The 8 Best Ninja Air Fryers

The DZ401 is the model that made DualZone a household phrase. Instead of one large drawer, it gives you two sealed 5-quart baskets sitting side by side, each with its own heating element, fan, temperature, and timer. That means salmon at one temperature and asparagus at another, running at the same time, in the same appliance.

Two control features do the heavy lifting. Smart Finish looks at both programs and staggers their start so that a 22-minute chicken thigh and a 12-minute vegetable side land on the plate at the same moment. Match Cook goes the other way, copying one basket's settings to the other when you simply want a double portion of the same food. Six functions round it out: air fry, air broil, roast, bake, reheat, and dehydrate.

The compromises are physical rather than functional. This is a wide, heavy unit that will not be moved into a cabinet between uses, and it needs clearance behind it for exhaust. Two baskets also mean two baskets and two crisper plates in the sink after dinner, which is a small daily cost that owners of single-basket models do not pay.

Bottom line: if the reason your air fryer sits unused is that cooking a full meal takes two rounds, this is the model that fixes it. For a household of three or more that cooks complete dinners rather than single snacks, it is the most useful machine in the Ninja lineup and our best overall pick.

• Total capacity: 10 quarts across two 5-quart baskets
• Zones: 2 independent, each with its own element and fan
• Functions: 6-in-1 air fry, air broil, roast, bake, reheat, dehydrate
• Key modes: Smart Finish, Match Cook
• Finish: grey exterior, model code DZ401
• Cleaning: dishwasher-safe baskets and crisper plates

Best suited to households of three to six who cook complete meals on weeknights and are tired of holding the first dish warm while the second cooks. It also suits anyone who batch-preps two proteins at once on the weekend.

It is the wrong choice for a small kitchen with limited counter run, for a single person cooking one item at a time, or for anyone who wants a machine that stores away between uses.

Load the longer-cooking food in one basket and the quicker item in the other, set each program independently, then press Smart Finish. The unit delays the shorter program automatically so both finish together, and you do not have to do the timing arithmetic yourself.

For double portions of the same food, set basket one and press Match Cook to mirror it. Keep each basket to roughly a single layer, because filling a 5-quart zone to the brim steams the food instead of crisping it, and shake or toss halfway through for even browning.

The AF101 is the model that put Ninja on the countertop map, and it is still the entry point into the range. Four quarts, four functions, one basket, no touchscreen theatrics. It crisps frozen foods and roasts vegetables about as well as machines far above it in the lineup, because the fundamentals of a sealed drawer and a strong fan have not changed.

Its real advantage is size. At 4 quarts it is the only unit here that a typical kitchen can store in a cabinet, which matters enormously for people who resent giving up counter space permanently. The ceramic-coated basket and crisper plate lift out and go straight into the dishwasher, and the 1550W draw is gentler on a circuit already carrying a kettle and a microwave.

The limits are honest and predictable. Four quarts is a two-person capacity once you respect the single-layer rule, so a family dinner becomes two rounds. There is no dedicated bake mode and no 450F Max Crisp setting, so heavily breaded frozen items take a little longer to reach a deep crust than they would in the AF181.

Bottom line: if you want genuine Ninja crisping without surrendering a permanent stretch of counter or paying for features you will not use, this is the smart buy and our best value pick.

• Capacity: 4 quarts, single basket
• Functions: 4-in-1 air fry, roast, reheat, dehydrate
• Power: 1550 watts
• Maximum temperature: 400F
• Basket: ceramic-coated nonstick with crisper plate, dishwasher safe
• Finish: black and grey high-gloss, model code AF101

Choose this one if your household is one or two people, if counter space is scarce, or if you want to find out whether an air fryer earns a place in your routine before committing to a larger machine.

Step up to the AF142 if you want a bake mode, to the AF181 if you cook a lot of frozen food and want the 450F Max Crisp setting, or to a DualZone model if you routinely cook a main and a side together.

The basket and crisper plate are dishwasher safe, but the coating lasts far longer if you use silicone or wooden utensils and skip abrasive pads. Never cut food inside the basket with a knife.

Wipe the heating chamber above the basket every few uses. Grease builds up there invisibly and is the usual cause of smoke that owners mistakenly blame on the food. Leave several inches of clearance at the back for exhaust, and never run the unit with the basket empty.

The AF142 is the middle of the single-basket range, and the sensible upgrade from the 4-quart compact. The jump from 4 to 5 quarts sounds small on paper but it changes what fits in a single layer, which is the only measurement that really matters for crisping. A family-sized batch of vegetables or wings stops needing two rounds.

The other addition is a dedicated bake mode, which runs a lower fan speed alongside the heat so that batters and doughs set rather than being blown around. Combined with 1750 watts, the unit recovers temperature quickly after you pull the drawer out to shake it, which keeps cook times closer to what the display promised.

What it does not do is reach the 450F ceiling of the AF181, so the deepest, fastest crusts on heavily breaded frozen food still belong to the XL. The round basket also limits what bake really means here, since a loaf pan or a sheet of cookies is not going to fit.

Bottom line: the most balanced single-basket Ninja for a household of three or four, and the one to pick when you want a real bake setting without stepping up to a full toaster oven.

• Capacity: 5 quarts, single basket
• Functions: 5-in-1 air fry, bake, roast, reheat, dehydrate
• Power: 1750 watts
• Maximum temperature: 400F
• Basket: nonstick, dishwasher safe, fits about 4 pounds of fries
• Finish: grey, model code AF142

Bake runs a gentler fan than air fry, which stops light batters from being pushed to one side of the pan and lets baked goods rise evenly. It is the setting to use for small cakes in ramekins, cookies on a fitted liner, or reheating a pastry without drying the interior.

Because the basket is round and deep, think in small portions rather than sheets. A silicone insert sized for the basket makes the bake mode far more useful than the bare basket alone.

A good fit for households of three or four who want one basket that handles a full side dish, and for anyone who bakes in small portions often enough to want a proper preset for it.

Look elsewhere if you cook a lot of frozen breaded food and want the highest possible crisping temperature, or if you need a main and a side finishing together.

The AF181 answers a specific complaint: people who love the simplicity of one basket but keep running out of room. At 6.5 quarts it is the biggest single zone Ninja offers, which means a party-sized batch of wings or a full tray of roasted vegetables in one go rather than two.

The second reason to choose it is heat. Where most basket models stop at 400F, this one reaches 450F and adds a dedicated Max Crisp mode that pushes both fan and element hard. That extra fifty degrees is where browning reactions accelerate sharply, so frozen fries, nuggets, and anything breaded develop a deeper crust in less time, which also means less moisture is driven out of the interior.

The tradeoffs are shape and power. To hold 6.5 quarts in a single drawer the body is tall, and it may not clear a low upper cabinet on a standard counter. At 1750 watts it also wants a circuit that is not already carrying a kettle or a microwave. And being a single zone, it still cooks a main and a side one after the other.

Bottom line: the best choice for frozen food and large single batches, and the model to pick when you want maximum capacity without the width and the double washing-up of a DualZone unit.

• Capacity: 6.5 quarts, single basket
• Functions: 6-in-1 Max Crisp, air fry, roast, bake, reheat, dehydrate
• Power: 1750 watts
• Maximum temperature: 450F
• Basket: nonstick with crisper plate, dishwasher safe
• Finish: grey, model code AF181

Max Crisp is built for food that goes in frozen. Skip thawing, skip added oil on anything already coated, and keep the load to a single layer so the moving air can reach every surface. Shake the basket once partway through and the results improve noticeably.

For fresh food, a light spray of oil before the basket goes in helps browning at 450F, but keep an eye on smaller items because the higher ceiling shortens the window between golden and too dark.

The higher operating temperature means grease in the upper chamber carbonizes faster, so wipe that area more often than you would on a 400F model. A smoking unit is almost always a dirty chamber rather than a fault.

Leave clear space behind and above for exhaust, use silicone or wooden tools on the coating, and let the basket cool before it goes into the dishwasher to protect the nonstick surface.

The DZ550 takes the DualZone formula and adds the one thing that separates confident cooks from anxious ones: a probe that reads the inside of the food. You choose the protein and the doneness, insert the thermometer, and the program stops when the interior actually reaches the target rather than when a timer runs out.

Everything that makes the DualZone range useful is still here. Two independent 5-quart baskets each carry their own element and controls, Smart Finish staggers unequal cook times so both zones land together, and Match Cook mirrors one basket onto the other for double portions. Six functions cover air fry, roast, broil, bake, reheat, and dehydrate.

The costs are size and care. This is the widest and heaviest unit on this page, so measure the counter before committing. The probe itself is a delicate part that needs washing by hand and storing where it will not be bent, and the whole package sits above the plain DualZone in price for a feature that only matters if you cook meat regularly.

Bottom line: the pick for households that cook steak, chicken, and pork often and want doneness handled automatically, with all the two-basket advantages intact.

• Total capacity: 10 quarts across two 5-quart baskets
• Zones: 2 independent, separately controlled
• Functions: 6-in-1 air fry, roast, broil, bake, reheat, dehydrate
• Smart features: Smart Cook System thermometer, Smart Finish, Match Cook
• Finish: black, model code DZ550
• Cleaning: dishwasher-safe baskets, hand-wash probe

Insert the probe into the thickest part of the meat, avoiding bone and fat, then pick the protein and the doneness level on the display. The unit tracks the internal temperature and ends the program at the target, so a chicken breast comes out cooked through and a steak comes out where you asked.

Let meat rest for a few minutes after the program ends, because the interior temperature continues to climb. Wash the probe by hand and store it flat, since a bent probe reads inaccurately.

Made for households that cook proteins several times a week, especially where different people want different doneness on the same evening. The two zones plus the probe cover that scenario better than anything else here.

Skip it if you mostly cook frozen or plant-based food, where the thermometer adds cost without adding much, or if your counter cannot spare the width.

The Crispi is the most genuinely new idea in the Ninja range. Rather than a fixed drawer, a small heating pod clips down onto a borosilicate glass container. Food is prepped in the glass, cooked in the glass, served from the glass, and then the glass goes into the dishwasher. The pod itself is small enough to live in a drawer.

That design solves two complaints at once. First, nothing your food touches carries a nonstick coating, which is the reason many buyers seek out glass in the first place. Second, the system is portable in a way no other air fryer here is, so it travels to an office, a dorm, or a holiday rental without the bulk of a full unit.

The limits are equally clear. This is one-or-two-serving equipment. The larger container holds 4 quarts but the practical single-layer load is a personal portion or a shared side, not a family dinner. Glass is also heavier and less forgiving than metal, so it wants a little more care in a busy kitchen.

Bottom line: the right pick for singles, couples, meal preppers, and anyone who wants coating-free cooking surfaces, and the wrong pick if you are feeding a table of four.

• Containers: 4-quart TempWare glass plus a 6-cup glass container
• Functions: 4-in-1 Max Crisp, bake, air fry, recrisp
• Maximum temperature: 450F
• Materials: borosilicate glass, listed by Ninja as PFAS-free
• Design: removable PowerPod heating unit with storage lids
• Finish: stone, model code FN101ST

Prep in the glass container at home, snap on the lid, and refrigerate. At the destination, remove the lid, clip the PowerPod on top, and run the recrisp or air fry program. The same vessel then becomes the plate, which is why this works so well for a desk lunch.

Recrisp is the mode worth learning. It revives leftovers that would go soft in a microwave, which is the everyday job this system does better than a full-size unit.

Let glass containers come closer to room temperature before running them at 450F, and never move a hot container onto a cold or wet surface. Sudden temperature swings are the main risk with any glass cookware.

The containers are dishwasher safe. The PowerPod is not immersible, so wipe it with a damp cloth once cool and keep the vents clear.

The SP151 is the answer for anyone whose real objection to an air fryer is counter space. It is a full countertop oven with an air fry function, and when the meal is done it flips upward and back to sit flat against the backsplash, reclaiming most of the footprint it occupied while cooking.

Because it is an oven rather than a drawer, the shape of what you can cook changes completely. A 9 by 13 pan fits, a 12-inch pizza fits, and a whole chicken fits, none of which is true of any basket on this page. Eight functions cover air fry, air roast, air broil, bake, bagel, toast, dehydrate, and keep warm, which lets it replace a separate toaster entirely.

The tradeoff against a basket unit is heating behaviour. A larger cavity takes longer to come up to temperature and the airflow is less concentrated, so a batch of fries browns a little more gently than it would in an AF181. It also needs clearance behind it so the flip-up mechanism can travel.

Bottom line: the most versatile single appliance here, and the best pick when one machine has to handle air frying, baking, and breakfast toast in a kitchen with no counter to spare.

• Capacity: fits a 9 by 13 pan or a 12-inch pizza
• Functions: 8-in-1 air fry, air roast, air broil, bake, bagel, toast, dehydrate, keep warm
• Power: 1800 watts
• Included: air fry basket, sheet pan, wire rack, removable crumb tray
• Storage: flip-up and away design
• Finish: stainless steel, model code SP151

Measure the depth of your counter and the height from counter to upper cabinet before buying. The flip-up motion needs the space behind and above the unit to be clear, and the appliance sits proud of the backsplash when stored.

Leave the crumb tray accessible, since it is the part you will pull out most often. Position the unit where the door can open fully without hitting a wall or a tap.

Ideal for small kitchens that cannot dedicate permanent counter to a second appliance, and for households that would rather own one machine that toasts, bakes, and air fries than three separate ones.

Choose a basket model instead if maximum crisping speed on frozen food is your priority, or a DualZone if you need two foods finishing at once.

The FG551 is the hybrid of the range. It is first an indoor grill, using a high-temperature grate and cyclonic air to produce char and grill marks that a basket fryer simply cannot make, and second a competent air fryer thanks to the included crisper basket.

The Smart Cook System is the same idea as the DZ550's probe, applied where it matters most. Grilling is where doneness anxiety peaks, so choosing a protein and a doneness level and letting the thermometer end the program is genuinely useful. The XL grate handles several steaks or burgers in one round, which keeps a small gathering fed without staging.

Living with it takes some thought. It is the tallest unit here and grilling produces smoke, so it wants a spot under decent extraction rather than a corner. There are also more removable pieces than on a simple basket unit: grate, basket, and cooking pot all need washing, although all of them go in the dishwasher.

Bottom line: the right choice when indoor grilling is the missing capability in your kitchen and you want the air fryer function included rather than buying two appliances.

• Functions: 6-in-1 grill, air fry, roast, bake, broil, dehydrate
• Smart features: Smart Cook System with built-in thermometer
• Grilling: cyclonic grilling technology with XL grate
• Included: grill grate, crisper basket, cooking pot, splatter shield
• Cleaning: dishwasher-safe grate, basket, and pot
• Finish: black and silver, model code FG551

Preheat the grate fully before food goes on, because the marks form in the first contact. Pat proteins dry, oil the food rather than the grate, and resist moving anything for the first few minutes so the sear can set.

Use the thermometer on thicker cuts and let them rest afterward. For vegetables, the grate works best on sturdy pieces such as peppers, courgette, and corn, while delicate items belong in the crisper basket.

Run this one under a hood or with a window open. Grilling at high temperature produces smoke even with the splatter shield fitted, and a clean grate smokes far less than a neglected one.

Let the grate cool before washing to protect its coating, and clear the shield after every session. Keep the unit clear of cabinets overhead, since it vents hot air upward.