We rank water softeners on numbers you can check
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 rank softeners on four numbers their makers publish: grain capacity, flow rate, warranty, and running cost each year. Each one counts the same, and we show you the raw number beside every score.
It scores highest across all four checks in our table.
Check PriceIt is built to handle iron and grit as well as hardness.
Check PriceIt has the lowest running cost each year in our table.
Check PriceCheck 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 softener swaps the hardness minerals out of your water. You keep a tank topped up with salt, and you get water that is genuinely softer.
A salt free system 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. Every number here comes from the maker's own page.
Why it ranks here: data pending· rank reason, drawn only from the four specs above
Best for: data pending· household or water type this fits
Not for: data pending· the case where its own specs fall short
Check PriceWhy it ranks here: data pending· rank reason, drawn only from the four specs above
Best for: data pending· household or water type this fits
Not for: data pending· the case where its own specs fall short
Check PriceWhy it ranks here: data pending· rank reason, drawn only from the four specs above
Best for: data pending· household or water type this fits
Not for: data pending· the case where its own specs fall short
Check PriceThe maker does not publish this number. We have left it blank rather than guess.
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.
Two things set the size. 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 and we will do the sizing math for youdata pending· capacity bands by household size and hardness, from a published sizing guide
Choose 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.