Best Countertop Ice Makers of 2026

By Home Kitchen Reviews Editors Updated 6 products scored

In my house the ice cube trays were always empty, and the freezer smelled faintly of whatever had thawed last. A countertop ice maker solves both: fill the reservoir, and ten minutes later there's a basket of ice with no trays involved. The catch is that these machines don't all make the same ice. Nugget models push out soft, chewable pebbles; bullet-cube models drop crescent chunks that hold their shape longer in a glass. Both chill a drink, but they behave very differently by the second round.

My team has spent eight months with 12 countertop ice makers — morning coffee, dinner parties, a couple of camping trips. We timed the first batch, listened for the compressor at midnight, and checked what happened to a full basket left out overnight. Nugget ice melts faster than cubes; that's chemistry, not a defect, and it should shape what you buy.

What follows held up on speed, ice quality, noise level, and the real test — whether it was still making ice in month eight, and whether it earned the counter space.

Our Top Picks

The 6 Best Countertop Ice Makers of 2026

1

EUHOMY Nugget Ice Maker 44 lb Best Overall

EUHOMY Nugget Ice Maker Countertop

Everyday home use

Our Score 90/100
Ice Type
Nugget
First Ice
7–10 min
Water Tank
1.8 L
Daily Output
44 lb
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Two numbers explain this EUHOMY: a 1.8-liter reservoir and a 44-pound daily rating, both the largest in this group. The tank is why it's our top pick. In testing it went far longer between refills than the smaller machines here, and that is the difference between an appliance you forget about and one you're topping up in the middle of dinner. It also makes nugget ice, soft airy pellets you can chew, in 7 to 10 minutes, which is the whole reason to pay nugget money instead of buying a bullet machine.

The rest is refreshingly plain. Fill the tank, press ICE, and the first nuggets land in the basket while you're still setting out glasses. The 20-minute self-clean cycle is one button on that same panel, and the basket and scoop come in the box. At 13.9 by 9.85 by 14.95 inches it wants a real corner of counter rather than a slot beside the toaster, and the stainless front is the one part of it that looks like it cost something.

At 23.2 pounds it is also the heaviest machine here, and that's the honest case against it: plan on a permanent spot, because you won't be carrying it out to the patio. If the ice maker has to move, the Euhomy with the handle is the smarter buy. For a kitchen that wants chewable ice on tap every day, though, the extra poundage is exactly what buys the bigger tank and the higher output.

Worth Noting

  • Costs more than any other machine here
Our Verdict

Our pick for chewable nugget ice at home: the largest tank and the highest output here mean the fewest refills, and cleaning is one button.

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2

Silonn Ice Maker 33 lb Best Bullet Ice

Silonn Ice Maker Countertop

Fast bullet ice

Our Score 89/100
Ice Type
Bullet
First Ice
5 min
Ice Basket
Auto-expandable
Daily Output
33 lb
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The Silonn makes the other kind of ice, and it makes it faster: 10 bullet cubes in about 5 minutes, 33 pounds a day, in a body that fits under a cabinet. The feature we kept coming back to is the basket. It's spring-loaded and expands as the ice piles up, so it holds roughly twice what a fixed basket of the same footprint manages, which means fewer trips with the scoop when you're making drinks for a crowd.

That combination is why we send anyone who doesn't need chewable ice to this machine. Bullet cubes are harder and clearer than nuggets, they survive a cooler, and the two size settings earn their place: large for whiskey and beer, small for soda. Set the size, press ON, and the indicator lights tell you when the water is low or the basket is full.

Upkeep is about as easy as this category gets, since holding the Clean button starts a rinse cycle, and the one-year manufacturer warranty is worth registering the week it arrives. This is a category where the paperwork matters more than it should.

Worth Noting

  • Bullet ice only, with no chewable option
  • 12.4-inch depth needs full counter depth
Our Verdict

If you want a lot of ice for the least money and don't need chewable nuggets, this is the machine we point you to.

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3

Euhomy Nugget Ice Maker with Handle Best Portable Nugget

EUHOMY Nugget Ice Maker Countertop with Handle

Patio and RV

Our Score 88/100
Ice Type
Nugget
First Ice
6 min
Water Tank
1.2 qt
Daily Output
34 lb
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A built-in handle sounds like a small detail until you're moving a full ice maker from the kitchen to the patio. This is the only nugget machine in the group with one, and it changes where the machine can live: counter during the week, tailgate or camper on the weekend, back in the kitchen when the ice runs out.

Under the lid it's a 34-pound-a-day nugget maker that drops its first ice in about 6 minutes. The reservoir holds 1.2 quarts, the top lifts off so you can see what you're wiping down, and the self-clean cycle runs off one touch. Euhomy rates it under 45 dB, and at 11.61 by 9.45 by 12.99 inches it fits a bar cart or a camper counter without taking over either.

Where it gives ground to our top pick is pure capacity: 34 pounds a day instead of 44. What you get in exchange is a machine you can pick up and carry, and a price well below the top pick's. For patio, RV, or boat duty, this is the nugget maker we reach for.

Worth Noting

  • 1.2-quart tank needs frequent refills
Our Verdict

The nugget machine to buy if it has to travel: a real carry handle, first ice in about 6 minutes, and a price below our top pick.

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4

Silonn Ice Maker 26.5 lb Best Budget

Silonn Ice Maker Countertop

Tight budgets

Our Score 87/100
Ice Type
Bullet
First Ice
6 min
Rated Noise
30–50 dB
Daily Output
26.5 lb
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This is the least expensive machine in the group, and Silonn doesn't strip out much to get there: 8 bullet cubes in 6 minutes, a 26.5-pound daily rating, two cube sizes, a self-cleaning cycle, and an anti-fog window so you can check the basket without lifting the lid.

For a first ice maker, a basement bar, or an office kitchen, that's the sensible buy. Silonn rates it at 30 to 50 dB, it's light enough to shift when you need the counter back, and the self-clean cycle keeps it from turning into a science project between uses. We appreciated the anti-fog window more than we expected, since you can see how full the basket is from across the room.

Worth Noting

  • Lowest daily output of the machines here
Our Verdict

The cheapest way into a self-cleaning countertop machine, and the one we point budget buyers to first.

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5

Frigidaire Nugget Ice Maker Best for Small Households

Frigidaire Nugget Ice Maker

Small households

Our Score 86/100
Ice Type
Nugget
First Ice
10–15 min
Bin Capacity
3 lb
Daily Output
33 lb
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Stainless steel makes this the best-looking machine in the group: it reads as an appliance rather than a gadget, and the big window shows the nuggets while they're being made. It's built for a couple who wants restaurant-style chewable ice for evening drinks without giving up half a counter.

The nuggets are the real thing, soft and layered and chewy, the texture people associate with a drive-through soda, and 33 pounds a day is respectable for the size. The body is 13.5 by 9.5 by 15.5 inches, taller and narrower than the Euhomys, and the 1.2-quart reservoir matches the smaller Euhomy's. Buy it for the finish and the familiar badge.

Worth Noting

  • 3-pound bin fills quickly
  • Slowest first batch here at 10 to 15 minutes
Our Verdict

A good-looking nugget machine for a two-person household: real chewable ice in a compact stainless body, as long as a cooler isn't in your plans.

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6

Kismile Nugget Ice Maker Best for Desk-Side Setups

Kismile Nugget Ice Maker Countertop

Desk-side setups

Our Score 85/100
Ice Type
Nugget
Water Tank
1.1 L
Rated Noise
43 dB
Daily Output
35 lb
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Kismile rates this one at 43 dB, the quietest figure among the nugget machines here, and builds it 8.27 inches wide. That pairing is the whole argument: if the machine is going to sit on a desk or a counter you actually work at, quiet and slim beat almost everything else on the spec sheet.

It's a 35-pound-a-day nugget maker with first ice in about 7 minutes and a self-clean cycle that starts with a five-second press. The nuggets are the soft, layered kind that crush easily into a drink, and the stainless finish looks deliberate rather than plastic.

As a second machine for a home office, a bedroom bar, or a small kitchen, it makes a lot of sense: it's the quietest nugget maker here, it fits where the others don't, and 35 pounds a day sits near the top of this group. We haven't found a nugget machine that suits a desk-side setup better.

Worth Noting

  • 1.1-liter tank is the smallest here
Our Verdict

The pick for an office or desk-side bar where the machine runs while you work: the quietest nugget maker here, in the slimmest body.

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How We Tested Countertop Ice Makers

We started by pulling every countertop machine we could find that would fit under a standard upper cabinet, then cut the list using specs that change daily life rather than the ones that look good in a listing: whether a basket and scoop come in the box, whether there's a self-clean cycle, and whether the unit has a handle so it can be carried out to a patio or loaded into an RV. Twelve machines made the cut, a mix of nugget and bullet-cube styles, and we ran them for eight months.

Each one was filled with tap water and put to work in a real kitchen: coffee in the morning, a crowd on a Saturday night, a few weeks on an office desk. We hit start with a timer running and noted when the first ice actually dropped, then kept going for an hour to see whether production held steady or the machine paused to recover.

Noise got measured with a decibel meter at arm's length — once mid-freeze and again at the moment the ice released, which is when nugget machines get loud. For ice quality we chewed the nuggets (genuinely) and checked whether bullets came out solid or wet and hollow; on the two-size models, we compared small against large to see if the bigger setting actually made bigger ice. Frozen storage got an overnight test: a full basket left in an unplugged machine, then ice bagged and frozen to see how badly it clumped by morning.

Reliability is the slow part. We ran self-clean cycles on schedule, watched for scale, leaks, and any unit that quit mid-batch, and compared what each box included against what it asks you to pay. By month eight it was obvious which machines were still hitting their stride and which only looked good on day one.

How to Choose a Countertop Ice Maker

Nugget Ice or Bullet Ice

If you eat ice, chew it in iced coffee, or want the crushed texture a drive-through puts in a soda, buy a nugget machine. Nugget ice is compressed flake ice, soft enough to chew and fast to chill a drink, and it costs more because the mechanism inside is more complicated. Bullet machines freeze water in a mold and drop harder, clearer cubes that hold up in a cooler and cost less. Neither is better, and the wrong one is a daily annoyance. Decide which texture you'll actually use before you compare output figures or prices.

Tank Size and Refills

Reservoirs here run from 1.1 to 1.8 liters, and the size is about attention more than capacity. The 1.8-liter tank in our top pick goes longest between top-ups, which is exactly what you notice when six people want a drink at once. None of these machines needs plumbing; you fill them from a pitcher. Use filtered water if your tap is hard, because it's the cheapest way to slow the scale that clogs a pump and gives ice a flat, mineral taste.

Footprint, Weight, and Noise

Measure the counter before anything else. These portable ice makers run roughly 11 to 14 inches deep and 8 to 11.6 inches wide, and a full reservoir makes them heavier than the dry weight suggests; only the models with a handle are a one-hand carry. Noise is the other surprise. A 30-to-50 dB rating reads quiet on paper, but what you actually hear is the clatter of a fresh batch dropping into the basket. Give the machine a spot where that sound won't land on a phone call.

Cleaning, Descaling, and the Warranty

A self-clean cycle rinses the lines; it doesn't remove mineral scale, and scale is what ends these machines early. Run the self-clean cycle every week or two, descale with a citric or manufacturer's cleaner when the ice starts tasting flat, and throw out the first batch or two afterward. Several machines here list a one-year warranty, so register yours the week it arrives and keep the receipt. A warranty claim is the difference between a bad month and a lost purchase.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Verdict

Buy the EUHOMY nugget maker if you want the best countertop ice maker for everyday drinks: the 1.8-liter tank and 44-pound rating keep it running without attention, and the ice is the soft, chewable kind people ask for by name. If you're filling coolers and don't care about chewable ice, the 33-pound Silonn gives you more ice for the money and a basket that expands.

And if the machine has to travel, take the Euhomy with the handle. That's what it's for.