Best Electric Pressure Cookers

For most kitchens it's the Instant Pot Duo Plus 9-in-1 (6 qt), which tops Gavler's list at 9.2 — the pot people actually use every week for beans, chili, rice, and yogurt, not the one with the longest sticker. If you already live in a Duo and want a better insert and a quieter vent, the Instant Pot Pro 6-quart (rank 2, 9.0) is the premium Instant. Households that pressure-cook a chicken and then want crisp skin in the same pot should look at the Ninja Foodi SmartLid 6.5-Quart (rank 3, 8.9). Small households can stop at the Instant Pot Duo Mini 3-Quart (rank 6, 8.2). Budget buyers who will not miss Plus extras can take the classic Duo 7-in-1 (rank 7, 8.0) or the Crock-Pot Express 6-Quart (rank 10, 7.6).

Buy an Instant Pot if the job is weekly pressure cooking — beans from dry, chili, rice, yogurt — and you want the recipe ecosystem everyone else already cooked from. The Duo Plus 6-quart (rank 1, 9.2, about $140) is that default; the Pro (rank 2, 9.0) is the nicer pot. Buy a Ninja Foodi if you regularly finish that same pot with crisp skin: the 6.5-quart SmartLid (rank 3, 8.9) does pressure and air fry under one hinged lid, and the 8-quart OL601 (rank 8, 7.9) is the family step-up. Instant's Duo Crisp (rank 4) and Ultimate Lid (rank 9) are Instant's answers to that Foodi job — two lids, or one expensive lid. Pressure performance is a tie on the foods that matter. The split is crisp-in-the-same-pot versus a simpler stainless weeknight pot.

A 3-quart is for one or two people, or a side pot: the Instant Pot Duo Mini (rank 6, 8.2) is that size. A 6-quart is the default for most households — Duo Plus, Pro, Duo, Cosori, and Crock-Pot Express all sit here, and Instant rates a 6-quart at about six servings. 6.5-quart Foodi and Ultimate Lid pots are the same weeknight class with a little more headroom. An 8-quart (Ninja Foodi XL OL601, rank 8) is for four-plus people or a whole chicken plus sides in one Foodi; it is wasted width if two people eat. Leave headspace — a '6-quart' is not six quarts of chili to the rim.

For most weeknight stews, yes — every pot on this list has a slow-cook function, and the same stainless or ceramic insert does both jobs. Pressure cooking is the reason to own one: beans and a tough roast finish in a fraction of the all-day Crock-Pot clock. Slow cook is still better when you want to walk away for six hours and come home to dinner, or when you are cooking something that dries out under pressure. Traditional Crock-Pots still win on all-day unattended stoneware; the Express (rank 10) is Crock-Pot's pressure hybrid, not a substitute for a dedicated oval slow cooker if that is the only job. If you only slow-cook, you do not need a 15-psi lid.

Yes, if you will actually crisp in the same pot you just pressure-cooked — a whole chicken, wings, leftover fries on top of a roast. The Ninja Foodi SmartLid (rank 3) is the cleanest version of that job (one hinged lid). Instant's Duo Crisp (rank 4) does it with a second lid you have to store; the Ultimate Lid (rank 9) does it with one Instant lid at flagship money. Wirecutter has argued combo units are expensive for what they do, and most testers still say a separate basket air fryer crisps better. If you already own an air fryer, buy the Duo Plus and skip the second lid. If the counter only has room for one machine and you want both jobs, the Foodi is the reason the rivalry exists.

Rankings combine expert review aggregation with community voting. Each cooker receives a Gavler Score (out of 10) based on professional reviews evaluating weekly cooking usefulness — beans, chili, rice, a weeknight roast — not button count. Instant's everyday pots sit ahead of crisp-and-pressure rivals and flagship lids that most kitchens will not use every week. Community members vote for their top pick, with one vote per list ensuring authentic preference signals rather than ballot stuffing.