthetics, and the ability to wow your dinner guests by transforming a bottle of bad rosé into something bubbly and palatable, you’ll likely be very happy with this (FWIW the Drinkmate can also sparkle bad rosé, it just wont look as nice doing it). But do keep in mind that the base model, which is $249 at the time of publishing, doesn’t ship with a CO2 tank, so you’ll either need to buy one or spend $30 more on one that comes with the tank.
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How I tested sparkling water makers
With every update I look at the most popular and highly rated countertop sparkling water makers—the kind that use standard 60-ml CO2 cylinders—taking into consideration availability, price, and customer ratings.
Build and design
I first assess how easy it is to use and assemble each machine. Looks matter too, but they aren’t everything. If a machine can carbonate more than just water, that’s a huge plus as well.
Carbonation test
I use each machine several times to get a general sense of how long the machine takes to carbonate and the fizz level of each batch. For the first few rounds I follow the manufacturer’s instructions. After that I try pushing the machine to its maximum capability (usually until I hear the hissing of excess gas escaping). If the machine can carbonate more than just water, I’ll do a few rounds with juice and wine.
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Other sparkling water makers I liked
This simple, stylish carbonator from Finnish brand Mysoda is made from renewable wood composite. It’s beautiful, sturdy, and, when it comes to the level of carbonation, performs as well as any SodaStream. And if you want an aesthetically pleasing, sustainably made, budget-friendly soda maker, you’ll be very happy with this purchase. But there’s a catch to that: Most soda makers ship with a starter CO2 tank, and this one doesn’t. New tanks, not tank trade-ins, cost $30 to $40. So when you factor that into the cost, the initial investment is more than the cost of our top pick, which did perform a little better anyway. If you want to stay under $100 all in, check out the Philips Sparkling Water Maker below.
This Mysoda distinguishes itself from the others with its glass carafe. Anytime I encounter a soda maker that carbonates in glass, I'm suspicious, because I haven’t seen them work well in the past. This might be because soda makers that carbonate in glass tend to be designed with additional safeguards to minimize the possibility of the bottle exploding, and those safeguards can be a little fussy. Usually, they take the form of some sort of cover that goes over the entire bottle during the carbonation process. In the case of the Glassy, the bottle is covered by a curved sliding door that you shut by hand, reminiscent of a changing room curtain or a shower stall.
To use the machine, you place the bottle inside and twist it onto the gas nozzle to lock it in place. Then you shut the door and press the top of the machine toward the front to inject the gas (the top is mostly one large button). After a couple of pumps, you’ll hear a hissing sound, which signals that it’s ready. You then press the top toward the back of the machine, which causes the door to fly open, presenting your carbonated water like a magician’s assistant doing a quick change magic trick. It’s all very dramatic, which is kind of fun.
As far as soda makers that carbonate in glass, this is the best I’ve tried. That said, I'm not sure how important it is to be able to carbonate in glass, especially with the risk (however small) that it will explode into shards with you close by. You can always just carbonate in a plastic bottle and pour it into a glass vessel for serving.
Check out our full review of the Glassy here.
The Philips Sparkling Water Maker is a handsome machine with a comparatively accessible price tag, and it’s easy to set up and operate with one button. More importantly, during testing, it made pleasantly sharp carbonated water. Like the Mysoda Woody above, it doesn’t ship with CO2, so you’ll still need to shell out for a standard screw-in 60-L CO2 tank. However, at the current retail price, even with the addition of a tank, it still comes in at just under $100.
The Aerflo is novel in that it is a portable, personal soda maker, allowing you to have sparkling water on the go. There is a carbonator mechanism inside the lid, which you activate by pressing a button on the top. Instead of full-size CO2 canisters used for most sparkling water makers, it utilizes smaller capsules typically used for airsoft or BB guns. Because of their size, the capsules need more frequent swapping. One capsule has enough CO2 for about one day’s worth of sparkling water. It’s cool and convenient if you really prefer carbonated water over still. Generally, I think that this is a product for a smaller subset of people than a countertop soda maker, but if this appeals to you, it does work, so I say go for it.
Check out my full review of the Aerflo here.
This is the model that came after the now-discontinued Aarke Carbonator II, and the main upgrades are materials. The Aarke Carbonator III has more stainless steel and fewer plastic parts than the II. Both models are highly aesthetic machines that are easy enough to use and make perfectly fine sparkling water. If you like the look of it, you’ll probably be very happy with it, but the Breville is in the same general price range and is a lot more versatile. Plus, there are lower-priced machines that perform just as well.
Awa appears to be selling itself entirely based on aesthetics. By all measures, this is a standard non-electric sparkling water maker with a single button for injecting CO2. It lacks a tilting nozzle, which makes it slightly more annoying to use than our winning non-electric sparkling water maker. The build is almost entirely plastic, save for a few metal details, which doesn’t really justify the premium price point. If you like how it looks, it will get the job done, but it’s not innovating on the form.
A frequent complaint people have about sparkling water makers is their reliance on plastic bottles, as many consumers are looking to avoid plastic entirely. The Fizzit is one of the few soda makers that uses metal bottles instead. Apart from that, its design and performance are very similar to the other soda makers sharing the same standard design on the market. Were this the only machine on the market to carbonate directly into stainless steel, maybe that would be something, but Sodastream also offers stainless-steel carbonator bottles, and I imagine more brands will follow suit. Also sorry to Spärklï, but the branding on this machine is a bit of an eyesore. But, if you’re looking for a machine that comes with metal bottles and aren’t a fan of Sodastream, this might be for you.
Soda makers I don’t recommend
The Fritaire carbonator flipped the conventional soda maker design on its head. It’s the only soda maker I’ve tested so far that carbonates from the bottom up, with a fold-up gas nozzle that makes for a slightly more compact machine. The bottle is also different, with mechanical components built in at the bottom, and a wide curved carafe-style lip. Unfortunately I could not get this to produce a satisfyingly sharp bottle of seltzer, no matter how much gas I pumped into the bottle. Where other machines make a clear sound when the pressure has been maxed out, the Fritaire’s was not obvious. The instructions recommend pressing the button for three seconds until you “hear the sound of pressure building.” Each time I tried, the water came out under-carbonated. On top of that, the lid for the bottle dribbled water even when tightly screwed on. I really tried to give this machine the benefit of the doubt, testing and retesting to try and get it not to leak on me and to get a proper fizz, but each time I encountered the same problems no matter what I did.
Smeg is known for its retro-futurist luxury kitchen products that really sell for their looks. This machine worked fine. You twist the metal dial clockwise to carbonate, a clever hidden feature that sets it apart from other carbonators, but it lacks the ability to tilt the nozzle, which makes screwing on the bottle more tedious. For a soda maker made almost entirely out of plastic, the price point is well beyond what it’s worth, but if you’re a Smeg collector, this is another piece to add to your collection.
One of the few new electric sparkling water systems, the Carbon8 is quite different from other machines on the market. Instead of directly carbonating into the bottle, the Carbon8 has a refillable reservoir (much like a drip coffee maker) that instead, dispenses carbonated water straight into your glass. It has added flourishes, like a sanitizing UV light and a filter that remineralizes water while removing chlorine.
The brand implies superior eco-friendliness in their website copy because they don’t carbonate directly into a reusable PET plastic bottle; however, the reservoir and other parts of the machine are made of plastic, so I’m not sure they have much plastic-free ground to stand on. You could argue that since the plastic bottles of typical soda makers have to be replaced every couple of years, this system produces less plastic waste, but it’s a marginal difference in my opinion.
As a premium machine this Carbon8 worked fine, but had one shortcoming: There seems to be no way to control the carbonation level of the machine, and when I tasted the finished product, I found the level of carbonation to be far less than what you’d expect from store-bought seltzer, or what you can produce with the winning machines. If the Carbon8 gave you control over how fizzy you wanted your water, it would make this a much better machine.
Ninja is among the most prolific small appliance manufacturers with coffee makers, countertop ovens, blenders, ice cream makers, juicers, toasters, air fryers—the list goes on and on and on. So it should come as no surprise that the brand is now in the soda maker business too. Like many of Ninja’s other offerings, the Ninja Thirsti is a bit gimmicky while still being kind of cool. Out of the box, this electric soda maker (yes, you have to plug it in) reminded us of a Nespresso machine. The water tank sits off to the side and the carbonation happens inside the machine before coming out of a little spout. There’s an opening on the front to add up to two proprietary flavoring cartridges, which you can put in your bubbly water individually or combine them both. Currently there are 30 flavors available and the machine shipped with four of them. The control panel on the front of the machine allows you to choose between still water or three levels of carbonation, and four drink sizes (6, 12, 18, or 24 oz.). After testing, I have mixed feelings about this machine. Overall, it seems like a bit much for something to have at home. It could maybe be a great addition to a teachers’ lounge or a small office. But keep in mind that the water tank does require chilled, cold water so you’d also need a fridge or ice nearby whenever you want to use it.
If you’ve ever dreamed of having a club soda tap in your kitchen, this is probably as close as you’re going to get without cutting into your countertops. Like the Ninja above, the Glacier Fresh Sparkin Cold Soda Maker carbonates water in the machine, not in a bottle. Unlike the Ninja, the machine chills the water for you (though the manual still recommends filling the reservoir on the back of the machine with cold water). Once it’s filled, getting your bubbly water from the “tap” is a three-step process. First, you push a button to send water from the reservoir to the bubbling (and presumably chilling) chamber, then you push down on a lever to carbonate it. Once it’s sufficiently bubbly, you press another little lever on the front to dispense the water into a glass. It’s less complicated than it sounds, but with an 88-square-inch footprint, most people will be better off with a bottle-style carbonator. I should also note that when moved from the counter to a nearby table with the CO2 canister in place and some water still in the chamber (ill-advised, perhaps), it began to make a weird squealing noise.
The SodaStream Art is marketed as the company’s premium carbonator, because of its retro-inspired body. Though it produces the exact same carbonated water as other SodaStream models, it operates a little differently: Instead of pushing a button to carbonate, you pull the lever and you can pull it up to six times for the bubbliest water. But it’s made of lightweight plastic that feels cheap. If you want something that looks good on the countertop, there are prettier options that are also sturdier.
Aarke carbonators are really easy on the eyes, and this “pro” version doesn’t skimp on materials. Instead of the typical plastic bottles, this one uses glass, and the top of the machine (which is available in a matte black, matte sand, or shiny stainless-steel finish) covers the top of the bottle in case you were to over-carbonate and cause the glass to explode. Unfortunately, it’s not very user-friendly. I had issues getting everything to lock into place and ended up with an explosion—though, luckily, it was only water and not glass. I eventually got it to work, but for the price, it should be easier to operate.
I loved the sleek design of this soda maker in pictures, but in person, the materials felt cheap and flimsy. Also, because it’s so sleek and slim, the water bottles are really tall and didn’t fit into any shelves in a standard sized fridge.
Instead of using a CO2 tank to produce carbon dioxide, this machine uses citric acid and baking soda. The mechanism is just way more high maintenance compared to the machines that utilize a gas canister, and I struggle to see why this method is in any way better than the industry standard.
Currently, the Terra is SodaStream’s most basic offering, and functionally, it’s a lot like the original SodaStream, the Fizzi. However, instead of a screw-in CO2 cartridge, this machine uses the brand’s Quick Connect cartridges, which click in. Because the Quick Connect feature is proprietary, using this machine means being married to Soda Stream’s cylinder exchange program. With products like the Mysoda Woody or the Philips Sparkling Water Maker, you can and should get something with a universal connection.
This style of carbonator is a relic of the 19th century, and while it has an abundance of charm, it’s more tedious, fussy, and impractical than its modern counterparts. It relies on small, single-use CO2 cartridges—which negates the whole eco-friendly argument for carbonating at home rather buying seltzer from the store— and you have to use two cartridges per liter if you like your seltzer extra sharp. Frankly, the only people I’d recommend this to would be that husband and wife on TLC who pretend they’re living in the 1950s.
There is nothing inherently wrong with the E-Duo. Of the carbonators that use glass bottles, it is the easiest to use. It does require a few additional steps to lock the bottle safely into place (just in case that glass bottle explodes!), but I didn’t find the safety mechanisms to be overly fussy. However, as with the Ninja, this soda maker requires electricity. With so many excellent soda makers that function effectively without electricity, I don’t really see the need to use one that does.