Best Portable Dishwashers
The 2026 Guide · Portable & Countertop Dishwashers

No hookup, no problem. Stop washing by hand.

Renters, small kitchens, RVs and older apartments were written off by the appliance industry for decades. They aren't any more: a machine the size of a microwave now washes a full sink of dishes from its own water tank. We compared 25 portable dishwashers on the four things that actually decide whether one works in your kitchen — where the water comes from, how much it really holds, how tall it is, and how it dries.

By Ilane Tall8 picks · 25 machines comparedResearch-based — no testing lab, no invented ratings
Compact stainless steel countertop dishwasher open on a kitchen counter with clean glasses inside
The one to buy

COMFEE' Countertop Dishwasher

The largest countertop machine most kitchens can actually fit, and one of the few carrying an ENERGY STAR certification. Six place settings — around 70 pieces — is the difference between running a dishwasher and playing Tetris with one, and it still sits on a counter and connects to an ordinary faucet.

6 place settings·faucet-connect·8 cycles·17.2 in tall
Check price on Amazon →
COMFEE' countertop dishwasher in black
Typical price
$310

Capacity is the spec people regret skimping on. This holds roughly half a full-size load.

Load it, clip it to the tap, walk away.
— no plumber, no cabinet surgery, no landlord conversation

Before you buy

Four things that decide whether it works in your kitchen

01

Where the water comes from

Tank models fill from a jug — they work anywhere, including a kitchen with no usable tap, but a 5-litre tank limits the cycle. Faucet models clip to the tap with an adapter and never need refilling. Several machines here do both.

02

Place settings are optimistic

A "place setting" is a plate, bowl, glass, cup, saucer and cutlery. Four settings is one meal for a family; six is roughly half a full-size load. Check the maximum plate diameter too — most cap out around 10 to 12 inches.

03

Height, not width

Countertop machines are 17 to 18 inches tall and most need the lid or door to open upward. Standard US wall cabinets sit 18 inches above the counter. Measure that gap before anything else — it disqualifies more kitchens than price does.

04

How it dries

Almost none of these have a heated drying element. They use residual heat, a fan, or a door that pops open at the end. Expect some water left on plastics, and pick a machine with an air-dry or auto-open cycle if damp dishes will annoy you.

Why there are no star ratings on this page

Most roundups decorate every product with a rating. We won't, because we can't verify one: Amazon's product API no longer returns rating or review-count data for these machines, and inventing a number — or copying one that may be months stale — would make this page look more authoritative than it deserves to be.

So this guide is built on what is verifiable: published specifications, what's physically in the box, water source, stated capacity, dimensions and live price. Where we say something is a trade-off, it comes from the spec sheet, not from a score we made up.

At a glance

How the eight compare

Ordered by our recommendation. Prices move constantly on Amazon — confirm the live price before you buy.

DishwasherBest forTypeWater sourceCapacityPrice
COMFEE' 6-Place CountertopBest overallCountertopFaucet6 settings$309.99Price
BLACK+DECKER 18-InchBest full-size portableFreestanding, wheelsFaucet8 settings$689.27Price
NOVETE CountertopBest no-plumbing pickCountertop5 L tank or faucet4 settings$289.99Price
HAVA with Water SoftenerBest for hard waterCountertopTank or faucetAdjustable rack$328.99Price
GE Profile CountertopBest connectedCountertop or built-inFaucet (unicouple)6 settings$539.00Price
EUHOMY 40 dB CountertopQuietestCountertop5 L tank or faucet30+ dishes$249.99Price
COMFEE' MiniliteBest for tiny countersCountertop, mini5 L tank or faucet2 settings$249.94Price
Canbo TabletopCheapest worth buyingCountertop, miniTank1–3 settings$169.99Price
The picks

Our eight, and who each is for

01Best overall

COMFEE' 6-Place Countertop Dishwasher

For a household of two or three that wants to stop hand-washing entirely
Countertop · 6 place settings, up to 70 pieces · plates to 10 in · 17.2 × 21.7 × 19.7 in · ENERGY STAR

Most countertop dishwashers are built around a four-place rack, which means a family dinner takes two runs and you end up washing the pans by hand anyway. This one is built around six, and the extra rack space is what turns the machine from a gadget into an appliance you stop thinking about. It connects to a standard faucet with an adapter, offers eight cycles including a baby-care and a glass programme, and adds an extra-dry function on top. The ENERGY STAR certification is worth noting in a category where most listings carry none.

The trade-offIt is the biggest machine here that still calls itself a countertop model — 21.7 inches wide and 19.7 inches deep is a serious chunk of worktop, and it has no built-in tank, so you need a faucet it can attach to.

$310
6 place settingsCheck price →
02Full-size portable

BLACK+DECKER BPD8B 18-Inch Portable Dishwasher

When you want a real dishwasher and you're not allowed to install one
Freestanding on castors · 8 place settings · 6 cycles · butcher-block-style top · ENERGY STAR

This is the other half of the category, and the half people forget exists: a genuine 18-inch dishwasher on wheels that rolls to the sink, hooks onto the faucet, and rolls back against the wall when it's done. Eight place settings is close to a full-size machine, six cycles cover Normal, Heavy, Rapid, Glass, Eco and a 90-minute programme, and the top surface gives back the counter space the machine occupies. In a rental with no dishwasher cabinet, this is the closest thing to the real appliance.

The trade-offIt costs more than double the cheap countertop machines, it weighs enough that "portable" means "rolls on a flat floor", and you still have to be at the sink to connect it. It also needs floor space a small kitchen may not have.

$689
8 place settingsCheck price →
03No plumbing at all

NOVETE Countertop Dishwasher

Kitchens where the tap can't take an adapter — and RVs
Countertop · 5 L built-in tank or inlet hose · 4 place settings · 16.9 × 16.8 × 18.1 in · fits 12 in plates at an angle

The tank is the whole point. Fill five litres from a jug and the machine runs a full cycle with no connection to anything but a power socket — which matters more than it sounds, because pull-out sprayer faucets and many modern taps simply won't accept a dishwasher adapter. Five cycles include a Baby Care/Heavy programme that runs at 167°F, there's an air-dry function and an interior light, and it still swallows 12-inch dinner plates if you angle them.

The trade-offFour place settings is a real limit, and in tank mode you're refilling between loads. The double-layer rack takes some learning before the top shelf stops blocking the spray arm.

$290
Tank or faucetCheck price →
04Hard water

HAVA Countertop Dishwasher with Water Softener

Anyone who currently pulls cloudy glasses out of the rack
Countertop · integrated water softener · softener setting by water hardness · optimised ECO mode · adjustable rack

Hard water is the quiet killer of small dishwashers: limescale films the glasses, coats the heating element and eventually shortens the machine's life. Almost no countertop model does anything about it. This one integrates a softener you set to match your local water hardness, which is a feature normally reserved for full-size European machines. If you live somewhere with genuinely hard water, that single spec matters more than an extra wash cycle.

The trade-offYou pay about $40 more than comparable countertop machines for a feature that does nothing at all if your water is already soft — check your utility's water-hardness report before you decide it's worth it.

$329
Softener built inCheck price →
05Most flexible

GE Profile Countertop Dishwasher

People who want a countertop machine now and a built-in one later
Countertop, built-in or under-sink · 6 place settings · 52 dBA · WiFi via SmartHQ · Auto Open Dry · ENERGY STAR

The only pick here from a major American appliance brand, and the only one designed to be installed three different ways: sitting on the counter, built into a cabinet, or tucked under a sink. That makes it the pick for someone who is renting now but plans to keep the machine through a move. It's certified at 52 dBA, includes the faucet unicouple in the box, and finishes with Auto Open Dry — the door pops open to let steam out, which is the most effective drying method a machine without a heating element has.

The trade-offIt costs roughly twice a competent tank model, and the WiFi is the least useful thing about it — you have to be standing at the machine to load it anyway. Buy it for the install flexibility and the brand's parts network, not the app.

$539
3 install optionsCheck price →
06Quietest

EUHOMY 40 dB Countertop Dishwasher

Studios and open-plan kitchens where the dishwasher runs while you're in the room
Countertop · 40 dB rated · 5 L tank or faucet · 30+ dishes, plates to 10.25 in · 16.8 × 16.7 × 18 in

Noise is the specification people ignore until the machine is running six feet from the sofa. At a rated 40 dB this is the quietest pick in the guide — for reference, most countertop dishwashers sit around 50 dB, and every 10 dB is roughly a doubling of perceived loudness. Five cycles cover Normal, Fast, Glass, Baby Care/Heavy and Fruit, the Fast programme finishes in 29 minutes, and it runs from either its own five-litre tank or the tap.

The trade-offManufacturer decibel figures are measured in ideal conditions and aren't independently audited, so treat 40 dB as a strong indication rather than a promise. Capacity is quoted in "30+ dishes" rather than place settings, which usually means about four settings in practice.

$250
40 dB ratedCheck price →
07Tiny counters

COMFEE' Minilite Portable Dishwasher

One or two people, a galley kitchen, or an RV
Mini countertop · 5 L built-in tank · no hookup needed · 6 programmes · 360° dual spray arms · air-dry

The Minilite is the machine to buy when the honest answer is that you have room for a bread bin, not a dishwasher. It runs entirely from its own tank, has dual spray arms above and below rather than a single one, and its Hygiene cycle heats water to 162°F for baby bottles and greasy plates. An Air Refresh mode circulates air afterwards to keep the tub from smelling — a genuine problem with small sealed dishwashers that mostly sit unused.

The trade-offCapacity is small enough that a single roasting session will fill it, and it's from the same brand as our top pick at nearly the same price — if your counter and your tap can take the 6-place model, buy that one instead.

$250
Tank, no hookupCheck price →
08Cheapest

Canbo Tabletop Dishwasher

The lowest-risk way to find out whether you'll use one
Mini countertop · built-in tank · 5 programmes · 29-minute Quick cycle · upper and lower spray arms · 18 × 16.5 × 16.5 in

At around $170 this is where we'd draw the line on price. It has the things that actually matter — a real tank, two spray arms rather than one, a drying function and a 29-minute quick cycle — and it holds one to three settings with plates up to 10.5 inches. It's also the pick people buy specifically as a bottle washer, which is a fair use of a small hot-water machine. Below this price you're mostly looking at UV "sterilising" boxes that don't wash anything.

The trade-offIt's an unfamiliar brand with a thin support history, capacity is the smallest here, and the listing's own copy is rough. Buy it as a first dishwasher or a bottle washer, not as the machine you keep for a decade.

$170
Lowest priceCheck price →
How we picked

25 machines in, eight out

We started from every portable dishwasher in our database and sorted them by what they physically are rather than by listing copy: countertop versus 18-inch freestanding, tank-fed versus faucet-fed, and by stated place settings and external dimensions. We then kept one clear winner per buying situation — biggest countertop, full-size on wheels, no-plumbing, hard water, install flexibility, quiet, tiny counter, lowest price — and dropped the many near-identical listings this category is full of, where the same chassis appears under four brand names.

How we compared

Research, not a lab

We're honest about this: we don't physically test these machines and we don't run a testing lab. We compare published specifications, what ships in the box, water source, capacity, dimensions, certification and live pricing, and we read manufacturer claims sceptically — capacity and decibel figures in this category are routinely flattering. We show no star ratings because we have no rating data we can verify, and we never invent scores.

Go deeper

Guides worth your time

How to choose one, connect it, load it and keep it running. View all guides →

Honest take

Are Portable Dishwashers Worth It? The Honest Cost and Water Math

What one actually costs to run, how it compares with washing by hand, and the four situations where we'd tell you not to buy one. Read →

 Budget picks

The Best Countertop Dishwashers Under $300 (And What You Give Up)

What $170, $250 and $300 actually buy you in capacity, cycles, tanks and noise — and where the false economies are. Read →

 Comparison

Countertop or 18-Inch on Wheels? The Two Kinds of Portable Dishwasher

The category splits in two, and the split decides everything: capacity, price, where the machine lives and whether it fits your kitchen at all. Read →

 Maintenance

How to Clean and Descale a Portable Dishwasher (So It Lasts)

The filter nobody knows about, the smell that comes from a sealed tub, and the descaling schedule that decides whether you reach year five. Read →

 How-to

How to Hook Up a Portable Dishwasher (Faucet or Tank), Step by Step

Adapters, aerator threads, drain hoses and the taps that simply won't work — the setup guide to read before you order. Read →

 Buying advice

Choosing a Portable Dishwasher for an Apartment, Dorm or RV

Cabinet height, faucet type, drain reach, power draw and landlord rules — how the room you live in narrows the shortlist. Read →
FAQ

Common questions

Do portable dishwashers actually clean as well as built-in ones?

For everyday dishes, yes — they use the same mechanism: hot water sprayed under pressure with detergent, which is more thorough and hotter than hands can manage. Where they fall behind is capacity and heavy soil: a small tub means fewer dishes per cycle and less room for the spray to reach everything, so overloading is the main cause of disappointing results. Baked-on pans still need a rinse or a soak first, exactly as with a full-size machine.

Do I need a special faucet?

You need a faucet with a removable aerator and standard threads, which most straight kitchen taps have. Pull-down and pull-out sprayer faucets usually don't work with the supplied adapter, and neither do some designer taps. If that describes your kitchen, buy a model with a built-in water tank — it sidesteps the problem entirely and is the reason tank models exist.

Where does the dirty water go?

Out through a drain hose that you hook over the edge of the sink; the machine pumps waste water out at the end of the cycle. Countertop machines need to sit close enough to the sink for the hose to reach and roughly level with or above the drain point. This is the second-most-common reason a machine doesn't fit a kitchen, after cabinet height.

Can I use normal dishwasher pods and rinse aid?

Pods often don't dissolve fully in the short, low-volume cycles these machines run, so most manufacturers specify powder or gel and a much smaller dose than a full-size machine. Rinse aid helps a lot here, because these dishwashers dry with residual heat and air rather than a heating element. Check your model's manual for the exact dose — overdosing a small tub leaves a film on everything.