We rank the best water softeners for home use
A water softener takes the minerals that make water hard out of your supply. Scale stops building up on your pipes and your fixtures. We score softeners on three numbers built from the specs each maker publishes: price, grain capacity, and warranty. Each one counts the same. Customer reviews show on each product page too, but reviews do not count toward the score.
We picked it for its size and its built-in filters.
- It holds 45,000 grains of hardness.
- It moves 9 to 11 gallons a minute.
- The standalone system costs $1,531.00.
A cheaper system scores higher in our table. Compare them first.
It is built to handle iron and grit as well as hardness.
Check PriceIt has the highest score in our table: the lowest price, a lifetime warranty, and close to the top grain capacity we track.
Check PriceThe Waterdrop WHR01 comes in three sizes. The smallest holds 32,000 grains and costs $2,499.00. The largest holds 64,000 grains and costs $3,499.00. It costs more than our pick. We found no customer reviews of this model, so we cannot tell you how it holds up. Check the price.
Check Price opens the maker's own site. If you buy there, they may pay us a cut. Your price stays the same, and the money never touches our scores.
Do you need salt or salt free?
This is the first fork in the road, and it is worth two minutes.
A salt based water softener swaps the hardness minerals out of your water. You keep a tank topped up with salt. You get water that is genuinely softer.
A salt free water softener does not take the minerals out. It changes how they behave, so they are less likely to stick as scale. There is no salt to buy and no drain line to run.
Hard water in one home is not hard water in another. Check your ZIP code and you will see the number your own county is working with.
Read the full salt against salt free comparisonHere is every softener we track, in order
They are sorted by overall score. Where a maker does not publish enough per-model reviews to score, we still show its specs, just with no score badge.
Why it ranks here: It scores 8.9 on our three checks: price, grain capacity and warranty.
Best for: A home that wants 35,000 grains of capacity at $1,231.97.
Not for: A home whose water is much harder or whose household is much bigger than this capacity covers.
Check Price
Why it ranks here: It scores 8.1 on our three checks: price, grain capacity and warranty.
Best for: A home that wants 32,000 grains of capacity at $1,512.00.
Not for: A home whose water is much harder or whose household is much bigger than this capacity covers.
Check PriceWhy it ranks here: It scores 8.0 on our three checks: price, grain capacity and warranty.
Best for: A home that wants 35,000 grains of capacity at $1,745.72.
Not for: A home whose water is much harder or whose household is much bigger than this capacity covers.
Check PriceWhy it ranks here: It scores 7.5 on our three checks: price, grain capacity and warranty.
Best for: A home that wants 35,000 grains of capacity at $2,322.43.
Not for: A home whose water is much harder or whose household is much bigger than this capacity covers.
Check PriceWhy it ranks here: It scores 7.4 on our three checks: price, grain capacity and warranty.
Best for: A home that wants 32,000 grains of capacity at $2,100.00.
Not for: A home whose water is much harder or whose household is much bigger than this capacity covers.
Check PriceWhy it ranks here: It scores 7.4 on our three checks: price, grain capacity and warranty.
Best for: A home that wants 32,000 grains of capacity at $2,152.00.
Not for: A home whose water is much harder or whose household is much bigger than this capacity covers.
Check PriceWhy it ranks here: It scores 7.0 on our three checks: price, grain capacity and warranty.
Best for: A home that wants 32,000 grains of capacity at $2,836.00.
Not for: A home whose water is much harder or whose household is much bigger than this capacity covers.
Check PriceWhy it ranks here: It scores 6.9 on our three checks: price, grain capacity and warranty.
Best for: A home that wants 35,000 grains of capacity at $1,090.00.
Not for: A home whose water is much harder or whose household is much bigger than this capacity covers.
Check PriceWhy it ranks here: It scores 6.9 on our three checks: price, grain capacity and warranty.
Best for: A home that wants 32,000 grains of capacity at $2,940.00.
Not for: A home whose water is much harder or whose household is much bigger than this capacity covers.
Check PriceWhy it ranks here: It scores 5.2 on our three checks: price, grain capacity and warranty.
Best for: A home that wants 32,000 grains of capacity at $2,499.00.
Not for: A home whose water is much harder or whose household is much bigger than this capacity covers.
Check PriceWhy it ranks here: We show its specs here, but it has no score: this row is missing a spec our formula needs, like a published warranty term.
Best for: A home that wants 45,000 grains of capacity at $1,531.00.
Not for: A home whose water is much harder or whose household is much bigger than this capacity covers.
Check PriceiSpring does not have a residential softener in this catalog sweep, so it is not in this table. US Water Systems' well-water combo unit above is a separate product line and is not scored under this softener formula.
What size do you actually need?
Size is where most people get this wrong. Buy too small and the unit runs out and works overtime. Buy too big and you paid for capacity you will never use.
What size water softener do I need? Two things answer it. The first is how hard your water is. The second is how much water your household uses in a day. Put those together and you get the grain capacity to shop for.
Not sure which capacity you need? Check your ZIP code to see your water hardnessChoose a softener for a home, not a business
Everything on this page is sized for a house. A home unit sits by the main line and runs on its own once it is set up.
If you rent, ask your landlord before you buy. If you are on a well rather than city water, start with the well water page instead, because iron changes the answer.