The best air fryer brand in 2026? Real owners just voted.
Key takeaways
- We asked real air fryer owners across Australia to rate their brand, as part of a broader Finder survey of more than 60,000 Australians.
- Ninja swept six of the seven 2026 Air Fryer Customer Satisfaction Award categories, taking out Most Loved, Top Value, Most Reliable, Easiest to Clean, Easiest to Use and Top Performance.
- Tefal was the only brand to beat it, winning Most Recommended, arguably the hardest category, since it means people are vouching for the brand to family and friends.
Air fryer owners are a loyal bunch and Finder's 2026 Customer Satisfaction Awards put that loyalty to the test. We asked real air fryer owners across Australia to rate their machine on how much they love it, how reliable it is, how easy it is to use and clean, and whether it's worth the money. Ninja dominated this year, taking home six of the seven award categories, while Tefal claimed the Most Recommended crown.
Ninja swept the board this year, winning six of the seven categories
Owners rated it the Most Loved air fryer, a category that comes down to everyday satisfaction and usually points to who'll buy the same brand again. It also topped Top Value, no small feat given Ninja sits above budget brands like Kmart and ALDI on price, and this result suggests owners feel they're genuinely getting their money's worth rather than paying extra for the name. Most Reliable followed, which matters most once the novelty of a new air fryer has worn off and it's cooking dinner most nights of the week.
On the practical side, Ninja also swept Easiest to Clean, Easiest to Use and Top Performance, the three measures that come down to cooking results, basket design and daily convenience — in other words, whether the machine earns its spot on the bench rather than getting shoved in a cupboard.
The only category Ninja didn't win was Most Recommended, where it picked up a Highly Commended behind winner Tefal.
Tefal was the only brand to beat Ninja, taking out Most Recommended
Most Recommended is arguably the hardest category to win, since people are putting their own reputation on the line when they vouch for a brand to family and friends, rather than simply rating their own experience with it.
On top of that, Tefal picked up two Highly Commended results: Easiest to Clean and Top Performance, both behind winner Ninja.
Five more brands picked up Highly Commended nods without a single win
Sunbeam and Breville were each commended twice, for Loved Brand and Reliable. Kmart was commended for Value and Easy to Use, and ALDI for Value and Great Performance. Philips rounded out the list with nods for Easy to Use and Recommended Brand.
Full results: 2026 Air Fryer Customer Satisfaction Awards
| Category | Winner | Score | Highly Commended |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most Loved | Ninja | 4.44 | Sunbeam (4.33), Breville (4.30) |
| Top Value | Ninja | 4.43 | Kmart (4.37), ALDI (Ambiano) (4.35) |
| Most Reliable | Ninja | 4.48 | Sunbeam (4.44), Breville (4.43) |
| Easiest to Clean | Ninja | 4.37 | Tefal (4.34), ALDI (Ambiano) (4.30) |
| Easiest to Use | Ninja | 4.55 | Kmart (4.45), Philips (4.45) |
| Top Performance | Ninja | 4.47 | Tefal (4.38), ALDI (Ambiano) (4.37) |
| Most Recommended | Tefal | 4.34 | Ninja (4.32), Philips (4.26) |
How we rank the best air fryers
Finder's Customer Satisfaction Awards are based on real feedback from Australian consumers, not marketing spin. As part of a broader survey of more than 60,000 Australians about their recent purchases and brand experiences, we asked air fryer owners to rate the brand they use on how much they love it, how reliable it is, how easy it is to use and clean, and how it performs for the price.
Respondents could only vote on brands they've actually purchased and used. Each brand's score out of 5 is the average rating it received across these measures, with the highest-scoring brand in a category named the Winner and the next-highest scorers named Highly Commended.
See the full list of winners
Sources
Ask a question