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The 9 Best Stand Mixers for Every Kind of Baker, All Stress-Tested to The Max

We'll take any excuse to bake dozens of cookies

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stand mixers in pink, green and white
KitchenAid/Beautiful/Bosch

Stand mixers are kind of like tissues or soda: When people think of them, they likely think of one brand and one brand only. KitchenAid has cornered the market, but they're not the only ones out there that allow you to whip up everything from cookies and braided Danish loaves to pizza dough and tornado fries. (Because yes, while a stand mixer primarily mixes, whips and beats doughs and batters, some feature attachments let you get truly creative, by doing things like spiralizing veggies and making pasta.)

So, should you go with the brand that appears on every wedding registry, simply because it’s the best-known (and available in every color you could ever want)? And is it worth the investment, all things considered? We needed to put the KitchenAid—and every KitchenAid alternative we could get our hands on—to the test, to find out which stand mixers are worth the dough.

The Best Stand Mixers at a Glance

1

Best Overall Stand Mixer

Breville Bakery Chef Stand Mixer

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2

Kenwood KMM021 Chef Major

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3

Most Customizable Stand Mixer

KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-Quart Stand Mixer

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4

Best Professional-Caliber Stand Mixer

KitchenAid

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5

Most Splurge-Worthy

Cuisinart 5-Quart Stand Mixer

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How We Chose the Best Stand Mixers

To find out, we researched the top appliances on the market and talked to diehard fans of all types of mixers, from pastry school grads to cookbook authors (hi, that’s me). We originally tested ten mixers two years ago, so we put those head-to-head against several new models on the market. PureWow editors and our testers across the country tried them out for at least one month of regular use, sharing their honest assessments of their:

  • Value: How does the quality compare to the cost? What special features do you get for that price?
  • Functionality: How well does it live up to its claims? How sturdy does it seem? Can it handle whipping, mixing and kneading, without causing the gears to burn out?
  • Ease of Use: How steep is the learning curve on this thing? Are there features that make it clunky or troublesome to use?
  • Aesthetics: Stand mixers are often too big to hide in a cabinet, and part of their appeal, admittedly, is their looks. How sleek is this? Does anything feel cheap or flimsy? Bulky and tacky? What customization options exist, and how much space does the mixer take up?
  • Mixing Power: How strong are the gears, and what range of items can it mix, beat and whip?

Each was rated on a zero to 20 scale, and the results were tabulated to create our PureWow100 scores. Anything that scored less than 80 didn't make the cut as one of our best stand mixers.

The Best Stand Mixers of 2024, Tested and Reviewed

The PureWow100 is a scale our editors use to vet new products and services, so you know what’s worth the spend and what’s total hype. Learn more about our process here.

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Best Overall Stand Mixer

1. Breville Bakery Chef Stand Mixer

What We Like:

  • 12 powerful speeds
  • built-in timer
  • light illuminates bowl so you can easily check a batter's progress
  • glass bowl features liquid measurements on side for easy pouring/reference

What We Don't Like:

  • not as many color options
  • somewhat pricey

Breville

  • Value: 19/20
  • Functionality: 19/20
  • Ease of Use: 20/20
  • Aesthetics: 18/20
  • Mixing Power: 19/20

TOTAL: 95/100

You know when a recipe calls for you to beat the ingredients for three minutes, and you kinda forget halfway through to pay attention to the timing? That won’t happen with the Breville Bakery Chef. It has a built-in timer for that very purpose—and it can count up, so if you’re developing your own recipe, you can time just how long each step takes, delivering consistent results every time. Even better, though, is the machine’s 12-speed dial, with clear labels to show you what power setting you’ll need to hit to knead, cream, beat or even aerate ingredients. It's these smart features that gave it the edge, ultimately, over KitchenAid's models, especially after retesting them two years later—we found we missed the timer, how smoothly the mixer shifts speeds and the light that illuminates the bowl, so you can see exactly how things are progressing, even in a dimly lit kitchen.

As if that weren't enough, this sturdy lil’ number comes with two bowls and a special beater that essentially scrapes down the sides of the bowl for you.

Fast Facts

  • Size: 11.4" W x 14.8" D x 14.3" H
  • Capacity: 5 quarts
  • Power: 550 watts
  • Colors: 6; black, white, navy, champagne, brushed aluminum, dark gray
  • Attachments: double-sided scraper beater, wire whisk, dough hook/kneader, transparent splash guard, 4-quart metal bowl and 5-quart microwave-safe glass bowl (all included); pasta maker, meat grinder, spiralizer and freezing bowl (for ice cream and sorbets) sold separately

2. Kenwood KMM021 Chef Major

What We Like:

  • mixes very evenly
  • powerful, durable motor
  • relatively quiet

What We Don't Like:

  • Only 6 speeds
  • pricey

Kenwood

  • Value: 18/20
  • Functionality: 18/20
  • Ease of Use: 20/20
  • Aesthetics: 17/20
  • Mixing Power: 20/20

TOTAL: 94/100

At 800 watts, this stand mixer is an absolute beast. Its dual ventilation keeps the motor from overheating, so it can stand up to just about anything you dream of making in the kitchen. “I rarely have to go in and scrape down the bowl as the power whisk goes low and wide enough to mix everything,” raved our reviewer, who’s used it at least once a week for the past four years. You can buy all sorts of attachments for this mixer, too, using it as a blender, food processor, ice cream machine or pasta maker. It’s not the prettiest option out there, but it sure is powerful—and versatile.

Fast Facts

  • Size: 9.4" D x 16.1" W x 13.5" H
  • Capacity: 5 quarts (7-quart also available)
  • Power: 800 watts
  • Colors: 1; stainless steel
  • Attachments: stainless steel bowl, whisk, dough hook and beater included; pasta maker, grain mill, grater/slicer, spiralizer and meat grinder sold separately

Most Customizable Stand Mixer

3. KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-Quart Stand Mixer

What We Like:

  • durable
  • consistent results
  • high-quality construction
  • 39 color options

What We Don't Like:

  • can be clunky to change between speeds
  • tilt-head is heavy

KitchenAid

  • Value: 18/20
  • Functionality: 20/20
  • Ease of Use: 17/20
  • Aesthetics: 20/20
  • Mixing Power: 19/20

TOTAL: 94/100

Consider this our runner-up for best overall stand mixer. While the KitchenAid Artisan series doesn't have the timer and light features of the Breville Bakery Chef—and it's a little less smooth transitioning between speeds—it's a kitchen workhorse. The design is undeniably iconic and it’s available in dozens of colors, but what makes the Artisan stand out from KitchenAid's similarly sized models is its customization options. It's compatible with the brand's ceramic bowls, as well as several attachments that allow you to make everything from lasagna noodles to your own freshly ground burger blends.

Finally, it’s reliable. After ten years of regular use, not a single part has needed to be replaced on our tester’s ice blue model. Oh, and in the 5-quart size, you can bake up to nine dozen cookies (!) at once.

Fast Facts

  • Size: 9.3" D x 14.3" W x 14" H
  • Capacity: 5 quarts
  • Power: 325 watts
  • Colors: 39 options, offering just about every color of the rainbow (including glossy and matte finishes)
  • Attachments: bowl, dough hook, beater and paddle included; 10+ attachments sold separately to allow you to make pasta, grind meat, spiralize/chop veggies, make ice cream/sorbet and more

Best Professional-Caliber Stand Mixer

4. KitchenAid 7-Quart Professional Series Stand Mixer

What We Like:

  • high-capacity for large recipes
  • bowl-lift makes it easier to add ingredients
  • powerful
  • durable

What We Don't Like:

  • pricey
  • attachments can be hard to remove at times

KitchenAid

  • Value: 17/20
  • Functionality: 19/20
  • Ease of Use: 16/20
  • Aesthetics: 19/20
  • Mixing Power: 20/20

TOTAL: 91/100

So, you’re the type who makes her own sugar flowers and volunteers to bake cupcakes, not just for your kid’s class, but the entire third grade. If you’re thinking about turning your baking projects into a side hustle—or simply want a machine that can keep up with the large-scale projects you tackle—check out the KitchenAid Professional Series. You’ll have to get used to popping the bowl onto its base and using a lever to lift it into place (a different process than KitchenAid’s other models, where you press a button to tilt the head back), but it’s easy to adjust to. We've been impressed by how the 500-watt motor can tackle a range of tasks, from aerating meringues to kneading food coloring into fondant (something so arduous it nearly killed other machines we tried).

This is the style most professional chefs use, and for good reason: It can handle just about anything you throw at it. Plus, you can connect 12+ attachments to the power hub, using the machine to do everything from grind meat to make fresh pasta.

Fast Facts

  • Size: 14.63" D x 11.31" W x 16.5" H
  • Capacity: 7 quarts
  • Power: 500 watts
  • Colors: 11
  • Attachments: bowl, dough hook, beater and paddle included; 10+ attachments sold separately to allow you to make pasta, grind meat, spiralize/chop veggies, make ice cream/sorbet and more

Most Splurge-Worthy

5.  Cuisinart 5.5-Quart Stand Mixer

What We Like:

  • reliable, consistent results
  • large capacity bowl
  • affordable

What We Don't Like:

  • must use both hands to unlock/lift the mixer's head
  • plastic parts don't seem as durable

Cuisinart

  • Value: 19/20
  • Functionality: 19/20
  • Ease of Use: 17/20
  • Aesthetics: 17/20
  • Mixing Power: 19/20

TOTAL: 92/100

Cuisinart will see KitchenAid's 10 speeds and raise it to 12. Oh, and the Artisan mixer bowl can hold 5 quarts? Well, this one can manage 5.5. It also weighs considerably less than its similarly sized KitchenAid counterpart—15 pounds versus 23ish—which makes it sturdy enough to mix at high speeds without dancing across your table and easy enough to haul out of your cupboard, should you stow it between baking projects.

The mixer is powerful, switching between speeds seamlessly, and it mixes consistently and evenly, making it an excellent value for the price. However, the one downside is that its chrome-looking plastic dial and attachment cover feel a bit cheap and flimsy (some sacrifices must be made, we guess, to keep costs down). Overall, though, it excelled at mixing, whipping and beating, handling doughs and batters with ease in our tests.

Fast Facts

  • Size: 7.87" D x 14.17" W x 14.13" H
  • Capacity: 5.5 quarts
  • Power: 500 watts
  • Colors: 13, including white, black, dove gray, orange, red, sage green, periwinkle blue, silver and beige
  • Attachments: bowl, whisk, dough hook, flat beater and pouring shield included; attachments to grind meat, spiralize vegetables, make pasta and ice cream/sorbet sold separately

Best Compact Stand Mixer

6. KitchenAid Artisan Mini 3.5-Quart Stand Mixer

What We Like:

  • compact size
  • metal exterior (no flimsy plastic parts)
  • sturdy
  • durable

What We Don't Like:

  • requires extra scraping down of bowl to ensure ingredients mix properly
  • beaters can get stuck on machine; hard to remove

Kitchenaid

  • Value: 15/20
  • Functionality: 17/20
  • Ease of Use: 16/20
  • Aesthetics: 20/20
  • Mixing Power: 18/20

TOTAL: 86/100

If you want the power of a KitchenAid but don’t exactly have the space for one (or you do most of your baking for five or less people), go with the Artisan Mini. It doesn't have quite as high of a wattage (250 compared to the Artisan's 325), but you can still bake up to five dozen cookies at once in this beast, it weighs 5 pounds less than the standard Artisan (making it easier to move around) and it’s about an inch shorter and narrower.

Our only complaints are that the paddle attachment tends to be a little harder to remove on this model than the other ones, and if you're mixing a smaller-batch recipe, you'll need to scrape down the bowl more often to ensure things are evenly mixed.

Fast Facts

  • Size: 7.8" D x 12.3" W x 12.3" H
  • Capacity: 3.5 quarts
  • Power: 250 watts
  • Colors: 11, including black, white, silver, candy apple red, empire red and ice blue
  • Attachments: bowl, dough hook, beater and paddle included; 10+ attachments sold separately to allow you to make pasta, grind meat, spiralize/chop veggies, make ice cream/sorbet and more

Best Budget-Friendly Stand Mixer

7. Beautiful 5.3-Quart Stand Mixer

What We Like:

  • gorgeous design and color options
  • smooth dial
  • affordable

What We Don't Like:

  • Tends to rock/struggle at highest speeds
  • no attachment options

Walmart

  • Value: 18/20
  • Functionality: 15/20
  • Ease of Use: 19/20
  • Aesthetics: 20/20
  • Durability: 15/20

TOTAL: 87/100

There's a certain retro charm to this shockingly affordable stand mixer, which is available in nine muted yet of-the-moment shades (like sage, cornflower, rose and taupe). It's arguably the most elegant-looking stand mixer of the bunch, and it's great for tackling cakes, cookies, frostings and other everyday baking projects.

The dial makes it easy to glide through its 12 speeds, but in testing, we found the machine started to really hum and vibrate once it got past the seventh-highest setting. Thankfully, suction cups on the bottom of this lightweight device kept it from moving around on the table (an issue we've found with other value models).

This isn't the device you use if you're trying to grind your own meat for burger night or make fresh linguine, because it doesn't have the option for those attachments, but when it comes to the core functionality—mixing and whipping—it gets the job done nicely. And looks damn good while it's at it.

Fast Facts

  • Size: 15.2" D x 8.7" W x 14.2" H
  • Capacity: 5.3 quarts
  • Power: 300 watts
  • Colors: 9, ranging from white, black and taupe to rose, cornflower blue and sage green
  • Attachments: beater, dough hook, whisk, bowl and splash guard all included

Best Stand Mixer for Bread Making

8. Bosch Universal Plus Mixer

What We Like:

  • easy to clean
  • powerful motor
  • easy to see what you're mixing
  • versatile
  • high capacity

What We Don't Like:

  • not as attractive

Bosch

  • Value: 16/20
  • Functionality: 17/20
  • Ease of Use: 20/20
  • Aesthetics: 15/20
  • Mixing Power: 20/20

TOTAL: 88/100

Simply getting your hands on this mixer can be a challenge—it’s often sold out, and for good reason: It can take a beating and keep right on, well, beating (eggs, bread dough and even that notorious mixer-killer, fondant). Bosch’s Universal Plus Mixer looks unlike most stand mixers, since the beaters are on the bottom of the machine, which offers you an unobstructed view of how a dough or batter comes together. Our reviewer, who’s used the machine for over three years, says that the dual whisks ensure more evenly mixed ingredients and that they’re ideal for heavy-duty baking, like bread making.

Fast Facts

  • Size: 11" D x 12" W x 15" H
  • Capacity: 6.5 quarts
  • Power: 500 watts
  • Colors: 2, black and white
  • Attachments: bowl, whisk and dough hook-style paddle included; flour sifter, bowl scraper, ice cream maker, spiralizer and juicer attachments sold separately

Best Budget-Friendly Mini Stand Mixer

9. Hamilton Beach 3.5-Quart Stand Mixer

What We Like:

  • good for small spaces
  • affordable

What We Don't Like:

  • not as attractive
  • loud

Hamilton Beach

  • Value: 18/20
  • Functionality: 17/20
  • Ease of Use: 19/20
  • Aesthetics: 15/20
  • Durability: 17/20

TOTAL: 86/100

Admittedly, Hamilton Beach's design is a little boxy, but this baby is practically foolproof. Our reviewer has owned hers for over four years and still uses it for any and every baking project (though she says it’s particularly useful for making your own pizza dough). Suction cups on the bottom of the machine keep it from dancing around your countertops, even on the most powerful settings, though it’s worth noting that it can be a bit noisy. “Make sure you’re rocking out to music with earbuds,” she notes.

Fast Facts

  • Size: 8.66" D x 13.58" W x 11.88" H
  • Capacity: 3.5 quarts
  • Power: 300 watts
  • Colors: black (the seven-speed version offers more color options)
  • Attachments: bowl, dough hook, whisk and paddle included

What to Consider Before Buying a Stand Mixer

Beyond budget and your favorite colors, choosing the best stand mixer for your needs comes down to answering a few questions:

  • How often you’ll use it: If you bake once a month or more, a stand mixer makes sense; particularly a higher-performance model that won’t break down after a few years’ use, so you'll want to pay attention to wattage (something 500 watts or more can likely withstand all the use it'll get). If you bake only around the holidays (and even then, it’s a batch of cookies and maybe a pie), a hand mixer may be a better (and more affordable) pick.
  • What you’ll make with it: If you plan on dabbling in grinding your own meat, making from-scratch pasta or baking bread, you'll want a mixer with plenty of attachments you can buy to get those jobs done. (You may have heard that you can make your own papardelle with a KitchenAid, and you can, but you'll need an attachment that's sold separately to do so.)
  • How much counter space you have: If you love the look of a stand mixer but are short on space, look to the KitchenAid Mini. It's roughly 30 percent smaller than your typical mixer.

Frequently Asked Questions

What size stand mixer is best?

The 5-quart size, with about 300 watts' worth of power, is a good size for most recipes and everyday use. However, if you bake for parties—and tend to double or triple your recipes—you may want a larger-capacity model, around 6.5 to 7 quarts.
If you have a small kitchen area or don't bake as frequently, the mini models (which feature 3.5-quart bowls) are still large enough for most recipes—they can still hold enough dough for roughly 5 dozen cookies at a time—without taking up as much counter space.

What are the different types of KitchenAid stand mixers?

KitchenAid makes eight types of stand mixers, ranging from the 3.5-quart Artisan Mini to the 7-quart Pro line. We've highlighted the three standout models from our testing, but KitchenAid offers a full side-by-side comparison of all eight here.

What stand mixers do professional chefs use?

You'll often see TV chefs, like Ina Garten, use a KitchenAid mixer. In commercial kitchens, chefs tend to use massive Hobart mixers, which can better mix at scale.


candace davison bio

VP of editorial, recipe developer, kitsch-lover

Candace Davison oversees PureWow's food and home content, as well as its franchises, like the PureWow100 review series and the Happy Kid Awards. She’s covered all things lifestyle...

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