The 8 Best Ice Cream Makers of 2023

Make every day Treat Yourself Day with the Cuisinart Pure Indulgence Frozen Yogurt-Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker. DIY has never been so easy thanks to this gadget’s thoughtful design and features, which include an automatic stopping feature in the event of overheating, a cord storage compartment, and an opening in the lid to add extra ingredients like nuts and chocolate chips. Per the Good Housekeeping Institute's testers, "This machine made very thick and delicious vanilla ice cream and excelled at making sorbet that was thick, smooth, and full of peach flavor." Plus, the Pure Indulgence is as easy to operate as it is to clean—just be sure to check the knob for any stray debris when you’re wiping it down.

With the capacity to make up to 2 quarts of ice cream at a time, you’ll need to keep an eye on this machine while it’s at work and chill the double-walled container in the freezer before each use (which can take anywhere from 6 to 22 hours). However, for most people, we think this ice cream maker’s delectable results and intuitive controls are worth any extra effort and noise.

This unit is automatic, it's systematic, it's ice-omatic… why, it's the Cuisinart Automatic Frozen Yogurt-Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker! This reliable ice cream maker offers convenient features like an opening in the lid to add mix-ins, cord storage, and an automatic stopping feature in the event that the motor overheats.

Though it lacks all the bells and whistles of more expensive models and the canister must be frozen prior to using, it’s a breeze to operate and can yield one and a half quarts of ice cream that’s as good as—if not better than—costlier options.

If you’re looking for a way to entertain your little ones besides plopping them in front of a screen, look no further than the Cuisinart Mix It In Soft Serve Ice Cream Maker. Though it requires a bit of extra storage space, cleaning, and of course, pre-freezing, the most difficult part about using this machine is choosing which mix-ins to put in its built-in dispenser. (We personally prefer rainbow sprinkles, but we’re willing to compromise with chocolate chips.)

It isn’t the most consistent in its output—the Good Housekeeping Institute warns, "There is a learning curve for dispensing swirled ice cream"—but this kid-friendly soft serve maker yields 1.5 quarts and is sure to delight your children and create a lifetime of sweet memories.

Why waste extra money—not to mention valuable countertop real estate—on an ice cream maker if you already have a stand mixer? Answer: You don’t! This KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker Attachment has everything you need to make two quarts of delightfully creamy frozen desserts, including a mixing bowl, a dasher attachment, and a mechanism to turn on the dasher.

Though you’ll need to pre-freeze the mixing canister and the Good Housekeeping Institute's kitchen tech experts found the attachment to be "tricky to assemble," we still think this is a great maker attachment for its price and capabilities.

Put on some records or an Audrey Hepburn movie and enjoy a blast from the past with the Nostalgia Electric 4-Quart Electric Ice Cream Maker. If you enjoy doing things the good old-fashioned way, then you’ll love this classic machine’s ease of use and wooden bucket design.

Though it lacks an on/off button and you’ll need to layer rock salt and water around the canister while you churn, that also means you can skip the step of pre-freezing required by more modern options. Plus, the Good Housekeeping Institute's testers were wowed by its capacity, saying "With its large yield, it’s a great choice for a party or family reunion."

You’d be hard-pressed to find a better compressor-style ice cream maker than the Cuisinart Commercial Quality Ice Cream & Gelato Maker. (See what we did there?) If you’re the type of person who wants your frozen treats whenever the mood strikes, this easy-to-use compressor-style option can help make those near-instantaneous dessert dreams a reality. Per the Good Housekeeping Institute, "it’s always ready to be pressed into action and can even make batch after batch."

The Cuisinart has plenty of perks, like an LED panel with touchpad controls, gelato and ice cream paddles, an opening in the lid to easily add toppings, a mixing bowl with lift-out handle, and even an automatic stopping feature in the event that the motor overheats. We were also impressed to find it has a “Keep Cool” setting, which maintains your treat's temperature for up to 10 minutes.

The built-in compressor does mean this ice cream maker has a large footprint and weighs a little more, but if you’re willing to sacrifice some extra space and quiet in exchange for 1.5 quarts of ice cream on-demand, this is the model to get.

Our favorite thing about the Nostalgia Electric Old Fashioned Ice Cream Maker? It’s electric! Leave the hand-churning chore of ice cream making in the past while enjoying that classic, old-timey taste with our favorite portable ice cream maker. Whether you’re hitting the beach or camping in the great outdoors, you can satisfy your sweet tooth anytime, anywhere with four quarts of sweet, creamy goodness.

Though it isn’t as powerful as many of our other recommendations and the Good Housekeeping Institute testers found "you need to layer rock salt and water around the canister before and during churning," this machine makes up for its shortcomings with a convenient carrying handle and little window to watch your ice cream form before your very eyes.

When Gwen Stefani sang “This is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S,” we’d like to think she was thinking about the Yonanas Fruit Soft Serve Maker. Despite its name, you can use more than just bananas to make frozen desserts in this machine: Simply feed any of your favorite frozen (or, as the GHI lab experts advised, "thaw[ed] ever-so-slightly") fruits into the chute and then reap the rewards of smooth soft serve. Seriously, it's that magical—no cream or sugar required. From there, you can add any of your favorite mix-ins (creamy peanut butter, chocolate chips) or dig in.

And if you thought that was easy, wait until you hear about the clean-up: throw the chute, plunger, and blade in the top rack of your dishwasher. Granted, this lightweight gadget is a bit of a, well, lightweight, but we think the quality output is worth the slightly sluggish, noisy motor and limited run time.