Best Dishwashers for 2025

It’s what you’re made of on the inside that matters—that well-worn wisdom is certainly true for dishwashers. One of the best ways to gauge whether a dishwasher will be effective and reliable is to open its door and look inside, says appliance repairman Ben Schlichter. A metal “tub”—the dishwasher’s interior surfaces—strongly hints that you’re looking at a reasonably well-constructed dishwasher…while a tub made partially or entirely from plastic suggests lower quality.

Bottom Line Personal asked Schlichter to share his contenders for the best dishwasher brands and best dishwasher 2025…

Why Tub Material Matters

Stainless steel tubs can handle higher temperatures than plastic ones, and that higher heat delivers more effective washing and faster, more efficient drying. Metal also is more durable than plastic and provides a superior sound barrier, so metal-tub dishwashers tend to be quieter than plastic-tub models. Metal also costs more than plastic, so it’s a reliable clue that the dishwasher is constructed from components of reasonable quality, not cheap, failure-prone parts that have become all-too-common in the appliance sector.

Exception: Bosch’s entry-level 100 Series dishwashers have a partially plastic tub, but, like all Bosch dishwashers, they contain reliable components. 

More simple ways to gauge the quality of a dishwasher…

Price

It is not easy to find bargains when shopping for a dishwasher. There’s a strong correlation between how much a dishwasher costs and customer satisfaction. That said, there are good and bad dishwashers at every price point.

Brand

As a rule of thumb, Bosch, KitchenAid, LG, Maytag and Whirlpool make reliable dishwashers. Three of those five—KitchenAid, Maytag and Whirlpool—are part of the Whirlpool family of brands. On the other hand, Café, Frigidaire, GE, Hotpoint and Samsung are laggards when it comes to dishwasher reliability. Exception: Some of GE’s high-end dishwashers are reasonably reliable.

Whichever dishwasher you purchase: Read and follow the “Use and Care” section of its instruction manual. Virtually no one does this, but heeding this manual’s detergent recommendations and cleaning the dishwasher as it suggests truly can improve performance and extend dishwasher lifespan.

Best Dishwashers

The top dishwasher options in various price ranges…

$1,200+ range: Bosch 800 Series

Bosch is the dishwasher gold standard—appliance technicians almost uniformly rank the company at the top of the sector in terms of reliability. Any Bosch dishwasher is likely to be a good product, but Bosch’s high-end 800 Series offers truly elite washing and drying performance, extremely quiet operation and a robust motor. Manufacturer’s suggested list price: $1,549 to $1,599. What you might pay: $1,350 to $1,500.

$800-to-$1,200 range: KitchenAid KDTM404 and KDTM604

KitchenAid dishwashers nearly match Bosch’s reliability at prices that tend to be somewhat lower, though certainly not inexpensive. But these KitchenAid units aren’t quite as quiet as the Bosch 800 series. Manufacturer’s suggested list price: $1,349 to $1,449. What you might pay: $1,000 to $1,100.

$600-to-$800 range: Maytag MDB4949 and Whirlpool WDT750/WDP730

Whirlpool and Maytag are solid options in this middle price range. Both now are sister brands of KitchenAid, so these dishwashers share many of that elite brands’ internal components and overall quality but at a lower price. Manufacturer’s suggested list price: $829 to $929. What you might pay: $600 to $750.

Alternative: Bosch’s entry-level 100 series dishwashers are a fine option in this general price range, offering Bosch build quality and reliability for $550 to $900, depending on the specific model selected. The 100 Series can’t match the elite performance, advanced features or quiet operation of higher-end Bosch dishwashers, and as noted above they do have partially plastic tubs.

$400-to-$600 range: LG LDFC2423

This is one of the few dishwashers in this price range that has an all-stainless-steel tub. In fact, many of this LG model’s internal components are of higher quality than its retail price would suggest—it’s one of the sector’s rare bargains. Manufacturer’s suggested list price: $769. What you might pay: Around $500.

$350 (approximately): Frigidaire FFCD2413.

If a tight budget restricts you to a low-end, plastic-tub dishwasher, consider this Frigidaire. The company hasn’t updated this model in many years—but that’s a good thing. Any bugs were worked out long ago, and this dishwasher is so simple that it doesn’t have any fancy features to fail. But: The FFCD2413 doesn’t contain especially robust and reliable components, and its washing and drying performance falls well short of higher-end dishwashers.

Alternative: Search for a higher-end unit that’s been deeply discounted because it’s an open box or scratch-and-dent unit.

When to shop: Shoppers tend to get the best prices during sales over three-day holiday weekends, including Presidents Day, July 4^th and Labor Day, and on Black Friday (the Friday after Thanksgiving).