Best Freestanding Dishwasher 2026: 10 Ranked, and the Numbers That Disagree

The Series 2 takes first place on its histogram, not its headline. Of 124 ratings, 78 are five-star and 12 are four-star - 90 ratings at four stars or better, and only eight at one or two. However, the listing's own numbers start arguing immediately: the highlight line advertises '6 programmes, Vario baskets, 4 options', while the field beneath it reads 'Number of settings: 3', and OptionCycles repeats that 3.

In practice you are buying a 60 cm box that stands 84.5 cm high and weighs 43.9 kg. Noise is quoted at 46 dB, and the cycle list is short - normal, intensive and rinse. The capacity field says '12 load', so the table is at least clear that this is not a 14-place machine, even while the highlight line quotes 9.5 litres, a water figure that several other listings in this round-up also file under capacity.

That said, three settings is genuinely few. If you want a glass cycle, a half load or a delay start, this freestanding dishwasher does not offer them. Buy it for the reliability record the histogram shows, not for programme choice.

At £269.97 this full size freestanding dishwasher undercuts the Bosch at the top of the list by £129.03, and it carries 572 ratings against the Bosch's 124. By contrast with the machines ranked above it, the histogram leans harder on five stars - 63 per cent of them - but it also carries 14 one-star ratings, roughly one unhappy buyer in every 41.

The mechanical case is straightforward: 44 dB, auto-open drying, a soil sensor that picks the cycle, half load, LED display and a two-year manufacturer warranty. Energy use is filed at 85 kWh per 100 cycles. Eight settings are listed, and the bullet text backs that up with the six cycles named on the panel.

The catch is the capacity field. It reads '11 litres'. That is water, not plates, and it sits under the same heading other listings use for place settings - so a shopper comparing two pages side by side is comparing litres with plates. Treat the 14-place claim in the title as the real one; the table will not confirm it.

Auto door opening usually turns up on £600 machines, so a freestanding dishwasher with auto door open drying at £269.99 is the reason this one sits third. The door releases at the end of the intensive, eco, 90-minute, glass and hygiene cycles; it cannot be used with the rapid cycle.

Elsewhere the listing is conventional: 47 dB, 85 cm tall, 60 cm wide, 43.5 kg, and a half load function that the bullet text says uses 30 per cent less energy than a full cycle. There is a 72 degrees Celsius hygiene wash and a 30-minute rapid programme. Which means the practical appeal here is speed and drying rather than silence.

The numbers, though, split three ways. The title says 13 place settings, the capacity field says '11 litres', and 'Number of settings' reads 13 in one field while OptionCycles reads 6 - with the bullet text claiming six programmes and four functions. At least two of those cannot all describe the same machine.

42 dB is the lowest noise figure in this list, and that single number is the case for the Series 4. If you want a quiet freestanding dishwasher for an open-plan kitchen, nothing else here matches it; the next best are three machines tied at 44 dB. As a result you are paying £599, which is £200 more than the Series 2 from the same brand.

Mechanically it adds automatic door opening for drying, a heat exchanger, three-stage rack height adjustment, glass care with water softening, AquaStop leak protection and Home Connect app control with remote start and Silence on Demand. Capacity is filed as '14 load', matching the 14 settings, and the machine weighs 51.5 kg - the heaviest here.

That said, look at the sample. There are only 25 ratings, and 10 of those are two stars or one. On a sample that small a bad batch swings the average badly, so this 4.6 means less than the 4.5 sitting on the 124-rating Bosch Series 2. Wait for more reviews before treating it as the safe bet.

At £229.99 this is the least expensive machine in the round-up, and it is also the cheapest 14-place dishwasher here. Even so, the spec table has its own quirks: 'Number of settings' reads 14 while OptionCycles reads 2, despite the cycle list naming five separate programmes. Two fields, two different ideas of what the machine offers.

In use it is the lightest full-size machine on the list at 35 kg, which makes it a realistic two-person lift, and it runs a 28-minute rapid cycle. Noise is 46 dB, matching the Bosch Series 2. Water use is listed as 9.5 litres and energy consumption as 95 kWh per 100 cycles - the highest figure quoted anywhere in this list.

For anyone feeding four or five people every night, that makes it the best freestanding dishwasher for a family on a tight budget, as long as running costs are acceptable. If your electricity tariff is high, the extra energy per 100 cycles will eat into the £40 you saved over the COMFEE'.

The Hoover's title says 13 place settings. Its 'Number of settings' field says 5. That is the widest gap between marketing and spec on any freestanding dishwasher here, and it is why the H-DISH 300 sits sixth rather than higher despite 80 ratings and a 4.0 average.

The practical features are real enough: a 49-minute rapid wash, a 3, 6 or 9-hour start delay, hOn app control that photographs the basket and suggests a programme, and an Eco-Power inverter motor. Noise is quoted at 47 dB and the machine stands 85 cm tall at 35 kg. Capacity is filed as '13 load'.

The catch is on the water field: it reads '10.9 Gallons per Hour'. Gallons are not how dishwashers are compared, and litres per cycle is what every other listing here uses. In short, you cannot check the Hoover's water use against the COMFEE' or the Hotpoint from these tables.

The Baridi is a freestanding dishwasher 60cm wide and 84.5 cm tall, so it drops into the same gap as the Bosch and the COMFEE' machines. It has the highest average score in this list at 4.9, with 91 per cent of ratings at five stars and the remaining 9 per cent at four. Nothing below four stars at all.

On paper it is the most generously equipped machine under £300 here: eight programmes, five functions including Express and Power Wash, a 60-minute fast wash, a child lock and a pause function, 44 dB noise and a 50 kg build. The water field reads 10 litres, the lowest figure quoted in this list.

That said, 14 ratings is a small sample. It is also the only listing here whose capacity field reads '1 load', a value that tells a shopper nothing whatsoever. If you want a track record rather than a spec sheet, the 572-rating COMFEE' is the safer comparison.

Before anything else: this is the loudest freestanding dishwasher here. 52 dB is ten decibels above the quietest machine in the list, which is roughly ten times the sound energy - a difference you will hear from the next room. In theory the 13-place capacity and £269.99 price look competitive; in the kitchen, the noise figure is what you live with.

The Cookology is also by a wide margin the lightest machine here at 23 kg, less than half the weight of the 50 kg Baridi, which points to a lighter build. It carries a child lock, LED display, a delay timer up to eight hours and a half load option, and 121 buyers have rated it for a 4.0 average with 61 per cent at five stars.

Worth noting: the bullets call it a 13-place dishwasher three separate times, but the spec fields say 'Number of settings: 6' and 'OptionCycles: 6'. Energy is quoted as 94 kWh per year, while every other machine in this list quotes per 100 cycles. The units do not match, so the efficiency comparison does not work.

This 14 place setting dishwasher is rated energy class C, and the bullet text puts numbers on it: 0.747 kWh and 9.8 litres of water per eco cycle. At the same time the capacity field also reads '9.8 litres', which is that same water figure filed under the heading other listings use for plates.

The hardware is shared with the cheaper COMFEE' machines: 44 dB, auto-open drying, eight programmes from rapid to soak, adjustable basket, half load, LED display and a soil sensor. It stands 84.5 cm tall, is 60 cm wide and weighs 46.7 kg. The £359.99 price buys the black finish and the C rating rather than extra capacity.

Then there is the histogram: 64 per cent five stars, 21 per cent four, 15 per cent three, and no one- or two-star ratings at all. On a listing with 17 ratings that is easier to achieve than on one with 572, so treat the clean record as promising rather than proven.