Best Stand Mixers of 2025
These models can’t be beat for mixing, kneading, and whipping
When you shop through retailer links on our site, we may earn affiliate commissions. 100% of the fees we collect are used to support our nonprofit mission. Learn more.
If you bake a lot of cookies and frequently make bread or pie dough, you’ll appreciate how a stand mixer can power through thick batter and stiff dough, sparing you the aching arm (or arms) you might get if you use a hand mixer or mix or knead by hand.
But with so many stand mixer models and an assortment of accessories, shopping for one can be a dizzying task.
How to Choose a Stand Mixer
When choosing a stand mixer, first consider two factors: what type of mixing you plan to use it for and how much space you have to store it.
If you make a lot of thick dough, such as pizza dough, look for a stand mixer that has the heft—or at least suction cups that secure the mixer to your countertop—to handle tough jobs without it “walking” across the counter. The mixers at the top of our ratings range in weight from 15 to over 40 pounds.
As for storage, don’t underestimate the effort it takes to get a heavy mixer into and out of a cabinet each time you use it. Also, most stand mixers have a tilt head that lifts up to insert the mixing bowl, so if you’re using it near upper cabinets, make sure there’s enough clearance.
For more savory foods, choosing a model with a meat grinder or pasta maker attachment can expand your repertory in the kitchen and help you get even more mileage out of your stand mixer. But remember, attachments take up space, too.
How CR Tests Stand Mixers
In CR’s labs, we make chocolate chip cookies to test mixing performance. “Chocolate chip cookie dough is a thick dough, and a stand mixer makes it much easier to blend all the ingredients together,” says Ginny Lui, who oversees our mixer tests.
To test kneading, we add blue and yellow food coloring to the dough and time how long it takes the mixer to turn it an even green. We top off our tests by timing how long it takes to whip a half-pint of heavy cream into airy peaks.
Best Stand Mixers
Here, listed in alphabetical order, are the best stand mixers from our most recent tests. As in the past, KitchenAid, as a brand, makes an impressive showing among our highest-rated models. (In our most recent tests, it commands five of the top 10 slots.) But its dominance has stiff competition from high-performing—and much pricier—mixers from Wolf and Waring.
Need help deciding which mixer is for you? Read our mixer buying guide. And for details on how nearly three dozen models perform in our tests, see our comprehensive mixer ratings, which include both stand and hand models. There, you can filter according to price, brand, accessories, and other criteria that matter most to you.
- COOKLEE SM-1551
- GE Profile P8MSASS6TBB Smart
- Hamilton Beach Professional All-Metal 63240
- Instant Pro 140-1560-01
- KitchenAid Artisan KSM150PSER
- KitchenAid Artisan Series KSM195PSBK
- KitchenAid Bowl Lift KSM70
- KitchenAid Classic Series K45SSWH
- KitchenAid Commercial Series KSM8990ER
- Waring Commercial Luna WSM7L
At 12 pounds, the Cooklee SM-1551 is fairly lightweight, yet its bowl size is 10 quarts, double that of some other models on this list. It excels in our mixing and whipping time tests, plus it does a very good job at kneading, and operates without too much noise. It’s a tilt-head mixer that comes with a whisk and dough hook, but it’s a fairly basic model that doesn’t take power attachments.
The GE Profile P8MSASS6TBB Smart is a pricey, lift-style mixer that aces our tests for kneading bread dough and mixing large batches of chocolate chip cookies. It’s pretty speedy at mixing heavy cream, too. One handy feature is the built-in scale, which allows you to weigh ingredients right in the 7-quart mixing bowl. You can also download an app to access voice activation and other smart features. But beware: At more than 40 pounds, this isn’t a mixer you’ll want to move around a lot.
The compact Hamilton Beach Professional All-Metal 63240 won’t hog counter space or take a big bite out of your budget. It’s equally good at whipping and kneading, earning excellent ratings that indicate it can handle both light and heavy tasks. And it’s almost as good at mixing cookie dough. Our testers found it fairly convenient to use and clean, and the noise it makes when running isn’t objectionable. The head of the mixer tilts, and it comes with a flat beater, dough hook, and wire whisk.
While the Instant Pro 140-1560-01 doesn’t come from an iconic brand, it mixes it up with the best of them in our tests. It earns top marks for kneading bread dough, and its ability to whip heavy cream and mix large batches of cookie dough is above average. And we aren’t disturbed by the noise as it hums along. This tilt-head mixer has a 7-quart bowl and can handle enough dough for two loaves of bread.
The KitchenAid Artisan KSM150PSER is fairly basic for a KitchenAid model. It comes with a 5-quart mixing bowl, a flat beater, dough hook, and pouring shield, all of which are dishwasher-safe. It aces our whipping time and mixing tests, and our testers found it easy to remove and replace the beaters and bowl and adjust speeds.
Similar to the model above, though slightly higher-scoring, the KitchenAid Artisan Series KSM195PSBK comes with the usual attachments, a 5-quart bowl, a 3-quart bowl for smaller jobs, plus a pastry beater. This mixer excels in our tests for whipping cream and mixing cookie dough, and it’s almost as good at kneading bread dough. It works quietly, and our testers found it very convenient. It weighs 21 pounds and has a tilt head, so you’ll need some clearance between your counter and cabinets.
The KitchenAid Bowl Lift KSM70 looks good on a counter, and its bowl-lift style fits nicely under upper cabinets. Its kneading performance (with the included dough hook) is top-notch, and its scores for whipping speed and mixing speed are very good. It works fairly quietly, too. It weighs 27 pounds and is available in blue as well as 10 other colors.
The less expensive KitchenAid Classic Series K45SSWH matches the performance of the other KitchenAids here test for test, meaning it excels at mixing, kneading, and whipping, and it does it all quietly. The 10-speed mixer comes with a 5-quart stainless steel bowl (without a handle), a flat beater, a dough hook, and a wire whisk. It’s compatible with all KitchenAid attachments, so you can branch out from baking to preparing a wider variety of foods, such as sausage and pasta. It weighs 21 pounds. Unlike some KitchenAids, this model comes only in white and black.
Typically priced around $900, the KitchenAid Commercial Series KSM8990ER is the most expensive KitchenAid mixer in our tests. It has the largest mixing bowl, a full 8 quarts, so you can make really big batches of whatever you need to mix. In our tests, it earns top scores for whipping cream and mixing cookie dough, and it’s very good at kneading. This model is 17 inches tall and solid at 28 pounds. It has a bowl lift, and the stainless steel bowl has a handle to give you a better grip. It also takes power attachments.
At 33 pounds, the Waring Commercial Luna WSM7L is one of the heaviest mixers in our tests, so once you put it on a counter, you’ll probably want to leave it there. It comes in a stunning blue that can add a nice accent color to your kitchen. It’s also among the tallest mixers in our tests, standing at a full 18 inches. And because the head tilts back, you’ll need enough clearance when you change the beaters or remove the bowl. In our tests, it’s very good at whipping and mixing, but some of its competitors are better. It is, however, top-notch at kneading dough, which you might expect from a mixer with this heft. Despite its size and muscle, it operates quietly, and our testers found it easy to use.
