5 Kitchen Appliance Brands That Are Worth Every Penny And 4 To Avoid

When it comes to major kitchen appliances, quality and reliability are musts. While everyone has specific needs and unique desires when it comes to building their dream kitchen wishlist, no one wants to overpay for products that underdeliver. It's impossible to overstate how crucial these items are to a functioning household, and having to get them serviced or replaced is a massive ordeal. That's why it's so important to choose a trustworthy brand when you're purchasing these necessary tools, but it's easier said than done. Whatever your budget, appliance brands can be hit or miss when it comes to offering long-lasting and high-performing additions to your kitchen.

After taking a deep dive into consumer surveys and expert reports, these are 10 brands that stand out on both sides of the scale. Refrigerators, ovens and ranges, cooktops, microwaves, and dishwashers were all considered. While some brands fared well in one or two categories, they often faltered in others. There are four brands here that should be widely avoided, and five that are most likely to deliver no matter what appliance you're looking for.

You might think of LG as more of an electronics company than an appliance manufacturer — in fact, the Korean-based company's full name is LG Electronics — but it actually produced its first refrigerator a year before it made its first TV. LG's been in the kitchen appliance game since it began in 1958, so you can trust that its team has plenty of experience under its belt. According to 2025 Consumer Reports data, LG ranked second out of 24 kitchen appliance brands in reliability, falling just one point shy of the first-place winner, the ultra-luxury brand Gaggenau. Not a bad place to be, considering LG's appliances are a fraction of a fraction of the price of Gaggenau.

Broken down by specific appliance, Consumer Reports scored LG far ahead of every other brand on cooktops. It also took the top spot for wall ovens, a respectable third-place for dishwashers, and second place for refrigerators and ranges. No other kitchen appliance brand took one of the top-three spots in every category. We listed LG's wi-fi enabled door-in-door refrigerator as one of the best high-end kitchen splurges you can buy at Costco, and the New York Times' Wirecutter awarded the brand's French-door fridge as the best of 2026. The numbers don't lie — LG's kitchen appliances are among the best across the board.

Despite its high price tags and premium, professional branding, Viking's kitchen appliances landed dead last in Consumer Reports' reliability rankings, and it wasn't particularly close. Scoring only 30 points out of 100 in total, Viking garnered subpar ratings in every appliance category, despite the fact that Martha Stewart's personal kitchen oven is a Viking. While a few of Viking's electric cooktops scored highly, the brand really faltered with its ranges, dishwashers, and microwaves, and its refrigerators earned uninspiring reviews for the most part.

There is some anecdotal evidence that this once mightily respected brand has taken a turn for the worse in the past decade or so, since they were acquired by the Middleby Corporation in 2012. "Recent Viking appliances are uniformly garbage," says one Redditor, and another agrees: "After Viking sold, quality and support took a massive nosedive. It is all about pushing product out the door now." Despite these widely reported complaints about drops in product quality, Viking still remains one of the more expensive luxury brands on the market, making it a very risky brand to invest in.

According to JD Power, Whirlpool ranks among the top three brands in refridgerators and cooking appliance reliabilty. Wirecutter also recommends Whirlpool appliances in just about every category. The brand shows up as the budget pick for both electric and gas ranges as well as dishwashers, and its over-the-range microwave is the runner-up choice. Two of the brand's refrigerators are also recommended buys.

Durability and repairability are two benefits to investing in Whirlpool for your kitchen. They offer strong warranty protection, and should you need to get any problems fixed, the brand's popularity and omnipresence means it's easy to find repair solutions. You won't have to wait weeks or months for a unique part or a specially qualified technician. Whirlpool may not offer all of the fancy flourishes of a more tech-driven brand, and its appliances may not be on the cutting edge of design like some of the luxury companies' products, but for well-priced and reliable appliances, it's a great option.

Electrolux is a massive corporation headquartered in Sweden that controls multiple subsidiaries around the world, including well-known appliance brands like Frigidaire. Products made under its own name include all manner of household appliances. For such a widespread, well-known brand, it's somewhat surprising that in all of Wirecutter's kitchen appliance recommendations, no Electrolux products have made the cut. Only the company's washing machines and dryers earned that distinction, so if you're outfitting a laundry room, this could be a brand to keep in mind. For the kitchen, however, customers deem Electrolux an overpriced appliance brand.

Consumer Reports ranked Electrolux 21st out of 24 brands in terms of reliability. Echoing Wirecutter's assessment of its products, several of its washing machines are recommended, but only one kitchen item — its pro-style range, which will run you over five grand. Electrolux's dishwashers, regular gas ranges, refrigerators, microwaves, and cooktops — with the exception of one electric induction cooktop — all scored quite poorly. Plenty of Redditors agree, with one poster claiming that "Electrolux used to be a high quality brand, but it seems in the 2010s or earlier that's no longer the case," after their microwave and oven both broke down. There are many other less expensive brands that offer more reliability.

Between Consumer Reports and Wirecutter's rankings and recommendations, GE popped up all over the place, and almost always in a positive way. While it didn't score particularly high in the brand reliability rankings — coming in at 13th out of 24 — it still maintained an overall positive score. Both Consumer Reports and Wirecutter recommended the brand's models in the ranges, refrigerators, and cooktops categories, though it was a split decision when it came to microwaves. All told, though, this long-established brand is a solid choice for kitchen appliances, and it's one of the more affordable lines, as well.

One thing to keep in mind is that some of the recommended products are part of GE's Profile line, which is a pricier set of appliances that offer higher-end features. This line includes tech-forward smart options, some of which you can find at Costco to help you build a smart kitchen. There are still plenty of baseline GE products that are highly rated, though, so whatever your budget is, you're likely to find a decent appliance that fits your needs. 

While Whirlpool sits in the top third of brands in Consumer Reports' reliability ranking, the same company's luxury label, Jenn-Air, is third from the bottom. If you look for Jenn-Air products recommended by Wirecutter, you'll be met with the sound of crickets. For appliances that range in price up to five figures, you'd expect near perfection, but you'll find better performance and reliability scores in most brands that are much more economically friendly. To drive the point home, despite okay scores on some of Jenn-Air's appliances, Consumer Reports doesn't officially recommend a single one in any category.

Customers report plenty of issues with their Jenn-Air products, and the customer service experience in trying to get them resolved. "JennAir left us without a working fridge for four months because they couldn't get the part anywhere. The customer service is so bad it makes me want to scream," says one Reddit user. Meanwhile, another angry customer in the same thread claimed they spent $7,000 on an oven and microwave only to have them constantly fail, even after six tech visits. If you've got the cash to spend on a high-end luxury brand, you might want to rule Jenn-Air out.

Bosch, headquartered in Germany, makes a lot more than kitchen appliances. The company also manufactures power tools, auto parts, really any mechanical or engineering product you can imagine, as was memorably displayed by Antonio Banderas in the famous 2025 Super Bowl ad. You might think casting such a wide net would dilute its potency in any particular area, but when it comes to kitchen appliances, Bosch is considered one of the best higher-end brands. It takes Consumer Reports' top spot in dishwashers, earns second place for cooktops, and ranks eighth overall in reliability (tied with Whirlpool and Cafe). While Bosch's appliances are certainly not cheap, unlike some other luxury-priced brands, you actually get what you pay for.

It's hard to come close to competing with Bosch when it comes to induction cooktops, with several of their models earning perfect or close-to-perfect performance scores from various product testers. The brand's gas cooktops don't fare as well, which is something to keep in mind. Bosch's dishwashers are also highly regarded pretty much across the board, with their durability and quietness standing out against other brands. Elegant designs are another bonus with these appliances. You do have to pay a pretty penny for them, but they look and act the part.

No doubt, Dacor brand kitchen appliances are visually stunning. It's impossible to deny how gorgeous a fully-fitted Dacor kitchen looks. Functionality and value, though, are another story. Dacor is consistently ranked among the least reliable kitchen appliances, which is shocking for a company that charges such high prices for its products. One of Dacor's electric induction ranges is recommended by Consumer Reports, and several of its other products have decent ratings, but considering the cost, one would expect these appliances to have a much better reputation all around.

You won't find Dacor mentioned on Wirecutter, except for a mention of the brand's subpar range performances. This brand is now owned by Samsung, another kitchen appliance company that ranks quite low in many reliability reports. Redditors have lodged their complaints against the brand as well: "Poor quality. Poor customer service. Be warned," says one poster. In the same Reddit conversation another responds, "I sell appliances and I can confirm the fact that Dacor is 'pretend high-end.'" It may look fabulous, but be aware that Dacor's performance may not match its aesthetic appeal.

Another high-priced luxury brand, Thermador offers appliances that can stretch into the five-figure dollar mark. Unlike many other brands at this level, though, a large number of products from multiple categories are highly scored and recommended by product testers. Multiple models of Thermador cooktops, refrigerators, and dishwashers are considered good buys, and the brand itself ranks fourth in reliability. If you're in the market for professional level appliances, Thermador is a strong contender to consider.

Thermador's ranges and cooktops are perhaps the company's best-known appliances due to their unique star-shaped burners. These allow for faster and more even heat distribution, as well as better control and flexibility than you get with traditional round burners. They're also easier to clean. While Thermador appliances are less customizable than some other brands when it comes to aesthetics (they're only available in stainless steel finishes) the brand's solid reputation makes it one of the best high-end kitchen appliance companies to consider if you're looking to get a good return on your investment.

Consumer Reports and Wirecutter were the two main sources that were consulted when looking at kitchen appliance brands to recommend and which to avoid. Other online rankings from a variety of appliance retailers and homeowner websites were also taken into account, as well as customer reviews on those websites. Reddit conversations regarding customers' personal experiences with these various appliance brands were looked at, too, to get first-hand opinions of not just the machines themselves, but the customer service impressions and overall thoughts regarding each brand.

Brands that manufacture only a few types of appliances were ruled out. The focus was centered on companies that make most or all of these major kitchen products: refrigerators, ranges, ovens, cooktops, dishwashers, and microwaves.