Whether you’ve finally decided to ditch the rubber gloves or it’s time for an upgrade on your old appliance, choosing the best dishwasher can be overwhelming. With so many different sizes, styles, and types, it’s hard to know where to start.
The first thing is to consider the space you have. Even the smallest kitchens should be able to fit a dishwasher, as there are plenty of slim models and tabletop units. But if you have the space and a family to deal with, a full-size dishwasher is the way to go. It will save you hours slaving over the sink. “Measure the height, width, and depth of the space, adding an extra 5-10 cm to the depth for the piping,” says Kirsty Wildsmith, appliance repair expert at Domestic & General.
It’s also important to know what essential and special programs you want. This could include cycles like eco mode, quick wash, delay start, glass, and anti-bacterial cycles. “Special programs can help to lower electricity costs by scheduling cycles in off-peak hours,” says Kirsty, “or by using less water and lower temperatures. It’s also important to check the energy rating. The more energy efficient a dishwasher is, the less power it uses.”
If you’re washing dishes for a family, look for a model with higher place settings capacity. Most full-size dishwashers will hold 13 place settings, which could cover a whole day of dishes for a family of four. Lastly, price is always a factor when buying a new appliance. “Higher end models...could save you money in the long run as they are often more durable and energy efficient,” advises Kirsty.
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The best dishwashers for 2026 are:
- Best overall – Bosch series 4: £499, Appliancesdirect.co.uk
- Best for value – Hotpoint freestanding full size dishwasher with maxi space: £359, Ao.com
- Best for hard water – Miele G7080 SCVi wi-fi connected fully integrated full-size dishwasher: Was £1,219, Ao.com
Read more: Best washing machines, reviewed
Bosch series 4 dishwasher
Best: dishwasher overall
Why we love it
- Low running costs
- Large capacity
- Quiet operation
Take note
- Eco wash is more than hours
- Fast wash uses more energy
- Upper rack could offer better layout
Reviewed by Alastair Jennings
The Bosch series 4 is a two-rack, 60cm freestanding dishwasher with a 14 place setting capacity, finished in fingerprint-resistant silver. It’s the best dishwasher we’ve tested as alongside stunning aesthetics is a good selection of wash modes, all of which proved inexpensive to run, making it a great option for families and anyone who cooks from scratch.
The racking is well organised, with plates on the lower rack, fold-down dividers that free up space when needed, and glasses and smaller items fit on the upper rack. Those sections take mugs and glasses easily, though larger ones are a tight fit; full-size wine glasses, for instance, go in at quite an angle.
Cleaning was exceptional across all six modes. From heavy barbecue grease through to everyday meals, cutlery, glassware and dishes came out spotless, although the quality of the detergent does come into play. The base filter lifts out easily, and there's a quick-access maintenance mode.
It's impressively quiet too. Bosch quotes 42dB, and I measured our ambient room noise as higher than the machine itself, so in most situations it blends into the background.
Energy use is where it stands out. Bosch rates the eco mode at 65kWh per 100 cycles, or 650 Wh per wash. Over a month of testing, I measured an average of 547 Wh, some 16 per cent below the official figure. Peak draw reached 2,300W on express, which uses 757Wh for its one-hour, five-minute cycle.
On an Octopus Go 12M fixed tariff at 26.11p per unit, an eco wash costs 14.3p, falling to 2.6p on the night rate, which can be set and controlled from the “Home Connect” App, making this an easy recommendation for anyone running overnight.
Key specifications
Buy now £499, Appliancesdirect.co.uk
Hotpoint freestanding full size dishwasher with maxi space
Best: value dishwasher
Why we love it
- Ultra quiet
- Handy cutlery drawer
- Most dishes come out super clean
- Lots of space
Take note
- Baked on food doesn’t always come off
- Rinse aid dispenser is difficult to fill
Reviewed by Samantha Priestly
The Hotpoint H7F freestanding dishwasher is the best value dishwasher we’ve tested, offers bags of space, great cleaning, and a reasonable price.
With 3D zone wash, which Hotpoint says brings 80 per cent more water power to clean your dishes, and a decent C energy rating, it’s simple to use, with an easy to programme touch panel, and it runs very quiet so you can put it on at any time of day. It’s so quiet, in fact, I wasn’t sure if it was working at first.
The countdown timer on the display lets you know how much time you have left and the door pops open at the end of the cycle for the drying sequence, although some pots may still need to be hand dried depending on how you stack them. I especially love the top drawer for cutlery, a real improvement on clunky cutlery boxes and you can fit loads in there.
I tested glasses, which came out sparkling, pans, plates, bowls, mugs, utensils, and protein shakers, all of which came out super clean. I didn’t need to pre-rinse anything, but you should always scrape large bits of food from dishes before you load to dishwasher so the filters don’t get clogged. Two of my frying pans, one cast iron and one non-stick, didn’t come out perfectly clean, and I had to re-wash them after. However, I found the dishwasher had done such a great job of softening the baked on food it, that it came off much easier than it would if I simply washed them by hand.
The only issue I had was the rinse aid light comes on more often than I think it should. The rinse aid reservoir isn’t easy to fill, so it’s not clear if you’re filling it or not, but I think this is something you get used to the more you use the dishwasher. There are four programme settings – glass, rapid, eco, and soak – depending on the load you’re washing, making this a versatile dishwasher. It comes at a bargain price considering all the features you get.
Key specifications
Buy now £359, Ao.com
Miele G7080 SCVi auto dos dishwasher
Best: dishwasher for hard water
Why we love it
- Upper basket can be raised and lowered to allow for taller dishes underneath
- Features integrated water softener
- Tailors salt usage to your area’s water hardness
- Strong cleaning performance
Take note
- Over engineered for day-to-day use
- Standard fit isn’t designed for British kitchens
Reviewed by Lucy Smith
The Miele G7080 SCVi is the best dishwasher for hard water that we’ve tried. It allows you to programme in your local water hardness and the machine calculates how much dishwasher salt is required. Living in a hard-water area (with a hardness rating of 16dh), I certainly noticed the difference this made. My glasses now consistently emerge from the machine sparkling, with not a water mark in sight.
Loading the machine is a breeze with a high-sided lower basket that makes awkward cookware easier to balance. The rear section of this basket also swaps traditional upright tines for low, horizontal wire rails that sit just above the basket base, so you can either stack plates front to back or use the same space for pans and larger items laid flat. The roomy cutlery tray saves space, too, with a deeper central channel that accommodates most utensils. I love that you can lower and raise the middle basket to accommodate large baking trays, but – when raised – it means that taller pint glasses won’t fit.
I mostly use the 60C comfortwash programme (54-57 minutes depending on the incoming water temperature), adding the quick option (which is hidden within the ‘extras’ button) when I need to speed things up. Although, I’d prefer a straightforward 45-minute cycle button. Cleaning performance has been consistently strong and, once a cycle finishes, the door automatically pops open to release steam. My crockery routinely comes out dry, but water still occasionally collects in recessed mug bases.
I expected the autodos system to be gimmicky but I’ve since had to eat my words – I use it constantly. It works with a ‘powerdisk’ that slots into the door and automatically dispenses the correct amount of detergent for your load. It’s obviously not hard to drop a tablet into the door, but I’ve really enjoyed not having to do this every time I load the machine. While I received six disks free, replacements work out at roughly £60 for 120 washes, making them noticeably pricier than my usual tablets. Thankfully, autodos can be switched off easily, so you can revert to conventional detergent whenever you prefer.
Installation was where it proved tricky. The G7080 is designed for an 805 to 870mm-high niche, yet UK worktops commonly sit at around 900mm – and the supplied fittings aren’t sufficient to meet this height. The picture-led instructions were also unclear and the Miele telephone support team advised that delivery of the part required could take a week. For a £1,000-plus integrated appliance, when a fitter has been booked for a specific day, that’s a frustrating oversight.
As for wi-fi connectivity, the Miele app allows for everything from remote starts to cycle-status updates, but if you ask me, it’s not essential for day-to-day use. Helpful? Yes, but more of a bonus rather than a reason to buy the machine.
Key specifications
Buy now £1160, Ao.com
Bosch series 6 dishwasher
Best: dishwasher for drying dishes
Why we love it
- Exceptionally quiet, even during longer cycles
- Excellent drying performance
- Third cutlery drawer frees up useful space elsewhere
Take note
- Eco programme takes almost five hours
- Cutlery drawer reduces headroom for bowls and taller items in the upper basket
Reviewed by Lucy Smith
The Bosch series 6 is the best dishwasher for quick drying that we’ve tested. It uses ‘zeolith’ technology, which helps absorb moisture and release heat during drying. In practice, this means everything usually comes out ready to go straight back into the cupboard. Even plastics dry well, although deeply concave mugs and containers can occasionally hold onto a little water. But, in these cases, you can employ an extra dry feature. Glassware also emerges clear and shiny without spotting.
There’s an impressive amount of room inside and certainly more than enough for my partner and I, even if we go multiple days between washes. The separate cutlery drawer at the top is handy and frees up space elsewhere. That said, it reduces the height available in the upper basket. Items generally stay securely in place during washing, too, and the dedicated wine-glass supports have proved useful more than once.
Cleaning performance has been excellent – and I don’t thoroughly pre-rinse dishes. Provided everything is stacked properly, it comes out clean first time, even with tougher grease and food residue. Eco has become my default programme, partly because of how quietly it runs, although it takes a lengthy four hours and 55 minutes. There’s plenty of choice beyond that, including intensive, auto, glass and express settings, plus a speedperfect+ modification that is useful when I want to cut down the time on a specific cycle (it’s compatible with most of the modes, but not all).
Installation couldn’t have been much easier and, from unboxing to being ready to use, it took less than half an hour. I’ve never seen a water inlet connection like this one before, but it made attaching it to the valve straightforward.
The home connect app was straightforward to set up and shows me cycle progress plus access to extra settings. I don’t use it every day as I quickly settled on a favourite cycle and tend to operate the machine from the control panel instead. That’s no drawback though, because all the key programmes are accessible without wi-fi.
Key specifications
Buy now £869, Ao.com
Your questions on dishwashers answered
What is the best dishwasher?
Impressing our tester on all fronts, the Bosch series 4 is the best dishwasher. Its cleaning was exceptional across all modes, and it was incredibly quiet. But the real clincher was its energy use, which meant it cost from as little as 2.6p per wash (on eco mode on the night rate). At less than £400, the Hotpoint freestanding full size dishwasher with maxi space is excellent value. It’s effective, simple to use, and so quiet that you would hardly know it’s on.
How we tested dishwashers
The dishwashers were installed and used in real homes with our expert testers, and assessed according to the following criteria:
How to clean a dishwasher
Trapped food and limescale can mean an early death for dishwashers, plus a smelly kitchen, so it’s important to keep your dishwasher clean. “One of the first places to check is the filter, which is usually located beneath the lower spray arm,” says Gwil Snook, dishwasher expert at AO. “Remove the filter and clear away any trapped food, as build-up can affect both cleaning performance and drainage. It's also worth paying attention to the rubber door seals, as these can collect grease, food particles and grime over time.
“A quick wipe with a damp cloth every couple of months can help prevent build-up and keep your appliance running efficiently. For an extra refresh, pop some bicarbonate of soda across the bottom of the dishwasher and run a short hot cycle. This is a simple, cost-effective way to remove lingering smells and keep your dishwasher feeling fresh.”
How much water does a dishwasher use?
The quick answer is less than you'd expect. “Most modern dishwashers use between 10 and 12 litres of water per cycle, although the exact amount will vary depending on the model and programme selected,” says Gwil. “Many newer appliances include eco settings that are designed to reduce water and energy consumption, helping households save money while still delivering effective cleaning performance.”
What does dishwasher salt do?
It’s important you use salt for the upkeep of the dishwasher. “Dishwasher salt plays a particularly important role in areas with hard water, helping to soften the water before it's used in the wash cycle,” says Gwil. “This prevents limescale from building up inside the appliance, which can affect performance over time. If you've noticed cloudy glasses or that your crockery isn't coming out as clean as it used to, low dishwasher salt levels could be the reason why.
“By helping detergents work more effectively and preventing mineral deposits from forming, dishwasher salt can improve cleaning results and help keep your appliance running efficiently.”
You’ll need to keep your dishwasher salt topped up, and most modern dishwashers will indicate when it needs refilling. Simply unscrew the salt reservoir, found on the bottom of your dishwasher under the bottom rack, and pour in the salt until it’s full.
How to unblock a dishwasher
If you don’t scrape your dishes before loading them into the machine, food will get stuck in the filter or the drain of your dishwasher. But sometimes bits of food, grit, and even chipped crockery or glass, can get in there un-noticed and you’ll need to unblock it.
“If your dishwasher isn't draining properly, a blockage could be the cause,” says Gwil. “Before carrying out any maintenance, switch the appliance off and locate the filter and drain area, which can usually be found at the bottom of the machine. Remove the filter and check for any trapped food that may be restricting water flow.
“Once any blockages have been cleared, replace the filter securely and run a rinse cycle to check that the appliance is draining correctly. Regularly cleaning the filter can help prevent future blockages and keep your dishwasher operating smoothly.”
Why you can trust IndyBest reviews
IndyBest has expertly tested and found the top home appliances to buy from the best washing machines to best dehumidifiers, electric heaters, and a whole lot more. We get hands-on with every product and test many, such dishwashers, for weeks at a time to get a true verdict on if they’re worth the money. For our test of the best dishwashers we called on some of our expert reviewers to put leading models to the test in their homes.
Samantha Priestly has a keen eye for the home and garden products, having tested everything from electric cleaning brushes to charcoal BBQs for IndyBest. Meanwhile Alastair Jennings brings his specialism in home tech, having reviewed the best robot vacuums, best plug-in solar panels and more. IndyBest’s senior shopping writer Lucy Smith also brings her expertise in home appliances, having just moved into her first home where she’s put everything from air fryers to mattresses to the test.
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